Dry Scrubber

Recycle Ash Systems:

Considerations for
Recycling Solids

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Dry Scrubber Recycle Ash Systems:

Considerations for Recycling Solids
Educational Objectives
On completion of this course, students will:
1.

Understand the design/sizing criteria for a

pneumatic recycle ash conveying system.

3.

2.

Understand the limits of traditional fly

ash pneumatic conveying systems.

4. Be able to identify specific lessons

learned based on a case study.

The design/sizing criteria for a pneumatic recycle ash conveying system will be presented along with the actual layout
of the pneumatic conveying system that utilizes conventional commercially available blower equipment. Todays
dry scrubber power plant projects that burn Powder River
Basin (PRB) coal have substantially increased the quantity
of solids in the flue gas stream to be collected in the baghouse or pulse jet fabric filter (PJFF).
In an effort to fully utilize the un-reacted lime and reduce
operating costs, utilities are recycling a portion of the fly
ash removed in the baghouse/PJFF for re-use in the scrubbing process. As a result, traditional utility-grade fly ash
pneumatic conveying systems are approaching their vacuum
pipe design limits, compromising the traditional high design
allowable margins, and sub-dividing the vacuum conveying
layout into smaller sub-systems and/or combination vacuum/
pressure pneumatic conveying systems. Higher ash generation production/capacities, difficult material characteristics
and lower operating temperatures provide additional design
constraints directly resulting in larger/more complicated
pneumatic conveying systems (i.e. larger equipment, more
pneumatic pipes, fittings and valve stations).
At the same time, the pneumatic conveying system
equipment location and pipe routing must be arranged and
often re-arranged during the design calculation period so
that the total equivalent conveying length (TEL) including
fitting losses, etc is determined to be less than the available TEL calculated length up to and including the vacuum
exhauster losses. This paper explains the methodology
used for developing system design criteria, presents design
constraints, lessons learned and the final system /equipment
2

Understand the methodology used for

developing system design criteria.

selection and layout for a recent project involving a 600

MW, Ultra Supercritical PRB-fired unit with a Spray Dryer
Absorber (SDA) and Pulse Jet Fabric

Introduction and Background

In 2006 American Electric Power (AEP) awarded the balance of plant (BOP) engineering and construction to The
Shaw Group for a 600 MW ultra supercritical coal fired
power plant. One of many systems included in the BOP
scope was the complete ash handling system including both
fly ash and bottom ash. This paper discusses the specific
project approach used in developing and specifying a complete fly ash/recycle ash (pneumatic) conveying system, and
shows the actual site arrangement for the final system.
The BOP engineering started from the Owners (AEP)
preliminary design document and pre-purchased equipment that included the dry scrubber system and the pulse
jet fabric filter (PJFF).
The specifics of the plant for the fly ash/recycle ash systems are as follows:
600 MW ultra supercritical power plant
Steam Condition = approximately 4,400,000 lbs/hr
Steam temperature/pressure = approximately 1114 F / 3800 psig
Fuel = Powder River Basin (PRB) coal fired
Burn Rate = 375-TPH (PRB Coal) at approximately 8400 Btu/lb
Ash content = 3.5% to 7.3% (by weight)
Ash split ratio = 80/20: fly ash to bottom ash
Dry FGD System consisting of two Spray
Dryer Absorber (SDA) Vessels
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Lime slurry injected via rotary atomization

Flue gas residence time: Approximately 12 seconds
Pulse Jet Fabric Filter (PJFF) Baghouse
10 compartments
3.7:1 Air-to-Cloth Ratio
13,100 total fabric filter bags.
Fly ash characteristics:
Class C
45#/CF
High calcium content
High affinity for moisture
Cementitious under certain conditions
Recycle ash characteristics:
48#/CF (+/-)
Contains fly ash
Contains un-reacted lime
Contains calcium sulfite (Reacted Lime)
98% Solids
1-2% moisture but generally is less than 1%
Contains Halogenated PowderedActivated Carbon, injected into the flue gas stream
for the control of mercury emissions
Much cooler ash compared to non- scrubber plants
Approximately 175F exiting the PJFF
Very susceptible to plugging in the pipe
Fly ash / recycle ash is collected downstream
of the dry scrubber in the (PJFF)

Initial Studies
AEP operates a large fleet of pulverized coal-fired generating
units and has considerable experience operating and maintaining fly ash removal systems. However, the unique demands of
a Dry FGD system with a PJFF and fly ash recycle had not
been encountered. A design criteria document was prepared
by AEP based on their fly ash removal system experience,
including limited criteria for the recycle ash system based on
technical discussions with vendors, other utilities, etc. This
design criteria document was provided to Shaw to serve as a
starting point to develop the final recycle ash system design
and to prepare a system specification. Although the design
criteria document required some revisions for specific PRB
recycle ash handling methods and higher material quantities,
the document provided basic system criteria as follows:
Vacuum conveying from the PJFF
Conveying design capacity of 2-times production
3-days capacity for the waste ash silo
8-hours capacity for the recycle ash silo
Truck removal from the waste ash silo
Defined the level of redundancy for equipment

Redundancy
A key component for the success of the Fly Ash Removal/
Recycle System (FARRS) system is the level of redundancy
(LOR) required for the project. The LOR required by
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AEP is for 100% operating and 100% sparing capacity. To

meet this requirement becomes a function of the number
of pneumatic conveying pipes and equipment layout. For
a two pipe vacuum system (one pipe per bank of hoppers)
three vacuum producers and three pre-heated air fans are
required to meet the LOR criteria but the capacity factor is
affected (discussed later).
For a four pipe vacuum system (two pipes per bank of
hoppers) six vacuum producers and six pre-heated air fans
are required to meet the LOR criteria, but add unwanted
complexity, resulting in higher capital costs and additional
maintenance.

System Constraints
The Turk dry scrubber process receives flue gas exiting the
air heater at approximately 290 F. The flue gas contains fly
ash, and is combined in the Spray Dryer Absorber (SDA)
vessels with the finely atomized lime slurry reagent. Residence time in the SDA is nearly 12 seconds, as the moisture
in the slurry is evaporated, lowering the overall temperature
of the flue gas to approximately 170 oF. The flue gas and
solids (fly ash and FGD waste including un-reacted lime)
enter the downstream PJFF where the solids are removed
from the flue gas stream, captured on the fabric filter bags,
and collected in the PJFF hoppers to be removed by the
FARRS.
Specific system constraints encountered for handling
the recycle ash included developing system layouts that
fall within the vacuum limitations, using commercially
available equipment (staying with the OEM design limits),
and dealing with lower recycle ash temperatures, material
moisture, pipe routing, system complexity (two or four piping configurations), maintenance considerations and capital
costs. These constraints have an impact in the final equipment selection and in developing the system design and
arrangement as follows:
1. For this project, several recycle ash mass flow
quantities were provided by the boiler and SDA/
PJFF supplier. They ranged from high lime usage
to high fuel sulfur content. The case studies ranged
from a low (recycle ash) quantity of 56,312 lbs/Hr
to a high (recycle ash) quantity of 191,177 lbs/Hr.
In designing the optimum recycle ash removal system for this project; the highest flow rate value (191,177
lbs/Hr) was used for equipment sizing, pipe sizing/
routing and to identify how to convey the ash from the
outlet of the PJFF hoppers depending on the number of
conveying pipes needed.
2. The PJFF hopper arrangement set the outlet flange of
the hopper at just 4-feet above the top of concrete.
This distance was already pre-determined and given
to Shaw (BOP Engineer) to begin our design. This
distance does not allow adequate vertical space for a
pressure pneumatic conveying system consisting of
3

airlock chambers, isolation vales, etc. and therefore a

pressure pneumatic conveying system was eliminated
from consideration allowing for only a vacuum pressure
pneumatic conveying system to remove the recycle ash
as also defined in the AEPs design criteria document.
3. High calcium recycle ash, with its sticky and/or cementitious ash properties, an affinity for moisture, and
lower overall process temperatures provide significant
challenges to designing a pneumatic conveying system.
4. It was AEPs intent in the design criteria to engineer
the system as a traditional vacuum conveying system,
consisting of a vacuum/material inlet valve located
at the outlet of the hopper flange, with sweep air or
pick-up air entering the conveying pipe through a
spring disc air inlet fitting located at the starting end
of the pneumatic pipe. Material from the hoppers
is conveyed (by vacuum) to the top of a storage silo
where the ash is separated from the conveying air
through a filter separator (also located on top of the
silo) and the air pipe is routed from theseparator
to a vacuum (mechanical) exhauster located at
grade near the base of the waste ash storage silo.
Understanding how recycle ash differs from conventional fly ash, coupled with the capacity requirements and the
increased solids contributed by the Dry FGD system, Shaw
determined that the constraints mentioned above were too
prohibitive of a traditional vacuum conveying system, and
worked with AEP to optimize the system design to overcome these constraints.
First, the total equivalent conveying length (TEL) for
a vacuum system is limited to approximately 600-700 feet
including the pipe and fittings. Through numerous pipe
routing arrangements and calculations, Shaw optimized
the piping and equipment location to be within the allowable TEL to a defined transfer point, at which it was determined that the system would switch over to pressurized
ash transfer. Next, to prevent pipe plugging issues in the
vacuum conveying lines downstream of the PJFF, heaters
and pressurized fans added to the design to continuously
heat the pneumatic conveying air lines (with and without
Figure 1 Hopper Flange Clearance

material in the pipe) to temperatures ranging from 275F

to 350F, to promote the flow of ash. The pre-heated air
system was located upstream and adjacent to the PJFF.
Additionally, large radius sweeping elbows and/or rubber
elbows (designed to handle the expected transport air
temperatures), larger pipes to handle increased air mass,
insulated conveying pipes and insulated filter separators
were incorporated.
As the design evolved to mitigate the constraints mentioned above, more detailed engineering of the system
began, and additional design constraints related more directly to the operation, performance, and maintenance of
the system and its integration into the overall plant were
encountered.
Figure 2 Traditional Vacuum System

Additional Design Constraints

1. The waste ash silo storage criteria required 3-days
capacity and truck loadout capabilities. The
trucking operation alone prevented the waste ash
silo from being located close to the recycle ash
silo further complicating the final pipe routing.
2. The recycle ash silo is located at the opposite end
of the PJFF, is approximately 135 ft tall, and is
only 24 ft in diameter. The height of the silo
adds to the overall conveying length, and the
Figure 3 Pre-Heated Pneumatic Air

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Figure 4 Partial Site Plan

Figure 5 2-Pipe Vacuum System

Figure 6 4-Pipe Vacuum System

Project Specific Design Approach

diameter limits the size of equipment that can

be housed and easily accessed on the silo roof
3. Determining how many of the ten (10) PJFF hoppers
will discharge into a single vacuum conveying pipe
is critical for laying out a pneumatic conveying
system so that the material to air ratio is satisfied
based on the available (vacuum) pressure. Note; the
goal is for fewer conveying pipes rather than more
pipes to reduce the number of pre-heated air fans,
air heaters, cross-over valve stations, filter separators
and vacuum (mechanical exhausters) blowers. The
desired number of conveying lines was two.
4. Equipment redundancy is necessary, but fewer
conveying pipes will reduce the actual number of spare
fans, heaters, blowers and exhausters to minimize
system complexity and overall system costs.
5. Conveying design rate vs. actual production rate has
traditionally followed an accepted guideline of 2-times
as was required by the original design basis document.
Although the 2-times criteria has traditionally been
used/specified to provide for catch-up periods when
some of the PJFF hoppers are removed from operation/
service or maintenance, Shaw determined a 2-times
design rate was not possible with only two conveying
pipes beneath the PJFF because the size of the pipe to
meet the lb material to lb air ratio (based on pneumatic
piping calculations) exceeded commercially available
abrasion resistant pipe sizes. Example: (191,700 lbs/Hr)
(2 production rate) = 96-TPH 2 conveying pipes pipe
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Overcoming the additional design constraints proved to

be a challenge. Several piping arrangements were developed and numerous pneumatic piping calculations were
performed using published pneumatic equations for the
2-times production ratio. The conclusion was that the 96TPH pneumatic conveying rate discussed earlier was not
practical or possible given the FARRS OEM pipe size limitations and mechanical exhauster size limitations, without
adding two (2) additional pneumatic pipelines beneath the
PJFF hoppers, two (2) additional filter separators, and 3
to 4 additional mechanical exhausters (See Figure 6). The
added complexity, equipment cost, and future maintenance
considerations to meet the 96 TPH rate was determined to
be impractical. It was determined that by using commercially available abrasion resistant pipe and the largest rotary
lobe blowers, and re-locating the filter/separators to grade,
thereby reducing the TEL of the vacuum transport lines,
the system could achieve a design ratio of 1.7 times the production rate (81-TPH). This lower ratio was acceptable to
AEP while providing sufficient margin to catch up production if one of the PJFF hoppers were down for service. The
published pneumatic equations used for this project are as
follows:
The TEL calculations coupled with the limited area on
the recycle ash silo roof, and AEPs requirement for sufficient make-up capacity meant that a traditional vacuumonly system simply would not work. A combination vacuum
/ pressure pneumatic systemwould be required, allowing
the pressurized portion of the system to convey the ash to
either the recycle ash silo or the waste ash silo due to the
long conveying distances and silo heights. By introducing
a pressurized pneumatic conveying system, the complexity
of the system increased slightly because of the additional
pressure blowers, silencers, filters etc. However, the pressur5

Published Pneumatic Equations

ized portion also offered some benefit to the system since

material can be conveyed greater distances with pressurized
transport, and heat of compression from the pressure blowers heats the transport lines to promote the flow of ash and
reduce the need for additional heaters, heat tracing, etc.
A description for a vacuum / pressure pneumatic conveying system is as follows: A traditional vacuum / pressure
pneumatic conveying system has all of the same basic components as a traditional vacuum-only system including vacuum/material inlet valve located at the outlet of the hopper
flange, preheated sweep air or pick-up air at the entrance of
the vacuum pipe except that the filter separators are located
at grade and designed for pressure piping downstream.
The next challenge was to locate the vacuum / pressure filter
separator station (one filter separator is required per vacuum
pipe) very close to the PJFF because the physical distance of
the pipe combined with the equivalent system losses (equivalent
pipe distance) had to be under 600-700 feet. A feasible location
that met this criteria for the grade-mounted filter separators
was adjacent to the PJFF, and the Filter/Separator station was
located so that the ID fans and ductwork maintenance areas
established for the plant were kept clear and un-obscured.
Lastly, the filter separators had no level of redundancy.
To ensure that the plant would continue to operate in the
event one of the filter separators had to be removed from
normal operation, a vacuum pneumatic cross-over pipe arrangement was provided at the PJFF.

Summary and Conclusions

The final arrangement for this project is two vacuum pneumatic pipes (individual piping systems); one pipe per bank
6

Figure 7 Final Site Plan

of five PJFF hoppers. Pipe sizes and selected blowers stayed

within the design limits of commercially available pipe and
blowers. The final arrangement also reduced the quantity of
auxiliary equipment (i.e. heaters, fans, pipes, filter separators and vacuum exhausters) to one operating component
and one spare per system to meet the redundancy requirements of the design criteria document. The knowledge
gained by AEP, Shaw, and the ash handling system OEM as
a part of this design evolution, provided tremendous insight
in an area that has not been widely addressed in the industry
and was not included in AEPs fleet operating experience.
The original design criteria document has been revised by
AEP and now contains specific criteria for PRB-fired units
utilizing dry FGD and PJFF equipment. Some of the major
design criteria changes that resulted from this project are
as follows:
A complete pressure, or combination vacuum/
pressure pneumatic conveying system utilizing
pressure to convey the recycle ash to the top of
both the waste ash silo and recycle silo
1.7-times capacity factor
Pre-heated conveying air (vacuum transport lines)
Rotary lobe vacuum exhausters (for combination systems)
Rotary lobe pressure blowers
Cross-over piping stations to allow for maintenance
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 Insulated conveying pipe from the PJFF

to the recycle and waste ash silos.
Insulated filter-separators
All of the above considerations (and even more when
needed depending on actual site conditions) are key to the
success of a pneumatic handling recycle ash solids conveying system for a dry scrubber power plant burning PRB coal.
The final flow diagram for the recycle ash solid conveying
system and complete material balance is presented on the
next sheet.
Figure 8 Final Flow Diagram

References
1. Chemical Industries A series of Reference Books and Text
Books Volume 13 Pneumatic and Hydraulic Conveying of
Solids, O. A. Williams (1983).
2.

Ash Handling and Disposal Seminar, University of Wisconsin

Extension Center, October 28-29, 1985.

3. Gardner-Denver, Cyclo-Blower Selection Data for Vacuum

and Pressure Blowers.

Acknowledgements:
This course is based on the presentation Dry Scrubber Recycle
Ash Systems: Considerations for Recycle Solids by Dan
Jennings, Material Handling Manager Technical Support,
Shaw Power Group; and Matt Usher PE, Mechanical
Engineer-New Generation Design & Engineering, American
Electric Power, at POWER-GEN International 2008. The
presenters acknowledged the technical contributions made by
United Conveyor Corp. to the approach method sections of
this paper.

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Questions
1. What type of coal is

11. The recycle system size was

combusted in this unit?

tions that the ash can be cementi-

based upon what criteria?

a. Low sulfur eastern bituminous

tious under certain conditions.

a. The maximum calculated flow rate

b. High sulfur Illinois #6

This is quite true, and many boilers

c. Low sulfur PRB

that have been switched from

2. What is the range of percentage

ash, by weight, in this fuel?

bituminous coals to PRB have encountered concrete-like ash formation in backpass locations. The list

a. 3.5% to 7.3%

also includes the chemical element

b. 4.5% to 8.3%

that can influence the cement-like

c. 5.5% to 9.3%

3. What is the approximate residence

time of the flue gas in the scrubber?
a. 60 seconds

nature of the deposits. What is it?

a. Calcium
b. Magnesium
c. Aluminum

b. 30 seconds

7. The paper also includes a list

c. 12 seconds

of recycle ash characteristics.

d. 2 seconds

4. Fly ash and scrubber particulates

are removed by a pulse-jet fabric
filter (PJFF). PJFFs consist of several compartments in which the gas
flows through many frame-support-

What chemical is in the ash that

provides the incentive to reuse
the material in the scrubber?

to hoppers below. How many bags

a. Non-halogenated activated carbon

5. One of the defining criteria for a

from the PJFF hoppers to the

silos includes heaters to raise
the temperature such that pipe
plugging of the calcium-bearing,
hygroscopic material. What is
the range to which these heaters
raise the air temperature in the
pneumatic conveying system?
a. 250 to 275 F
b. 275 to 300 F
c. 275 to 350 F

13. How much storage capacity

a. One day

c. Un-reacted lime

stream for mercury removal?

c. 15,000

12. The design of the conveying line

b. Anhydrous ammonia

with air to dislodge ash that falls

b. 13,100

c. The average calculated flow rate

does the waste ash silo have?

8. What is injected into the flue gas

a. 7,500

b. The minimum calculated flow rate

a. Aluminum oxide

ed bags that are regularly pulsed

are utilized for this 600 MW unit?

b. Two days
c. Three days
d. Four days

14. Economic evaluations dictated that

b. Halogenated activated carbon

a two-pipe pneumatic conveying

c. Limestone

system from the PJFF hoppers to

d. None of the above

9. What type of transport system

was utilized for moving the ash

the silos was best. However, pipe

sizing for a 2-times production
ratio proved to be impractical.

from the PJFF hoppers to the

What ratio was selected?

cloth ratio. This is amount of

recycle and waste silos?

a. 1.7 to 1

filter area provided for the design

a. Water sluicing

fabric filter device is the air-to-

flue gas flow, and is measured

in units of acfm (actual cubic
feet per minute) of air flow per
square foot of cloth. What is the

b. Pneumatic
c. Belt conveyor

10. To what temperature is the

b. 1.5 to 1
c. 1.3 to 1

15. What was the maximum distance

calculated to be allowable for

gas cooled in the scrubber?

the ash conveyor run from

a. 140 F

the PJFF to the silos?

a. 3.7 to 1

b. 150 F

a. 700 feet

b. 4.2 to 1

c. 160 F

b. 1000 feet

c. 5.7 to 1

d. 170 F

c. 1500 feet

air-to-cloth ratio of this PJFF?

6. The list of fly ash properties men-

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