Development and testing of a high efficiency advanced coal combustor: Phase 3 -- Industrial boiler retrofit. Proof of concept testing summary (Task 3.0 Final topical report)

Technical Report · Sat Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1995

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/171254· OSTI ID:171254

Patel, R L; Borio, R ^[1]; Scaroni, A W; Miller, B G ^[2]; McGowan, J G ^[3]

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1. ABB/Combustion Engineering, Windsor, CT (United States). Power Plant Labs.
2. Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)
3. Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (United States)

Economics may one day dictate that it makes sense to replace oil or natural gas with coal in boilers that were originally designed to burn oil or gas. In recognition of this future possibility, Pittsburgh Energy Technical Center (PETC) has supported a program led by ABB Power Plant Laboratories in cooperation with the Energy and Fuels Research Center of Penn State University to develop the High Efficiency Advanced Coal Combustor (HEACC). The objective of the program is to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of retrofitting a gas/oil designed boiler to burn micronized coal. In support of the overall objective the following specific areas were targeted: a coal handling/preparation system that can meet the technical requirements for retrofitting microfine coal on a boiler designed for burning oil or natural gas; maintaining boiler thermal performance in accordance with specifications when burning oil or natural gas; maintaining NOx emissions at or below 0.6 lb NO{sub 2} per million Btu; achieving combustion efficiencies of 98% or higher; and calculating economic payback periods as a function of key variables. The work carried out under this program is broken into five major Tasks: review of current state-of-the-art coal firing system components; design and experimental testing of a prototype HEACC burner; installation and testing of a HEACC system in a retrofit application; economic evaluation of the HEACC concept for retrofit applications; and long term demonstration under user demand conditions. This report summarizes the work done under Task 3, the installation and testing of the HEACC burner in a 15,000 lb/hr package boiler located at Penn State. The period of testing was approximately 400 hours. Key findings are presented.

• Research Organization: ABB Combustion Engineering, Inc., Windsor, CT (United States). ABB Power Plant Labs.
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC22-91PC91160
• OSTI ID: 171254
• Report Number(s): DOE/PC/91160--T8; ON: DE96004097
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
BURNERS
COAL
COAL PREPARATION PLANTS
COMBUSTION
COMBUSTORS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FUEL SUBSTITUTION
GAS FURNACES
MATERIALS HANDLING
NITROGEN OXIDES
OIL FURNACES
PAYBACK PERIOD
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PROGRESS REPORT
RETROFITTING
THERMAL EFFICIENCY