Circulating fluidized bed combustion systems
Work on circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology has gone on since the 1940s; the first CFB boiler for electricity generation, developed by the company Lurgi Gmbh of Frankfurt, West Germany, went to work in Luenen in 1975. In the last 15 years, it's become a technology that combines combustion efficiency with fuel flexibility and effective emissions control. Low operating costs, in terms of construction and maintenance, may be added benefits. For many utilities, CFB is an option as they look to build new plant. The first of the technology's many advantages is the wide range of fuels it can handle, particularly low-grade fuels with high fines (finely crushed material) content, low volatility, and low BTU (British thermal unit) output. While CFBs can generally burn all grades of coal - anthracite, anthracite culm (refuse coal), bituminuous, subbituminous, and lignite - they can also take on petroleum coke, oil, oil shale, dehydrated sewage sludge, old tires, peat, and wood waste. And those fuels can be burned with a combustion efficiency of 98 percent and more. (Some manufacturers claim efficiencies of more than 99 percent). That's more bang for the fuel buck, but it also decreases the amount of solid particulates emitted. As for other emissions, the systems low combustion temperatures (800[degree]-900[degree]C, or 1470[degree]-1650[degree]F) limit the formation of nitrogen oxide (NO[sub x]). With limestone added in the combustion process, more than 95 percent of the sulfur dioxide (SO[sub 2]) drops out of the flue gases to become calcium sulfate. Moreover, although there's the issue of solid waste disposal, the calcium sulfate, along with the dry ash, has fewer disposal (and boiler corrosion) problems than does the slag that can be created by other combustion processes.
- OSTI ID:
- 6835925
- Journal Information:
- Electric Perspectives; (United States), Vol. 17:1; ISSN 0364-474X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
FLUIDIZED BED REACTORS
DESIGN
NITROGEN OXIDES
AIR POLLUTION ABATEMENT
SULFUR DIOXIDE
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
CALCIUM SULFATES
COAL
COKE
COMBUSTION CONTROL
OIL SHALES
PARTICULATES
PEAT
PETROLEUM
SEWAGE SLUDGE
TIRES
WOOD WASTES
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BIOLOGICAL WASTES
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CALCIUM COMPOUNDS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHALCOGENIDES
CONTROL
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL DISPERSION REACTORS
FUELS
HOMOGENEOUS REACTORS
MATERIALS
MATTER
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC MATTER
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PARTICLES
POLLUTION ABATEMENT
POLLUTION CONTROL
REACTORS
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SEWAGE
SHALES
SLUDGES
SOLID WASTES
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR OXIDES
WASTES
200100* - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Power Plants & Power Generation
200200 - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Waste Management