NO emission on pulverized coal combustion in high temperature air from circulating fluidized bed – An experimental study

High temperature air was adopted by combustion in high excess air ratio in a circulating fluidized bed. Experiments on pulverized coal combustion in high temperature air from the circulating fluidized bed were carried out in a down-fired combustor with the diameter of 220 mm and the height of 3000 mm. The NO emission decreases with increasing the residence time of pulverized coal in the reducing zone, and the NO emission increases with excess air ratio, furnace temperature, coal mean size and oxygen concentration in high temperature air. The results also revealed that the co-existing of air-staging combustion with high temperature air is very effective to reduce nitrogen oxide emission for pulverized coal combustion in the down-fired combustor.     

Effects of operational parameters on emission performance and combustion efficiency in small-scale CFBCs

A well-designed CFBC can burn coal with high efficiency and within acceptable levels of gaseous emissions. In this theoretical study effects of operational parameters on combustion efficiency and the pollutants emitted have been estimated using a developed dynamic 2D (two-dimensional) model for CFBCs. Model simulations have been carried out to examine the effect of different operational parameters such as excess air and gas inlet pressure and coal particle size on bed temperature, the overall CO, NO_x and SO₂ emissions and combustion efficiency from a small-scale CFBC. It has been observed that increasing excess air ratio causes fluidized bed temperature decrease and CO emission increase. Coal particle size has more significant effect on CO emissions than the gas inlet pressure at the entrance to fluidized bed. Increasing excess air ratio leads to decreasing SO₂ and NO_x emissions. The gas inlet pressure at the entrance to fluidized bed has a more significant effect on NO_x emission than the coal particle size. Increasing excess air causes decreasing combustion efficiency. The gas inlet pressure has more pronounced effect on combustion efficiency than the coal particle size, particularly at higher excess air ratios. The developed model is also validated in terms of combustion efficiency with experimental literature data obtained from 300 kW laboratory scale test unit. The present theoretical study also confirms that CFB combustion allows clean and efficient combustion of coal.     

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.     

Coal combustion characteristics in a fluidized bed combustor with a draft tube

The effects of gas velocity to draft tube (3–6 U_m), bed temperature (800–900°C) and excess air ratio (0–30%) on the total entrainment rate, overall combustion efficiency and heat transfer coefficient have been determined in an internally circulating fluidized bed combustor with a draft tube. The total entrainment rate increases with an increase in gas velocity to draft tube, but decreases with increasing bed temperature and excess air ratio. The overall combustion efficiency increases with increasing excess air ratio, but decreases with increasing gas velocity to draft tube. The overall combustion efficiency obtained in internally circulating fluidized beds was found to be somewhat higher than that in a bubbling fluidized bed combustor.     

Combustion characteristics of a two-stage swirl-flow fluidized bed combustor

In order to investigate the combustion characteristics of a two-stage swirl-flow fluidized bed combustor, combustion experiments of low-grade anthracite coal were performed. Experimental parameters were the fluidizing air velocity, coal feed rates, bed temperature, stoichiometric air ratio, swirl nozzle diameter and rotational diameter. The experimental results showed that, due to the swirl flow, the elutriation rates of fines were lower than those of the single-stage fluidized bed combustor. The combustible contents of the ash in the outflow streams were also reduced. Therefore, the combustion efficiency of the two-stage swirl-flow fluidized bed combustor was 20% greater than that of the single-stage fluidized bed combustor under the same operating conditions.     

Coal combustion characteristics in a pressurized fluidized bed

The characteristics of emission and heat transfer coefficient in a pressurized fluidized bed combustor are investigated. The pressure of the combustor is fixed at 6 atm. and the combustion temperatures are set to 850, 900, and 950 °C. The gas velocities are 0.9, 1.1, and 1.3 m/s and the excess air ratios are 5, 10, and 20%. The desulfurization experiment is performed with limestone and dolomite and Ca/S mole ratios are 1,2, and 4. The coal used in the experiment is Cumnock coal from Australia. All experiments are executed at 2 m bed height. In this study, the combustion efficiency is higher than 99.8% through the experiments. The heat transfer coefficient affected by gas velocity, bed temperature and coal feed rate is between 550-800 W/m² °C, which is higher than those of AFBC and CFBC. CO concentration with increasing freeboard temperature decreases from 100 ppm to 20 ppm. NO_x concentration in flue gas is in the range of 5-130 ppm and increases with increasing excess air ratio. N₂O concentration in flue gas decreases from 90 to 10 ppm when the bed temperature increases from 850 to 950 °C.     

Pulverized coal combustion and NOx emissions in high temperature air from circulating fluidized bed

A new technique of achieving high temperature air was adopted by combustion in high excess air ratio in a circulating fluidized bed (CFB). Experiments on pulverized coal combustion in high temperature air from the CFB were made in a down-fired combustor with the diameter of 220 mm and the height of 3000 mm. High temperature air with lower oxygen concentrations can be achieved steadily and continuously by combustion in the circulating fluidized bed. Pulverized coal combustion in high temperature air shows a uniform temperature profile along the axis of the down-fired combustor and the combustion efficiency is 99.8%. The NO_x emission is 390 mg/m³, 13% lower than the regulation for thermal power plants in China. The HCN and NH₃ emissions, as well as N₂O, are about zero in the exhaust.     

Plume model for large particle fluidized-bed combustors

A model is proposed to represent the underfeed, fluidized coal combustor. Its assumptions are described and its mathematical representation developed. This model accounts for the possible rapid release of volatiles near the feed ports, particle reaction and shrinkage in the bed, elutriation of unburned fines and afterburning of volatiles above the bed. Design charts are then presented to predict the carbon efficiency of the combustor as well as the temperature jump above the bed in terms of the type of coal used, the number of feed ports in the bed, percentage excess air, gas velocity and the amount of secondary air needed to introduce the coal. As a special case, this model also represents the fluidized combustor with an overfeed of large coal particles or any combination of overfeed of large particles and underfeed of fines.     

Performance evaluation of a pilot scale vortexing fluidized bed combustor

To understand vortexing fluidized bed combustor (VFBC) performances, an investigation was carried out in a 0.45 m diameter and 4.45 m height pilot scale VFBC. Rice husks, corn, and soybean were used as the biomass feedstock and silica sand serving as the bed material. The bubbling bed temperature was controlled by using water injected into the bed. The experimental results show that the excess air ratio is the dominant factor for combustion efficiency. The in-bed combustion proportion increases with the primary air flow rate and bed temperature, and decreases with the volatile/fixed carbon ratio. The stability constant is proposed to describe the inertia characteristics of the vortexing fluidized bed combustor. The experimental results indicate that the stability of the VFBC increases with bed weight and primary air flow rate, but decreases with bed temperature.     

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.     

Experimental studies on a novel swirling fluidized-bed combustor using an annular spiral air distributor

This work reports studies on hydrodynamics as well as combustion and emission characteristics of a conical swirling fluidized-bed combustor (SFBC) using an annular spiral air distributor as the swirl generator. In the experimental study on a ‘cold’ SFBC model, hydrodynamic regimes and characteristics of an air-sand bed were investigated for variable bed particle size and static bed height. Depending on the superficial air velocity, the bed exhibited four operational regimes. Based on the results from the ‘cold’ hydrodynamic study, optimum bed characteristics (sand particle size and bed height) and the range of primary air were determined prior to the combustion tests. In the second part of this work, a conical SFBC was tested for firing 80 kg/h rice husk. During the combustion tests, swirl motion of a fluidized bed was induced by primary air injected into the bed through the air distributor and, also, sustained by tangential injection of secondary air into the bed splash zone. Radial and axial temperature and gas (O₂, CO, NO) concentration profiles in the reactor were obtained for 20-80% excess air. Effects of operating conditions on formation and decomposition of major gaseous pollutants (CO and NO) in the reactor are discussed. Both CO and NO were found to be reduced significantly in the bed splash zone, resulting in quite low CO and moderate NO emissions from the reactor. High combustion efficiency, 99.4-99.5%, is achievable when burning rice husk in the proposed conical SFBC at 80 kg/h feed rate and excess air of 40-80%.     

Enhancement of combustion efficiency with mixing ratio during fluidized bed combustion of anthracite and bituminous blended coal

In order to investigate the effect of mixing ratio of bituminous coal to blended coal on the enhancement of combustion efficiency, combustion experiments of blended coal with anthracite and bituminous are done in a laboratory scale fluidized bed combustor (10.8 cm ID and 170 cm height). The gross heating values of anthracite and bituminous coal used in this study are 2,810 cal/g and 6,572 cal/g, respectively. Experimental parameters are fuel feed rate, superficial gas velocity and mixing ratio of bituminous coal to blended coal. The combustion efficiency increases with the mixing ratio of bituminous coal due to the lower unburned carbon losses and higher burning velocity of bituminous coal. The rate of combustion in the combustor was increased with mixing ratio resulted from a higher burning velocity of bituminous coal. The measured combustion efficiency experimentally is about 3.5-12.4% higher than that of the calculated value based on the individual combustion of anthracite and bituminous coal under the same operating conditions. The optimum mixing ratio (MR) of bituminous coal determined is around 0.75 in this study. This paper is dedicated to Professor Dong Sup Doh on the occasion of his retirement from Korea University.     

Modeling of sulphur retention in atmospheric fluidized bed combustors. Sensitivity analysis and simulation

For the design, simulation and optimization of sulphur retention in atmospheric fluidized bed coal combustors, a mathematical model is needed that would be able to predict the behaviour of the combustor in a wide range of operating conditions. In this work, a sensitivity analysis of the sulphur retention predictions of the different hypotheses, equations and parameters, which define the different submodels and phenomena occurring in the combustor, has been carried out. It has been found that the hypotheses related to the gas flow, devolatilization type and sulphur distribution in the pyrolysis products imply an important division among models. The greatest effect on sulphur retention predictions is exercised by the parameters defining the fines elutriation and sorbent sulphation capacity. However, those corresponding to the bed hydrodynamics (minimum fluidization velocity and bed expansion) do not have a significant effect on the sulphur retention predictions. The sulphur retentions obtained in the combustion of high sulphur lignites with eight different limestones were used for model validation. A good fit of the experimental sulphur retentions was found, without using any adjustable parameter. Finally, a simulation of the process was made. The great effect of the bed height, air velocity and the particle size distribution of the limestone must be pointed out, as well as the effect of its reactivity through the maximum conversion attainable by each particle size.     

烧结床层的热质分析

基于烧结生产的复杂物理化学过程,建立了烧结床层传热、传质和流动的二维非稳态数学模型,考虑了孔隙率、物料颗粒当量直径等床层结构影响参数的变化,并对气固传热系数进行了修正。通过数值计算,获得了烧结床层的温度场、结构变化和烟气的流场、温度场、浓度场等。烟气出口温度、床层总压降与生产实测值吻合较好,验证了数学模型的正确性。进一步分析了燃料配比、风量和给料温度等操作参数对烧结过程的影响。研究结果表明：燃烧带的厚度、最高温度随着烧结过程的进行而逐渐增加。床层孔隙率、颗粒当量直径的变化主要发生在燃烧带的熔融、冷凝阶段。料层压损最大的是燃烧熔融层,其次是混合料带,最小的是烧结矿层。增加焦粉含量、提高烧结混合料的初温,有利于提高成矿质量;风量过大时,会造成成矿质量下降、生产成本提高。     

Mixing and combustion in a shallow coal-limestone fluidized bed combustor

A model based on the Monte Carlo approach was developed to simulate the mixing and combustion behavior of a shallow coal-limestone fluidized bed combustor. The model involved the coupling of two sub-models: a combustion sub-model based on the two-phase concept of fluidization and a mixing sub-model based on our previously developed dynamic mixing model. The combustion sub-model considered both the volatile and char combustion. It assumed that the combustor consisted of three distinct phases, i.e., jet, bubble and emulsion, with combustion occurring only in the emulsion phase. The mixing sub-model considered the upward or downward movement of a coal particle in the bed as being governed by certain probability laws; these laws were, in turn, affected by the bubbling hydrodynamics. In all, the combustor simulation model took into consideration the effects of coal feed rate, coal size distribution, limestone size, air flow rate and combustor temperature on the combustor behavior. The simulation results included the dynamic response of coal concentration profile, coal size distribution, coal particle elutriation rate as well as the mixing status between the coal and limestone particles.     

循环流化床燃煤过程NOx和N2O产生-控制研究进展

循环流化床(CFB)燃烧技术因其燃料适应范围广、污染物排放低等优点,近几十年得到广泛应用. 随着当前环保要求的日益提高,CFB燃煤过程N2O排放浓度较高成为其应用的瓶颈问题. 因此系统总结CFB燃煤过程中NOx和N2O排放的研究现状对开发新型CFB燃煤技术具有重要意义. 本工作首先讨论了CFB燃煤过程中NOx和N2O的均相和异相反应机理,然后应用这些机理分析了床温、过剩空气系数、分级燃烧,以及煤种对CFB燃煤过程NOx和N2O排放的影响. 在此基础上,对常见的抑制NOx和N2O排放的工艺从机理角度进行了归纳总结. 最后,对2种本工作认为有应用前景的CFB燃煤减排NOx和N2O新技术?反向分级燃烧技术及CFB解耦燃烧技术进行了简要论述.     

Prediction of combustion efficiency of chicken litter using an artificial neural network approach

This paper aimed to explore a feed-forward back-propagation artificial neural network (BPANN) approach to predict combustion efficiency of chicken litter in a swirling fluidized bed combustor. A series of experiments were conducted based on the statistics-based design of experiment method. The data for combustion efficiencies under various operational conditions were obtained to train artificial neural network. The operational conditions were adjusted through moisture content in waste, excess air, litter ratio, secondary air and its injection height. A BPANN was constructed and trained with two training algorithms: Levenberg–Marquardt and gradient descent. The response surface of combustion efficiency along with the five parameters was accordingly predicted. The results showed that for the same mean squared error (0.2204) the Levenberg–Marquardt training algorithm is much faster than the gradient descent. The best architecture of neural network was found as 5 + 16 + 1. Also, the predicted response surface clearly showed how combustion efficiency changes along with the operational parameters. Moreover, the relative high combustion efficiency (over 84%) was found within the ranges: moisture content as 11–14%, litter ratio as 0.05–0.1, excess air as 0.22–0.45, secondary air as 0.18–0.27. A validation experiment under these conditions showed that the artificial neural network approach provides an easy and reliable prediction for combustion efficiency.     

Fluidized bed char combustion kinetic models

The effect of the kinetics of the heterogeneous reaction between the char and oxygen, and the importance of the subsequent homogeneous oxidation of carbon monoxide oil the performance of an atmospheric fluidized bed combustor have been examined by a comparative analysis of three models. Numerical calculations illustrating the effect of operating variables such as bed temperature, fuel and sorbent particle feed size and excess air were performed for values of the parameters which are pertinent to the design of large scale utility boilers. It is found that the kinetic models predict existence of multiple steady states over a wide range of operating conditions and values of model parameters. The model predictions of combustion efficiency, carbon loading and CO concentrations are in qualitative agreement with experimental data reported in the literature.     

Co-combustion of peach and apricot stone with coal in a bubbling fluidized bed

In this study a bubbling fluidized bed combustor (BFBC) having an inside diameter of 102 mm and a height of 900 mm was used to investigate the co-combustion characteristics of peach and apricot stones produced as a waste from the fruit juice industry with coal. A lignite coal was used for co-combustion. 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. Variations of emissions of various pollutants were studied by changing the operating parameters (excess air ratio, fluidization velocity, and fuel feed rate). Temperature distribution along the bed was measured with thermocouples.     

Modeling and experimental studies on single particle coal devolatilization and residual char combustion in fluidized bed

Single particle devolatilization followed by combustion of the residual coal char particle has been analyzed in a batch-fluidized bed. The kinetic scheme with distributed activation energy is used for coal devolatilization while multiple chemical reactions with volume reaction mechanism are considered for residual char combustion. Both the models couple kinetics with heat transfer. Finite Volume Method (FVM) is employed to solve fully transient partial differential equations coupled with reaction kinetics. The devolatilization model is used to predict the devolatilization time along with residual mass and particle temperature, while the combined devolatilization and char combustion model is used to predict the overall mass loss and temperature profile of coal. The computed results are compared with the experimental results of the present authors for combustion of Indian sub-bituminous coal (15% ash) in a fluidized bed combustor as well as with published experimental results for coal with low ash high volatile matter. The effects of various operating parameters like bed temperature, oxygen mole fraction in bulk phase on devolatilization time and burn-out time of coal particle in bubbling fluidized bed have been examined through simulation.