Commercial development of advanced PFBC technology

Journal Article · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995 · Preprints of Papers, American Chemical Society, Division of Fuel Chemistry

OSTI ID:420485

McClung, J D ^[1]

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1. Foster Wheeler Development Corp., Livingston, NJ (United States)

In the 1970s, the coal-fired power generation industry recognized that the declining price of electricity over the previous five decades was coming to an end. Maximum use had been made of existing cycle efficiencies and scale-up. As researchers looked for a new approach, the focus shifted from the fully developed Rankine cycle to a new array of coal-fired plants using combined-cycle technology. Now, coal-fired combined-cycle plants are being introduced that shift power production to the Brayton cycle. Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) and Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion (PFBC) are two technologies at the forefront of this approach. The PFBC approach burns coal in a fluidized bed combustor at elevated pressure. The plant generates electricity from a gas turbine (expanding the hot, pressurized products of combustion) in addition to the conventional steam (bottoming) cycle. Such a plant can achieve thermal efficiencies of about 40 percent and have a levelized busbar cost below any competing coal-based technology. In addition to the economic benefits, the {open_quotes}built-in{close_quotes} feature of environmental control (SO{sub 2} and NO{sub x}) in the combustion process eliminates the need for external gas cleanup such as scrubbers. A PFBC can burn a wider range of coals than a pulverized-coal-fired (PCF) boiler and is simpler to operate and maintain than an IGCC power plant.

• OSTI ID: 420485
• Report Number(s): CONF-950402--
• Journal Information: Preprints of Papers, American Chemical Society, Division of Fuel Chemistry, Journal Name: Preprints of Papers, American Chemical Society, Division of Fuel Chemistry Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 40; ISSN 0569-3772; ISSN ACFPAI
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
CARBONIZATION
COAL
COST
DESIGN
FLUIDIZED-BED COMBUSTION
FLUIDIZED-BED COMBUSTORS
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
INDUSTRY
SCRUBBERS