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Mixing and combustion in a coal-limestone fluidized bed combustor

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:5722130

Task 1 was to investigate experimentally the characteristics of solids mixing between coal and limestone in a cold fluidized bed; Task 2 was to derive a model to describe the behavior of solids mixing observed in Task 1; and Task 3 was to develop a combustor model, which couples the mixing model derived in Task 2 with a combustion model, to simulate the mixing and combustion behavior in a hot coal-limestone fluidized bed combustor. In Task 1, the experiments were carried out in a 0.203 m diameter cold fluidized bed with coal and limestone of different sizes the the fluidized particles. Experimental parameters examined included operation time, air flow rate, bed height, initial bed setup, relative particle size and relative amount of the two particles. In the second task, the mixing model considered the downward or upward movement of a particle in the bed as being governed by certain probability laws; these laws were, in turn, affected by the bubbles. The distance of the upward movement was governed by the residence time of a particle staying in a bubble wake; the distance of downward movement, however, was determined from a material balance consideration. In all, the model took into account the effects of time, flow rate, initial bed setup and relative particle size on solids mixing. Dynamic coal concentration profiles under different operating conditions were generated by the simulation and were found to represent the experimental data reasonably well. In addition to the operation parameters included in Tasks 1 and 2, the model developed in Task 3 also considered the inlet size distribution of coal, size reduction of coal due to combustion and coal elutriation. This model was a capable of predicting the dynamic mixing and combustion behavior in a combustor under specific operation conditions.

Research Organization:
Lamar Univ., Beaumont, TX (USA)
OSTI ID:
5722130
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English