Effect of oxy-fuel combustion with steam addition on coal ignition and burnout in an entrained flow reactor

The ignition temperature and burnout of a semi-anthracite and a high-volatile bituminous coal were studied under oxy-fuel combustion conditions in an entrained flow reactor (EFR). The results obtained under oxy-fuel atmospheres (21%O₂-79%CO₂, 30%O₂-70% O₂ and 35%O₂-65%CO₂) were compared with those attained in air. The replacement of CO₂ by 5, 10 and 20% of steam in the oxy-fuel combustion atmospheres was also evaluated in order to study the wet recirculation of flue gas. For the 21%O₂-79%CO₂ atmosphere, the results indicated that the ignition temperature was higher and the coal burnout was lower than in air. However, when the O₂ concentration was increased to 30 and 35% in the oxy-fuel combustion atmosphere, the ignition temperature was lower and coal burnout was improved in comparison with air conditions. On the other hand, an increase in ignition temperature and a worsening of the coal burnout was observed when steam was added to the oxy-fuel combustion atmospheres though no relevant differences between the different steam concentrations were detected.     

Thermogravimetric kinetics on catalytic combustion of bituminous coal

The catalytic combustion and non-isothermal kinetics of bituminous coal by CeO₂, Fe₂O₃, and NiO were investigated. The exothermic characteristics during catalytic combustion of bituminous coal were determined. Based on the Coats-Redfern method by introducing the function of kinetics mechanisms, the activation energies and pre-exponential factors of catalytic combustion of bituminous coal were estimated iteratively by regression. It is found that the catalysts promoted the transport of oxygen to the coal or char surface and effectively improved the combustion characteristics of bituminous coal. Under the same experimental conditions, the exothermic values were significantly increased and the catalysts of composite oxides exhibited higher exothermic values than pure metal oxide catalysts. The metal oxides significantly reduced the activation energies of bituminous coal combustion. SEM analysis presented that combustion residues became more porous with the addition of the catalyst.     

Comparison of bituminous coal and lignite during combustion: Combustion performance,coking and slagging characteristics

The combustion characteristics such as combustion performance, coking, and slagging—at high temperatures (700–1300 °C) of bituminous coal and lignite were investigated and compared. The results show that the ignition temperature and the activation energy of lignite are lower than those of bituminous coal, and the combustion index and the burnout index are less than those of bituminous coal. Lignite has almost no coking while bituminous coal tends to coke at high temperatures. The larger the content and reflectivity of the vitrinite, the more severe the degree of coking. In the range of 700–1300 °C, the increase of temperature has little influence on the coking characteristics of lignite and bituminous coal. The low-rank lignite has larger amounts of mineral content which tend to form low-fusion-temperature eutectics. Furthermore, there is a connection between the combustion performance, coking and slagging characteristics through the maceral compositions: the coal which is hard to ignite but easy to burn out is more likely to have strong coking ability. Meanwhile, coking tends to keep alkaline oxides stay in the char and reinforce slagging at high temperatures.     

The synergistic catalyst-carbonates effect on the direct bituminous coal fuel cell performance

The current work explores the feasibility to improve the performance of a Direct Carbon Fuel Cell (DCFC): CO₂ + bituminous coal|Co-CeO₂/YSZ/Ag|Air by infusing a gasification catalyst (Co/CeO₂) and/or Li-K carbonates mixture into the carbon fuel. The different fuel feedstock mixtures were characterized by various methods, involving chemical composition and proximate analysis, particle size distribution (PSD), X-ray diffraction (XRD), N₂ adsorption-desorption (BET method), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), to gain insight into the effect of catalyst and/or carbonates addition to fuel mixture physicochemical characteristics. An increase of the power output up to ca. 20 and 80% is achieved for carbon/catalyst and carbon/catalyst/carbonates mixtures, respectively, in comparison to bare carbon at 700 °C, demonstrating the pronounced effect of catalyst as well as its potential synergy with carbonates. It was also shown that the achieved maximum power density is directly associated with the CO formation rate, implying the importance of in situ formed CO on the electrochemical performance. The obtained findings are further discussed based also on the corresponding AC impedance spectroscopy studies, which revealed the beneficial effect of fuel feedstock additives (catalyst and/or carbonates) on ohmic and electrode polarization resistances. The present results clearly revealed the feasibility to improve the DCFC performance by concurrently infusing a gasification catalyst and carbonates mixture into fuel feedstock.     

Experimental study on ignition and combustion of coal-rice husk blends pellets in air and oxy-fuel conditions

The ignition and combustion characteristics of anthracite-rice husk (AC-RH) and bituminous coal-rice husk (BC-RH) pellets were investigated in a vertical heating tube furnace under different experimental condition, for gas temperature (873 K–1073 K) and under air and different oxygen concentration (21–70%) in CO₂/O₂ atmosphere. The investigation of the ignition and combustion characteristics focused on ignition mechanism, ignition delay, ignition temperature and combustion process. AC-RH pellets had two ignition mechanism in CO2/O2 atmosphere: homogeneous ignition of volatile and heterogeneous ignition of char. Heterogeneous ignition region decreased while homogeneous ignition increased as rice husk blending ratio increased in oxygen concentration-gas temperature plane. Only homogeneous ignition was observed when rice husk blending ratio was 30%. As for BC-RH pellets, only homogeneous ignition occurred in all experimental conditions. The effect of the rice husk blending on the anthracite was more pronounced than the bituminous coal for ignition mechanism. As oxygen concentration increased, a significant reduction in ignition delay and ignition temperature was observed at low rice husk blending ratio and low gas temperature. but at 1073 K, high oxidizer temperature weakened the effect of biomass blending and oxygen concentration on ignition delay and ignition temperature. Meanwhile, at 20% and 30% rice husk blending ratio, it also weakened the effect of oxygen concentration and oxidizer temperature on ignition delay and ignition temperature. In contrast, blending ratio had a more significant effect on ignition behavior. The replacement of N₂ by CO₂ at the same oxygen concentration contributed to an increase in ignition delay time and internal ignition temperature, which suppressed the ignition behavior. Different ignition mechanisms corresponded to different combustion processes.     

Influence of biomass blends on the particle temperature and burnout characteristics during oxy-fuel co-combustion of coal

The difference in combustion performance between brown coal and black coal blended with Eucalyptus woodchip and woodchar in varying blending ratios were examined in the air and oxy firing conditions. On top of the experimental investigation using a drop tube furnace (DTF), a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was further developed to interpret these results, validated using the experimental data. The CFD model incorporates a comprehensive reaction for devolatilisation reaction to predict the gas release utilising predictions based on chemical percolation devolatilisation (CPD) model. The heterogeneous reactions are defined based on the intrinsic reaction model that accounts for the influence of char properties in chemical and pore diffusion reactions using a user-defined function (UDF). Moreover, the C–CO₂ gasification reaction rate which is critical in an oxy-firing mode was further studied using the CFD tool to determine how the role of gasification varied for various fuel blends. Based on carbon burnout and average particle temperature profiles, the blending of woodchips is highly beneficial to the overall combustion performance in particular for low reactive black coal while its effect on brown coal is marginal. Woodchar and black coal are comparable with similar temperature plots and relatively constant burnout but it behaves relatively inert with a highly reactive brown coal. During oxy firing, increasing the woodchip content enhanced the effect of C–CO₂ gasification due to its extremely large pre-exponential factor for the CO₂ gasification reactivity which explains the improved burnout. The blending of woodchar caused a gradual reduction in the gasification extent for both coals explained by the low heating rates under which woodchar was pyrolysed and also due to the decrease in the peak particle temperature. However, the observed gasification was found to be less than the expected value based on the linear addition of the two single fuels for both biomass blends.     

Structural characteristics and flammability of low-order coal pyrolysis semi-coke

This study focused on the effects of pyrolysis temperature on the structural characteristics and combustion properties of low rank coal. The combustion performance of semi-coke at different temperatures was studied by using low-temperature pyrolysis technology and non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis. The variation of functional groups and carbon structure was quantitatively analyzed. The results show that the temperature has a significant effect on the semi-coke structure and flammability. In the middle and low temperature pyrolysis stage, the removal of water, volatile matter and functional groups is mainly carried out, and the degree of condensation and graphitization of carbon atoms is not obvious. The semi-coke performance with a pyrolysis temperature of 1023K is close to that of anthracite. The pyrolysis process is accompanied by the destruction of carbonaceous and the formation of mesopores, which affects the combustion performance. As the temperature increases, the flammability of the semi-coke is lowered, and the chemical structure of the semi-coke is a major factor affecting the flammability. The method of Coast-Redfern integration was used to calculate the kinetic parameters of the semi-coke. As the pyrolysis temperature increases, the activation energy of the combustion reaction increases, which is consistent with the trend of combustion performance change.     

Valuation of investments in natural resources using contingent-claim framework with application to bituminous coal developments in Korea

As Brennan and Schwartz [Brennan M, Schwartz E. Evaluating natural resource investment. Journal of Business 1985;58:135–57] point out in their pioneering work, the valuation of natural resources projects is particularly difficult due to the high degree of uncertainty in output prices of resources. In general, there are two competing procedures to evaluate risky projects in natural resources developments. One is decision analytic, based on traditional discounted cash flow and stochastic dynamic programming [Fleten SE, Maribu KM, Wangensteen I. Optimal investment strategies in decentralized renewable power generation under uncertainty. Energy 2007;32:803–15; Smith J, McCardle K. Valuing oil properties: integrating option pricing and decision analysis approaches. Operations Research 1998;46(2):198–217; Szklo AS, Carneiro JTG, Machado G. Break-even price for upstream activities in Brazil: evaluation of the opportunity cost of oil production delay in a non-mature sedimentary production region. Energy 2008;33:589–600], and the other is contingent claims analysis, based on the no-arbitrage theory of financial markets [Brennan M, Schwartz E. Evaluating natural resource investment. Journal of Business 1985;58:135–57; Emhjellen M, Alaouze CM. A comparison of discounted cash flow and modern asset pricing methods – project selection and policy implications. Energy Policy 2003;31:1213–20; Laughton D. The management of flexibility in the upstream petroleum industry. The Energy Journal 1998;19:83–114; Paddock L, Siegel D, Smith J. Option valuation of claims on real assets: the case of offshore petroleum leases. Quarterly Journal of Economics 1988;103(3):479–508; Schwartz ES. Valuing long-term commodity assets. Journal of Energy Finance and Development 1998;3(2):85–99; Sezgen O, Goldman CA, Krishnarao P. Option value of electricity demand response. Energy 2007;32:108–19]. In this paper, we use the second approach to develop a new model, and the main contributions are providing a tractable and realistic means of incorporating the option value and optimal timing into the investment decision in natural resources and presenting an example that shows option and timing considerations to be important. We demonstrated the validity of the model using both numerical analysis and real data.     

Influence of different oil feed rate on bituminous coal ignition in a full-scale tiny-oil ignition burner

To reduce oil consumption during firing-up and partial-load operation, a tiny-oil ignition burner has been recommended. Through reacting-flow experiments performed on a full-scale experimental setup, the influence of different oil flow rates on bituminous coal combustion as well as flow rates without coal feed was analyzed. The ignition burner is identical to that normally used in an 800 MWe utility boiler. Under operating conditions with flow rates of 50, 100, and 150 kg/h, gas temperature distributions were measured in the burner. At the equivalent measuring points at the exits of the first and second combustion chambers, these distributions remained almost unchanged under a constant coal feed rate of 4 t/h. However on the burner centerline, distributions increased slightly with increasing flow rate. Different gas concentrations were measured at the center of the burner exit. For instance, the O₂ concentration at the burner exit varied from 0.01% to 0.31% whereas CO concentrations were more than 10000 ppm. At the same coal feed rate of 4 t/h, burner resistances are 480, 600, and 740 Pa for oil flow rates of 50, 100, and 150 kg/h, respectively.     

Experimental investigation on unconfined hydrogen explosion with different ignition height

Experimental research is performed to investigate the effects of ignition height on explosion characteristics in a 27 m³ hydrogen/air cloud. With the ignition height decreasing, the flame propagation velocity increases gradually. The flame travels in oscillating mode and the average oscillating frequency lies between 145Hz and 155Hz. An original parameter τ, which involves flame scale and flame propagation velocity, is proposed to measure the effect of buoyancy. The higher the value of τ, the more obvious the buoyancy effect. As the ignition height increases, the critical flame scale for flame deceleration increases. The middle ignition height in the gas cloud causes the highest overpressure peak, overpressure impulse, overpressure rising and decreasing rate. As the ignition point approaches the initial gas boundary, the explosion intensity would decrease gradually. For the open space outside the flame, overpressure peak for the lower space is higher, while, the middle space experiences higher overpressure impulse.     

W火焰锅炉炉内煤粉气流着火特性研究

对一台引进的300 MW机组W火焰锅炉炉内煤粉气流的着火特性进行了研究,测试了不同二次风挡板开度及煤粉浓缩器上乏气挡板开度下燃烧器区域烟气温度分布.结果表明二次风挡板和乏气挡板的开度在不同程度上影响到炉内着火特性;虽然乏气挡板开度能影响煤粉浓缩器浓、淡两侧的气相分配,但其对煤粉气流着火的影响较二次风挡板开度弱的多,究其原因在于燃烧器喷口采用一、二次风喷口相间布置,二次风离开喷口后极易与浓煤粉气流混合,这直接影响到煤粉气流的着火.     

Co-combustion characteristics study of bagasse,coal and their blends by thermogravimetric analysis

Co-combustion technology was used to investigate the combustion of bagasse and bagasse blending with coal at different ratios (20%, 50%, and 70% bagasse in weight) using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results show that three stages were observed during bagasse combustion and the main combustion process occurred at the second stage. Compared with combustion of coal, the co-combustion of bagasse blending with coal has lower first peak temperature (T_p1), slightly lower average reaction rate (R_v), and higher reaction rate at the first peak (R_p1). The best blend ratio of bagasse/coal is 20%/80%, and the inhibitory effect is found during the co-combustion.     

Experimental investigation of ignition and combustion characteristics of single coal and biomass particles in O2/N2 and O2/H2O

Oxy-steam combustion is a potential new-generation option for CO₂ capture and storage. The ignition and combustion characteristics of single coal and biomass particles were investigated in a flow tube reactor in O₂/N₂ and O₂/H₂O at various oxygen concentrations. The ignition and combustion processes were recorded using a CCD camera, and the two-color pyrometry was used to estimate the volatile flame temperature and char combustion temperature. In O₂/N₂ and O₂/H₂O, coal ignites heterogeneously at <O₂> = 21–50%. In O₂/N₂, biomass ignites homogeneously at <O₂> = 21–30%, while it ignites heterogeneously at <O₂> = 40–50%. In O₂/H₂O, biomass ignites homogeneously at <O₂> = 21–50%. With increasing oxygen concentration, the ignition delay time, volatile burnout time and char burnout time are decreased, and the volatile flame temperature and char combustion temperature are increased. At a certain oxygen concentration in both atmospheres, the ignition delay time, volatile burnout time and char burnout time of biomass are shorter than those of coal. Moreover, biomass has a higher volatile flame temperature but a lower char combustion temperature than coal. The ignition delay time, volatile burnout time and char burnout time in O₂/H₂O are lower than those in O₂/N₂ for coal and biomass. The presence of H₂O can improve the combustion rates of coal and biomass. The volatile flame shows a lower temperature in O₂/H₂O than in O₂/N₂ at <O₂> = 21–50%. The char combustion shows a lower temperature in O₂/H₂O than in O₂/N₂ at <O₂> = 21–30%, while this behavior is switched at <O₂> = 40–50%. The results contribute to the understanding of the ignition and combustion characteristics of coal and biomass in oxy-steam combustion.     

Characteristics of co-combustion of anthracite with bituminous coal in a 200-MWe circulating fluidized bed boiler

The effect of co-combustion of Vietnamese anthracite with Australian bituminous coal on the performance of a commercial circulating fluidized bed boiler was observed in the Tonghae thermal power plant.The temperature in the cyclone exit of the boiler increased slightly, which caused a decrease in the desulfurization efficiency as the co-combustion ratio of the bituminous coal increased from 40 to 100%. The unburned carbon fraction also increased. Consequently, the fine particles of the bituminous coal had lower combustion reactivity than those of the anthracite.NO_x emissions decreased as the bituminous coal ratio increased, although the fraction of nitrogen in the bituminous coal was higher than that in the anthracite. However, the emission of dust was found to increase due to an increase in the amount of CaO and MgO in the fly ash, which could lower the efficiency of the electrostatic precipitator.From these results, we concluded that the complete switch from the anthracite to Australian bituminous coal was possible, although the efficiency and the operation stability became lower than before. Additionally, as a future study, it is necessary to monitor the instability of the temperature increase and its effect on the prolonged clinker formation in the boiler.     

Combustion performance and slagging characteristics during co-combustion of Zhundong coal and sludge

Zhundong coal (ZDc) with a very large reserve is faced with severe problems of slagging and fouling during combustion in boilers because of the high-Na content. Sludge, the by-product of urban sewage treatment, is also faced with the problem in utilization. In this study, the co-combustion of ZDc and sludge was investigated in a laboratory-scale experimental apparatus before further studies in larger-scale setups. The experimental results confirm an interaction between ZDc and sludge during co-combustion, which was mainly caused by the Na catalytic action and improved the combustion performance of the co-fuels. The catalytic effect was particularly significant at low sludge mixing ratios. The reactions between Na-based compounds in ZDc and Si/Al/P-rich minerals in sludge, forming high-melting-point phosphates and aluminosilicates, not only increased Na retention in residual ash reducing the risk of fouling on tail-heating surfaces in boilers, but also raised the ash fusibility of the co-fuels avoiding low-temperature sintering. Even so, to prevent slagging, the high combustion temperature above 900 °C should be avoided during co-combustion because of the high Na retention in residual ash. Moreover, the high heavy metal retention in residual ash decreased the pollution caused by heavy metal volatilization during sludge combustion.     

Experimental investigation on ignition and lean blow-out performance of a multi-sector centrally staged combustor

Improvement on extinction and pollution emission have become one of the most prominent research topics in gas turbine.It is widely recognized that the fuel/air mixture distribution in the recirculation zone is a critical factor in improving lean blow-out（LBO） and ignition.This paper proposed a new low emission scheme with fuel staged centrally and hybrid injector to improve flameout and emission.A relative small amount of fuel enters into central pilot airblast atomizer burner and then atomized by inner swirl air.The remaining majority of fuel is directly injected into vane channels of the primary swirler through a series of holes located on the sidewall of the main stage.Only pilot stage is fueled under ignition and lean flameout condition.The uniformity of fuel/air mixture distribution in the primary zone of the new design decreases NOX emission,meanwhile the fuel air mixture in pilot recirculation zone is locally rich to improve flameout and ignition.Experimental investigation was conducted to compare the new scheme with baseline design of dual-swirler in terms of LBO and ignition characteristics under the same condition in a multi-sector combustor.It is found that the fuel-air ratio of ignition limit and LBO decrease with the reference velocity increasing.The experimental results also show that the new scheme successfully improve lean blow-out and broaden the operation range of the combustor.The experimental results indicated that the centrally staged scheme can widen the operation boundary of the combustor and can provide guidance for design and optimization of combustion chamber.     

An experimental investigation of iso-octane ignition phenomena

High-speed digital imaging has been used in rapid compression facility (RCF) studies to investigate ignition phenomena of iso-octane/air mixtures. Sequential images were captured for each experiment. The results indicate the existence of two ignition regimes. In one domain, ignition is rapid, typically less than 76 μs, and ignition occurs simultaneously throughout the test volume. In the other domain, reaction fronts form and propagate within the test volume prior to volumetric ignition. The data span equivalence ratios from ?=0.20 to 1.98, with inert/O₂ gas ratios from 1.38 to 5.89, pressures from 8.7 to 16.6 atm, and temperatures from 903 to 1020 K. The transition between the two regimes is discussed in the context of the mixture composition and experimental conditions. The analysis shows that the fuel mole fraction is a key parameter dictating the boundary between the modes of ignition. Below a critical mole fraction limit, volumetric ignition is observed; above the critical limit, reaction fronts are consistently present prior to volumetric ignition. The ignition delay times for both ignition regimes are well reproduced using a homogeneous simulation with detailed reaction chemistry, when the state conditions are modified to account for the presence of the reaction fronts. The results are discussed in terms of proposed reaction chemistry, ignition theory, and previous studies of iso-octane ignition.     

Experimental study on spark ignition of non-premixed hydrogen jets

The leaks of pressurized hydrogen can be ignited if an ignition source is within a certain distance from the source of the leaks, and jet fires or explosions may take place. In this paper, a high speed camera was used to investigate the ignition kernel development, ignition probability and flame propagation along the axis of hydrogen jets, which leaked from a 3-mm-internal-diameter nozzle and were ignited by an electric spark. Experimental results indicate that for successful ignition events, the ignition delay time increases with an increase of the distance between the nozzle and the electrode. Ignitable zone of the hydrogen jets is underestimated if using the predicted hydrogen concentration along the jets centerline. The average rate of downstream flame decreases but that of the upstream flame increases with the electrode going far from the nozzle.     

Experimental study on the ignition characteristics of cellulose,hemicellulose, lignin and their mixtures

Ignition behaviour of biomass is an essential knowledge for plant design and process control of biomass combustion. Understanding of ignition characteristics of its main chemical components, i.e. cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and their mixtures will allow the further investigation of ignition behaviour of a wider range of biomass feedstock. This paper experimentally investigates the influences of interactions among cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin on the ignition behaviour of biomass by thermogravimetric analysis. Thermal properties of an artificial biomass, consisting of a mixture of the three components will be studied and compared to that of natural biomass in atmospheres of air and nitrogen in terms of their ignition behaviour. The results showed that the identified ignition temperatures of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin are 410 °C, 370 °C and 405 °C, respectively. It has been found that the influence of their interactions on the ignition behaviour of mixtures is insignificant, indicating that the ignition behaviour of various biomass feedstock could be predicted with high accuracy if the mass fractions of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin are known. While the deficiencies of the determined mutual interactions would be further improved by the analytical results of the activation energies of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, their mixtures as well as natural and artificial biomass in air conditions.