Air and oxy-fuel combustion behaviour of petcoke/lignite blends

The pyrolysis and combustion behaviour of a petroleum coke (petcoke), an indigenous lignite and their 70/30 wt.% blend in air and oxy-fuel conditions were investigated by using non-isothermal thermo-gravimetric method (TGA) coupled with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer. Blend samples were prepared by mixing lignite, which has low calorific value, high ash and moisture contents with petcoke that has high calorific value, low ash and moisture content, in the proportion of 70:30. Pyrolysis tests were carried out in nitrogen and carbon dioxide environments which are the main diluting gases of air and oxy-fuel environments, respectively. Pyrolysis curves of parent fuels and their blend reveal close resemblance up to 700 °C in both N₂ and CO₂ environments. At higher temperatures, further weight loss taking place in N₂ and CO₂ atmospheres is attributed to calcite decomposition and CO₂-char gasification reaction, respectively. Gasification reaction leads to significant increase in CO and COS formation as observed in FTIR evolution profiles. Almost identical experimental and theoretical pyrolysis profiles of the blend samples show that there is no synergy between the parent fuels of the blend in both pyrolysis environments. Combustion experiments were carried out in four different atmospheres; air, oxygen-enriched air environment (30% O₂–70% N₂), oxy-fuel environment (21% O₂–79% CO₂) and oxygen-enriched oxy-fuel environment (30% O₂–70% CO₂). Combustion experiments show that replacing nitrogen in the gas mixture by the same concentration of CO₂ leads to delay in combustion (lower maximum rate of weight loss and higher burnout temperatures). Overall comparison of derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) profiles shows that effect of oxygen content on combustion characteristics is more significant than that of diluting gas in the combustion environment. At elevated oxygen levels, profiles shift through lower temperature zone, peak and burnout temperatures decrease, weight loss rate increases significantly and complete combustion is achieved at lower temperatures and shorter times. Theoretical and experimental combustion profiles of the blend mainly display different trends, which indicate synergistic interactions between lignite and petcoke during their combustion in different environments.     

Modelling of CO2, CO, SO2, O2 and NOx emissions from the oxy-fuel combustion in a circulating fluidized bed

The paper presents a model of coal combustion in air and oxygen-enriched CFB environment. A computer program to calculate the CO₂, CO, SO₂, NO_x and O₂ emissions from the combustion of solid fuels in a circulating fluidized bed boiler was created. The validity of this program was verified by measurements on a 0.1MW_th OxyFuel-CFB Test Rig.The calculations have been carried out for air and so-called oxy-fuel conditions, i.e. when combustion runs in a gas mixture based on O₂ and N₂, with various fractions of oxygen.The comparison between measured and predicted by model CO, SO₂, NO_x and O₂ emissions is shown in this paper. The results of the calculation showed, that the kinetic equations of some reaction have to be modified. Authors propose to use the reaction surface area instead of the specific internal surface area of char in rate constant formulas as the combustion nature changes from internal-kinetic to external-diffusion controlling regime.     

Olive cake combustion in a circulating fluidized bed

In this study, a circulating fluidized bed of 125 mm diameter and 1800 mm height was used to find the combustion characteristics of olive cake (OC) produced in Turkey. A lignite coal that is most widely used in Turkey was also burned in the same combustor. The combustion experiments were carried out with various excess air ratios. The excess air ratio, λ, has been changed between 1.1 and 2.16. Temperature distribution along the bed was measured with thermocouples. On-line concentrations of O₂, SO₂, CO₂, CO, NO_x and total hydrocarbons were measured in the flue gas. Combustion efficiencies of OC and lignite coal are calculated, and the optimum conditions for operating parameters are discussed. The combustion efficiency of OC changes between 82.25 and 98.66% depending on the excess air ratio. There is a sharp decrease observed in the combustion losses due to hydrocarbons and CO as the excess air ratio increases. The minimum emissions are observed at λ=1.35. Combustion losses due to unburned carbon in the bed material do not exceed 1.4 wt% for OC and 1.85 wt% for coal. The combustion efficiency for coal changes between 82.25 and 98.66% for various excess air ratios used in the study. The ash analysis for OC is carried out to find the suitability of OC ash to be used as fertilizer. The ash does not contain any hazardous metal.     

Investigation of co-combustion of coal and olive cake in a bubbling fluidized bed with secondary air injection

In this study, a bubbling fluidized bed of 102 mm inside diameter and 900 mm height was used to burn olive cake and coal mixtures. Tunçbilek lignite coal was used together with olive cake for the co-combustion tests. Combustion performances and emission characteristics of olive cake and coal mixtures were investigated. Various co-combustion tests of coal with olive cake were conducted with mixing ratios of 25%, 50%, and 75% of olive cake by weight in the mixture. Operational parameters (excess air ratio, secondary air injection) were changed and variation of pollutant concentrations and combustion efficiency with these operational parameters were studied. The results were compared with that of the combustion of olive cake and coal. Flue gas concentrations of O₂, CO, SO₂, NO_x, and total hydrocarbons (C_mH_n) were measured during combustion tests.For the setup used in this study, the optimum operating conditions with respect to NO_x and SO₂ emissions were found to be 1.35 for excess air ratio, and 30 L/min for secondary air flowrate for the combustion of 75 wt% olive cake and 25 wt% coal mixture. The highest combustion efficiency of 99.8% was obtained with an excess air ratio of 1.7, secondary air flow rate of 40 L/min for the combustion of 25 wt% olive cake and 75 wt% coal mixture.     

Combustion of olive cake and coal in a bubbling fluidized bed with secondary air injection

Combustion performances and emission characteristics of olive cake and coal are investigated in a bubbling fluidized bed. Flue gas concentrations of O₂, CO, SO₂, NO_x, and total hydrocarbons (C_mH_n) were measured during combustion experiments. Operational parameters (excess air ratio (λ), secondary air injection) were changed and variation of pollutant concentrations and combustion efficiency with these operational parameters were studied. The temperature profiles measured along the combustor column was found higher in the freeboard for olive cake than coal due to combustion of hydrocarbons mostly in the freeboard. Combustion efficiencies in the range of 83.6–90.1% were obtained for olive cake with λ of 1.12–2.30. For the setup used in this study, the optimum operating conditions with respect to NO_x and SO₂ emissions were found as 1.2 for λ, and 50 L/min for secondary air flowrate for the combustion of olive cake.     

Combustion characteristics of coal in a mixture of oxygen and recycled flue gas

The combustion of coal in a mixture of pure O₂ and recycled flue gas is one variant of a novel combustion approach called oxy-fuel combustion. With the absence of N₂, this approach leads to a flue gas stream highly enriched in CO₂. For many applications, this flue gas stream can then be compressed and sequestered without further separation. As a result, oxy-fuel combustion is an attractive way to capture CO₂ produced from fossil fuel combustion. When coal is burned in this O₂ and CO₂ rich environment, its combustion characteristics can be very different from conventional air-fired combustion. In CETC-O, a vertical combustor research facility has been used in the past years to investigate the combustion characteristics of several different coals with this variant of oxy-fuel combustion. This included flame stability, emissions of NO_x, SO_x and trace elements, heat transfer, in-furnace flame profiles and flue gas compositions. This paper will report some of the major findings obtained from these research activities.     

CFD modelling of air-fired and oxy-fuel combustion of lignite in a 100 KW furnace

In this paper, a comprehensive computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling study was undertaken by integrating the combustion of pulverized dry lignite in several combustion environments. Four different cases were investigated: an air-fired and three different oxy-fuel combustion environments (25 vol.% O₂ concentration (OF25), 27 vol.% O₂ concentration (OF27), and 29 vol.% O₂ concentration (OF29) were considered. The chemical reactions (devolatilization and char burnout), convective and radiative heat transfer, fluid and particle flow fields (homogenous and heterogenous processes), and turbulent models were employed in 3-D hybrid unstructured grid CFD simulations. The available experimental results from a lab-scale 100 KW firing lignite unit (Chalmer’s furnace) were selected for the validation of these simulations. The aerodynamic effect of primary and secondary registers of the burner was included through swirl at the burner inlet in order to achieve the flame stability inside the furnace. Validation and comparison of all the combustion cases with the experimental data were made by using the temperature distribution profiles and species concentration (O₂, CO₂, and H₂O) profiles at the most intense combustion locations of the furnace. The overall visualization of the flame temperature distributions and oxygen concentrations were presented in the upper part of the furnace. The numerical results showed that the flame temperature distributions and O₂ consumptions of the OF25 case were approximately similar to the reference combustion case. In contrast, in the OF27 and OF29 combustion cases, the flame temperatures were higher and more confined in the closest region of the burner exit plane. This was a result of the quick consumption of oxygen that led to improve the ignition conditions in the latter combustion cases. Therefore, it is concluded that the resident time, stoichiometry, and recycled flue gas rates are relevant parameters to optimize the design of oxy-fuel furnaces. The findings showed reasonable agreement with the qualitative and quantitative measurements of temperature distribution profiles and species concentration profiles at the most intense combustion locations inside the furnace. These numerical results can provide useful information towards future modelling of the behaviour of pulverized brown coal in a large-scale oxy-fuel furnace/boiler in order to optimize the burner’s and combustor’s design.     

Modeling of solid fuels combustion in oxygen-enriched atmosphere in circulating fluidized bed boiler: Part 1. The mathematical model of fuel combustion in oxygen-enriched CFB environment

The paper is focused on the idea of large-scale CFB boiler operation with oxygen/CO₂-modified atmosphere inside combustion chamber. The following main advantages can be found for this technology: reduction of pollutant emissions, possibility of high efficiency separation of CO₂ from the exhaust gases that results from increased CO₂ concentration, lower chimney loss due to the reduction of flue gases in a volume, limitation of the combustion chamber dimensions etc. The paper presents a model of coal combustion in oxygen-enriched CFB environment, where air staging, desulfurization process, NO_x formation and reduction as well as a stationary dense phase of coarse particles in the bottom part of combustion chamber and a circulating dilute phase in the upper part are included.     

Numerical investigation of the oxy-fuel combustion in large scale boilers adopting the ECO-Scrub technology

The present paper presents a three-dimensional numerical investigation of a pulverized-fuel, tangentially-fired utility boiler located at Florina/Greece under air, partial and full oxy-fuel conditions. Heat and mass transfer and major species concentration, such as CO₂, CO and O₂ are calculated; whilst the results for the reference air case scenario studied are in good agreement with the corresponding operational data measured in the plant, both for combustion calculations and NO_x emissions. Results for the partial and full oxy-fuel operation scenarios are in line with similar experimental and numerical investigations found in the recent literature. This numerical investigation of oxy-fuel conditions scenarios prior to their implementation under real scale conditions demonstrates the utmost of its importance, since significant results regarding the operation of a boiler in terms of lignite particle trajectories and burning rates are attained. Furthermore, NO_x calculations have been performed for all the examined case studies.     

Wide band correlated-k approaches for non-grey radiation modelling in oxy-fuel combustion with dry recycling

Increased CO₂ and H₂O concentrations in oxy-fuel combustion promote radiation compared to conventional air based technologies. Spectral radiation models are necessary to calculate the radiative properties of CO₂ and H₂O. In the present study, the wide band correlated-k method (WBCK) is evaluated for non-grey radiative transfer calculations in oxy-fuel combustion. Several WBCK formulations are presented and applied to virtual gas turbine combustors for both air and oxy-fuel combustion with dry recycling involving strongly varying H₂O/CO₂ ratios. The spectral formulation of the WBCK is the most exact approach, but leads to excessive computational times. The multiple gases formulation using three optimised absorption coefficient is found to be the optimum choice regarding accuracy and computational efficiency. The results of a standard weighted-sum-of-grey-gases method strongly deviate from those of the WBCK.     

Study on ash deposition under oxyfuel combustion of coal/biomass blends

Combustion in an O₂/CO₂ mixture (oxyfuel) has been recognized as a promising technology for CO₂ capture as it produces a high CO₂ concentration flue gas. Furthermore, biofuels in general contribute to CO₂ reduction in comparison with fossil fuels as they are considered CO₂ neutral. Ash formation and deposition (surface fouling) behavior of coal/biomass blends under O₂/CO₂ combustion conditions is still not extensively studied. Aim of this work is the comparative study of ash formation and deposition of selected coal/biomass blends under oxyfuel and air conditions in a lab scale pulverized coal combustor (drop tube). The fuels used were Russian and South African coals and their blends with Shea meal (cocoa). A horizontal deposition probe, equipped with thermocouples and heat transfer sensors for on line data acquisition, was placed at a fixed distance from the burner in order to simulate the ash deposition on heat transfer surfaces (e.g. water or steam tubes). Furthermore, a cascade impactor (staged filter) was used to obtain size distributed ash samples including the submicron range at the reactor exit. The deposition ratio and propensity measured for the various experimental conditions were higher in all oxyfuel cases. The SEM/EDS and ICP analyses of the deposit and cascade impactor ash samples indicate K interactions with the alumina silicates and to a smaller extend with Cl, which was all released in the gas phase, in both the oxyfuel and air combustion samples. Sulfur was depleted in both the air or oxyfuel ash deposits. S and K enrichment was detected in the fine ash stages, slightly increased under air combustion conditions. Chemical equilibrium calculations were carried out to facilitate the interpretation of the measured data; the results indicate that temperature dependence and fuels/blends ash composition are the major factors affecting gaseous compounds and ash composition rather than the combustion environment, which seems to affect the fine ash (submicron) ash composition, and the ash deposition mechanisms.     

Peach and apricot stone combustion in a bubbling fluidized bed

In this study, a bubbling fluidized bed combustor (BFBC) of 102 mm inside diameter and 900 mm height was used to investigate the combustion characteristics of peach and apricot stones produced as a waste from the fruit juice industry. A lignite coal was also burned in the same combustor. The combustion characteristics of the wastes were compared with that of a lignite coal that is most widely used in Turkey. On-line concentrations of O₂, CO, CO₂, SO₂, NO_X and total hydrocarbons (C_mH_n) were measured in the flue gas during combustion experiments. By changing the operating parameters (excess air ratio, fluidization velocity, and fuel feed rate), the variation of emissions of various pollutants was studied. Temperature distribution along the bed was measured with thermocouples.During the combustion tests, it was observed that the volatile matter from peach and apricot stones quickly volatilizes and mostly burn in the freeboard. The temperature profiles along the bed and the freeboard also confirmed this phenomenon. It was found that as the volatile matter of fruit stones increases, the combustion takes place more in the freeboard region.The results of this study have shown that the combustion efficiencies ranged between 98.8% and 99.1% for coal, 96.0% and 97.5% for peach stone and 93.4% and 96.3% for apricot stones. The coal has zero CO emission, but biomass fuels have very high CO emission which indicates that a secondary air addition is required for the system. SO₂ emission of the coal is around 2400–2800 mg/Nm³, whereas the biomass fuels have zero SO₂ emission. NO_X emissions are all below the limits set by the Turkish Air Quality Control Regulation of 1986 (TAQCR) for all tests. As the results of combustion of two biomass fuels are compared with each other, peach stones gave lower CO and NO_X emissions but the SO₂ emissions are a little higher than for apricot stones. These results suggest that peach and apricot stones are potential fuels that can be utilized for clean energy production in small-scale fruit juice industries by using BFBC.     

Combustion characteristics of lignite-fired oxy-fuel flames

This experimental work describes the combustion characteristics of lignite-fired oxy-fuel flames, in terms of temperature distribution, gas composition (O₂, CO₂, CO, total hydrocarbon concentration and NO) and ignition behaviour. The aim is to evaluate the flame structure of three oxy-fuel cases (obtained by changing the flue gas recycle rate) including a comparison with an air-fired reference case. Measurements were performed in Chalmers 100 kW test unit, which facilitates oxy-fuel combustion under flue gas recycling conditions. Temperature, O₂ and CO concentration profiles and images of the flames indicate that earlier ignition and more intense combustion with higher peak temperatures follow from reduction of the recycle rate during oxy-fuel operation. This is mostly due to higher O₂ concentration in the feed gas, reduced cooling from the recycled flue gas, and change in flow patterns between the cases. The air case and the oxy-fuel case with the highest recycle rate were most sensitive to changes in overall stoichiometry. Despite significant differences in local CO concentration between the cases, the stack concentrations of CO are comparable. Hence, limiting CO emissions from oxy-fuel combustion is not more challenging than during air-firing. The NO emission, as shown previously, was significantly reduced by flue gas recycling.     

Solid fuels in chemical-looping combustion using oxide scale and unprocessed iron ore as oxygen carriers

Chemical-looping combustion (CLC) is a novel technology that can be used to meet demands on energy production without CO₂ emissions. The CLC-process includes two reactors, an air and a fuel reactor. Between these two reactors oxygen is transported by an oxygen carrier, which most often is a metal oxide. This arrangement prevents mixing of N₂ from the air with CO₂ from the combustion. The combustion gases consist almost entirely of CO₂ and H₂O. Therefore, the technique reduces the energy penalty that normally arises from the separation of CO₂ from other flue gases, hence, CLC may make capture of CO₂ cheaper.Iron ore and oxide scale from steel production were tested as oxygen carriers in CLC batch experiments with solid fuels. Petroleum coke, charcoal, lignite and two bituminous coals were used as fuels.The experiments were carried out in a laboratory fluidized-bed reactor that was operating cyclically with alternating oxidation and reduction phases. The exhaust gases were led to an analyzer where the contents of CO₂, CO, CH₄ and O₂ were measured. Gas samples collected in bags were used to analyze the content of hydrogen in a gas chromatograph.The results showed that both the iron ore and the oxide scale worked well as oxygen carrier and both oxygen carriers increased their reactivity with time.     

Effects of operation parameters on NO emission in an oxy-fired CFB combustor

Oxy-fuel Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) combustion technology, a very promising technology for CO₂ capture, combines many advantages of oxy-fuel and CFB technologies. Experiments were carried out in a 50 kW_th CFB facility to investigate how operation parameters influence the NO emission in O₂/CO₂ atmospheres. The simulated O₂/CO₂ atmospheres were used without recycling the flue gas. Results show that NO emission in 21% O₂/79% CO₂ atmosphere is lower than that in air atmosphere because of lower temperature and higher char and CO concentrations in the dense bed. Elevating O₂ concentration from 21% to 40% in O₂/CO₂ atmosphere enhances fuel-N conversion to NO. Increasing bed temperature or oxygen/fuel stoichiometric ratio brings higher NO emission in O₂/CO₂ atmosphere, which is consistent with the results in air-fired CFB combustion. As primary stream fraction increases, NO emission increases more rapidly in O₂/CO₂ atmosphere than that in air atmosphere. Stream staging is more efficient for controlling NO emission in oxy-CFB combustion than that in air combustion. Oxygen staging provides an efficient way to reduce NO emission in oxy-CFB combustion without influencing the hydrodynamic characteristic in the riser.     

Coal combustion characteristics in a circulating fast fluidized bed

The effect of coal size (0.73–1.03 mm), excess air ratio (1.0–1.4), operating bed temperature (750–900‡C), coal feeding rate (1–3 kg/h), and coal recycle rate (20–40 kg/h) on combustion efficiency, temperature profiles along the bed height and flue gas composition have been determined in a bubbling and circulating fluidized bed combustor (7.8 cm-ID x 2.6 m-high). Combustion efficiency increases with increasing excess air ratio and operating bed temperature and it decreases with increasing particle size in the bubbling and circulating fluidzing beds. In general, temperature profiles and combustion efficiency are more uniform and higher in a circulating bed than those in bubbling bed. Combustion efficiency also increases with increasing recycle rate of unburned coal in the circulating bed. The ratio of CO/CO₂ of flue gas decreases with increasing bed temperature and excess air ratio, whereas the ratio of O₂(CO + CO₂) decreases with bed temperature in both bubbling and circulating fluidized beds.     

Flame and radiation characteristics of gas-fired O2/CO2 combustion

This paper presents an experimental study on the flame properties of O₂/CO₂ combustion (oxy-fuel combustion) with focus on the radiation characteristics and the burn-out behaviour. The experiments were carried out in a 100 kWth test unit which facilitates O₂/CO₂ combustion with real flue gas recycle. The tests comprise a reference test in air and two O₂/CO₂ test cases with different recycled feed gas mixture concentrations of O₂ (OF 21 @ 21 vol.% O₂, 79 vol.% CO₂ and OF 27 @ 27 vol.% O₂, 73 vol.% CO₂). In-furnace gas concentration, temperature and total radiation (uni-directional) profiles are presented and discussed. The results show that the fuel burn-out is delayed for the OF 21 case compared to air-fired conditions as a consequence of reduced temperature levels. Instead, the OF 27 case results in more similar combustion behaviour compared to the reference conditions in terms of in-flame temperature and gas concentration levels, but with significantly increased flame radiation intensity. The information obtained from the radiation and temperature profiles show that the flame emissivity for the OF 21 and OF 27 cases both differ from air-fired conditions. The total emissivity and the gas emissivity of the OF 27 and the air-fired environment are discussed by means of an available model. The gas emissivity model shows that the increase in radiation intensity (up to 30%) of the OF 27 flame compared to the air flame can partly, but not solely, be explained by an increased gas emissivity. Hence, the results show that the OF 27 flame yields a higher radiative contribution from in-flame soot compared to the air-fired flame in addition to the known contribution from the elevated CO₂ partial pressure.     

Differences in reactivity of pulverised coal in air (O2/N2) and oxy-fuel (O2/CO2) conditions

The reactivity of four pulverised Australian coals were measured under simulated air (O₂/N₂) and oxy-fuel (O₂/CO₂) environments using a drop tube furnace (DTF) maintained at 1673 K and a thermogravimetric analyser (TGA) run under non-isothermal (heating) conditions at temperatures up to 1473 K. The oxygen concentration, covering a wide and practical range, was varied in mixtures of O₂/N₂ and O₂/CO₂ in the range of 3 to 21 vol.% and 5 to 30 vol.%, respectively. The apparent volatile yield measured in CO₂ in the DTF was greater than in N₂ for all the coals studied. Pyrolysis experiments in the TGA also revealed an additional mass loss in a CO₂ atmosphere, not observed in a N₂ atmosphere, at relatively high temperatures. The coal burnout measured in the DTF at several O₂ concentrations revealed significantly higher burnouts for two coals and similar burnouts for the other two coals in oxy-fuel conditions. TGA experiments with char also revealed higher reactivity at high temperatures and low O₂ concentration. The results are consistent with a char–CO₂ reaction during the volatile yield experiments, but additional experiments are necessary to resolve the mechanisms determining the differences in coal burnout.     

Comparisons of pulverized coal combustion in air and in mixtures of O2/CO2

Pulverized coal combustion in air and the mixtures of O₂/CO₂ has been experimentally investigated in a 20 kW down-fired combustor (190 mm id×3 m). Detailed comparisons of gas temperature profiles, gas composition profiles, char burnouts, conversions of coal–N to NO_x and coal–S to SO₂ and CO emissions have been made between coal combustion in air and coal combustion in various O₂/CO₂ mixtures. The effectiveness of air/oxidant staging on reducing NO_x emissions has also been investigated for coal combustion in air and O₂/CO₂ mixtures. The results show that simply replacing the N₂ in the combustion air with CO₂ will result in a significant decrease of combustion gas temperatures. However, coal combustion in 30% O₂/70% CO₂ can produce matching gas temperature profiles to those of coal combustion in air while having a lower coal–N to NO_x conversion, a better char burnout and a lower CO emission. The results also confirm that air/oxidant staging is very effective in reducing NO_x emissions for coal combustion in both air and a 30% O₂/70% CO₂ mixture. SO₂ emissions are proved to be almost independent of the combustion media investigated.     

On the effects of firing semi-anthracite and bituminous coal under oxy-fuel firing conditions

Traditional wisdom has lead to the design of a boiler being dictated by its fuel. Typically, lignite requires a large boiler to accommodate the moisture content and ash behaviour and anthracite needs a design with a long residence time to allow for complete combustion. Thus the result is that different boiler designs are required for different fuel types. This work demonstrates that it is possible to fire under oxy-fuel firing conditions different fuels in potentially a single combustion environment. In the present work a short series of scoping tests firing Russian semi-anthracite under air and oxy-fuel firing conditions on the RWEnpower Combustion Test Facility (CTF) have been performed and result compared to firing a South African bituminous coal. An IFRF swirl burner was used. The purpose behind this work was to determine whether oxy-fuel firing offered the potential for firing a wider range of coal qualities on a swirl stabilised burner than is conventional showing that stable combustion can be achieved with semi-anthracite as with bituminous coal. In this short communication, it is shown that this is possible. Flame photographs of the Russian semi-anthracite coal fired on air and under oxy-fuel firing conditions at recycle ratios of 75%, 72% and 68% were taken. The air firing condition produced a non-luminous flame in the near burner region. For oxy-fuel firing at 75% recycle ratio, the flame is also non-luminous and more so that the air firing case. When the recycle ratio is reduced from 75% to 68% the flame becomes increasingly luminous and at 68% an intense flame was observed well anchored into the burner quarl. Radiative heat flux measurements were taken with the Russian semi-anthracite coal at 68% recycle ratio and compared to the South African bituminous coal at 68% recycle ratio and on air. In general the peak in radiative heat flux for the Russian semi-anthracite at 68% recycle ratio compared to the South African bituminous coal on air is slightly higher reflecting the effect of oxygen enrichment and the higher calorific value of the semi-anthracite. It can also be observed that the location of the peak in radiative heat flux with Russian semi-anthracite coal at 68% recycle is displaced downstream. In the near burner region, the radiation intensity is lower for the Russian semi-anthracite at 68% recycle ratio compare to South African bituminous coal at 68% recycle ratio and on air reflecting the lower (but not insignificant) intensity of combustion in this region for the Russian semi-anthracite coal.