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Effect of Bed Pressure Drop on Performance of a CFB Boiler

Article in Energy & Fuels · June 2009

DOI: 10.1021/ef900025h

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2886 Energy & Fuels 2009, 23, 2886–2890

Effect of Bed Pressure Drop on Performance of a CFB Boiler

Hairui Yang,† Hai Zhang,*,† Shi Yang,† Guangxi Yue,† Jun Su,‡ and Zhiping Fu§
Department of Thermal Engineering, Key Laboratory for Thermal Science and Power Engineering of
Ministry Education, Tsinghua UniVersity, Beijing, 100084, China, Taiyuan Boiler Group Co. Ltd,
Taiyuan, 030021, China, and Shanxi Lishi Datuhe Heat and Power Cogeneration, Lishi, 033000, China

ReceiVed January 11, 2009. ReVised Manuscript ReceiVed April 4, 2009

The effect of bed pressure drop and bed inventory on the performances of a circulating fluidized bed (CFB)
boiler was studied. By using the state specification design theory, the fluidization state of the gas-solids flow
in the furnace of conventional CFB boilers was reconstructed to operate at a much lower bed pressure drop by
reducing bed inventory and control bed quality. Through theoretical analysis, it was suggested that there would
exist a theoretical optimal value of bed pressure drop, around which the boiler operation can achieve the
maximal combustion efficiency and with significant reduction of the wear of the heating surface and fan energy
consumption. The analysis was validated by field tests carried out in a 75 t/h CFB boiler. At full boiler load,
when bed pressure drop was reduced from 7.3 to 3.2 kPa, the height of the dense zone in the lower furnace
decreased, but the solid suspension density profile in the upper furnace and solid flow rate were barely influenced.
Consequently, the average heat transfer coefficient in the furnace was kept nearly the same and the furnace
temperature increment was less than 17 °C. It was also found that the carbon content in the fly ash decreased
first with decreasing bed pressure drop and then increased with further increasing bed pressure drop. The
turning point with minimal carbon content was referred to as the point with optimal bed pressure drop. For
this boiler, at the optimum point the bed pressure was around 5.7 kPa with the overall excess air ratio of 1.06.
When the boiler was operated around this optimal point, not only the combustion efficiency was improved,
but also fan energy consumption and wear of heating surface were reduced.

1. Introduction heating surfaces, especially during low quality coal firing is

much more severe, greatly reducing the boiler’s availability.
During the past two decades, due to its merits in wide fuel How to resolve these problems, making the CFB technology
flexibility, cost-effective emission control, and large range of more cost-effective and more reliable, is significant for its further
load adjustment, CFB boiler technology has been developed development.
rapidly. Nowadays, it becomes one of the main commercially To save the self-consumed power, it is straightforward to
applicable clean coal technologies around the world. In China, think about the method through reducing the pressure drop,
the total number of CFB boilers in operation is over 3000, namely, bed inventory M in the furnace. Since M is the integral
playing an irreplaceable role in the market of small- and of bed material along the furnace, before adjusting M, one should
medium-scale industrial boilers. Moreover, in recent years, CFB examine the flow characteristic in the furnace.
boilers emerged in the market of large-scale boilers used in
In general, the flow regime inside CFB furnace is described
power generation. So far, a number of units of 300 MW electical
as the superposition of a fast bed in the upper furnace and a
class CFB boilers have been put in operation around the world
bubbling bed or turbulent bed in the lower furnace.1,2 To
and the 600 MW electrical supercritical CFB boiler, the largest
maintain the fast bed regime in the upper furnace is important
unit in the world, is to be put into commissioning by the end of
to the heat transfer. On the basis of previous studies,3-11 with
2011 in China.
However, the CFB boiler technology is still under develop-
(1) Yue, G.; Lu, J.; Zhang, H., et al. In Design Theory of Circulating
ment, facing a number of challenges. Among them, low Fluidized Bed Boilers. In 18th International Fluidized Bed Combustion
combustion efficiency, high self-consumed service power, and Conference: Toronto, Canada, May 2005; Jia, L. Ed.
severe heating surface erosion are three major ones. Compared (2) Bai, D.; Kato, K. J. Chem. Eng. Jpn. 1995, 28, 179–185.
(3) Xu, G.; Gao, S. Powder Technol. 2003, 137, 63–76.
with a conventional pulverized coal-fired boiler, due to the large (4) Rhodes, M. J.; Laussmann, P. Can. J. Chem. Eng. 1992, 70, 625–
amount of bed inventory M in the CFB furnace, the primary 630.
air fan and secondary air fan need higher pressure head, (5) Chang, H.; Louge, M. Powder Technol. 1992, 70, 259–270.
introducing 1-2% extra self-consumed service power. In (6) Weinstein H.; Graff, R. A.; Meller, M.; et al. The Influence of the
Imposed Pressure Drop across a Fast Fluidized Bed. In Fluidization; Kunii,
addition, a CFB boiler usually has lower combustion efficiency D., Toei, R. Eds.; Engineering Foundation, New York, 1983; pp 299-306,
mainly due to the lower combustion temperature and larger coal Vol. IV.
particle size. Application also showed that the wear of the (7) Li, J.; Tung, Y.; Kwauk, M. Axial Voidage Profiles of Fast Fluidized
Beds in Different Operating Regions. In Circulating Fluidized Bed
Technology II; Large, J. F.; Basu, P. Eds.; Pergamon Press: Oxford, 1988;
* Correspondence author: E-mail: [email protected]; phone: pp 193-203.
+86 010 62794129; fax: +86 010 62781743. (8) Mori, S.; Liu, D.; Kato, K. Powder Technol. 1992, 70, 223–227.
† Tsinghua University. (9) Li, Y. Chen, B.; Wang, F.; et al. Hydrodynamic Correlations for
‡ Taiyuan Boiler Group Co. Ltd. Fast Fluidization. Kwauk, M.; Kunni, D. Eds.; Science and Technology
§ Shanxi Lishi Datuhe Heat and Power Cogeneration. Press: Beijing, 1982.

10.1021/ef900025h CCC: $40.75  2009 American Chemical Society

Published on Web 05/12/2009
Bed Pressure Drop on Performance of a CFB Boiler Energy & Fuels, Vol. 23, 2009 2887

given geometric structure of each component in the circulating

loop and bed material properties, the profiles axial voidage and
bulk density in the fast fluidized bed is determined by fluidizing
air velocity (Ug) and solid circulating rate (Gs), which can be
adjusted by the bed inventory M. Fast fluidization regime at a
certain Ug can be realized by keeping M more than a minimal
critical values M*, at which Gs in the upper furnace reaches
the saturated value G*s for pneumatically transport, while the
bottom furnace becomes a dense bed.3,12
Once the upper riser is in the fast bed regime, the voidages
in the dense zone and upper dilute zone are held stably, while
the height of the dense zone ascends gradually and the voidage
in the transition zone increases with the increasing M.3 In other Figure 1. Bifurcated effect of bed pressure drop on LOI.
words, it is only necessary to keep M e M* to maintain fast
fluidization in the upper furnace; the further increase of M after Different from the effect on fan energy consumption and heating
M > M* in a CFB boiler mainly accumulates particles in the surface wear, the effect of bed pressure drop on the combustion
lower furnace covered with refractory. The increase of M is efficiency is bifurcated.16 On one hand, the increase in bed
not beneficial to the heat transfer; instead, it introduces several pressure drop leads to larger average solid suspension density
disadvantages to boiler operation, such as severe wear on the Fs in the furnace. As a result, more dispersed solid particles
membrane water-wall near the top of the tapered part and extra tend to agglomerate into clusters above the dense zone. The
energy consumption of the primary air fan. Therefore, reducing clusters would move downward if its determination velocity is
M sounds like an effective way to reduce the service power higher than Ug and then be dispersed again with the interaction
consumption and wear severity. with surrounding solid-gas flow. Such phenomenon enhances
Since the feedstock in a CFB boiler normally has a relatively local mixing intensity17,18 and prolongs the residence time of
wide size distribution, spanning from 0 to 8.0 mm, the bed fine particles in the furnace.13,15
material also has a wide size distribution. Consequently, On the other hand, the high Fs in the furnace strongly weakens
reducing M should take the size distribution in to account, the gas-solid mixing. The momentum and rigidity of the
namely coupling with bed quality control. With respect to upward gas-solid flow increase as Fs increases in the zone
different contribution to fluidization and heat transfer, bed where the secondary air is injected and shortens its penetration
material can be divided into two groups as effective material depth.19 The oxygen in the center region can be very lean, close
and ineffetive material. The effective bed material consists of to zero, but near the wall the oxygen concentration may be high.1
the fine particles that can be entrained out the bottom turbulent This nonuniform oxygen distribution prevails at every cross
bed and those particles in the fast bed in the upper furnace. section above the secondary air nozzles, inducing high LOI of
The mass fraction of effective bed material is often defined as fine carbon particles.
bed quality. The remaining particles, with relatively large size, The bifurcated effect of bed pressure drop on the combustion
are referred as the ineffetive material. Beacuse their terminal efficiency can be schematically summarized in Figure 1.
velocity is larger than Ug, these particles can not be entrained Obviously, it is reasonable to expect that there is an optimal
into the upper furnace, remaining in the turbulent bed in the bed pressure drop. Around the optimal point not only the
lower furnace. Since the membrane water-wall in the lower maximal combustion efficiency can be obtained, but also the
furnace is covered with a refractory layer, the ineffective bed fan energy consumption and the wear of the heating surface
material has a minor effect on heat transfer. On the contrary, can be greatly reduced. The feasibility of the pressure drop
theses ineffective particles are in favor of membrane water- adjustment in a CFB boiler is further supported by the state
wall protection near the top of the tapered part. specification design theory.1 Based on the theory, the CFB boiler
From the view of combustion efficiency, the ineffective as an opening fluidization system with fast bed in the upper
particles possess enough residence time for burning out. furnace can be operated at multiple states, and each state is
However, these particles also increase the penetration resistance “specified” by Ug and Gs. Moreover, a CFB boiler can operate
of the secondary air in the middle of the tapered part. at different states while keeping the upper furnace in the fast
Nevertheless, the carbon loss of ineffective particles only counts bed regime with a given Ug and dependent Gs by adjusting M
for a small portion in the total carbon loss, much less than the and bed quality. When the designated state in a CFB boiler is
carbon content loss in the fly ash (LOI).1,2 changed from an old one to a new one, the flow characteristics
It was found that the LOI in a CFB boiler is mainly affected in the bed are changed as well and the process is called state
by factors associated with the chemical reaction rate, including reconstruction. Obviously, the reconstruction should be validated
fuel reactivity, bed temperature,13 the residence time,14 and the by bed material balance based on the formation of ashes from
gas mixing and diffusion resistance against oxygen to the surface the coal, the attrition properties of the inert materials, the cyclone
of fuel. Besides, LOI is influenced by the bed pressure drop.15 efficiency,20 and the size of feed coal.21

(10) Kim, S.; Numkung, W.; Kim, S. Korean J. Eng. 1999, 16, 82–88. (16) Xiao, X.; Yang, H.; Zhang, H.; et al. Energy Fuels 2005, 19, 1520–
(11) Bai, D.; Jin, Y.; Yu, Z.; et al. Powder Technol. 1992, 71, 51–58. 1525.
(12) Hu, N., Flow Regimes in the Ultra High CFB Riser; Bachelor (17) Bai, D.; Jin, Y. J. Chem. Ind. Eng. (Chinese). 1991, 6, 697–703.
Thesis, Tsinghua University: 2008. (18) Fujima, Y.; Tagashira, K.; Takahashi, Y.; et al. Conceptual Study
(13) Lu, J.; Jin, X.; Yang, H.; et al. J. Basic Sci. Eng. 2000, 8 (1), 97– on Fast Fluidization Formation. In CFB Technology III; Basu, P.; Horio,
105. M.; Hasatani, M. Eds.; Pergamon Press: 1990; pp 85-90.
(14) Bursi, J. M. Lafanechere, L.; Jestin, L. Basic Design Studies for a (19) Yang, J.; Yang, H.; Yue, G. J. Power Eng. 2008, 28, 509–513.
600 MWe CFB Boiler. In Proceedings of the 15th International Conference (20) Yang, H.; Yue, G.; Xiao, X.; et al. Chem. Eng. Sci. 2005, 60, 5603–
on Fluidized Bed Combustion: Savannah, GA, 1999; Reuther, R. B. Ed. 5611.
(15) Yang, H.; Xiao, X.; Wang W.; et al. Powder Sys. Eng. (in Chinese) (21) Yang, H.; Wirsum, M.; Luh, J. Fuel Process. Technol. 2004, 85,
2005, 21, 13-14. 1403–1414.
2888 Energy & Fuels, Vol. 23, 2009 Yang et al.

the primary and secondary air were maintained constant, and

the fluidization velocity Ug was kept at 4.4-4.6 m/s.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Axial Solids Suspension Density Profiles at Different
Bed Pressure Drop. Neglecting the effects of acceleration of
gravity and friction, the axial solids suspension density profile
along the furnace can be calculated from the axial bed pressure
drop profile. Figure 4 shows the axial profiles of solids
concentration under different tested conditions. It can be seen
that the profiles are influenced by the amount of M. In the cases
with larger bed pressure drop, there were more solids in the
middle furnace. Notably, the solids suspension density in the
area near the top of the tapered part at 3.4 m from the bottom
varied remarkably.
The pressure drops of the loop seal in different cases are listed
in Table 2. The flow rate of aeration air in the loop seal was
nearly constant during the tests. Provided the resistance coef-
ficient was constant and the particle flow rate Gs through the
loop seal varied linearly with the imposed pressure, the Gs at
different condition was estimated according the pressure drop
of the loop seal.22 It can be seen that with the increment of the
Figure 2. Schematic of the 75 t/h CFB boiler with size and measure
points; 1: distributor; 2: recycle point; 3: coal feed point; 4: secondary bed pressure drop, the height of dense zone increases, whereas
air inlet; 5: furnace roof; O: pressure point; +: temperature point. Gs and upper Fs are nearly unchanged, shown in Figure 4 and
Table 1. The results indicate that Gs ≈ G*, s and the flow of the

On the basis of the above introduction and discussion, a novel fine solids is in fast fluidization regime.3,7
CFB boiler combustion technology with optimal low bed 3.2. Temperature Profiles and Heat Transfer Coefficients
pressure drop was proposed. It is expected that the new in the Furnace. Although Fs in the upper dilute furnace, 16 m
technology can resolve the three problems of low combustion above the bottom, is nearly constant, the height of the dense
efficiency, high self-consumed service power, and severe heating bed zone in the lower furnace increases with the increment of
surface erosion in a conventional CFB boiler, as we mentioned the bed pressure drop, leading to an increase of the overall heat
earlier. transfer coefficient between the gas-solid flow and the water
membrane wall in the furnace. Consequently, the average bed
2. The Boiler Used for Field Test temperature decreases. The overall heat transfer coefficient and
the radiate heat transfer coefficient can be calculated from the
To validate the concept of reconstruction of the fluidization heat absorped by the working medium and the bed temperature23
state, a series of field tests were carried out in several CFB as shown in Table 3. The convective heat transfer coefficient
boilers. In this paper, the results obtained from a 75 t/h CFB increases slightly, proving that Fs in the upper furnace varies
boiler are given and discussed. slightly.
By utilizing the patented technology of Tsinghua University, Figure 5 shows the temperature profiles along the furnace
a new type of 75 t/h CFB boiler with medium steam temperature for different conditions. Consistent with Table 2, with an
and pressure was designed by Taiyuan Boiler Works, China. increase in the bed pressure drop, the average bed temperature
The main configuration of this CFB boiler was similar to that falls from 911 to 895 °C. From the view of heat transfer, the
of other 75 t/h CFB boilers, as shown in Figure 2. However, fall in temperature is a consequence of the increase of suspension
some modifications in the arrangement of the heating surface density.
were done based on recalculation of heat release distribution 3.3. Carbon Content in Fly Ash. Because the coarse
as a consequence of the reconstruction of the fluidization state. particles in the feed coal were screened out, the size of the
The boiler has being operated in Datuhe Power Station, Shanxi, bottom ash was relatively fine. 90% of the particles in the bottom
China since 2006. The fuel was the middling coal from a local ash were finer than 2 mm. The fly ash was also finer: 50% of
coal washery, and its properties are shown in Table 1. them was in the range of 30-50 µm, and more than 95% was
The particle size distribution of coal fed into the boiler was finer than 100 µm. The results indicated that the cyclones had
well controlled, and neither too coarse nor too fine particles very high separation efficiency.
were used. As shown in Figure 3, about 90% of the particles Figure 6 shows the LOI, circulating ash and bottom ash at
were finer than 4 mm in size, and about 60% of them were of different bed pressure drops. The LOI decreases first with
1-2 mm. The ash formation experiments showed that the decreasing bed pressure drop and then reaches a minimum about
percentage of ash particles in the size of 100 to 1000 µm was 17% at a bed pressure drop of 5.7 kPa. The results validated
60%, satisfying the requirement of the bed material balance.20 the theoretical analyses. In other words, the 2-fold effect of bed
pressure drop on the combustion efficiency mentioned above
The field tests were done at full-load condition. The bed
is the reason why the LOI has a minimal value. For this 75 t/h
pressure drop in the furnace was adjusted at 3.2, 3.8, 5.6, and
7.3 kPa, respectively, by controlling the discharges of bottom
ash and circulating ash. The circulating ash was discharged (22) Leung, L. S.; Chong, Y. O.; Lottes, J. Powder Technol. 1987, 49,
217–276.
through a valve located at the loop seal. The boiler was stable (23) Lu, J.; Zhang, J.; Yue, G. Heat Transfer s Asia Res. 2002, 31,
at all these pressure drops. During the tests, the flow rates of 540–550.
Bed Pressure Drop on Performance of a CFB Boiler Energy & Fuels, Vol. 23, 2009 2889

Table 1. Proximate and Ultimate Analyses of the Coal

ultimate analyses (as received) proximate analyses (as received)
C (%) H (%) O (%) N (%) S (%) ash (%) moisture (%) VM (%) LHV (kJ/kg)
50.37 2.94 5.92 0.67 0.74 40.03 1.09 14.29 19 039.9

Table 2. Resistance of Return Valve and Relative Circulating Table 3. Heat Transfer Coefficients in the Furnace
Rate
case 1 2 3 4
case 1 2 3 4 bed pressure drop, Pa 3220 3830 5680 7330
bed pressure drop (Pa) 3220 3830 5680 7330 furnace heat absorption, KJ/s 32 882 33 483 33 836 33 902
resistance of return valve (Pa) 9590 10225 10579 10788 average temperature in upper 905 911 895 894
relative solid flow rate 1 1.03 1.05 1.06 furnace, °C
temperature at outlet of left 932 939 917 915
cyclone, °C
CFB boiler, 5.7 kPa is the optimal bed pressure drop for the temperature in left loop 919 924 907 905
given feedstock with the excess air ratio 1.06. seal, °C
3.4. Power Consumptions of Fans. When the boiler oper- total heat transfer coefficient, 146.8 152.7 153.8 154.6
W/m2.K
ated with lower bed pressure drop, the resistance of the bed radiation heat transfer 98.6 101.6 101.1 101.6
material became less and the pressure head of primary and coefficient, W/m2.K
secondry air fans became smaller. As a result, the power convective heat transfer 48.2 51.1 52.7 53.0
coefficient, W/m2.K
consumption of the fans decreased. The changes of the primary
and secondry air fans, roots draft fan, and induced draft fan are was only 1.06 during the tests, too low for complete combustion.
listed in Table 4. In the tests, the CO concentration at the furnace exit was up to
It should be pointed out that the LOI during the tests was 2000 ppm.
relatively high. The main reason was that the excess air ratio

Figure 5. The temperature distribution in the furnace.

Figure 3. Size distribution of coal and ash.

Figure 4. Suspension density profiles along the furnace. Figure 6. Carbon content in the ashes.
2890 Energy & Fuels, Vol. 23, 2009 Yang et al.

Table 4. Currents of Fans at Full Load under Different Bed However, the bed pressure drop remarkably affects the
Pressure Drops combustion efficiency of the coal particles, that is, carbon
wind chamber primary air secondary air induced draft roots draft content in fly ash (LOI) in a CFB boiler. The effect is bifurcated.
pressure (Pa) fan (A) fan (A) fan (A) fan (A) Most of the existing CFB boilers are operated with redundant
3220 18.32 164.87 19.41 10.99 bed material inventory. There is an optimal low value of bed
3830 19.09 170.43 19.53 11.11 pressure drop, for which, not only the maximal combustion
5680 19.60 172.93 19.72 11.41 efficiency is obtained, but also fan energy consumption and wear
7330 20.36 178.43 19.99 11.76
of the heating surface can be greatly reduced.
Based on the field test results, the boiler was adjusted to The theoretical analysis of the effect of the bed pressure was
operate at an optimal bed pressure drop range of 5.0-5.8 kPa validated by field tests carried out on a 75 t/h CFB boiler at
and an excess air ratio of 1.2. As a result, the LOI was reduced full load. It was found that the boiler could be steadily operated
to 14%. with a bed pressure drop as low as 3.1 kPa by reconstructing
Since the reconstruction of the fluidization state, the 75 t/h the fluidization state of the solids-gas two-phase flow in the
CFB boiler has being operated with a low optimal bed inventory. furnace. Within the optimal bed pressure drop of 5.0-5.8 kPa,
In 2006, the availability of the unit was as high as 95%, and the LOI was reduced from 23 to 17%, and the service power of
the combustion efficiency and thermal efficiency of the boiler the unit was reduced by 2.5%. At the same time, the erosion
were remarkably improved. In addition, the service power of of the heating surfaces in the boiler and its auxiliaries was
the unit was reduced by about 2.5%. About 10 000 t of middling alleviated, and the availability of the unit reached 95%. For this
coal and 1 GWh of electricity were saved every year per unit. boiler, the optimum point was with a bed pressure of 5.7 kPa
Furthermore, the erosion of heating surfaces in the boiler and and an excess air ratio of 1.06. The optimal bed pressure drop
its auxiliaries was alleviated, and the cost of maintenance was could be affected by the boiler geometry (mainly furnace height)
reduced by as much as 10% per year. and coal type.
More researches such as the effect of the bed pressure drop
4. Concluding Remarks on desulfurization, nitrous oxide formation, and more detailed
Bed pressure drop, that is, bed inventory, is an important flow dynamics, heat transfer, and combustion in the furnace
factor for flow dynamics in the furnace and performance of the are suggested.
CFB boiler. On the basis of the state specification design theory,
the gas-solid flow in the furnace of a CFB boiler is regarded Acknowledgment. National Science Fund Committee (No.
50406002) provided financial support to this research.
as the superposition of a turbulent bed formed by large particles
in the lower furnace and a fast bed formed by fine particles in
the upper furnace. The fluidization state of the gas-solids flow Nomenclature
in the furnace can be reconstructed by adjusting the bed pressure Gs ) solid circulating rate, kg/s
drop. G*s ) Critical solid circulating rate for saturated entrainment, kg/s
From the heat transfer point of view, the bed material in a M ) bed inventory, kg/m2
CFB boiler can be classified into an effective material that M* ) Critical bed inventory to maintain fast fluidization
condition, kg/m2
circulates and an ineffective material that predominantly remains
Ug ) fluidizing air velocity, m/s
in the bottom. Given that the upper furnace remains in fast
Fs ) solid suspension density, kg/m3
fluidization, reducing the bed pressure drop only slightly affects
the heat transfer in the furnace. EF900025H

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