Combustion Process

Historical Introduction
Fire exists from the earliest existence of man on earth Until 1880, man did not achieve a quantitative understanding of the combustion process In 1697, G.E.Stahl proposed Phlogiston theoryPhlogiston was a hypothetical mysterious substance which combined with a body to render it combustible In 1774, Joseph Priestly discovered the unique power of oxygen for supporting combustion In 1781, Henry Cavendish demonstrated the compound nature of water

Combustion Process Historical Introduction

About the same time, Lavoisier made the precise measurements and formulated the volume and weight relationship that underline the modern theory of combustion In 1811, Amendeo Avagadro established that the number of molecules in a unit volume under standard conditions is same for all gases During the same period, John Dalton enumerated the law of partial pressures In 1803, John Daltons study of the physical properties of gases led to formulation of atomic theory including the law of combining weight In 1808, Gay Lussac observed that gases always combine in volumes that bear simple ratios to each other

Combustion Efficiency
Combustion efficiency effectiveness of combustion equipment to convert the internal energy in fuel to heat energy for use by the process Any heat loss lowers the efficiency of the process Combustion efficiency = Total energy contained per unit of fuel - losses (radiation, unburned and flue gas) Continuous monitoring of Oxygen and combustibles (CO or H2)-the best way to improve combustion efficiency

Combustion Theory
Three essential components of combustion fuel, oxygen and heat Chemical elements that react with oxygen to release heat are Carbon and Hydrogen commonly known as hydro carbons C + O2 CO2 + 14093 btu/lb (stoichiometric air 150 ft3 of air / lb of fuel) H2 + O2 H2O + 61000 btu/lb (stoichiometric air 2.38 ft3 per ft3 of fuel) Stoichiometric combustion just right amount of oxygen and fuel mixture (without any excess)

Why air instead pure oxygen?

Air contains 21% by volume or 23% by weight of Oxygen and is readily available Pure oxygen needs processing, the cost of which outweighs the benefit on combustion and heat release

Why excess air?

Inadequate mixing of air and fuel, fluctuating operating and ambient conditions, burner performance and wear and tear To ensure that fuel is burned completely or with little combustibles, some amount of excess air is provided Normal excess air
Gas 5%, Oil 10%, coal 20%

Excess Air
Solid fuels require the greatest and the gaseous fuels require the least quantity of excess air At design load,
Solids Pulverised coal15 to 30% Coke 20 to 40% Wood 25 to 50% Bagasse 25 to 45% Gas Natural gas 5 to 10% Refinery gas 8 to 15% Blast furnace gas15 to 25% Coke oven gas 5 to 10%

Liquids Oil

3 to 15%

Negative aspects of high excess air

Increase in auxiliary power (FD & ID fan) Increase in furnace temperature and NOx formation Increase in loss of sensible heat carried away by flue gas Increase in erosion due to increase in flue gas velocity Limitation on boiler load due to exhaustion of ID fan capacity Shift in heat transfer from furnace to convection pass resulting in heating up of down stream components

Impact of lesser air than stoichiometric requirement

Incomplete combustion leading to
Reduction in energy release Increase in unburned hydro carbons (Co & CnHm) in flue gas Increase in unburned carbon level in fly and bottom ashes Slagging in boiler furnaces

Reference curves for Optimum % Oxygen at Economiser outlet for minimum heat rate

Curve to estimate % excess air based % Oxygen

Basis for controlling excess air

By monitoring oxygen and combustibles in flue gas at Eco outlet by installing on-line analysers
Monitoring unburned carbon level in fly and bottom ashes

Method of evaluating air leakage in furnace

Combustion Efficiency

Combustion Efficiency

Combustion Efficiency

Functional Requirement for combustion Equipment

Easy ignition and reliable flame scanning Maximum Heat release (at desired rate) Optimum turn down Efficient combustion (Minimum un-burned) Optimum temperature Minimum Excess air Minimum emission Minimum slag formation Desired flame shape Heat release profile matching furnace heat absorption need

Factors Influencing Combustion

Fuel Characteristics Design of burners and furnace Operational aspects

Fuel aspects
Organic aspects
Petrography Heat release rate

Inorganic aspects
CCSEM, Ash formation, TMA,

Physical aspects
Grindabity, Specific gravity, particle size distribution

Heat Value of Fuels

High Heat Value (HHV)
= 8080C+34500(H2-(O2/8))+2220S Kcal/Kg (Dulongs Formula) Where C,H2,O2 and S represent weight in kg of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and Sulphur per Kg of fuel

Low Heat Value (LHV)

=HHV-Latent heat of steam formed The amount of steam formed during combustion=9H2 where H2 is the weight of Hydrogen per kg of fuel Latent heat of 1 Kg of steam at 760 mmHg and 100 DegC is 538.9 Kcals/Kg

Coal
Coals having FC / VM ratio closer to 1 will have better flame stability VM less than 13% is not preferable for PC firing Residence time
110 Mw 1.75 sec, 210 Mw-2.2 sec, 500 Mw-3.5 sec

Crossing point temperature -175 to 250 Deg.C Flammability temperature 400 to 600 Deg.C

Coal Quality Vs Air regimes

Low ash, high volatile, high moisture, high CV (imported coal)
Flame propagation affected more by moisture than by ash Priority for drying coal. Hence PA can not be reduced below a particular level Necessary to incorporate split coal nozzle or diverters

Coal Quality Vs Air regimes

Low moisture, low volatile, high ash
Flame propagation affected by high ash Reduce primary air to minimum extent possible Increase OFA

Arrangement of Coal and Air Ports in the Wind Box of a Typical Tangential Fired 500 MW Boiler Furnace

Primary Air
P.A / Coal ratio 1.5 to 2.5 (2 for better combustion efficiency)-lower the P.A better the flame stability P.A normally 1/4th (20-25%) of total air Variable P.A control gives better scope to improve burner performance Primary air velocity 25 m/sec (to be > 20 m/sec to avoid settling in coal pipe. To be > 15 m/sec to avoid flash back) Minimum P.A temperature 57 Deg. C to avoid condensation Maximum P.A temperature tested 127 Deg.C to avoid mill fire and softening & sticking of coal in coal pipe Normal P.A mix temperature is around 80 Deg.C

Functions Of Primary Air

To dry the moisture in coal and facilitate better grinding in the mill Transport the pulverised coal from the mill to the furnace at a velocity higher than settling velocity of pulverised particle and that of flash back

Functions Of Fuel Air

Helps to position the flame front (Not too away with potential for blow off-Not too close with potential for heating & distorting nozzle)
Considerations
Good Flame Stability View For Flame Scanner Protection of Nozzle From Distortion

Impact of Fuel Air increasing with Feeder Speed

Primary stream need not be uniform in all the four corners Fuel air increase may further degenerate flame where PA/Coal ratio is already high

Fuel Air Vs Feeder Speed

Fuel Air can not be increased with feeder speed With increase in feeder speed, the primary air would increase
Since Indian coals have more non combustibles (50% compared to 10-20% in North American coals). Much more primary air is required than required for volatile combustion Addition of fuel air can affect the flame stability and unburned carbon level Feeder speed will increase if fuel CV goes down as well as boiler load increases

Secondary Air
75 to 80% of total air distributed at different tiers Secondary air velocity ~40 m/sec for better momentum and mixing Secondary air temperature ~ 227 deg.c Air distribution in tiers decide combustion efficiency Fuel air is provided for the twin purposes of cooling nozzles and for positioning flame frontclose the damper if flame front is away and open if flame front is close to nozzle Other damper openings to be adjusted depending on the operating tiers

Functions Of Auxiliary Air

Ensuring completion of combustion Enough momentum to penetrate into primary stream (expanded flame jet containing the char of the coal particles) and provide air to the whole cross section of char to be burnt Stage the air for gradual mixing to reduce NOx

INTENSE FLAME

LEAN FLAME

Flame Front

P.AIR

Aux Air

FA

Fuel Air
PA+C

PA + Coal

0.5 to 0.8mm P AIR

Aux Air

1400 TEMP 600 450

Temperature

80

Typical Mixing and Flame Front In Corner Firing

Effect of changing auxiliary air

Auxiliary air quantum should not be below the level where the momentum is not adequate to penetrate the primary jet flame
This happens if PA is high and FA is also high and the total air is limited to 3.5% O2 (Under such conditions the wind box pressure <100 mmwc)

Functions Of Over Fire Air

Primarily indented to reduce unburned carbon in fuel burnt in the top elevations Since the air in the bottom elevations are proportionately reduced it also reduces Thermal NOx formation in the lower elevations

Effect of Over Fire Air

OFA intended for reducing unburned and NOx By closing OFA combustion completion of lower elevations is advanced, FOT comes down, Unburned may go up

Need for biasing / extent of biasing AuxAir

Biasing is
subjective Fuel, Mill System, Boiler size Objective Unburned carbon reduction, Lower/higher FOT, Reduction of spray, Higher SH steam temperature

Eg. IFFCO/PHULPHUR VU40

Biasing towards bottom reduced unburned levels in bottom ash

NTPC, Ramagundam 500 Mw

Biasing towards top reduced SH Spray

IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE EXISTING COAL BASED POWER PLANTS

Boiler Operational Improvements

Tuning Combustion Air Regimes
Prevention of air leakage PA/Coal ratio around 2 Flame front 300 to 500 mm away from nozzle tip Fuel air at minimum opening Excess air to reduce carbon loss and slagging Minimize OFA if furnace is slagging