Spouted and spout-fluid bed combustors. 2: Batch combustion of carbon

A batch combustion model of carbon particles in a spouted bed has been developed based on the concept of carbon residence time in each region of the spouted bed (annulus, spout and fountain). Both isothermal and nonisothermal particles are considered, with the assumption of no temperature gradient inside the particle. Model predictions in terms of carbon conversion and burnout time were in good agreement with experimental data obtained from a laboratory scale spouted bed combustor. For comparison, an experimental study on a spout-fluid mode was also carried out.     

油页岩流化床燃烧过程中挥发份火焰的平均温度计算

挥发份火焰温度是决定油页岩流化床燃烧过程的重要因素，在流化床燃烧条件下油页岩首先脱挥发份并形成扩散火焰，该火焰将部分热量反馈回油页岩颗粒表面，加速挥发份的进一步释放。本文通过考虑火焰层中的化学反应，以及耦合火焰层与颗粒表面的传热、传质，采用Ｓｃｈｗａｂ Ｚｅｌｄｏｖｉｃｈ变换求得火焰平均温度的分析解，计算结果与实验数据吻合良好。     

Equilibrium modeling of gasification: Gibbs free energy minimization approach and its application to spouted bed and spout-fluid bed gasifiers

Spouted beds have been found in many applications, one of which is gasification. In this paper, the gasification processes of conventional and modified spouted bed gasifiers were considered. The conventional spouted bed is a central jet spouted bed, while the modified spouted beds are circular split spouted bed and spout-fluid bed. The Gibbs free energy minimization method was used to predict the composition of the producer gas. The major six components, CO, CO₂, CH₄, H₂O, H₂ and N₂, were determined in the mixture of the producer gas. The results showed that the carbon conversion in the gasification process plays an important role in the model. A modified model was developed by considering the carbon conversion in the constraint equations and in the energy balance calculation. The results from the modified model showed improvements. The higher heating values (HHV) were also calculated and compared with the ones from experiments. The agreements of the calculated and experimental values of HHV, especially in the case of the circular split spouted bed and the spout-fluid bed were observed.     

A method of determining thermal parameters of granular coal particles during devolatilization

Fluidized bed combustion offers great potential for the utilization of high-sulphur coal and low-grade coal in an environmentally acceptable manner. Utilization of fluidized bed technology, especially for the combustion of low quality lignites, enables pollutant emission control as well as efficient combustion. The most important stage during the combustion of coal particles is devolatilization, in which various factors such as heat transfer from the surroundings to the particle surface, heat conduction within the particle, the chemicals involved, the kinetics and the transport of volatile compounds within the particle play significant roles. The heat transfer coefficient, thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity, heating coefficient and lag factor are the most significant thermal parameters in this process. In this study, a 1-D transient heat transfer analysis is carried out for a granular coal particle during devolatilization in a fluidized bed. The particle is idealized as a spherical solid body. Models are developed to determine the thermal parameters of such particles, and are verified using experimental centre temperatures of a 10 mm granular coal particle subjected to devolatilization at a medium temperature of 960 K. The data are taken from the literature. The results show that the thermal parameters determined here are in good agreement with experimental findings.     

Numerical simulation of the devolatilization of a moving coal particle

The devolatilization of an isolated coal particle moving relative to the surrounding gas is numerically simulated using a competing reaction model of the pyrolysis and assuming that the released volatiles burn in an infinitely thin diffusion flame around the particle or not at all. The temperature of the particle is assumed to be uniform and the effects of the heat of pyrolysis, the intraparticle mass transfer resistance, and the variation of the particle radius are neglected. The effects of the size and velocity of the particle and of the temperature and oxygen mass fraction of the gas on the particle and flame temperature histories, the devolatilization time and the yield of light and heavy volatiles are investigated. The motion of the particle may have an important effect on the shape and position of the flame of volatiles, but it has only a mild effect on the devolatilization process for the particle sizes typical of pulverized coal combustion. This effect increases for large particles or in the absence of radiation. The relative motion enhances the heat transfer between the particle and the gas, causing the devolatilization time to decrease at high gas temperatures and to increase at low gas temperatures. The numerical results are compared with a blowing-corrected Nusselt number correlation often used in heat transfer models of the process.     

生物质颗粒热载体流化床热解模型

应用热解的分布活化能模型,考虑生物质热解的吸热效应,对生物质颗粒在热载体流化床中的热解过程进行了数值计算,计算结果表明:由于导热热阻的存在,生物质颗粒内部存在一定的温度分布,开始时表面和中心温差较大,随着时间的推移,颗粒内部逐渐趋于等温;生物质颗粒的热解时间随粒径的增大而增加;在0.5～2.0m/s的气速计算范围内,生物质颗粒的热解时间随操作气速的升高而缩短,随床温的升高而减小;热解吸热效应对生物质颗粒挥发份释放过程影响很大,在计算的时候不能予以忽略.     

考虑热解热的大颗粒煤热解过程计算模拟

流化床中大颗粒煤的热解与粉煤炉中偻煤的热解有很大差别，其过程由煤粒内部的传热和化学动力学联合控制，除必须考虑热解热效应对热解过程的影响外，还应考虑温度对热解动力学的影响。本文应用双方程化学动力学模型，考虑了热解热效应，对经床大颗粒煤的热解规律进行计算模拟，并与实验结果比较，取得较好结果。     

A review on devolatilization of coal in fluidized bed

Devolatilization is an important step in fluidized bed combustion and gasification of coal. ‘Devolatilization’ is a general term that signifies the removal of volatile matters from the coal matrix. It is an extremely important step because the combustion of volatile matter can account for 50% of the specific energy of fluidized bed combustion of a high‐volatile coal. Significant insights into the complex physicochemical phenomena that occur during devolatilization have been obtained in the recent years. This review focuses on the devolatilization of coal in an inert gas, air, and oxygen‐enriched air, with emphasis on the effects of the operating parameters (e.g. temperature, heating rate, pressure, and gas velocity) on the yield of volatile matter. Particle size, oxygen content of the fluidizing gas, volatile content of coal and specific heat are some of the other important parameters for the devolatilization of coal. This review also explains the development and application of structural and empirical models. The structural models (e.g. FG‐DVC and CPD models) are fairly complex. However, they can accurately predict the yields of gas and tar. It is observed from the review of the literature that the mechanism of coal devolatilization needs further study. Although the shrinking‐core model can describe the devolatilization in the beginning and toward the end of the process, major deviations are often observed. The economic studies reveal that the capital cost of fluidized bed combustion reduces upon doubling the capacity. Some problems associated with bubbling fluidized bed combustion (e.g. the increase in freeboard temperature) have been explained with the present knowledge of devolatilization. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling of single coal particle combustion in O2/N2 and O2/CO2 atmospheres under fluidized bed condition

A one-dimensional transient single coal particle combustion model was proposed to investigate the characteristics of single coal particle combustion in both O₂/N₂ and O₂/CO₂ atmospheres under the fluidized bed combustion condition. The model accounted for the fuel devolatilization, moisture evaporation, heterogeneous reaction as well as homogeneous reactions integrated with the heat and mass transfer from the fluidized bed environment to the coal particle. This model was validated by comparing the model prediction with the experimental results in the literature, and a satisfactory agreement between modeling and experiments proved the reliability of the model. The modeling results demonstrated that the carbon conversion rate of a single coal particle (diameter 6 to 8 mm) under fluidized bed conditions (bed temperature 1088 K) in an O₂/CO₂ (30:70) atmosphere was promoted by the gasification reaction, which was considerably greater than that in the O₂/N₂ (30:70) atmosphere. In addition, the surface and center temperatures of the particle evolved similarly, no matter it is under the O₂/N₂ condition or the O₂/CO₂ condition. A further analysis indicated that similar trends of the temperature evolution under different atmospheres were caused by the fact that the strong heat transfer under the fluidized bed condition overwhelmingly dominated the temperature evolution rather than the heat release of the chemical reaction.     

燃煤链条炉排工业锅炉燃烧数值模型研究

针对燃煤链条炉排工业锅炉的燃烧过程中床层内部存在复杂的传热、传质及物理化学反应过程等特点开发了三维床层和炉膛耦合的燃烧数值计算模型,模型包含了煤燃烧过程中水分蒸发、挥发析出、气相反应、焦炭燃烧和传热传质等基本的化学物理过程,同时考虑了大粒径煤颗粒内部的非等温传热特性,并通过实验测试与数值模拟对数值模型进行校核,实验结果与模型计算吻合得较好,从而验证了计算模型的准确性。燃煤链条炉排工业锅炉燃烧数值模型的建立为实现燃煤工业锅炉的优化设计和运行指导提供了先进的设计手段和理论支持。     

Temperatures of Coal Particle During Devolatilization in Fluidized Bed Combustion Reactor

The purpose of this study was to investigate the thermal behavior of coal during devolatilization in fluidized bed. Temperatures in the center of single coal particle were measured by thermocouple. Two coals were tested (brown coal Bogovina and lignite Kosovo), using dry coal particle, shaped into spherical form of diameters 7 and 10 mm, in temperature range from 300 to 850°C. Unsteady behavior of coal particle during heating and devolatilization in fluidized bed was described by a model that takes into account heat transfer between bed and particle surface, heat transfer through particle and an endothermic chemical reaction of first-order. Based on the mathematical model analysis and compared with experimental results, values of heat conductivity (λ _c ) and heat capacity (C _p ) of coal were determined. The best agreement was obtained for constant thermal properties, for brown coal λ _c = 0.20 W/mK and C _p = 1200 J/kgK and for lignite λ _c = 0.17 W/mK and C _p = 1100 J/kgK.     

Modeling of fixed bed downdraft biomass gasification: Application on lab‐scale and industrial reactors

This study aimed at presenting a model to simulate downdraft biomass gasification under steady‐state or unsteady‐state conditions. The model takes into account several processes that are relevant to the transformation of solid biomass into fuel gas, such as drying; devolatilization; oxidation; CO₂, H₂O, and H₂ reduction with char, pressure losses, solid and gas temperature, particle diameter, and bed void fraction evolution; and heat transfer by several mechanisms such as solid–gas convection, bed–wall convection, and radiation in the solid phase. Model validation is carried out by performing experiments in two lab‐scale downdraft fixed bed reactors (unsteady‐state conditions) and in a novel industrial pilot plant of 400 kW_th–100 kW_e (steady‐state conditions). The capability of the model to predict the effect of several factors (reactor diameter, air superficial velocity, and particle size and biomass moisture) on key response variables (temperature field, maximum temperature inside the bed, flame front velocity, biomass consumption rate, and composition and calorific value of the producer gas) is evaluated. For most response variables, a good agreement between experimental and estimated values is attained, and the model is able to reproduce the trend of variation of the experimental results. In general terms, the process performance improves with higher reactor diameter and lesser air superficial velocity, particle size, and moisture content of biomass. The steady‐state simulation appears to be a versatile tool for simulating different reactor configurations (preheating systems, variable geometry, and different materials). Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heat transfer to a horizontal tube bundle located in the freeboard of a bubbling fluidized bed combustor

The characteristics of heat transfer from bubbling gas-fired fluidized bed to a horizontal staggered water-tube bundle located in the freeboard region is experimentally investigated. The purpose is to demonstrate the effect of bed temperature on the coefficients of heat transfer by the different modes to each of the four rows of the bundle, which experiences heat transfer by convection from flue gases, luminous radiation from bed material and non-luminous radiation from gases. The bed temperature itself is varied and controlled through the fuel–air mass ratio. Sixteen runs have been conducted with bed temperature ranging from 1114 to 1429 K, resulting in an overall heat transfer coefficient in the range 74·0–105·0 W m⁻² K⁻¹ for the first row and 58·0–65·0 W m⁻² K⁻¹ for the last. An overall convective heat transfer coefficient from gases, and possible carried over sand particles, to the bundle is formulated. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Superheated steam drying of sawdust in continuous feed spouted beds – A design perspective

Spouted bed drying technology shows promising results for the drying of unscreened sawdust in superheated steam. In this paper, the experiences from designing, running and evaluating two spouted bed continuous feed dryers are presented. Stable running conditions and drying results have been achieved. This has been particularly important for sawdust that will be compressed into pellets or briquettes. The spouted bed superheated steam dryer also shows high potential for energy efficient integration into sawmills. Our recommendation is thus, to use the outlet steam temperature as the control parameter for the outlet moisture content. A drying rate above and one below the fibre saturation level, can be identified. Visual observations through the viewing glass in the drying zone in both the dryers clearly showed that not all of the material participated in the spout at all times; there were, however, no indications of dead zones. A heat transfer analysis indicated that only about 70% of the surface area of the material was in thermal contact with the steam. This paper sums up the experiences regarding drying properties, control and system properties obtained when sawdust is dried using superheated steam as the drying medium. Further work on standardised dryers in series or in parallel is necessary to increase the capacity in the spouted bed dryer.     

移动床中热气体渗流传热对煤粒热解反应过程的影响

针对移动床内热气体对煤颗粒预热处理工艺,分析了颗粒料层中热气体渗流传热对煤热解反应过程的影响,建立了多孔介质渗流传热与煤热解反应相互作用的物理数学模型。研究了不同情况下移动床内气固温度和压力分布以及煤热解反应规律,计算结果表明,高温热气对移动床煤颗粒料层的热量渗透主要发生在渗透入口端区域,热解反应发生在热渗流作用区域,煤的热解反应对应酬内温度场分布有较大的影响,改变运行参数可以调整热渗透作用区域推移速度和物料温度水平,从而控制煤热解反应过程,在热解反应区域,孔隙率对流场,压损和煤热解过程有很大的影响。图9参11     

造纸污泥流化床燃烧特性及燃烧过程数学模型

对造纸污泥在流化床中燃烧时的失重、粒径和密度变化、水分蒸发和挥发分的析出等过程进行了试验研究,提出了一种适用于高水分的多孔介质污泥并综合考虑传热传质过程的水分蒸发和挥发分析出数学模型,通过求解能量方程和组分守恒方程,用数学方法描述并预测了造纸污泥在流化床内的水分蒸发和挥发分析出过程,并将理论结果与试验结果进行对比,二者吻合较好。     

Effect of pressure on thermal aspects in the riser column of a pressurized circulating fluidized bed

In the present paper the effect of pressure on bed‐to‐wall heat transfer in the riser column of a pressurized circulating fluidized bed (PCFB) unit is estimated through a modified mechanistic model. Gas–solid flow structure and average cross‐sectional solids concentration play a dominant role in better understanding of bed‐to‐wall heat transfer mechanism in the riser column of a PCFB. The effect of pressure on average solids concentration fraction ‘c’ in the riser column is analysed from the experimental investigations. The basic cluster renewal model of an atmospheric circulating fluidized bed has been modified to consider the effect of pressure on different model parameters such as cluster properties, gas layer thickness, cluster, particle, gas phase, radiation and bed‐to‐wall heat transfer coefficients, respectively. The cluster thermal conductivity increases with system pressure as well as with bed temperature due to higher cluster thermal properties. The increased operating pressure enhances the particle and dispersed phase heat transfer components. The bed‐to‐wall heat transfer coefficient increases with operating pressure, because of increased particle concentration. The predicted results from the model are compared with the experimentally measured values as well as with the published literature, and a good agreement has been observed. The bed‐to‐wall heat transfer coefficient variation along the riser height is also reported for different operating pressures. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fundamental heat transfer mechanism between bed‐to‐membrane water‐walls in circulating fluidized bed combustors

In the present work, the fundamental mechanism between bed‐to‐membrane water‐walls in the riser column of a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) combustor is presented. The bed‐to‐membrane water‐wall heat transfer depends on the contributions of particle heat transfer, dispersed phase heat transfer and radiation heat transfer. The fundamental mechanism of particle heat transfer and the effect of fraction of wall exposed to clusters and gas gap thickness between cluster and wall on particle heat transfer coefficient and bed‐to‐wall heat transfer coefficient are investigated. The influence of operating parameters like cross‐sectional average volumetric solids concentration and bed temperature on particle and bed‐to‐wall heat transfer are also reported. The present work contributes some fundamental information on particle heat transfer mechanism, which is responsible for increasing the bed‐to‐wall heat transfer coefficient (apart from dispersed phase convection and radiation heat transfer). The details on particle heat transfer mechanism will enable to understand the basic heat transfer phenomena between bed‐to‐membrane water‐walls in circulating fluidized bed combustors in a detailed way, which in turn will aid for better design of CFB combustor units. The particle heat transfer mechanism is significantly influenced by the fraction of wall exposed to clusters and gas gap thickness between clusters and wall. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of pressure and temperature on cluster and particle heat transfer in a pressurized circulating fluidized bed

The present work reports the influence of pressure and bed temperature on particle‐to‐wall heat transfer in a pressurized circulating fluidized bed (PCFB). The particle convection heat transfer plays a dominant role in determining the bed‐to‐wall heat transfer coefficient. So far, no information is reported on the effect of pressure and bed temperature on particle‐to‐wall heat transfer in a PCFB in the published literature. The present investigation reports some information in this direction. The effect of system pressure and bed temperature are investigated to study their influence on cluster and particle heat transfer. The particle convection heat transfer coefficient increases with system pressure and bed temperature due to higher cluster thermal conductivity. The increase in particle concentration (suspension density) results in greater cluster solid fraction and also the particle concentration near the wall is enhanced. This results in higher cluster and particle convection heat transfer between the bed and the wall. Higher particle convection heat transfer coefficient results in enhanced heat transfer between the bed and the wall. The results will also help to understand the bed‐to‐wall heat transfer mechanism in a better way in a PCFB. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.