Experimental Investigation of Thermal

Performance of CFBC Boilers

Authors
Muneeb Ahmad 2k16-ME-08
Ali Haider 2k16-ME-24
Saqib Suleman 2k16-ME-30
Ahmad Sarwar Awan 2k16-ME-36

Supervisor
Engr. Nasir Mehdi Gardezi
Assistant Professor

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

NFC Institute of Engineering & Technology, Multan
2019
Abstract-

Pakistan’s economic condition does not allow it to import fuel or other material for
that matter but still our imports are much higher than our exports. In the energy
development department, Pakistan is importing huge amounts of fuel such as coal,
petroleum products etc. Even though Pakistan is sitting upon a huge reserve of coal
but unable to utilize it because the lignite type of coal is not very much efficient as
compared to other coal types which are imported from other countries. But that does
not mean that all of that reserve is going to waste as we can make a pretty good use of
it by treating the Lignite in the CFBC system which even if not giving us the best
efficiency but still a very good alternative to the expensive imported coal.

1. Introduction

Economic and population growth of Pakistan has necessitated huge growth in

electricity demand over the last three decades. The establishment of a economic and
sustainable energy has become one of the important tasks for all mankind. There are
various methods of energy development but using resources that are easily available
such as coal reserves in Thar Desert, Tharparkar District of Sindh province of
Pakistan which is the 16th largest coal reserves in the world i.e. 175 Billion tonnes.
The coal available in Pakistan are mostly lignite which is the lowest grade of coal and
is less efficient than the other types such as anthracite, bituminous. So to make lignite
more efficient and useable we use the CFBC system which treats the coal by
removing moisture content.

2. Literature Review

History of CFBC during the 70s and also in 80s, it appeared that conventional
pulverized coal-fired power plants had reached a plateau in terms of thermal
efficiency. The efficiency levels achieved were of the order of 40 percent in the US
and also in UK. An alternative technology, Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion
(CFBC), was developed to raise the efficiency levels. In this technology, high
pressure air is blown through finely ground coal. The particles become entrained in
the air and form a floating or fluidized bed. This bed behaves like a fluid in which the
constituent particles move to and fro and collide with one another[1]. The circulating
fluidized bed (CFB) had a curious beginning. Warren Lewis and Edwin Gilliland
conceived a new gas–solid process at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
1938 when they were trying to find an appropriate gas – solid contacting process for
fluid catalytic cracking. The first CFB boiler, designed exclusively for the supply of
steam and heat, was built in the Vereingte Aluminum Werke at Luenen, Germany in
1982. This plant generated 84 MW total (9MW electricity, 31 MW process steam, 44
MW molten salt melt) by burning low-grade coal washery residues in the presence of
limestone [2]. Following a series of experiments in their Hans Ahlstrom Laboratory,
they built the first commercial CFB boiler in Pihlava, Finland. It was a 15 MW
(thermal output) boiler retrofit to an existing oil-fired boiler to replace expensive oil
with peat. Initially the circulating fluidized bed boilers built by Ahlstrom were
primarily for burning multi-fuel or low-grade fuels including bark, peat, and wood
waste. Later boilers were designed exclusively for coal.

3. Problem statement

A significant part of our energy needs are met by thermal power plants and in most of
them coal is used and huge part of which is imported from South Africa, Indonesia
and Australia. So the question rises why does Pakistan have to import so much coal
even when sitting upon the 16th largest coal reserve in the world? The answer to that
question is that Pakistan is not utilizing its reserves because most part of its reserves
comprises of Lignite which does not meet the efficiency requirement of the industry.
But that does not mean all of that reserve is a waste, Pakistan can make that Lignite
reserve useable by installing the Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion System.

4. Objective

 To analyze the thermal performance of CFBC boiler.

 To determine the experimental investigation of thermal efficiency of CFBC
boiler.
 To examine the Lignite coal.

5. Proposed methodology

CFBC stands for Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustor. In this process, a mixture of
coal and limestone from bunkers are thrown on to the bed of the combustor, where
high pressurized pre-heated air from the blower is passed from the openings of the
bed[3]. This passage of pre-heated air at high pressure helps distribute the fine
particles of coal uniformly throughout the combustion chamber instead of stacking at
the bottom of the bed. This helps in uniform combustion of the coal dust which
prevents choking in the combustor. The flue gases formed are re-circulated by passing
it through the air pre-heater which is then pressurized.[4]
6. Expected Results

After performing these experiments, this will be clear to us that lignite is applicable to
our industry for power generation purposes. We will compare our results with
internationally published articles in which they have written about the properties and
performance of lignite from different regions of the world and the efficiency of lignite
even though a bit less than the other high grade coals which are imported but still be
more economic.

7. Resources

We have the CFBC combustor in our University. We will study its working. We have
enough number of articles published by different authors in various International
Journals. Moreover, we will access information about CFBC by watching YouTube
videos and by consulting with our teachers who are already doing a research on
CFBC.

8. Timeline
Deciding a proper timeline is very crucial part of doing research.

We have divided our progress timeline in the following parts:

1st part:

 Thoroughly study of CFBC boiler by reading research articles.

 Detailed study of CFBC parts and its working principle.
 Coal analysis to improve efficiency.

Target date Task and “to do list” Date completed

Choose a topic
Topic: Experimental Investigation of
thermal performance of CFBC
boiler.
Gather Information
Organize ideas
Data collection
Data analysis
Writing up
Drafting of paper
References:

[1]. Chetan T. Patel, Dr.Bhavesh K. pate, Vijay K. Patel. “Efficiency With Different
Gcv Of Coal And Efficiency Improvement Opportunity In Boiler” May 2013
www.ijirset.com ISSN: 2319-8753
[2]. P.K. Nag; third edition; Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company Limited;
Page no. 160 – 161 ; 380 – 381

[3] Ravindra Kumar and K.M.Pandey, Cfd Analysis Of Circulating Fluidized Bed
Combustion by “IRACST – Engineering Science and Technology: An International
Journal (ESTIJ), ISSN: 2250-3498, Vol.2, No.1, 2012”

[4] K.M.Pandey and Ravindra Kumar, Numerical Analysis of Coal Combustion in

Circulating Fluidized Bed by “International Journal of Chemical Engineering and
Applications, Vol. 2, No. 6, December 2011”.