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Assessment of atmospheric fluidized-bed combustion recycle systems. Final report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5836228

This report presents a technical and economic evaluation of AFBC power plants with recycle systems, and a comparison of these plants with AFBC power plants with carbon burnup beds (CBB) and with pulverized coal-fired (PCF) power plants with flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. The analysis considers 1000 MWe plants burning both eastern and western coals. The capital and operating cost estimates are based on boiler designs developed by Babcock and Wilcox, Inc., and on sorbent requirements estimated by Burns and Roe, Inc. The economic analyses are based on a plant located in the East Central region of the United States with a 30-year life and a 70 percent capacity factor. The eastern coal-fired plants are designed to burn Illinois bituminous coal with a higher heating value of 10,100 Btu/lb and a sulfur content of 4%. The required calcium to sulfur mole ratios for the eastern plants are 3.8:1 and 2.5:1 for the AFBC/CBB and AFBC/recycle plants, respectively. The western coal-fired plants are designed to burn Wyoming subbituminous coal with a higher heating value of 8,020 Btu/lb and a sulfur content of 0.48%. The required calcium to sulfur mole ratios for the western plants are 0.7:1 and 0.4:1 for the AFBC/CBB and AFBC/recycle plants, respectively. These Ca/S mole ratios allow for 30 percent utilization of the alkaline coal ash to reduce sorbent requirements to the fluidized bed combustor. The analyses indicate that the AFBC/recycle plants have an economic advantage over the AFBC/CBB plants and over the PCF/FGD plants for both eastern and western coal.

Research Organization:
Burns and Roe, Inc., Woodbury, NY (USA)
OSTI ID:
5836228
Report Number(s):
EPRI-CS-2091; ON: DE82900879
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English