The effect of oxygen and volatile combustibles on the sulphation of gaseous KCl

Sulphur/sulphate containing additives, such as elemental sulphur (S) and ammonium sulphate (NH4)(2)SO4), can be used for sulphation of KCl during biomass combustion. These additives convert KCl to an alkali sulphate and a more efficient sulphation is normally achieved for ammonium sulphate compared to sulphur. The presence of SO3 is thus of greater importance than that of SO2. Oxygen and volatile combustibles could also have an effect on the sulphation of gaseous KCl. This paper is based on results obtained during co-combustion of wood chips and straw pellets in a 12 MW circulating fluidised bed (CFB) boiler. Ammonium sulphate was injected at three positions in the boiler i.e. in the upper part of the combustion chamber, in the cyclone inlet, and in the cyclone. The sulphation of KCl was investigated at three air excess ratios (lambda = 1.1, 1.2 and 1.4). Several measurement tools were applied including IACM (on-line measurements of gaseous alkali chlorides), deposit probes (chemical composition in deposits collected) and gas analysis. The position for injection of ammonium sulphate had a great impact on the sulphation efficiency for gaseous KCl at the different air excess ratios. There was also an effect of oxygen on the sulphation efficiency when injecting ammonium sulphate in the cyclone. Less gaseous KCl was reduced during air excess ratio lambda = 1.1 compared to the higher air excess ratios. The optimal position and conditions for injection of ammonium sulphate were identified by measuring KCl with IACM. A correlation was observed between the sulphation of gaseous KCl and reduced chlorine content in the deposits. The experimental observations were evaluated using a detailed reaction mechanism. It was used to model the effect of volatile combustibles on the sulphation of gaseous MCI by SO3. The calculations supported the proposition that the presence of combustibles at the position of SO3 injection (i.e. AS) causes reduction of SO3 to SO2

Influence of air-staging on the concentration profiles of NH3 and HCN in the combustion chamber of a CFB boiler burning coal

The characterisation of the concentration profiles of NH3 and HCN are of great importance for increasing the knowledge of the formation and destruction pathways of NO and N2O in a fluidized bed boiler. Further improvements of the sampling methods for the determination of both NH3 and HCN in the combustion chamber in full-scale CFB boilers are also needed. A gas-sampling probe connected to a Fourier Transform Infra Red (FTIR) instrument and a gas-quenching (GQ) probe in which the sample is quenched directly in the probe tip by a circulating trapper solution were used. The FTIR technique is based on analysis of hot combustion gases, whereas the trapper solutions from the GQ probe were analysed by means of wet chemistry. The tests were performed during coal combustion in a 12 MW CFB boiler, which was operated at three air-staging cases with the addition of limestone for sulphur capture. The concentration profiles of NH3 and HCN in the combustion chamber showed a different pattern concerning the influence of air-staging. The highest levels of NH3 were observed during reducing conditions (severe air-staging), and the lowest were found under oxidising conditions (no air-staging). The levels of HCN were much lower than those measured for NH3. The highest levels of HCN were observed for reversed air-staging and severe air-staging showed almost no HCN. The potential reactions involving NH3 and HCN in the combustion chamber as well as the potential measurement errors in each sampling technique are discussed for the three air-staging cases

Sewage sludge as a deposit inhibitor when co-fired with high potassium fuels

The objective of this work is to survey the fate of potassium in the gas phase of a fluidised bed boiler and gain deeper understanding of the involved mechanisms during co-firing of municipal sewage sludge with biomass containing high amounts of potassium and chlorine. The results show that formation of alkali chlorides in the flue gas and corrosive deposits on heat transfer surfaces can be controlled by addition of municipal sewage sludge even though the fuel is highly contaminated with chlorine. The beneficial effects are partly due to the content of sulphur in the sludge, partly to the properties of the sludge ash. The sludge ash consists of both crystalline and amorphous phases. It contains silica, aluminium, calcium, iron and phosphorus which all are involved in the capture of potassium. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Chemical fractionation for the characterisation of fly ashes from co-combustion of biofuels using different methods for alkali reduction

a b s t r a c t Chemical fractionation, SEM–EDX and XRD was used for characterisation of fly ashes from different cocombustion tests in a 12MW circulating fluidized bed boiler. The fuels combusted were wood pellets as base fuel and straw pellets as co-fuel in order to reach a fuel blend with high alkali and chlorine concentrations. This fuel blend causes severe problems with both agglomeration of bed material if silica sand is used and with deposits in the convection section of the boiler. Counter measures to handle this situation and avoiding expensive shut downs, tests with alternative bed materials and additives were performed. Three different bed materials were used; silica sand, Olivine sand and blast furnace slag (BFS) and different additives were introduced to the furnace of the boiler; Kaolin, Zeolites and Sulphur with silica sand as bed material. The results of the study are that BFS gives the lowest alkali load in the convection pass compared with Silica and Olivine sand. In addition less alkali and chlorine was found in the fly ashes in the BFS case. The Olivine sand however gave a higher alkali load in the convection section and the chemical fractionation showed that the main part of the alkali in the fly ashes was soluble, thus found as KCl which was confirmed by the SEM–EDX and XRD. The comparison of the different additives gave that addition of Kaolin and Zeolites containing aluminium- silicates captured 80% of the alkali in the fly ash as insoluble alkali–aluminium-silikates and reduced the KCl load on the convection section. Addition of sulphur reduced the KCl load in the flue gas even more but the K2SO4 concentration was increased and KCl was found in the fly ashes anyhow. The chemical fractionation showed that 65% of the alkali in the fly ashes of the Sulphur case was soluble

Measurements of Gas Concentrations in a Fluidized Bed Combustor Using Laser-Induced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy and Zirconia Cell Probes

The dynamic combustion behavior of a circulating, fluidized bed boiler (CFB) was studied using two high-speed gas analysis systems during the combustion of coal, pear, and wood chips. Time-resolved concentrations of SO2 and NO were measured by laser-induced photoacoustic spectroscopy (LIPS). A zirconia-cell based probe (lambda-probe), synchronized with the LIPS probe, measured fluctuations between reducing and oxidizing conditions. The two probes were positioned in the same measurement volume on the centerline of the CFB combustion chamber. The purpose of the work was to investigate the behavior of the LIPS in a combustion chamber containing reacting gases in order to extend the previous h-probe measurements to other gas components. Correlations between oxidizing and reducing conditions and gas species concentrations in three locations in the combustion chamber are presented. The best correlations were found in the upper part of the CFB combustion chamber. In some cases the correlation between reducing conditions and the LIPS signal was caused by unburnt hydrocarbons. Average values of [NO] and [SO2] obtained by the LIPS system were compared with the results from a sampling probe connected to on-line analyzers. The measurements of [NO] and [SO2] were disturbed by interfering gases during reducing conditions. During a sufficiently long time of oxidizing conditions, however, reasonable agreement was obtained between LIPS measurements of [NO] and [SO2] and those of the on-line analyzers. On some occasions (low SO2 concentration) the concentration of the OH radical was also measured

Fuel Loading of a Fluidized Bed Combustor Burning Bituminous Coal, Peat or Wood Chips

Characterisation of gas- and particle phases in the combustion chamber of a commercial size circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler has been carried out during tests with three different fuels: bituminous coal, peat and wood chips, for typical operating conditions of a CFB boiler. The evaluation of the test results aims at presenting data on the fuel loading in parallel with the vertical profiles of oxygen concentration to be used for validation of models and for modelling of the fuel loading. The measurements show that the char loading during peat combustion is 13% of the amount found during coal combustion. Wood combustion results in even less char, only 3.5% of the concentration during coal combustion. For all fuels, more than 80% of the mass of char is retained in the lower part of the combustion chamber, below 2 meter from the bottom plate. The oxygen concentration profiles show large variations over the cross section for all three fuels, explained as an effect of insufficient penetration of secondary air in combination with partial plugging of some of the secondary air nozzles. In the peat and wood cases some of the variation over the cross section is caused by the high volatile content of the fuel in combination with a fuel supply from only one of the furnace walls

Composition of agglomerates in fluidized bed reactors for thermochemical conversion of biomass and waste fuels Experimental data in comparison with predictions by a thermodynamic equilibrium model

Controlled combustion tests of biomass were performed in the 12 MWth circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler located on the campus of Chalmers University of Technology. The aim was twofold: to investigate the composition of agglomerated material and also to highlight the reasons for sintering and agglomeration during thermochemical conversion of biomass and wastes in fluidized bed reactors using quartz sand as bed material. Bed ash from three different tests regarding fuel or fuel mixtures (wood with straw, bark, and bark with refused derived fuel) was analysed to determine the ash elements using: (a) inductive coupled plasma (ICP) equipped with optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and (b) scanning electron microscopy equipped with an electron dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDX). Chemical equilibrium calculations were also performed to support the interpretation of the experimental findings. It was found that the combination of (i) well controlled full-scale tests in a fluidized bed boiler, (ii) the use of line-scans by the EDX spectrometer of the SEM on bed samples and (iii) thermodynamic equilibrium modelling is a powerful tool in understanding the phenomena of bed agglomeration using quartz sand

Comparison of large- and small-scale circulating fluidized bed combustors with respect to pollutant formation and reduction for different fuels

To investigate the scale-up problem of circulating fluidized bed combustors with particular respect to emissions, comparative combustion experiments have been performed in an industrial-size combustor (12 MWth, height 14 m, cross-sectional area 1.6 m X 1.6 m) and in a lab-scale facility (height 16 m, inner diameter 100 mm). A comparison of the axial concentration profiles of oxygen, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, nitrous oxide and ammonia along the riser height, obtained during the combustion of wood, peat and coal under conditions of equal fuel bed material, solid holdup and gas residence time, shows a basic similarity. This indicates that suitably sized and operated lab-scale combustors may indeed be valuable tools for the investigation of combustion phenomena. However, some significant deviations of the profiles can be recognized, too. These deviations are caused by three-dimensional effects in the large-scale combustor and indicate the limitations of small-scale experiments

Ammonia Addition for NOx Reduction in Fluidized Bed Boilers

Ammonia is added to the gases in the combustion chamber of fluidized bed briilers in order to investigate its effect ori the emission of nitrogen oxides. A stationary and a circulating fluidized bed boiler are used. In the sta­tionary fluidized bed boiler an addition corresponding to a (NH3/NOexit-molar ratio of 3 gives a 50% reduction of the NO emission. Larger doses lead to escape of ammonia and other disadvantages. In the circulating fluidized bed boiler no effect from injection of ammonia into the combustion chamber is noted. The ammonia is decomposed. If NH3 is to be used in circulating fluidized bed boilers it should be introduced in the particle-free gas after the particle separator