Effects of operating conditions and fuel properties on emission performance and combustion efficiency of a swirling fluidized-bed combustor fired with a biomass fuel

This work reports an experimental study on firing 80 kg/h rice husk in a swirling fluidized-bed combustor (SFBC) using an annular air distributor as the swirl generator. Two NO_x emission control techniques were investigated in this work: (1) air staging of the combustion process, and (2) firing rice husk as moisturized fuel. In the first test series for the air-staged combustion, CO, NO and C_xH_y emissions and combustion efficiency were determined for burning “as-received” rice husk at fixed excess air of 40%, while secondary-to-primary air ratio (SA/PA) was ranged from 0.26 to 0.75. The effects of SA/PA on CO and NO emissions from the combustor were found to be quite weak, whereas C_xH_y emissions exhibited an apparent influence of air staging. In the second test series, rice husks with the fuel-moisture content of 8.4% to 35% were fired at excess air varied from 20% to 80%, while the flow rate of secondary air was fixed. Radial and axial temperature and gas concentration (O₂, CO, NO) profiles in the reactor, as well as CO and NO emissions, are discussed for the selected operating conditions. The temperature and gas concentration profiles for variable fuel quality exhibited significant effects of both fuel-moisture and excess air. As revealed by experimental results, the emission of NO from this SFBC can be substantially reduced through moisturizing rice husk, while CO is effectively mitigated by injection of secondary air into the bed splash zone, resulting in a rather low emission of CO and high (over 99%) combustion efficiency of the combustor for the ranges of operating conditions and fuel properties.     

Particulate matter and gaseous emission rate from combustion of Thai lignite and agricultural residues in a fixed-bed combustor

This research has been conducted in order to obtain a database of emission rate of particulate matter and gases (CO, NO, and SO₂) from combustion of lignite and agricultural residues, such as rice husk. The experimental investigation was performed in a fixed-bed combustor. Thirteen stages–electrical low-pressure impactor was used to collect particles ranging in sizes from 40 nm to 10 μm. The results show that emission rate of total mass of particulate matter from combustion of rice husk is lower than that of lignite combustion but the total number of particles emitted is higher. This implies lower particle density from agricultural residue combustion. For co-firing lignite and rice husk, particulate matter emission is found to be higher than combustion of either lignite or rice husk and an increase in rice husk mass fraction in fuel mixture leads to an increase in particulate matter emission. From these quantitative data, it could be mentioned that the fuel characteristics influenced directly on particulate emission. For gaseous emission factors, CO and NO_x concentration decrease as SA/TA ratio increases. Meanwhile, SO₂ emission tends to increase. Both NO_x and SO₂ emissions are reduced as increased rice husk mass fraction in fuel mixture.     

Combustion and emission characteristics of a swirling fluidized-bed combustor burning moisturized rice husk

Burning of rice husk in a swirling fluidized-bed combustor (SFBC) was the focus of this experimental study. Swirl motion of a fluidized bed in this combustor was induced by an annular spiral distributor of primary air and also promoted by tangential injection of secondary air into the bed splash zone. “As-received” rice husk was moisturized with the aim to control NO emission from the combustor. The SFBC was tested at a constant fuel feed rate (of about 80 kg/h) for six fuel-moisture contents (from 8.4% to 35%). In each test series for the particular fuel quality, excess air was ranged from about 20% to 80%. Radial and axial profiles of temperature and gas concentrations (O₂, CO and NO) were plotted for different fuel options and operating conditions with the aim to study pollutants formation and reduction in different regions of the SFBC. With increasing the fuel-moisture content, the emission of NO from the combustor apparently reduced, while the emission of CO was adjusted at a quite low level due to the effects of secondary air. An effective least-cost control of both NO and CO emissions and high (over 99%) combustion efficiency are achievable when firing moisturized rice husk in this SFBC.     

Experiments on chemical looping combustion of coal with a NiO based oxygen carrier

A chemical looping combustion process for coal using interconnected fluidized beds with inherent separation of CO₂ is proposed in this paper. The configuration comprises a high velocity fluidized bed as an air reactor, a cyclone, and a spout-fluid bed as a fuel reactor. The high velocity fluidized bed is directly connected to the spout-fluid bed through the cyclone. Gas composition of both fuel reactor and air reactor, carbon content of fly ash in the fuel reactor, carbon conversion efficiency and CO₂ capture efficiency were investigated experimentally. The results showed that coal gasification was the main factor which controlled the contents of CO and CH₄ concentrations in the flue gas of the fuel reactor, carbon conversion efficiency in the process of chemical looping combustion of coal with NiO-based oxygen carrier in the interconnected fluidized beds. Carbon conversion efficiency reached only 92.8% even when the fuel reactor temperature was high up to 970 °C. There was an inherent carbon loss in the process of chemical looping combustion of coal in the interconnected fluidized beds. The inherent carbon loss was due to an easy elutriation of fine char particles from the freeboard of the spout-fluid bed, which was inevitable in this kind of fluidized bed reactor. Further improvement of carbon conversion efficiency could be achieved by means of a circulation of fine particles elutriation into the spout-fluid bed or the high velocity fluidized bed. CO₂ capture efficiency reached to its equilibrium of 80% at the fuel reactor temperature of 960 °C. The inherent loss of CO₂ capture efficiency was due to bypassing of gases from the fuel reactor to the air reactor, and the product of residual char burnt with air in the air reactor. Further experiments should be performed for a relatively long-time period to investigate the effects of ash and sulfur in coal on the reactivity of nickel-based oxygen carrier in the continuous CLC reactor.     

Experimental study on Egyptian biomass combustion in circulating fluidized bed

The present study investigates the combustion of four kinds of biomass in a circulating fluidized bed. The combustion chamber is a steel cylinder with 145 mm inner diameter and 2 m height. Tests were conducted on wheat straw, sawdust-wood, cottonseed burs, and corncobs. Excess air was varied for each fuel. Temperature, heat flux and gas emissions were measured along the combustion chamber and at the chimney inlet. Results showed that sawdust-wood produces the highest values of CO emissions (about 3000 mg/Nm³). On the other hand, cottonseed burs produce the lowest values of CO emissions (about 250 mg/Nm³). The SO₂ emissions were very low in all tests (less than 20 mg/Nm³). The lowest emission value occurred at an excess air ratio (EA) of 1.24 except for cottonseed burs where it was 1.4.     

An experimental study of mild flameless combustion of methane/hydrogen mixtures

This paper presents an experimental study of mild flameless combustion regime applied to methane/hydrogen mixtures in a laboratory-scale pilot furnace with or without air preheating. Results show that mild flameless combustion regime is achieved from pure methane to pure hydrogen whatever the CH₄/H₂ proportion. The main reaction zone remains lifted from the burner exit, in the mixing layer of fuel and air jets ensuring a large dilution correlated to low NOx emissions whereas CO₂ concentrations obviously decrease with hydrogen proportion. A decrease of NOx emissions is measured for larger quantity of hydrogen due mainly to the decrease of prompt NO formation. Without air preheating, a slight increase of the excess air ratio is required to control CO emissions. For pure hydrogen fuel without air preheating, mild flameless combustion regime leads to operating conditions close to a "zero emission furnace", with ultra-low NOx emissions and without any carbonated species emissions.     

Assessment of the rice husk lean-combustion in a bubbling fluidized bed for the production of amorphous silica-rich ash

Rice husk lean-combustion in a bubbling and atmospheric fluidized bed reactor (FBR) of 0.3 m diameter with expansion to 0.4 m in the freeboard zone and 3 m height was investigated. Experiment design - response surface methodology (RSM) - is used to evaluate both excess air and normal fluidizing velocity influence (independent and controllable variables), in the combustion efficiency (carbon transformation), bed and freeboard temperature and silica content in the ashes. Hot gases emissions (CO₂, CO and NO_x), crystallographic structure and morphology of the ash are also shown. A cold fluidization study is also presented. The values implemented in the equipment operation, excess air in the range of 40-125% and normal fluidization velocities (0.13-0.15 Nm/s) show that the values near the lower limit, encourage bed temperatures around 750 °C with higher carbon transformation efficiencies around 98%. However, this condition deteriorated the amorphous potential of silica present in the ash. An opposite behavior was evidenced at the upper limit of the excess air. This thermochemical process in this type of reactor shows the technical feasibility to valorize RH producing hot gases and an amorphous siliceous raw material.     

Simulation of emission performance and combustion efficiency in biomass fired circulating fluidized bed combustors

In this study, the combustion efficiency and the emission performance of biomass fired CFBs are tested via a previously published 2D model [Gungor A. Two-dimensional biomass combustion modeling of CFB. Fuel 2008; 87: 1453–1468.] against two published comprehensive data sets. The model efficiently simulates the outcome with respect to the excess air values, which is the main parameter that is verified. The combustion efficiency of OC changes between 82.25 and 98.66% as the excess air increases from 10 to 116% with the maximum error of about 8.59%. The rice husk combustion efficiency changes between 98.05 and 97.56% as the bed operational velocity increases from 1.2 to 1.5 m s^?1 with the maximum error of about 7.60%. CO and NO_x emissions increase with increasing bed operational velocity. Increasing excess air results in slightly higher levels of NO_x emission. A significant amount of combustion occurs in the upper zone due to the high volatile content of the biomass fuels.     

Forest biomass waste combustion in a pilot-scale bubbling fluidised bed combustor

Combustion experiments of forest biomass waste in a pilot-scale bubbling fluidised bed combustor were performed under the following conditions: i) bed temperature in the range 750-800 °C, ii) excess air in the range 10-100%, and iii) air staging (80% primary air and 20% secondary air). Longitudinal pressure, temperature and gas composition profiles along the reactor were obtained.The combustion progress along the reactor, here defined as the biomass carbon conversion to CO₂, was calculated based on the measured CO₂ concentration at several locations. It was found that 75-80% of the biomass carbon was converted to CO₂ in the region located below the freeboard first centimetres, that is, the region that includes the bed and the splash zone.Based on the CO₂ and NO concentrations in the exit flue gas, it was found that the overall biomass carbon conversion to CO₂ was in the range 97.2-99.3%, indicating high combustion efficiency, whereas the biomass nitrogen conversion to NO was lower than 8%.Concerning the Portuguese regulation about gaseous emissions from industrial biomass combustion, namely, the accomplishment of CO, NO and volatile organic compounds (VOC) (expressed as carbon) emission limits, the set of adequate operating conditions includes bed temperatures in the range 750°C-800 °C, excess air levels in the range 20%-60%, and air staging with secondary air accounting for 20% of total combustion air.     

Evaluation of municipal wastes as secondary fuels through co-combustion with woody biomass in a fluidized bed reactor

Co-combustion of two municipal waste materials (food waste and bio-solids) with an agricultural residue was carried out in a fluid bed unit, for investigating the thermal exploitation of these wastes for energy production. The reactivity of the fuels was studied by thermogravimetric analysis, while temperature profiles, gaseous emissions and combustion efficiency were determined under different operating conditions of the fluid bed reactor. By blending municipal solid waste or sewage sludge with olive stone burnout was improved, nevertheless even at high percentages of these wastes in the mixture combustion efficiency was very good, ranging between 98.5 and 99.5%. A reduction in excess air from 50 to 30%, or an increase in fuel feeding, resulted in higher SO₂ and NO_x emissions. SO₂ levels from olive stone/municipal solid waste blends were negligible, while those of NO_x exceeded emission guidelines. To meet legislation without any extra measures, generally the share of municipal solid waste in the mixture should be up to 10%, reactor loading for all mixtures below 0.72 kg/h and excess air over 40%.     

Gasification inhibition in chemical-looping combustion with solid fuels

Chemical-looping combustion (CLC) is a novel technology that can be used to meet growing demands on energy production without CO₂ emissions. The CLC process includes two reactors, an air and a fuel reactor. Between these two reactors oxygen is transported by an oxygen carrier, which most often is a metal oxide. This arrangement prevents mixing of N₂ from the air with CO₂ from the combustion giving combustion gases that consist almost entirely of CO₂ and H₂O. The technique reduces the energy penalty that normally arises from the separation of CO₂ from other flue gases, hence, CLC could make capture of CO₂ cheaper. For the application of CLC to solid fuels, the char remaining after devolatilization will react indirectly with the oxygen carrier via steam gasification. It has been suggested that H₂, and possibly CO, has an inhibiting effect on steam gasification in CLC. In this work experiments were conducted to investigate this effect. The experiments were conducted in a laboratory fluidized-bed reactor that was operating cyclically with alternating oxidation and reduction periods. Two different oxygen carriers were used as well as an inert sand bed. During the reducing period varying concentrations of CO or H₂ were used together with steam while the oxidation was conducted with 10% O₂ in N₂. The temperature was constant at 970 °C for all experiments. The results show that CO does not directly inhibit the gasification whereas the partial pressure of H₂ had a significant influence on fuel conversion. The results also suggest that dissociative hydrogen adsorption is the predominant hydrogen inhibition mechanism under the laboratory conditions, thus explaining why char conversion is much faster in a bed of oxygen carrying material, compared to an inert sand bed.     

Characterization of chemical looping combustion of coal in a 1 kWth reactor with a nickel-based oxygen carrier

Chemical looping combustion is a novel technology that can be used to meet the demand on energy production without CO₂ emission. To improve CO₂ capture efficiency in the process of chemical looping combustion of coal, a prototype configuration for chemical looping combustion of coal is made in this study. It comprises a fast fluidized bed as an air reactor, a cyclone, a spout-fluid bed as a fuel reactor and a loop-seal. The loop-seal connects the spout-fluid bed with the fast fluidized bed and is fluidized by steam to prevent the contamination of the flue gas between the two reactors. The performance of chemical looping combustion of coal is experimentally investigated with a NiO/Al₂O₃ oxygen carrier in a 1 kW_th prototype. The experimental results show that the configuration can minimize the amount of residual char entering into the air reactor from the fuel reactor with the external circulation of oxygen carrier particles giving up to 95% of CO₂ capture efficiency at a fuel reactor temperature of 985 °C. The effect of the fuel reactor temperature on the release of gaseous products of sulfur species in the air and fuel reactors is carried out. The fraction of gaseous sulfur product released in the fuel reactor increases with the fuel reactor temperature, whereas the one in the air reactor decreases correspondingly. The high fuel reactor temperature results in more SO₂ formation, and H₂S abatement in the fuel reactor. The increase of SO₂ in the fuel reactor accelerates the reaction of SO₂ with CO to form COS, and COS concentration in the fuel reactor exit gas increases with the fuel reactor temperature. The SO₂ in the air reactor exit gas is composed of the product of sulfur in residual char burnt with air and that of nickel sulfide oxidization with air in the air reactor. Due to the evident decrease of residual char in the fuel reactor with increasing fuel reactor temperature, it results in the decrease of residual char entering the air reactor from the fuel reactor, and the decrease of SO₂ from sulfur in the residual char burnt with air in the air reactor.     

流化床中高水分煤的燃烧与排放试验研究

通过在一小型流化床中进行高水分煤的燃烧与排放的试验研究，表明水分含量和空气－燃料比对于高水分煤的燃烧与排放有较大影响。随着水分增加，流化床床温下降，ＮＯｘ、ＳＯｘ排放量也下降。空气－燃料比存在一最佳值，这时床温最高，而偏离此值，床温下降，随着空气量的增加，ＮＯｘ、ＳＯｘ排放量也增加。当空气－燃料比变化时，燃烧干煤与燃烧高水分煤有着类似的试验结果。     

Combustion of coffee husks

Combustion mechanisms of two types of coffee husks have been studied using single particle combustion techniques as well as combustion in a pilot-scale fluidised bed facility (FBC), 150 mm in diameter and 9 m high. Through measurements of weight-loss and particle temperatures, the processes of drying, devolatilisation and combustion of coffee husks were studied. Axial temperature profiles in the FBC were also measured during stationary combustion conditions to analyse the location of volatile release and combustion as a function of fuel feeding mode. Finally the problems of ash sintering were analysed. The results showed that devolatilisation of coffee husks (65–72% volatile matter, raw mass) starts at a low temperature range of 170–200°C and takes place rapidly. During fuel feeding using a non water-cooled system, pyrolysis of the husks took place in the feeder tube leading to blockage and non-uniform fuel flow. Measurements of axial temperature profiles showed that during under-bed feeding, the bed and freeboard temperatures were more or less the same, whereas for over-bed feeding, freeboard temperatures were much higher, indicating significant combustion of the volatiles in the freeboard. A major problem observed during the combustion of coffee husks was ash sintering and bed agglomeration. This is due to the low melting temperature of the ash, which is attributed to the high contents of K₂O (36–38%) of the coffee husks.     

多入口多孔介质燃烧器的数值模拟

在多入口燃烧器内加入多孔介质,以甲烷/空气为燃料,采用非预混燃烧的数值模拟方法,探究多入口燃烧器的燃烧情况.对比多孔介质燃烧与空间自由燃烧,分析了"超焓燃烧"现象;在多孔介质燃烧基础上,探究不同当量比对燃烧温度的影响;在多孔介质燃烧和不同当量比的基础上探究污染物CO和CO_2的排放情况.结果表明:多孔介质燃烧可以实现"超焓燃烧"特性,燃烧火焰温度高于自由空间燃烧温度;当量比对燃烧温度影响很大,随着当量比的增大,燃烧器内最高燃烧温度升高,但燃烧过程存在一个最佳当量比0.6,超过该当量比后最高温度将不再变化;多入口多孔介质燃烧有助于减少CO和CO_2的生成量.     

Experimental study of a domestic boiler using hydrogen methane blend and fuel-rich staged combustion

Storing excess wind and solar energy in the form of hydrogen injected into the natural gas grid is one of the main ingredients of the energy transition. This hydrogen injection has an impact on emissions and the performance of user equipment. The present work reports on an experimental study of the combustion of methane-hydrogen mixture with fuel rich transverse staggered injection. The 15 kW domestic boiler used was equipped with 16 burners (2 × 8). The aim of this work is to better understand the simultaneous effects of fuel rich staged combustion (Ø = 2.0 ÷ 4.0), hydrogen blending of methane (0 ÷ 45%) on pollutant emissions and efficiency while maintaining a compromise between high power, fuel economy and low emissions. The results show that NO_x, CO₂ emissions decrease, CO and C_xH_y emission values increase and thermal efficiency values decrease with increasing hydrogen percentage and fuel rich staggering combustion.     

MILD combustion of hydrogenated biogas under several operating conditions in an opposed jet configuration

MILD combustion of biogas takes its importance firstly from the combustion process that diminishes significantly fuel consumption and reduces emissions and secondly from the use of biogas which is a renewable fuel. In this paper, the influence of several operating conditions (namely biogas composition, hydrogen enrichment and oxidizer dilution) is studied on flame structure and emissions. The investigation is conducted in MILD regime with a special focus on chemical effects of CO₂ in the oxidizer. Opposed jet diffusion combustion configuration is adopted. The combustion kinetics is described by the Gri 3.0 mechanism and the Chemkin code is used to solve the problem.It is found that oxygen reduction has a significant effect on flame temperature and emissions while less sensitivity corresponds to hydrogen enrichment in MILD combustion regime. Temperature and species are considerably reduced by oxygen decrease in the oxidizer and augmented by hydrogen addition to the fuel. The maximum values of temperature and species are not influenced by the composition of the biogas in MILD regime. Blending biogas with hydrogen can be used to sustain MILD combustion at very low oxygen concentration in the fuel.In MILD combustion regime, the chemical effect of CO₂ in the oxidizer stream reduces considerably the flame temperature and species production, except CO which is enhanced. For high amounts of CO₂ in the oxidizer, the chemical effect of CO₂ becomes negligible.     

Frontiers in combustion techniques and burner designs for emissions control and CO2 capture: A review

The use of fossil fuel is expected to increase significantly by midcentury because of the large rise in the world energy demand despite the effective integration of renewable energies in the energy production sector. This increase, alongside with the development of stricter emission regulations, forced the manufacturers of combustion systems, especially gas turbines, to develop novel combustion techniques for the control of NO_x and CO₂ emissions, the latter being a greenhouse gas responsible for more than 60% to the global warming problem. The present review addresses different burner designs and combustion techniques for clean power production in gas turbines. Combustion and emission characteristics, flame instabilities, and solution techniques are presented, such as lean premixed air‐fuel (LPM) and premixed oxy‐fuel combustion techniques, and the combustor performance is compared for both cases. The fuel flexibility approach is also reviewed, as one of the combustion techniques for controlling emissions and reducing flame instabilities, focusing on the hydrogen‐enrichment and the integrated fuel‐flexible premixed oxy‐combustion approaches. State‐of‐the‐art burner designs for gas turbine combustion applications are reviewed in this study, including stagnation point reverse flow (SPRF) burner, dry low NO_x (DLN) and dry low‐emission (DLE) burners, EnVironmental burners (including EV, AEV, and SEV burners), perforated plate (PP) burner, and micromixer (MM) burner. Special emphasis is made on the MM combustor technology, as one of the most recent advances in gas turbines for stable premixed flame operation with wide turndown and effective control of NO_x emissions. Since the generation of pure oxygen is prerequisite to oxy‐combustion, oxygen‐separation membranes became of immense importance either for air separation for clean oxy‐combustion applications or for conversion/splitting of the effluent CO₂ into useful chemical and energy products. The different carbon‐capture technologies, along with the most recent carbon‐utilization approaches towards CO₂ emissions control, are also reviewed.     

Combustion behavior in a dual-staging vortex rice husk combustor with snail entry

The combustion characteristics of rice husk fuel in a dual-staging vortex-combustor (DSVC) are experimentally investigated. In the present work, the vortex flow is created by using a snail entrance mounted at the bottom of the combustor. The temperature distributions at selected locations inside the combustor, the flue gas emissions (CO, CO₂, O₂, NO_x), and the combustion/thermal efficiency are monitored. Measurements are made at a constant rice husk feed rate of 0.25 kg/min with various excess airs (37%, 56%, 74% and 92%) and different secondary air injection fractions (λ = 0.0, 0.15 and 0.2), respectively. The combustion chamber is 1800 mm high and 300 mm in diameter (D) with a centered exhausted pipe while the middle chamber of the combustor is set to 0.5D. The smaller section at the middle chamber is introduced to split the chamber to be dual-staging chamber where a large central toroidal recirculation zone induced by swirl flow through the small section is generated in the top chamber. The experimental results reveal that the highest temperature inside the combustor is about 1000 °C whereas both the thermal and the combustion efficiency are 41.6% and 99.8% for 74% excess air without the secondary air injection (λ = 0.0). In addition, the emissions are CO₂ = 8.1%, O₂ = 9.3%, CO = 352 ppm, NO_x = 294 ppm and small amount of fly ash. Therefore, the DSVC shows an excellent performance, low emissions, high stabilization and ease of operation in firing the rice husk.     

Comparison of hazelnut and peanut shells combustion in bubbling fluidized-bed combustor

The combustion of peanut and hazelnut shells was studied in an atmospheric bubbling fluidized bed. The impact of the enrichment of air with oxygen and the flow rate of fluidizing gas on CO₂ and CO concentrations was analyzed. It was stated that in air enriched with oxygen up to 25% the mole ratios of CO₂ to CO were improved by 15–30%, depending on the flow rate used. For the peanut shell the combustion of volatiles with a hematite as an oxygen carrier was also studied. The effects were observed above ~ 450°C.