Burner Developments for the Wall Firing of Low

Volatile Coals
British Flame 1-Day Technical Meeting: 28
November 2007
Euan Cameron
Research and Development Centre
Doosan Babcock Energy
Page 1
Burner Developments for Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Background
Aim of development
Description of test facilities
Summary of results
Conclusions
Outline
Page 2
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Difficulties associated with low volatile coals
Ignition
Combustion stability (over load range)
Combustion efficiency
Causes
Lack of volatile material in the coal to support ignition
Rate of volatile matter release
High ignition temperature
Low reactivity of remaining char
Solutions
Finer pf grading
Longer furnace residence times
Careful air admission
Furnace refractory cover where appropriate
Background: Key Issues
Page 3
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Background: Downshot firing system
Cyclone concentration of pf
and low primary air velocity
for rapid ignition
Primary combustion
zone for early ignition
and NO
x
control
Secondary combustion
zone, long residence time
for burnout
Recirculation of hot
flue gas stabilises
combustion
High secondary air velocity
for development of long
flame
Single point tertiary air
injection for good mixing
Page 4
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Background: Downshot firing system
Cost
High capital cost (10% to 15%) of downshot firing compared to wall fired systems
Environmental
Downshot firing generally results in poorer emission levels
High NOx emissions (order of 1000 to 1100 mg/Nm3 at 6% O2)
Unburnt loss typically 2 to 4% GCV loss
Page 5
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Background: Wall firing system
Burner & OFA
levels
NOx
Reduction Zone
Burnout
Zone
COMBUSTION AIR
PRIMARY AIR + FUEL
COMBUSTION AIR
PRIMARY AIR + FUEL
Furnace
Configuration
Low NO
x
Burner Design
Low NO
x
Burners
In operation
Page 6
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Background: Downshot vs. Wall Fired Boilers
Generally a wall fired furnace is smaller
compared to a similarly rated downshot
furnace
Typical 350MWe units
Page 7
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Wall firing low volatile coal
Predominately in former Soviet Union with generally poor results
Excessively high unburnt loss (typically 8 to 13% GCV loss)
High NO
x
emissions (order of 1000 to 1300 mg/Nm
3
at 6% O
2
)
Poor stability and turndown performance
Some testing in Germany
Maximum of 30MWt
A range of coals down to 8% (dry) volatile matter
Stable flame achieved but requiring gas support or high primary air temperatures
Background: Previous Experience
Page 8
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Background: Our Experience
70
80
90
100
0 5 10 15 20 25
Dry, Mineral Matter Free Volatile Matter %
D
r
y
,

M
i
n
e
r
a
l

M
a
t
t
e
r

F
r
e
e

F
i
x
e
d

C
a
r
b
o
n

%
Anthracite
Semi Anthracite
Meta Anthracite
Low Volatile Bituminous
Pha Lai
Liaocheng
Yue Yang
Heze
Wangqu
Downshot Firing Wall Firing
Wall Firing Capability Improvements
UK Site
Castle Peak B
Page 9
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Demonstrate combustion performance of a burner for wall firing of low volatile coals
Testing of a full-scale burner in a single burner test facility
Limit of coals that can be fired
Turndown
Extrapolate test results to full scale plant performance
With regard to NO
x
and burnout
Aim of development
Page 10
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Single Burner Test Facility
90 MW Thermal Input
Capability to Fire a Wide Range of Fuels
Coal
Heavy Fuel Oil
Natural Gas
Orimulsion
Page 11
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Single Burner Test Facility
17m long / 5.5m wide / 5.5m high water
jacketed furnace with partial refractory
lining
Downstream boiler and economiser
Full Emission monitoring
Page 12
BURNER DEVELOPMENTS FOR THE WALL-FIRING OF LOW VOLATILE COALS
Test burner
Advanced low NO
x
burner design modified to suit low volatile coals.
Test coals
Chinese low volatile coal (13% dmmf volatile matter)
UK low volatile coal (9% dmmf volatile matter)
UK low volatile coal (8% dmmf volatile matter)
Test programme
Establish unsupported stable flame
Determine optimum firing setting with respect to NO
x
and burnout by varying:
Secondary and tertiary air flows (high, medium or low)
Secondary and tertiary swirl generation (high, medium or low)
Economiser exit oxygen (2.5% to 5.0% O
2
)
PA/Coal ratio (high, normal or low)
Determine turndown performance
Single Burner Testing
Page 13
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Successful ignition and combustion of coals with 13%, 9% and 8% volatile matter
content in a wall-fired burner without the use of a support fuel.
Performance
* Lowest load at which stable operation was demonstrated without oil support
Single Burner Test Results
% load
% GCV
vppm @ 3% O
2
mg/Nm
3
@ 6% O
2
(vppm @ 3% O
2
)
Turndown *
Unburnt Loss
CO
NO
x
8% dmmf Coal 9% dmmf Coal 13% dmmf Coal
538
(315)
436
(255)
597
(350)
275 640 245
70 70 50
6.4 11.7 4.3
Page 14
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Pilot-Scale Test Facility
160 kW Thermal Input
5m Long, 0.5m Dia. Vertical, Refractory lined, Water-
Jacketed, Furnace
Low NOx Burner, Downward Firing
Internally air staged burner designed for bituminous
coals
Page 15
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Pilot-Scale Test Facility
SECONDARY
AIR HEATER
SECONDARY
AIR FAN
PRIMARY
AIR HEATER
PRIMARY
AIR BLOWER
SPRAY COOLER
WATER SUPPLY
FROM MAINS
WATER TO DRAIN
P.F.
FEEDER PRIMARY AIR
AND P.F. SUPPLY
MAIN
BURNER
SECONDARY
AIR SUPPLY
NATURAL GAS
SUPPLY
START UP
FUEL (GAS)
GAS
P.F.
VENTURI
AFTER AIR
SUPPLY
ASH
BOX
SPRAY
COOLER
ESP
FURNACE
COOLING WATER
SUPPLY
COOLING WATER
RETURN
FLUE GAS TO
ATMOSPHERE
FLUE GAS TO
ATMOSPHERE
ID
FAN
NOxStar
REACTOR 2
FLUE GAS
COOLER 2
FLUE GAS
COOLER 1
NOxStar
REACTOR 1
NH3 SLIP
ANALYSER
SCR
REACTOR
SORBENT
INJECTION
NH3 SLIP
ANALYSER
COMPRESSED
AIR SUPPLY
COMPRESSED
AIR SUPPLY
In-Furnace (Primary) NO
x
Reduction
Technologies
Air Staging, Overfire Air (OFA) Injection
Gas and Coal Reburn
Post-Combustion (Secondary) NO
x
Reduction Technologies
Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction
(SNCR)
Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)
Electro Static Precipitator (ESP)
Page 16
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Testing of a 2
nd
Chinese low volatile coal (7% dmmf volatile matter)
Established the effect of the main operating variables on NO
x
under baseline and air
staging conditions
Test programme considered the effects of:
excess air
primary zone stoichiometry
primary zone residence time
Pilot-Scale Testing
Page 17
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Single stage baseline
NO
x
of 810mg/Nm
3
@ 6%O
2
Two stage combustion
primary zone stoichiometry of 1.0 => NO
x
of 644mg/Nm
3
@ 6%O
2
25% reduction
primary zone stoichiometry of 0.9 => NO
x
of 477mg/Nm
3
@ 6%O
2
Additional 25% reduction, 40% reduction overall
Using low NO
x
burner technology with air staging gives significant NO
x
performance
improvements
Pilot-Scale Test Results
Page 18
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Engineering model
Plant geometry
Fuel quality and fineness
Temperature
Stoichiometry
Model used to extrapolate demonstrated test rig performance data to modern plant
design
Showed that NO
x
of <650 mg/Nm
3
and unburnt loss <2.0% GCV is achievable for this
type of fuel in commercial plant.
Extrapolation of test data to full-scale plant
Page 19
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Firing of low volatile coals in wall fired burner successfully demonstrated
Successful ignition and firing of coals with:
13% dmmf volatile matter
9% dmmf volatile matter
8% dmmf volatile matter
in a wall-fired burner without the use of a support fuel and/or high primary air
temperatures
Appreciable NO
x
reductions (25%+) are achievable with air staging
Extrapolation to full scale plant shows that acceptable performance will be achieved in
terms of NO
x
and unburned loss.
Conclusions
Page 20
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
Wangqu Power Station (new build)
2 x 600MWe
Once Through Supercritical wall fired
boilers with air staging
Firing Chinese low volatile coal with 12
to 15% daf volatile matter
Commercial operation in 2007
NOx guarantee of
650mg/Nm
3
@ 6%O
2
Best Performance being achieved
NO
x
of 580mg/Nm
3
@ 6%O
2
Unburnt loss of 1.2% GCV
Commercial Application
Page 21
Burner Developments for the Wall-Firing of Low Volatile Coals
End of presentation
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