Melting Characteristics and Morphology of Bottom Ash and Filter Ash of the Circulating Fluidized Bed Boiler

Abstract

The aim of this work was to investigate the melting characteristics and morphology of filter ash and bottom ash with and without 7% of peat addition to the fuel of the circulating fluidized bed boiler. The samples were characterized by simultaneous thermal analysis (STA) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The STA results indicate that the filter ash melts at 1140oC with 10 wt% of the mass loss and Bottom ash partially melts at 1170oC with below 2 wt% of the mass loss. The low melting point of the filter ash is due to the high concentration of the alkali metals in the filter ash. Similar trends were observed in the case of fly ash and bottom ash with peat admixture to the fuel. Furthermore the elementary analysis via scanning electron microscopy, coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis showed that 7% of peat addition to the fuel does not significantly effect on the ash composition.