Effects of Non-Quartz Minerals in Natural Bed Sand on Agglomeration Characteristics during Fluidized Bed Combustion of Biomass Fuels

Abstract

Most of the previous literature on fluidized bed agglomeration during biomass combustion is based on quartz as a bed material. Full-scale installations however often use natural sand, which apart from quartz may contain a high fraction of non-quartz minerals such as potassium feldspar and plagioclase. The objective of the present study was therefore to elucidate the effects of non-quartz minerals occurring in natural sand on the agglomeration behavior during fluidized bed combustion of biomass fuels. Three fuels typical for previously determined agglomeration mechanisms were chosen as model fuels: calcium-rich bark, potassium-rich olive residues, and silica- and potassium-rich wheat straw. Two different feldspar minerals were used: a potassium feldspar and a plagioclase, labradorite, which both occur in many commercial bed materials. Furthermore, olivine was used as a bed material as this mineral represents another type of bed material used in some fullscale installations. Quartz was used as a reference bed material. The effects of non-quartz minerals in natural sand on initial defluidization temperature were assessed during carefully controlled, bench-scale fluidized bed agglomeration experiments. Bed material samples and agglomerates were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) in order to explore the occurrence and chemical composition of coating and attack layers on the bed particles and necks between agglomerated particles. Significant differences in agglomeration characteristics were found for the different minerals when bark and olive residue were combusted. Potassium-feldspar was shown to lower the initial defluidization temperature for combustion of bark and olive residues. Plagioclase and olivine on the other hand were found to increase the initial defluidization temperature as compared to quartz for the combustion of olive residue, but for bark combustion, they did not differ significantly from quartz. During combustion of wheat straw, all bed materials agglomerated shortly after the startup of the experiment. For bark and olive residue samples, attack layers were found on all bed materials and the composition of the inner attack layer and agglomerate necks differed significantly with the fuel/bed material combination. For wheat straw however, no continuous attack layers were found, and the bed material composition was concluded not to influence the agglomeration characteristics for this biomass. The results were used to suggest possible mechanisms involved in layer formation for the different minerals.