Impact of coal quality on design, operation and emission characteristics of Indian utility boilers
- International Environmental & Energy Consultants, Oakbrook Terrance, IL (United States)
- National Thermal Power Corp., New Delhi (India)
The installed capacity of Indian utility industry reached 81,164 MW in March 1995 from 1362 MW in 1947. Coal-based power plants account for 74% of the capacity. Based on the 1992 level, an additional 142,000 MW is planned, to be based mostly on coal. India, the worlds third largest coal-producing country, raised over 220 million tons last year, and is due to reach over 400 million tons by the year 2000. Indian coal is primarily of sub-bituminous and lignite rank. The sub-bituminous coal is mostly used for power generation, the use of lignite being restricted to the plants located near the mines. The geological formation of Indian coal makes it high in moisture and ash of high abrasion, erosion, and fusion characteristics, but low in heating value, sulfur, and alkali content. The Indian coal has low slagging and fouling propensity. Its other feature is the presence of high level of inertinite group of organic components, which makes it relatively {open_quotes}slow{close_quotes} burning compared to the coals of Western countries. This attribute necessitates special furnace design features to ensure desired thermal efficiency and operation. The abrasive nature of ash leads to low life of grinding elements and requires conservative velocity in the convective heat transfer areas. The high moisture content, particularly during the monsoon period, poses difficulty in handling and pulverization. Low sulfur and alkali content of the high ash burden create significant difficulty for the ESPs to achieve the particulate emission limit of 150 mg/Nm{sup 3}. Fly ash conditioning by sulfur trioxide or other chemicals, in commercial use worldwide and considered to be a cost-effective solution for this national problem, has yet to be employed in India. Oxides of nitrogen and sulfur are controlled by ambient air quality standards as well as by stack height for SO{sub 2}. The high ash coal as well as other extraneous factors affect the plant availability and utilization.
- OSTI ID:
- 554970
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-961232-; TRN: 97:005889-0023
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Power-Gen International `96: 9. international conference and exhibition for the power generating industries, Orlando, FL (United States), 4-6 Dec 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of POWER-GEN `96 international. Book I - A. Electric power trends & strategies, Volume 1-3; PB: 348 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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