COMBUSTION A N D F L A M E 77: 51-68 (1989) 51

The Suitability of Ultrafine Coal as an Industrial Boiler Fuel

D. J. BARRATT and P. T. ROBERTS

Shell Research Ltd., Thornton Research Centre, P.O. Box 1, Chester CHI 3SH, England

Coal that was finely ground to a mean particle size of 12 #m produced a hotter, shorter flame compared to normal
pulverized fuel in a pilot scale combustor. Measurements indicated that, should this fuel be fired in an industrial
boiler, the rate of ash deposition on the walls and convection tubes could be low, but that the thin ash deposits that
were produced might be more highly insulating and would therefore require more frequent cleaning. A mathematical
model, using reactivity and pyrolysis data measured in laboratory-scale apparatus, has been used to predict the heat
release rate within a boiler. This would be sufficiently high to allow a premium-quality finely ground coal to be
burned in many boilers originally designed for oil firing, provided that burner mixing patterns were optimized.

INTRODUCTION and intimately mixed with air. After the particles/

Much of the industrial steam raising plant at
present in use was installed during the period when
unit energy prices of residual fuel oil (RFO) and
coal were similar. Because oil fired boilers have a
lower capital cost and require less supervision and
maintenance they were selected in most cases.
More recently, during the period 1980-1985, the
cost of coal was approximately half that of oil, but
the high capital cost of boiler replacement deterred
many companies from taking advantage of this
situation. A lower-cost option was to use one of
the retrofit techniques, such as coal-liquid slurries
or dual-fuel burners, which have been proposed to
enable oil-designed boilers to be converted to
either full or partial coal firing. They have the
additional advantage that the boiler can easily
revert to oil firing when, as at present, the oil price
falls. This report considers one such option, using
ultrafine coal (ufc), which is ground to a finer
particle size than that of traditional pulverized fuel
(pf).
droplets have been rapidly devolatilized at the root
of the flame the volatiles burn relatively quickly in
the luminous part of the flame, leaving a carbona-
ceous char that burns more slowly.
Droplets of RFO have a similar mean size to
particles of pf but their size distribution is
narrower, with few larger particles [1]. The mass
of char remaining is less than 10% of the original
mass of the oil droplet, compared to over 50% of
the mass of a coal particle. Oil chars are smaller,
less dense, and more reactive. The combination of
rapid burning rate and high opacity of an RFO
flame results in a high furnace heat release rate,
which is typically in the range of 340-1000 kW/
m 3, compared to a maximum of 225 kW/m 3 for
pf-fired units [2]. This factor, together with higher
design furnace exit temperatures, allows the com-
bustion chambers of RFO boilers to be more
compact than those of equivalent coal-fired units.
The difference is greatest for small industrial units
where the combustion chambers have the maxi-
mum surface-volume ratio.

FUEL AND BOILER COMPATIBILITY

Fuel Ash
Fuel Burning Rate
Modern mining methods produce run-of-mine coal
To achieve a rapid combustion rate both RFO and with a mineral matter content in the range 15%-
coal must be reduced to small particles or droplets 30%. Industrial boiler fuel is normally washed
Copyright © 1989 by Shell Research Ltd.
Published by Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc.
655 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY I0010
52
before use to remove easily separated lumps of
impurities. Depending on the washability charac-
teristics of the particular coal, conventional coal
cleaning may reduce the mineral content of
"small" coal ( > 3 mm) to between 3% and 10%.
Further "deep" cleaning is possible but must be
performed on finely ground coal. The nature and
distribution of mineral matter is critical in deter-
mining the ultimate purity of the fuel. Some coals
can be cleaned to below 1% ash, but for others the
limit is around 3 % [3]. In any case, deep cleaning
techniques yield a product that is difficult to
handle as a solid, and it is normally used in slurry
form.
Most finely divided particles of mineral matter
in conventionally washed coals are converted into
molten ash droplets in the pf flame. The majority
of these coagulate and solidify, forming ash
particles in the 5-30-#m size range. After char
combustion most of this ash is swept through the
boiler with the combustion products. Some of
these particles may contact solid surfaces (boiler
walls or convection tube banks). They may either
become attached to the surface, producing slag,
fouling or corrosion deposits, or rebound causing
metal abrasion.
The ash contents of RFO and conventionally
washed coal differ by two orders of magnitude [1].
RFO ash varies in composition, in some cases
consisting principally of silica and alumina but
more usually containing high concentrations of the
oxides of vanadium, sodium, and potassium.
These form low-melting eutectics that are very
corrosive to steels and alloys in the 550"-750"C
temperature range. The rate of accumulation of
deposits is low, and bulky slag deposits are rarely
observed.
The major constituents of ash from bituminous
coals are normally alumina and silica, but in some
cases significant concentrations of iron, calcium
and sodium oxides, and sulfates may also be
present. These act as fluxes, forming either a
viscous glassy slag that coats the walls of the
boiler where temperatures exceed 1200"C or
porous bonded fouling deposits that plug the
passages in the superheater tube banks at lower
temperatures.
Periodic on-line cleaning of combustion cham-
D . J . BARRATT and P. T. ROBERTS
ber walls by numerous retractable wall-blowers is
essential to maintain evaporation rates and to
prevent excessive furnace exit temperatures in pf-
fired boilers, but these devices are rarely fitted to
RFO boilers. Bottom ash extraction is a crucial
design feature of pf boilers, as hopper blockage is
one of the most common causes of boiler outages.
Industrial RFO boilers often have flat bottoms
with no provision for ash removal.
The rate of accumulation of superheater de-
posits may be rapid, and in addition to their
corrosive nature they reduce the heat absorption
capacity of the boiler and increase the resistance to
flow. The minimum spacing between rows of
tubes in the convection banks of pf-fired boilers is
a function of the temperature and stickiness of the
ash. Under severe fouling conditions a spacing of
450 nun may be required to prevent the plugging
of gas passages, compared to 175 mm for RFO
boilers. On-line cleaning by long retractable
sootblower lances is always required for pf boilers
but is only fitted to larger RFO boilers.
Some coals contain significant proportions of
large refractory quartz particles. They may pass
through the flame without melting and the hard
angular particles in the fly ash may cause abrasion
of convection tubes in regions of high combustion
product velocity. Boiler designers minimize wear
rates by limiting the mean gas velocity entering the
tube banks of pf-fired boilers to a maximum of 20
m/s for normal coals [2] and 10 m/s for coals with
abrasive ash [4]. Despite these precautions, ero-
sion problems often occur, where localized re-
gions of high velocity may develop due to changes
in direction or obstruction of the gas flow. Fly ash
concentrations in RFO boilers are much lower and
the ash particles have a different morphology,
consisting mainly of plate and needlelike struc-
tures that have been found to be less erosive. It has
been estimated [5] that a velocity of 60-80 m/s
could be reached before erosion became a prob-
lem, but the normal mean velocity in RFO boilers
is 30 m/s.
Ultrafine Coal
For the reasons outlined above, boilers designed
for RFO firing require considerable modification
to enable them to be fired on pf and the boiler
ULTRAFINE COAL AS A FUEL 53

output must be reduced by 30%--40% [6]. If the trials to compare the combustion performance of
coal is ground to a finer size than conventional pf, fine (ufc) and standard (pf) samples of a bitumi-
to produce ufc, the burning rate should be in- nous coal. The coal used (analysis in Table 1) had
creased and ash deposition and tube erosion a volatile matter content of 34% db and an ash
reduced. However, because the energy used in content of 12% db. After being crushed (to <3
industrial grinding mills increases exponentially mm) and dried (to < 5 % surface moisture), two
with product fineness, the economic limit for replicate subsamples were ground to produce pf
preparing boiler fuel using currently available and ufc; the particle size distribution of the
milling equipment appears to be reached when the resultant samples are shown in Fig. 1. The pf
mean particle size of the product is around 10 #m. sample had a mean (dso) size of 50 #m, with 26%
m > 75/zm; in comparison, the mean size of the
EXPERIMENTAL ufc sample was 12.5 #m, with only 0.3% m >75
~m.
Fuel Preparation
In order to determine the feasibility of using such a Pilot-Scale Combustion Trials
fuel we have performed a series of laboratory
Four trials were performed on each sample, using
TABLE 1 the TRC pilot scale combustor. A full description
of this equipment and a comparison of its perform-
Analysis of Coal Used in Combustion Test
ance with that of a number of full-scale boilers has
been reported elsewhere [7]. The unit, shown in
Ash (%m d.b.) 12.4
Volatile matter (%m d.b.) 33.6 Fig. 2, consisted of a horizontal refractory lined
Sulphur (%m d.b.) 0.98 furnace chamber with a single burner located in
Nitrogen (%m d.b.) 1.6 the end wall. This had an axial injector tube for the
Gross CV (MJ.kg d.b.) 29.9 primary air and coal, terminating in a nozzle that
Hardgrove Index 49 split the stream into eight jets that were injected
Ash fusion temperatures (*C)
into the furnace at an angle of 45 ° and a velocity of
IDT reducing 1370 30 m/s. Secondary air (which was preheated to
oxidizing 1380 250°C) passed through a swirler and was injected
HT reducing > 1400 through an annulus between the primary injector
oxidizing > 1400 nozzle and the burner quarl at a velocity of 34 m/s.
Ash analysis (%m) The ratio of primary to secondary air (1:4), the
SiO2 47.6 degree of swirl (Swirl No. 0.8), and the velocities
A1203 28.3
Fe203 8.6
of the streams had been selected to develop the
TiO2 2.0 required mixing pattern and residence time distri-
Mn304 0.1 bution in the furnace. The mean residence time,
CaO 6.5 measured by tracer gas injection, varied (depend-
MgO 0.7 ing on firing rate) between 1.5 and 2.5 s and the
Na20 0.4
plug flow "breakthrough" time was approxi-
g2o O.l
P2Os 1.5 mately 40% of this. These conditions were chosen
Sth 6.0 to optimize the heat release rate, temperature
Base-acid ratio 0.21 distribution, and burnout performance of the
combustor when it was operated on pulverized fuel
Slagging index Rs 0.21
with the normal grinding fineness. When fired
Slagging index Rvs 0.89
with a typical pf the furnace developed a maxi-
Fouling index 0.08 mum flame temperature of 1500"C.
T250 (*C) 1413 An air-cooled slag panel in the side wall
simulated a section of a boiler water-wall. The rate
54 D . J . BARRATT and P. T. ROBERTS

0A

It

10
2O

4O

,,, SO
N

Z O
<
80
t.--
n,-
I.U

u,I

<
p.
uJ

fit:
W
Q.

DATA

99.9 I I I I I
5 10 SO 1SO

PARTICLE SIZE,/an
Fig. 1. Particle size distribution of pf and ufc samples.

of heat transfer to the clean slag panel at the start
of a test was normally between 200 and 250 kW/
m 2. As the surface of the panel became coated
with ash deposits the heat transfer rate fell, in
some cases to below 50 kW/m 2.
The gaseous combustion products left the fur-
nace at a controlled temperature of between 1000"
and 1230"C through a horizontal duct in which
they were accelerated to a velocity of between 4
and 9 m/s, depending on the firing rate and exit
temperature. They then passed through a bank of
air-cooled tubes (Fig. 3) that simulated a section of
a boiler convective superheater. This was fitted
with a bank of ten vertical 28-mm-o.d. tubes with
a 50-mm longitudinal pitch and a lateral pitch of
150 mm. Ash deposits formed on the tubes by a
number of mechanisms; our observations indi-
cated that impaction of large particles on the
leading edge was the dominant factor in the
formation of troublesome fouling deposits [8] and
the growth rate and strength of these deposits were
measured to indicate the fouling characteristics of
the fuel.
We had calibrated our combustor by comparing
the slagging, fouling, and burnout measurements
of five coals with the observations of boiler
 Z
~n
CONVECTION TUBE BANK ©
>
r-'
>
FIBRE BOAR{) >
SILICON CARSIO~
(Ro<~l
rn
SIAG PANEl.

CJi,ST ALU MINA

OU1T.ROUARL
r
'/ n

I
INNER OUAIRL

RR DISTRIBUTOR
OBSERVATION PORT
ECONDARY
I /CADMBUSTION
I". AIR SWIRLIKR

/ ,

COOUNG WATER JACKET |.

v
/
SILICON CARBIDE BRICt(~

FIBRE BOARD INSULATION

•/
SCALE 1/30

Fig. 2. TRC pilot scale pulverized fuel combustor.

56
Fig. 3. Pilot scale combustor superheater section.
operators who had fired them in four power
stations [7]. The likely behavior of untried coals in
full-scale boilers could be assessed by comparing
their performance in the pilot scale combustor
with that of the calibration coals.
The trial series for each coal sample consisted of
four standard test periods, each 7 hours long,
during which the rate of growth and insulating
properties on the heat transfer surfaces (slag panel
and superheater tubes) were measured. Each test
period ended with a "sootblowing" trial when the
strength of deposits on the cooled surfaces was
measured by subjecting them to a jet of com-
pressed air. The combustor was preheated before
the trials and kept hot between trials by gas firing.
Previous comparative trials had shown that this
technique produced similar results to those ob-
tained by operating the combustor continuously in
the coal-firing mode.
Operating conditions for each test period are
shown in Table 2. The trial program for each
sample was for three tests with normal excess air
(one at low firing rate and two at high firing rate)
followed by a fourth test at low excess air. The
maximum firing rate of the combustor was deter-
D.J. BARRATT and P. T. ROBERTS
~r
On
mined by the furnace wall temperature, which was
not allowed to exceed 1400°C, and the mean
furnace residence time, which had a minimum of
1.5 s. For the pf sample this limit was approached
at a firing rate of 21 kg/hr (172 kW). The smaller
particle size of ufc resulted in a shorter flame,
demonstrated by the furnace temperature distribu-
tion shown in Table 2. To prevent overheating the
maximum firing rate for the ufc tests was reduced
to 18,2 kg/hr (150 kW).
For pf testing the combustor was operated with
an average flue gas oxygen concentration of
around 2% (dry volume) for normal excess air
tests and 0.5% 02 for low excess air. The
concentration of CO in the exhaust gas varied from
78 to over 4000 ppm. Ultrafine coal proved to be
more difficult to handle, resulting in large fluctua-
tions in the coal feed rate, and the excess air had to
be increased to avoid periods of substoichiometric
operation. The mean flue gas oxygen was - 3 . 5 %
in the first two tests and 2.5% in the others. CO
concentrations were higher than for the pf tests,
indicating that fuel-air mixing efficiency was
reduced.
The momenta of the primary air-coal jets
ULTRAFINE COAL AS A FUEL 57

TABLE 2

Pilot Scale Combustor Test Data

Test code PF1 PF2 PF3 PF4 UFC1 UFC2 UFC3 UFC4

Firing rate (kg/h) 15.2 20.3 20.9 16.7 15.1 18.2 15.2 16.5
Exhaust gas oxygen concentration
(%v dry) 1.8 1.9 1.9 0.4 3.6 3.3 2.6 2.7
Exhaust gas CO concentration (ppmv dry) 78 133 134 >4000 418 1180 >4000 --
Exhaust gas NO concentration (ppmv dry) 659 662 808 559 946 966 701 923
Front furnace wall temperature (*C) 1258 1325 1323 > 1340 1245 1343 1384 1323
Mid flame temperature (*C) 1400 1465 1460 1490 1400 1480 1520 1470
Furnace exit combustion
product temperature (*C) 1183 1306 1300 -- 1189 1272 1175 1208
Furnace ash retention (%) 51.0 51.6 47.6 60.5 35.4 33.7 -- 32.7

developed by the burner are relatively low, and
satisfactory mixing of pulverized coal into the
secondary air in the short path-length of the
combustor furnace relied on relative motion of
particles in the fluid caused by inertial forces. This
is a function of the relaxation time of particles that,
for perfect spheres, has been calculated to be
proportional to the square of the diameter [9]. The
reduction of mean particle size from 50 to 12.5 #m
would be expected to reduce this inertial mixing by
a factor of 16.
Laboratory Measurements
In order to predict the burnout performance of the
coal samples we measured the fuel quality parame-
ters in two laboratory experiments [10]--coal
pyrolisis and char oxidation. These produced data
on char properties that were used in a mathemati-
cal model that calculated the burnout under operat-
ing conditions relevant to industrial boilers.
The coal pyrolisis apparatus, shown in Fig. 4,
was intended to reproduce the heating conditions
experienced by coal particles injected into a hot
furnace. It comprised a vertical flat flame gas
burner through which particles of coal, entrained
in a gas stream, were passed. They were subject to
rapid heating for a period of 34 ms in the hot (1800
K) postflame gases, and the devolatilized char
particles that were produced were quenched and
collected.
Volatile matter yields obtained by pyrolysis
under these conditions were usually greater than
those obtained by proximate analysis. Size mea-
surements of the collected char show that particle
swelling was not a major effect, but fragmentation
of large char particles may have occurred with
some coals.
The char was separated into narrow size frac-
tions and its reactivity (over a temperature range
of 1320-1520 K and oxygen concentration range
of 3%-10%) was measured by oxidation in a
vertically mounted entrained laminar flow reactor
(Fig. 5). The particle residence time was varied
between 0.15 and 0.7 s, after which the partially
burned char was collected and analyzed. The
chemical reaction rate of the char was calculated
from these data, using an empirically derived
mathematical description of the char combustion
process. We have found that the mass burning rate
was first order in oxygen concentration and
proportional to the particle external surface area.
Despite the observed occurrence of internal burn-
ing [11], for the purposes of our computations the
burning particles could therefore be regarded as
shrinking spheres and the char reactivity was
characterized by a surface reaction rate coeffi-
cient. Typical measurements for a range of coals is
shown in Fig. 6.
58 D . J . BARRATT and P. T. ROBERTS

SILICA

J
r q

SIZED CON. PARTICLES.

I;ill
~ N G ~
PYROLYSIS

MAXIMUM
Ison.II~:IMALGASIN LAMINAR~.~ R~OE~E
FLOW OF KNOWN VEI.0CITY PATH 13Omm

SILICA GUARD TUBE

I i
FLAME FRONT ' I "" I
.~ I }i'l

tlllll'LItltL
C(~AL PARI"ICLF~IN
SCALE 1/2 Hz/CzH=v/O:,/N z
MIXTURE
Fig.4. Flamepyrolysisapparatus.

Prediction of Industrial Boiler Performance
The burnout model calculated the rate at which a
cloud of multisized char particles, formed during
the devolatilization and pyrolisis of either a pow-
dered coal or fuel oil spray produced by the
burner, burned in the combustion environment
provided by the boiler. The combustion environ-
merit comprised the residence time, oxygen, and
temperature distributions in the boiler, all of
which were coupled to the char combustion rate.
The calculation accounted for this coupling and
was constructed by applying mass and heat bal-
ances to sequential segments of the combustion
chamber from the burner mouth to the inlet to the
convection tubes. The model assumed that the
combustion chamber could be represented by two
idealized chemical reactors connected in series; a
well-stirred burner zone where devolatilization
occurred and the volatiles and smallest char
particles burned, followed by a plug-flow region
where the remaining char was burned. The char
was assumed to burn at constant density at a rate
determined jointly by its chemical reactivity and
ULTRAFINE COAL AS A FUEL 59

COAL CHAR (O.3g/h)

÷ SLOW FLOW N2

MOVABLE ALUMINA INLET

TUBE (4ram i.d )
OXIDIZING GAS ..__..,.
INLET ( O 2 / N 2)

•, GAS

i
PREHEATER

SILICON
CARBIDE

I n
_]" • ~ CERAMIC OR METAL

\
J• FLOW TUBE
'\ ( 38 mmi.d.)
\ \
N
\
\ \
\ %
.O~Q
j wiT. w.~oows
: I L'IT-------E--~_ OXIDIS,NG
INI IN'I , =.,R

SCALE 1/5 J e°°L ,°OBE

FI LTER ~
Fig. 5. Entrained flow reactor.

the external diffusion of oxygen. Unburned char
remaining at the combustion chamber exit was
assumed to be emittexl from the boiler together
with all the ash entering the boiler in the fuel. The
calculated exit flow rates of char and ash consti-
tuted the predicted particulate emission rate.
We had validated the model by comparing its
predictions with the measured burnout perform~
ance of small oil-fired industrial package boilers
and large pf-fired utility boilers. These data,
which have been previously reported [101, demon-
strated that the assessment method correctly iden-
60 D . J . BARRATT and P. T. ROBERTS

5.0 those from pf, and the tube closest to the burner
showed evidence of molten slag formation. The
c 2.0 area of outer deposit removed by the sootblower
._
was similar to that in the pf test, but the jet had not
o
o E
1.0 \\ penetrated the thin reflective layer of fine particles
that covered the entire upper part of the panel.
Heat transmission within the furnace is pre-
dominatly by radiation, and for thin deposits,
-g .x 0.2 I_ow, \ \ \ which have little thermal resistance, heat absorp-
m
": 0.1 \ tion is controlled by surface emissivity. The
emissivity of deposits is known to be a function of
I I I I
their particle size, and for particles smaller than 5
5 6 7 8 #m it may be as low as 0.3 [12]. This results in a
104/Tparticle K- ! high proportion of incident radiation being re-
flected and is evidenced by a rapid reduction in the
Fig. 6. Range of char surface oxidation rate coefficients
measured in bituminous coal studies. heat absorption capacity of the slag panel at the
start of the run.
tiffed the difference in combustion efficiency The effect of slag panel deposits on its heat
between coals and provided realistic values for absorption capacity is shown in Figure 9. With the
unburnt fuel loss. exception of the low excess air test PF4, deposits

RESULTS

Combustor Furnace Ash Deposition

Pulverized fuel ash produced a heavy deposit,
which was strongly sintered but not glassy, on the
furnace floor and across the furnace exit duct.
Ultrafine coal ash produced a thinner layer of
vitrified slag that had obviously been fluid at the
time of deposition. The proportion of ash captured
on the furnace walls for each test is shown in Table
2. It varied form 47% to 61% for the pf tests but
was significantly lower (33%-37%) for the ufc
tests.
The appearance of the deposits on the cooled
slag panel after the trial can be compared in Figs.
7 and 8. The pf ash deposit remaining on the lower
part of the panel after sootblowing had reached a
thickness of between 3 and 4 mm. It was strongly
sintered but with no sign of glassy deposit. The
action of the sootblower had removed the outer
layer of deposit from a large area of the upper part
of the panel, and in the center of this area the jet
had penetrated the inner layer to expose the metal
surface.
Deposits from the ufc ash (Fig. 8) were thinner
(between 1 and 2 ram) but more vitrified than Fig. 7. Cold slag panel after pf thai.
ULTRAFINE COAL AS A FUEL 61

from both samples reduced the heat transfer to the

Fig. 8. Cold slag panel after ufc trial.
panel coolant t o 40% of the original value during
each test period. Sootblowing of the pf deposits
enabled the heat absorption capacity of the panel to
return to between 68% and 80% of its original
value, compared to a recovery of 48%-58%
during the ufc trial.
The strength of attachment of the ash deposit to
the slag panel was quantified by a tenacity factor
(Table 3), calculated from the product of the
sootblower jet pressure and the area of the slag
panel, which was still covered with deposit after
each test. Our calibration trials had shown that the
tenacity factor varied from 2.5 for low-strength
deposits to 15 when the deposits were difficult to
remove. In the trials under discussion the ufc
sample produced a moderately strong deposit
(mean tenacity factor 8.8) compared to that of the
deposit produced by pf (mean factor 6.7).
The poorer mixing behavior of the ufc, evi-
denced by the higher CO concentration in the
exhaust gas, may have resulted in locally reducing
conditions at the furnace wall that would explain
the increased melting of the outer layer of the
deposit. Our experience with pf is that the strength

100,

go
t TEST 1 TEST 2 TEST 3 TEST 4
80
_=
70 !

l- 6O '\\ ,,'--.
Z
_o
5O ',X, I ~ OI
\/"
k-

<
I-
<
20 o UFC TRIAL
• PF TRIAL
10

, , , , , , , , , , . . . . . , ,
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 2 2 2 2 6 4 2 830 32 34

RUN TIME, hours

Fig. 9. Slag panel heat absorption corrected for change in furnace temperature.
62 D . J . BARRATT and P. T. ROBERTS

TABLE 3 formed in their place. This process is illustrated in

Deposit Growth and Tenacity Factors Fig. 12, which shows the variation in the thickness
of the deposit on the leading edge of the tube
Super (expressed as the total volume of the deposit
Slag heater Super divided by the area of its interface with the tube
panel maximum heater surface) with time. When the fuel was burned as pf
deposit deposit deposit this reached a maximum of 22 mm, compared to 6
Test tenacity thickness (mm) tenacity
mm for the ufc sample. The average of these
maxima for the four pf tests (Table 3) was 8.3
pfl 12.4 2 0.4
pf2 5.7 10 1.5 mm, compared to a mean of 4.7 mm for ufc. In
pf3 4.1 22 7.0 comparison, for some types of pulverized coal the t

pf4 4.6 1 0.4 deposit thickness exceeded 40 mm.

Average
pf 6.7 8.3 2.3
ufcl 8.4 2 0.8
ufc2 8.4 6 0.4
ufc4 9.6 6 0.4
Average
ufc 8.8 4.7 0.5
of attachment of the deposit, as measured by the
sootblower, does not correlate with the tendency
of the outer deposit to form slag. It is related to the
ratio of crystalline to vitreous material in the
cooler inner layer [13]; the vitreous, iron-rich
material becomes soft at a temperature considera-
bly below the initial deformation temperature of
the bulk material. Reducing conditions may lower
this softening temperature still further, extending
the softened zone to a closer proximity with the
cooled metal plate.
Superheater Ash Deposits
The formation of ash deposits on the combustor
superheater tubes is illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11.
At the start of each test fine particles diffused
along the temperature gradient to the tube surface,
forming a uniform layer round the entire circum-
ference. As the temperature of the outer surface of
this deposit increased the deposition rate was
reduced, but large ash particles continued to be
deposited on the leading edge of the tube by
impaction. During the first 3--4 hours of each test
the rate of impaction was similar for both fuel
samples, forming similar deposits. In the later
stages of each test deposits became detached from
the tube at intervals and new deposits rapidly
We had found, however, that growth rate of a
deposit was not necessarily an indicator of the
fouling behavior of the coal, as many deposits
were weakly attached to the tube and were easily
removed. The results of the superheater sootblo-
wing tests are expressed as a deposit tenacity
factor in Table 3. This is the product of the
sootblower jet pressure and the length of the tube
leading edge that was still covered with deposit
after each test. A typical nonfouling coals would
have a tenacity factor of below 2. The tenacity of
the ufc deposits were uniformly low, giving a
mean tenacity of 0.5 but in some of the pf test
moderately tenacious deposits were produced.
Solid and Gaseous Emissions
The particle size distribution of the fly ash from
the combustor is shown in Figure 13. Although the
mass of large ( > 20/~m) ash particles was reduced
from 28% in the pf sample to 8% in the ufc
sample, the mean (ds0) size of the samples was
more similar than that of the coal samples,
reducing from 12.5 #m for pf ash to 6.2/~m for
ufc ash. This could have been caused by the
agglomeration of ufc particles in the coal feed
system. However, in view of the observed differ-
ences in mixing behavior of the two samples we do
not consider that this can have played a major role.
The differences in mixing suggest that discrepan-
cies in coal and fly ash size distributions were due
to other mechanisms; possible explanations are
fragmentation of larger pf char particles in the
flame and/or the preferential retention of large ash
particles in the furnace and superheater.
ULTRAFINE COAL AS A FUEL 63

Fig. 10. Superheater deposit from pf sample. Left: 2 hours operation. Right: 7 hours
operation.

Unburned carbon content of the fly ash pro- TABLE 4

duced (Table 4) was reduced from an average of Burnout and NO, Emisdon Data
4.8 % for the pf tests (excluding the low excess air
Fly ash NOx
test) to 1.9 % for the ufc tests. This is equivalent to carbon Equivalent emission
a burnout of 99.3 % for pf and 99.7 % for ufc. Test Excess content burnout (g/GJNO2
Emissions of NOx in the flue gas are expressed code air (%) (%) (%) equivalent)
as in grams per gigajoule of NO2 equivalent in
pfl 8.8 5.0 99.26 428
Table 4. The higher flame temperature and more pf2 9.3 5.2 99.22 432
intense combustion of the ufc tests resulted in a pf3 9.4 4.3 99.37 528
considerably higher emission (620-690 g/GJ) than pf4 0 28 94.51 323
for pf (430-550 g/GJ). This difference is too great ufcl 17.2 1.8 99.64 666
to be explained by the higher excess air conditions ufc2 18.2 2.4 99.64 686
ufc4 12.4 1.6 99.76 623
in the ufc tests. Figure 14 compares the results
64 D . J. BARRATT and P. T. ROBERTS

Fig. 11. Superheater deposition from ufc sample. Left: after 4 hours. Right: after 5 hours.

with those of another coal that has been tested in
the combustor over a wide range of excess air
conditions. It suggests that under similar firing
conditions the NO~ emission from the ufc flame
was approximately 30% higher than that from the
pf flame.
PREDICTION OF UTILITY BOILER
BEHAVIOR
Combustion Intensity and Burnout
The activation energies and surface oxidation rate
coefficients (corrected for external diffusion) of
ULTRAFINE COAL AS A FUEL 65
24
I
22 TEST I I TEST 2 TEST 3 TEST 4

20
I
I
18
• PF TRIAL
o UFC TRIAL
16

14

12

10

6
1 I / o
//\x /
/
?
4 /
/ V
2 /
/

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 ;2

RUN TIME, hours

Fig. 12. Mean depth of deposit on leading superheater tube during pf and ufc trials.

high volatile bituminous coals that we had mea- burnout behavior of oil with those of high- and
sured in our entrained flow reactor [10] were low-reactivity pf and ufc in a small (1.5 MW)
similar to those of oil chars; the main differences single burner firetube package boiler. The pre-
was in the larger mass of char produced in a coal dicted burnout of residual char as it approaches the
flame. Typical pyrolysis and reactivity data for oil exit of the firetube is shown in Fig. 15. The
and high and low burning rate coal, measured in unburned fuel emission of 0.6% m predicted for
the flame pyrolysis apparatus (Fig. 4) and the oil firing is typical of measured emissions from
entrained flow reactor (Fig. 5), are given in Table this boiler. Char particles produced by ufc would
5. Using these figures in our mathematical model be very numerous but relatively small compared to
(see above) we have compared the predicted those from an oil spray. Assuming that the
recirculation patterns were the same and that the
TABLE 5 char particles were intimately mixed with the
remaining oxygen in the gaseous combustion
Oil and Coal Reactivity Data
products the model predicts that they would burn
more rapidly than the remaining oil char particles.
Fuel Oil Coal 1 Coal 2
Burnout for low-reactivity coal would be only
marginally less than for oil, and for high-reactivity
CV (MJ/kg) 42.8 29.4 28.5
coal it would be essentially completed. Pulverized
Char yield (%) 4.9 59 78 fuel firing in this boiler (assuming that a stable
Reactivity (kg/m 2 sat) 2772 5344 1695 flame could be maintained) is predicted to result in
Activitation energy (kJ/mol) 25095 25955 25549 an unburned fuel emission of 3.4% for high-
reactivty and 8 % for low-reactivity coal.
66 D . J . BARRATT and P. T. ROBERTS

0.1

1.0 -

10 _

20 - UFC
FLYASH

PF
5O FLYASH

uJ
N

14,1
80"
>
O
I--
Z 90
2
W

W
95

W
er

99

99.5

I 1 I I I I l I
0.2 1.0 2,0 ' 5.0 10 20 50 100

PARTICLE SIZE, pm

Fig. 13. Particle size distribution of flyash.

The model could reproduce the burnout behav-
ior of a wide range of coal types when ground to pf
size and fired in the pilot scale combustor.
However, the measured burnout of ufc in the
combustor was not as great as that calculated by
our model. Predicted carbon-in-ash levels for the
combustor were below 1%, compared to the
measured levels of 1.6%-2.4%. This is an indica-
tion of the difficulty of achieving efficient mixing
of the low-momentum ufc particles into the sec-
ondary air stream. The same problem would also
be encountered when designing large burners for
boiler firing of fine material, and careful optimiza-
tion of mixing patterns would be required to
overcome it. Inhibition of residual char oxidation
by the ash in mineral-rich particles [14] may also
be a contributing factor to slower burnout when
the carbon content of the particles falls below 5 %.
Ash Deposition and Emissions
The ash content of the coal used in the pilot scale
test (12% db) was typical of a utility boiler fuel;
ufc is more likely to be prepared from lower ash
industrial grades of coal. Having previously
burned pulverized coal with an ash content of only
3% in our combustor, we can extrapolate the
result of pf tests to predict the behavior of such
ULTRAFINE COAL AS A FUEL 67

700
OOAL UC Z~

A UFC
oZ

COAL UC PF

!o COAL LB PF
O
O

n-
k-
Z
20~

2. .4 . .6 . 8 10 ll2 l
14 16 ; 8 . . 22 . 24
20 . .26 . 28 30

EXCESS AI R, %
Fig. 14. Comparison of NOx emission.

low-ash fuels. We would expect a reduction in the
rate of deposition of ash but not in the strength of
those deposits formed.
The ufc tests have demonstrated that the reduc-
tion in the particle size distribution of the fly ash,
and consequently in the rate of ash deposition
obtained by finer grinding, was not as great as
anticipated. Furthermore, our tests suggest that the
thin layer of fine ash deposited on boiler walls
would be highly reflective to radiant heat transfer,
and, to control these, boilers would have to be
retrofited with wall blowers and ash hoppers. Ash

14 E] OIL

+ Ufc I

12 O Ufc 2

APfl

10 XPf2

U.
i- 8
zn,..

z
61

0
2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3

DISTANCE FROM BURNER, m

Fig. 15. Predicted burnout in package boiler.
68
deposition would also occur on convection tubes;
to completely eliminate impaction the maximum
particle size of the fly ash would have to be below
15 ttm [15]. Fouling deposits are only likely to be
a problem with a limited number of coals, but a
potentially more serious problem will be tube
erosion in the high-velocity gas streams in com-
pact oil-designed boilers. This could be overcome
by selecting coals with low ash content and low
abrasion characteristics and by redesign of the
convection tubes in the most vulnerable areas.
Emissions of fine fly ash can be readily con-
trolled by bag filters or electrostatic precipitators
(provided that the fuel cost savings justified the
expense), but the NOx reduction techniques being
adopted in pf-fired boilers may be incompatible
with the rapid mixing and high flame temperatures
needed to maximise the combustion intensity of a
ufc flame.
CONCLUSION
Ultrafine coal, with an average particle size of
around 10 t~m, has potential for use in industrial
package boilers originally designed to fire residual
fuel oil. Firing trials in our pilot scale combustor,
together with char reactivity measurements and
mathematical modeling of the combustion process,
suggest that a sufficiently high rate of heat release
could be achieved. Careful attention to burner
design would be required to optimize mixing
patterns and maximize combustion intensity; a
possible side effect of this may be that the NOx
emissions will be higher than normal, although we
cannot predict to what extent.
Ash deposition on boiler walls and convective
tubes would be reduced, but on-line cleaning and
ash removal equipment would still be required to
remove highly reflective fine deposit layers that
would otherwise reduce the rate of heat extraction
[16]. Erosion of superheater and convection tubes
would also be a potential danger.
Essential quality parameters for ufc are high
char reactivity (usually associated with high vola-
tile matter content), low ash content, low fouling
and slagging potential, and low ash abrasivity.
D . J . BARRATT and P. T. ROBERTS
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Received 12 October 1987; revised 2 June 1988