Burning Low Volatile Fuel in Tangentially Fired Furnaces with Fuel Rich/Lean Burners

Pulverized coal combustion in tangentially fired furnaces with fuel rich/lean burners was investigated for three low volatile coals. The burners were operated under the conditions with varied value N-d, which means the ratio of coal concentration of the fuel rich stream to that of the fuel lean stream. The wall temperature distributions in various positions were measured and analyzed. The carbon content in the char and Nox emission were detected under various conditions. The new burners with fuel rich/lean streams were utilized in a thermal power station to burn low volatile coal. The results show that the N-d value has significant influences on the distributions of temperature and char burnout. There exists an optimal N-d value under which the carbon content in the char and the Nox emission is relatively low. The coal ignition and Nox emission in the utilized power station are improved after retrofitting the burners.

An investigation of the variation in heat absorption in a pulverized coal-fired water-cooled steam-boiler furnace ...

Includes references.

Regulation of emissions under the carbon pricing mechanism : a case study of Australia’s coal fired electricity sector

On 1 July 2012, the carbon pricing mechanism commenced in Australia with the aim of reducing emissions and encouraging investment in clean energy. A substantial proportion of Australia’s emissions are attributable to the coal-fired electricity generation sector. This article examines whether the carbon pricing mechanism will effectively facilitate emissions reduction from the coal-fired electricity sector. Aspects analysed include the legislative constraints placed on the carbon price, the carbon pollution cap and provisions specific to the coal-fired electricity sector, such as transitional assistance. It is concluded that, in practice, the carbon pricing mechanism may not be sufficient in itself to achieve significant reduction in emissions from coal-fired electricity generation or significant investment in clean energy, and that a suite of additional regulatory measures, such as the federal Renewable Energy Target, should operate in conjunction with the mechanism.

Income risk of EU coal-fired power plants after Kyoto

Coal-fired power plants may enjoy a significant advantage relative to gas plants in terms of cheaper fuel cost. Still, this advantage may erode or even turn into disadvantage depending on CO2 emission allowance price. This price will presumably rise in both the Kyoto Protocol commitment period (2008-2012) and the first post-Kyoto years. Thus, in a carbon-constrained environment, coal plants face financial risks arising in their profit margins, which in turn hinge on their so-called "clean dark spread". These risks are further reinforced when the price of the output electricity is determined by natural gas-fired plants' marginal costs, which differ from coal plants' costs. We aim to assess the risks in coal plants' margins. We adopt parameter values estimated from empirical data. These in turn are derived from natural gas and electricity markets alongside the EU ETS market where emission allowances are traded. Monte Carlo simulation allows to compute the expected value and risk profile of coal-based electricity generation. We focus on the clean dark spread in both time periods under different future scenarios in the allowance market. Specifically, bottom 5% and 10% percentiles are derived. According to our results, certain future paths of the allowance price may impose significant risks on the clean dark spread obtained by coal plants.

Optimal Abandonment of Coal-Fired Stations in the EU

36 p.

Modeling of a coal-fired slagging combustor: Development of a slag submodel

In a slagging combustor or furnace, the high combustion temperature makes the molten slag layer cover the wall and capture the particles. If these particles contain combustible matter, they will continue to burn on the running slag. As a result, the total amount of ash deposition will be much greater than that in dry-wall combustors and the total heat flux through the deposition surface will change greatly. Considering the limitations of existing simulation methods for slagging combustion, this paper introduces a new wall burning model and slag flow model from the analysis; of particle deposition phenomena. Combined with a conventional combustion simulation program, the total computational frame is introduced. From comparisons of simulation results from several kinds of methods with experimental data, the conclusion is drawn that the conventional simulation methods are not very suitable for slagging combustion and the wall burning mechanism should be considered more thoroughly.

Expert assessments of retrofitting coal-fired power plants with carbon dioxide capture technologies

A set of 13 US based experts in post-combustion and oxy-fuel combustion CO2 capture systems responded to an extensive questionnaire asking their views on the present status and future expected performance and costs for amine-based, chilled ammonia, and oxy-combustion retrofits of coal-fired power plants. This paper presents the experts' responses for technology maturity, ideal plant characteristics for early adopters, and the extent to which R&D and deployment incentives will impact costs. It also presents the best estimates and 95% confidence limits of the energy penalties associated with amine-based systems. The results show a general consensus that amine-based systems are closer to commercial application, but potential for improving performance and lowering costs is limited; chilled ammonia and oxy-combustion offer greater potential for cost reductions, but not without greater uncertainty regarding scale and technical feasibility. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Modelling and Prediction of NOx Emission in a Coal-Fired Power Generation Plant

In this paper NOx emissions modelling for real-time operation and control of a 200 MWe coal-fired power generation plant is studied. Three model types are compared. For the first model the fundamentals governing the NOx formation mechanisms and a system identification technique are used to develop a grey-box model. Then a linear AutoRegressive model with eXogenous inputs (ARX) model and a non-linear ARX model (NARX) are built. Operation plant data is used for modelling and validation. Model cross-validation tests show that the developed grey-box model is able to consistently produce better overall long-term prediction performance than the other two models.

Process simulation of co-firing torrefied biomass in a 220 MWe coal-fired power plant

Torrefaction based co-firing in a pulverized coal boiler has been proposed for large percentage of biomass co-firing. A 220 MWe pulverized coal-power plant is simulated using Aspen Plus for full understanding the impacts of an additional torrefaction unit on the efficiency of the whole power plant, the studied process includes biomass drying, biomass torrefaction, mill systems, biomass/coal devolatilization and combustion, heat exchanges and power generation. Palm kernel shells (PKS) were torrefied at same residence time but 4 different temperatures, to prepare 4 torrefied biomasses with different degrees of torrefaction. During biomass torrefaction processes, the mass loss properties and released gaseous components have been studied. In addition, process simulations at varying torrefaction degrees and biomass co-firing ratios have been carried out to understand the properties of CO₂ emission and electricity efficiency in the studied torrefaction based co-firing power plant. According to the experimental results, the mole fractions of CO ₂ and CO account for 69-91% and 4-27% in torrefied gases. The predicted results also showed that the electrical efficiency reduced when increasing either torrefaction temperature or substitution ratio of biomass. A deep torrefaction may not be recommended, because the power saved from biomass grinding is less than the heat consumed by the extra torrefaction process, depending on the heat sources. 

Modeling radionuclides dispersion and deposition downwind of a coal-fired power plant

In this study the inhalation doses and respective risk are calculated for the population living within a 20 km radius of a coal-fired power plant. The dispersion and deposition of natural radionuclides were simulated by a Gaussian dispersion model estimating the ground level activity concentration. The annual effective dose and total risk were 0.03205 mSv/y and 1.25 x 10-8, respectively. The effective dose is lower than the limit established by the ICRP and the risk is lower than the limit proposed by the U.S. EPA, which means that the considered exposure does not pose any risk for the public health.