DOE cost comparison study industrial fluidized bed combustion vs conventional coal technology

Technical Report · Wed Jan 02 04:00:00 EST 1980

OSTI ID:5656381

Myrick, D T

This study compares the capital and operating costs of two different industrial boiler technologies, each producing 250,000 lbs steam/hr. These technologies are: Fluidized Bed Combustion (FBC) and Pulverized Coal (PC) combustion used in conjunction with a limestone Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) system. Three separate turnkey plant designs have been completed. Two of these plant designs incorporate FBC technology and have been designated FBA-16 and FBV-16. The first FBC design (FBA-16) contains two shop assembled, rail shippable fluid bed boilers capable of producing 125,000 lbs/hr each. The second plant design (FBV-16) utilizes a single 250,000 lbs/hr fluid bed boiler shipped by rail in large sections for field assembly. The third plant design utilizes a conventional pulverized coal (PC) boiler in conjunction with a C-E Air Quality Control System (AQCS) limestone scrubber. Capital costs were generated for the three turnkey plant designs just described. The FBA-16, FBV-16, and Conventional Unit plant designs have associated capital costs of $24.4, $22.8, and $24.7 million, respectively. Comparisons between plant capital cost estimates are valid and informative. The total operational costs, which include contingencies on new product design for the Fluid Bed Units, were found to vary between four and seven percent higher than the Conventional Unit. When contingencies are not included, the operating costs were found to be between one and three percent higher than the Conventional Unit. As can be seen, the operating costs for the bed designs are close enough to be considered similar when considering the nature of the study. The efficiency of the fluid bed plant designs can be increased and required capital equipment reduced by improvements to the plant design with time and more development. Some potential design modifications are outlined.

• Research Organization: Combustion Engineering, Inc., Windsor, CT (USA). Power Systems Group
• OSTI ID: 5656381
• Report Number(s): FE-2473-T7
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
014000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Combustion
42 ENGINEERING
421000 -- Engineering-- Combustion Systems
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COAL
COMBUSTION
COMBUSTORS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DESIGN
DESULFURIZATION
ENERGY SOURCES
ENGINEERING
EQUIPMENT
FLUE GAS
FLUIDIZED-BED COMBUSTION
FLUIDIZED-BED COMBUSTORS
FOSSIL FUELS
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
FUELS
GASEOUS WASTES
OXIDATION
POLLUTION CONTROL EQUIPMENT
POWER PLANTS
SCRUBBERS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
WASTES