Technology comparisons

The differences between the PC and the CFB are shown in figure-2 for a supercritical design. Although
the heat recovery areas of the boilers are similar, major differences can be seen in the furnace sections.
One major difference is that the CFB utilizes a continuous hot solid return system to the furnace, which
offers many advantages. The CFB hot solids circulating system acts as a thermal 'flywheel' which
increases solids retention time, resulting in good carbon burnout and homogeneous heat flux
throughout the furnace and return system. On the other hand, Supercritical PC boilers can burn the coal
more efficiently by providing large surface area per unit fuel quantity for combustion.

CFB Boiler ATTRIBUTES PC Boiler ATTRIBUTES

Furnace Temperature
Soot Blowing
Slagging in furnace
NOx Formation
Combustion temperature 850- Combustion temperature
900 C 1300-1400 C
No furnace soot blowing In-furnace soot blower normal
practice
No slagging Melting Ash could cause
slagging in furnace
NOx formation reduced due to Achieving reasonable NOx level
less requires low NOx burners with
SCR
 SO2 retention SO2 retention by simple adding
limestone
Diverse Fuel Capacity Insensitive to sudden changes
in fuel
Heat Flux Profile Flue gas temperature profile
homogenous throughout the
furnace. Lower stress due to
reduced thermal differential
between gas and water side
Bottom Ash 50% bottom ash
Size of Electrostatic Load on ESP is lesser due to
precipitator low fly ash content
Time & Energy Time energy and facility to
crush the coal is comparatively
less
Cyclone Separator Cyclone separator for recycling
unburnt solid coal
No Sulphur retention in the
furnace
Sensitive to sudden changes in
fuel quality
Greater possibility of heat
related tube damage due to
higher temperature
differentials between water
and flame & high heat flux in
burner zone
Only 15% bottom ash
Large load on ESP
Time energy and facility to
grind the coal is large
Unburnt coal particles can't be
recycled

Energy-saving technology of 350MW supercritical CFB boiler:

Shendongequ 350MW supercritical CFB boiler was designed with advanced energy-saving technology
measures, including the State Specification Design theory technology, selection optimization of the air
fan parameter, and boiler system process optimization etc. The performance test of 350MW
supercritical CFB boiler unit shows that the boiler efficiency is 91.76%, the service plant rate of the
whole unit is 6.335%, and the air leakage rate of the air preheater is 0.89%, which is lower than the
guarantee value under the rated load, shown in the following table

Economic Unit Guarantee Value Test Value

Indicator
Boiler Efficiency % 91.20 91.76
Service Power % 6.41 6.335
Rate
Net Coal g/Kwh 325 321
Consumption
Air Leakage Rate % 1 0.89
Energy consumption indicators in Supercritical Units:
An important aspect of boiler choice is the auxiliary power consumption associated with fuel processing
and emissions control. In PC boilers that use mills to grind coal, this is important from a fuel processing
viewpoint. Generally, higher plant auxiliary loads result in lower plant efficiency. The finer pulverized coal
required for a PC boiler results in higher auxiliary load requirements and lower plant efficiency. Therefore,
for a specific plant design, a lower HGI will result in higher auxiliary power to achieve the required coal
fineness and, consequently, a lower overall plant efficiency. CFB boilers, on the other hand, do not
require fine coal, and so a PC plant’s grinding mills are replaced by crushers in CFB plants, which reduce
coal processing auxiliary power consumption requirements (see table).
Distribution characteristics of service plant rate of 350MW unit:

gray field isolation transformer 0.00 %

plant front zone transformer 0.18 %
lighting transformer 0.49 %
water treatment transformer 1.48 %
utility transformer 1.71 %
working transformer 3.35 %
desulfurization and dust removal transformer 4.20 %
coal handling system 5.25 %
water pump 19.57 %
air compressor 9.46 %
air fan 54.32 %

0.00 % 10.00 % 20.00 % 30.00 % 40.00 % 50.00 % 60.00 %

Figure 1: Structure of the service plant rate of 350MW unit

motor-driven feedwater pump 0.00 %

gray field isolation transformer 0.00 %
plant front zone transformer 0.18 %
lighting transformer 0.49 %
water treatment transformer 1.48 %
utility transformer 1.71 %
auxiliary circulating water pump 2.21 %
condensate pump 2.88 %
working transformer 3.35 %
desulfurization and dust removal transformer 4.20 %
secondary air fan 4.57 %
high pressure fluidized fan 4.98 %
coal handling system 5.25 %
air compressor 9.46 %
primary air fan 12.07 %
circulating water pump 14.48 %
induced-draft fan 32.69 %

0.00 % 5.00 % 10.00 % 15.00 % 20.00 % 25.00 % 30.00 % 35.00 %

Figure 2: Structure subdivision of the service plant rate of 350 MW unit

Through the analysis of energy consumption distribution test, it can be seen from Figure 2 and Figure 3
that the 350MW supercritical CFB boiler unit is used in the power consumption of various types of
converters. The power consumption of the air fan is the first, the power consumption of the pump is the
second, and the power consumption of the air compressor is the third. Therefore, the key to reducing
the power consumption of the plant is to reduce the power consumption of the three types of load.
Further subdividing various types of loads, the top ranked is the induced draft fan, circulating water
pump, primary air fan, air compressor, coal handling system, high-pressure fluidized fan, secondary air
fan, desulfurization and dust removal transformer.