00/03054 Understanding the behavior of Australian black coals in pressurized fluidized bed combustion

Abstract

Ultimately, this study aims to predict the coal combustion efficiency in an industrial pressurized fluidized bed combustor (PFBC) for Australian black coals. This combustion efficiency depends predominantly upon the rate of elutriation of fine carbon particles, which is proportional to bed carbon loading in atmospheric experiments. The bed carbon loading is, in turn, dependent upon the rate of combustion of char particles within the PFBC. A novel batch-fed reactor has been designed, constructed and commissioned to enable separation and study of the mechanisms of coal devolatilization, char combustion and fine carbon particle elutriation in a PFBC and extraction of coal-specific parameters to describe these processes. The attrition and char combustion rates can only be determined experimentally and it is essential to match the environment around each coal particle, so that the results may be translated to the industrial scale. Therefore, the rig was designed for identical conditions of pressure, temperature, particle size and fluidizing velocity within the bed to those used industrially. The exhaust gas is analyzed continuously for oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons as a function of time after coal injection, allowing separation and identification of the devolatilization and char combustion stages as well as measurement ofmore » the combustion rates. The elutriated carbon particles undergo minimal freeboard combustion and are collected in a cyclone and an in-line filter over any period of time during the experiment, for subsequent analysis. The sand bed containing the rig for collection and characterization of the partially burnt char particles. The rig is mostly computer-controlled and the design was subjected to a hazards analysis before construction. Results from the rig will be used in a mathematical model to predict the performance of the coals in industrial-scale PFBC.« less