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Title: Electric utility use of fireside additives. Final report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5414386

Fireside additives have been used or proposed for use in fossil-fired utility boilers to combat a number of problems related to boiler performance and reliability. These problems include corrosion, fouling, superheat control, and acidic emissions. Fuel additives and other fireside additives have been used mainly with oil firing; however, there is growing experience with additives in coal-firing, especially for flyash conditioning to improve the performance of electrostatic precipitators. In decisions regarding the selection and use of additives, utilities have had to rely extensively on empiricism, due partly to an incomplete understanding of processes involved and partly to the limited amount of quantitative data. The study reported here was sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute to assemble and analyze pertinent operating experience and to recommend guidelines for utility decisions on the use of additives. The combined results of the state-of-the-art review of technical literature and a special survey of utility experience are reported. A total of 38 utilities participated in the survey, providing information on trials conducted on 104 units in 93 different plants. Altogether, 445 separate trials were reported, each representing a unit/additive/fuel combination. Additives used in these trials included 90 different additive formulations, both pure compounds and proprietary products. These formulations were categorized into 37 generic classes according to their chemical constituents, and the results of the survey are presented by these generic classes. The findings are organized according to the operating problems for which fireside additives are used. Guidelines are presented for utility use in additive selection and in planning additive trials.

Research Organization:
Battelle Columbus Labs., OH (USA)
OSTI ID:
5414386
Report Number(s):
EPRI-CS-1318
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English