Fluidized bed combustion systems for power generation and other industrial applications

Abstract

Fluidized bed combustion (FBC) in various forms has been used to burn all types of coal, coal waste and a wide variety of other fuels, either singly or cofired with coal. FBC boilers are currently available commercially in the capacity range from 1 MWth to over 250 MWe and continue to be adopted for a variety of commercial, industrial and power generation applications. There are two main derivatives of FBC, namely bubbling fluidized bed combustion (BFBC) and circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC). There are also several hybrid systems and pressurized versions of both BFBC and CFBC. The status of these different systems, with some now fully commercial and some still under development, is described, with projections made for future development requirements and market opportunities.