Sucofindo Coal Quality Training Course Coal Utilisation

COAL UTILISATION

Pulverised Coal Combustion

Clean Coal Technologies

and

Uses Of Coal Combustion By-Products

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Table of Contents

Section Page

Introduction 3

Coal Quality related to End Use 4

Power Generation 6

Pulverised Coal Combustion 8

 Stockpiling, Reclaiming and Blending 9

 Pulverising 10
 Combustion 11
 Slagging and Fouling 13
 Heat transfer and Steam Generation 15
 Boiler Efficiency 16

Coal Combustion By-Products 17

 Fly and Bottom Ash 17

 Sulphur Dioxide 21
 Nitrous Oxide 21
 Carbon Dioxide 22

Uses of Coal Combustion By-Products 23

 Replacement for Portland Cement 24

 Landfill 25
 Other Uses 26

Clean Coal Technologies 27

 Ultra Clean Coal 27

 Fluidized Bed Combustion 28
 Coal Gasification 28

Summary of Coal Quality Effect on Combustion 29

References 30

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Introduction

Coal is an abundant fossil fuel resource with several end uses.

 Power generation

 Steel making

 Cement production

 Industrial uses

 Liquefaction and gasification

What a type of coal is used for depends on:

 Coal quality

 End use process

 Economics of use

 Availability of alternatives to coal

Coals are often classified as good quality and poor quality primarily based on
energy, moisture or coking properties.

Consider that if the coal quality suits the end use then the coal is a good
quality coal.

We will focus on power generation and clean coal technologies in this section.
The vast majority of Indonesian coal is used in the power generation industry.

Environmental aspects of coal combustion are increasingly important. We will

also look at these issues and uses of coal combustion products.

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Coal Quality related to End Use

Coal Rank

The coal rank is a general guide to end use suitability.

Coal Rank Main End Uses

Anthracite and Active carbon electrodes

Semi-anthracite Hard coking
Industrial
On-site power generation
Low volatile bituminous Hard coking
Industrial
Medium volatile bituminous Medium coking
Soft coking
Export power generation
On-site power generation
Industrial
High volatile bituminous Soft coking
Export power generation
On-site power generation
Industrial
Petrochemicals
Gasification
Liquefaction
Sub-bituminous PCI coal
Export power generation
On-site power generation
Industrial
Petrochemicals
Gasification
Liquefaction
Lignite On-site power generation
Industrial
Petrochemicals
Gasification
Liquefaction

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There are three broad categories of utilisation.

 Metallurgical coals

Coals that have what are known as coking properties. When heated in a coke
oven produce a strong porous solid residue (coke).

The coke is used in the steel making process.

Approximately 25% of world coal production are coking coals.

 Steaming coals

Coals that are combusted to raise steam for power generation.

Combustion can also provide direct heating such as in cement manufacture.

Approximately 70 % of world coal production are steaming coals.

 Conversion and special coals

Coals that are used as feed in the production of gaseous and/or liquid
products derived from coal.

Coals used for special purpose e.g. active carbon electrodes.

These coals account for a small percentage of world coal production.

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Power Generation

Introduction

There has been a steady increase in demand for steaming coal over the last
30 years. The demand rising mostly from increase in number of coal fired
power stations.

Coal is the preferred fossil fuel for power generation. The main factors in
choice of coal are the cost of heat content and suitability for boiler. This
depends on mining, processing and transport costs and the characteristics of
the coal.

Newer types of boilers can fire a wider range of coal qualities. When
designing the boiler and plant the coal types that will be used are subjected to
pilot combustion tests to obtain performance data.

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Outline of Combustion Reactions

Coal produces energy in the form of heat when combusted in an atmosphere

of air.

Coal is typically composed of

- Carbon 60 to 80% depending on rank

- Hydrogen about 5%
- Nitrogen about 1 to 2%
- Sulphur about 0.1 to 2%
- Oxygen amount depends on other ultimate parameters
- Non-coal material, inherent and extraneous ash
- Water as total moisture and chemically bound moisture

Carbon, the major component of coal, is the principal source of energy. About
14 500 Btu/lb or 8055 kcal/kg of energy liberated for carbon.

Hydrogen generates about 62 000 Btu/lb or 34 444 kcal/kg but not all of this
energy is available for heat as part of the hydrogen combines with oxygen to
form water vapor.

Sulphur generates about 4 000 Btu/lb or 2 222 kcal/kg.

The higher the oxygen content of coal the lower the heating value. This is
because the oxygen is chemically bound to the carbon in the coal structure.
Thus the carbon is partially oxidised lowering the heating value.

This follows the coal rank – higher rank higher carbon, lower hydrogen and
oxygen and higher heating values.

The by-products of coal combustion are:

 Bottom Ash
 Fly Ash
 Sulphur Dioxide SO2
 Nitrous Oxides NOx
 Water H2O
 Carbon Dioxide CO2

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Pulverised Coal Combustion

Pulverised coal combustion (PCC) is the most commonly used method in

coal-fired power stations. Also known as pulverised coal-fired (PCF) or
pulverised fuel (PF) systems.

PCC process consists of stages:

 Stockpiling, Reclaiming and Blending

 Pulverising

 Combustion

 Heat Transfer and Steam Generation

 Disposal of Waste Products

Let us look at each stage of the process.

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 Stockpiling, Reclaiming and Blending

Coal is received from sources that can be imported coals or domestic coals
depending on country. Domestic coals can be mine mouth operations where
the power station is located adjacent to mine.

Power stations retain a minimum level of stockpiled coal to ensure continuity

and security of supply.

The stockpiling process depends on plant location, coal source/s and number
of types of coal fired at the plant.

Good stockpile management is important to prevent spontaneous combustion

and degradation of coal.

Remember that the feed must be consistent quality. Excessive variations in

quality cause problems with coal firing.

If blending coals then must be properly blended. Partial blending leads to

uneven feed quality.

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 Pulverising

The coal feed is pulverised to a fine powder in a stream of air, typically 70 to

75 % passing 75 micron and less than 2 % plus 300 micron.

The most common forms of pulverisers are vertical spindle (ball or roller) units
and horizontal tube (ball) units.

The tube ball mills are generally more expensive, consume more power and
noisier. However the horizontal mill produces a more consistent size product
and requires less maintenance.

The product size from a vertical mill changes with the number of hours used
due to metal wear.

The pulverised coal is conveyed to the burners pneumatically. The air that
transports the coal is called primary air and usually represents 25% of total
combustion air. The air is heated to dry the coal. The air temperature depends
on coal moisture content, usually about 300ºC.

The Hardgrove Grindability Index (HGI) result provides an indication of the

ease or difficulty of pulverising. The Abrasion Index (AI) result provides a
measure of the abrasiveness of the coal.

Pulverising the coal is a significant part of the operating and maintenance

costs of a power station.

High moisture and pyritic sulphur can affect the pulveriser performance.

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 Combustion

The pulverised coal is blown with part of the combustion air into boiler through
a series of burner nozzles. Secondary and tertiary air may also be added.

There is a stoichiometric amount of air required for combustion (to ensure

complete combustion). This can be calculated as:

Approximate theoretical air (l/kg fuel)

= 35.8 (2.67 C + 8.00 H + 2.29 S + S –O)

Ultimate results on dry mineral matter free basis.

In practice an amount of excess air is used to ensure complete combustion.

Combustion takes place at temperatures from 1300 to 1700ºC. Particle

residence time in the boiler is typically 2-5 seconds so the particles must be
small enough for complete combustion to occur during this time.

Two different boiler designs are commonly used. One is the traditional two-
pass layout where there is a furnace chamber, topped by heat transfer tubing.
The flue gases pass through a 180º bend and downwards through the main
heat transfer and economiser sections.

The other design is a tower boiler where the heat transfer sections are
mounted vertically above each other, over the combustion chamber.

The geometry and dimensions of the boiler furnace are related to the
combustion system and fuel to be used. The furnace cross-section must
accommodate the flame shape plus burner arrangements/spacing. The flame
must not impinge on the furnace walls.

The height of the furnace is designed to minimise convection pass slagging

and fouling. A number of geometries are reported as being investigated but do
not indicate any clear advantage over the common rectangular furnace.

The boiler atmosphere has reducing zone (mainly flame area) and oxidizing
(convective areas).

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Removal of bottom ash formed during combustion can be done two ways.

 Dry bottom

The ash is removed in a dry state from bottom of furnace.

 Wet bottom

The ash is removed in a molten (slag) state from bottom of furnace.

The dry bottom furnace is the most common type these days. Wet bottom
furnace can handle larger size coal but the AFT temperatures must be lower
so the ash remains in a molten state.

Burner technology plays a large role in the combustion efficiency and

production of pollutant gases. Burners are designed to achieve stable ignition
and flame conditions.

There are variations in the positioning of burners in the combustion chamber:

 Wall mounted burners on one side

 Opposed fired wall mounted burners
 Tangential burners in the corners or on the walls

Low NOx burners are used to minimise the formation of NO x gases. These
burners achieve a cooler flame so combustion is longer under reducing
conditions. NOx formation increases at higher temperatures and excess
combustion air.

The choice of burners is based on cost, operating experience, environmental

considerations and manufacturer preference.

Generally the higher the volatile matter content the more stable the
combustion process. To fore low volatile coals (20% daf) special designs must
be used.

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 Slagging and Fouling

Slagging is the accumulation of deposits on the radiant heat exchange

surfaces. Molten ash may stick to the surfaces on the water tubes and
gradually build up over time.

Fouling is the accumulation of deposits on the convection heat exchange

surfaces. High temperature deposits occur on the superheater tubes and low
temperature deposits occur on the economiser and air heater.

Both slagging and fouling reduce heat transfer efficiency. In severe cases the
boiler may have to be shut down and deposits removed from the surfaces.

The ash content, ash chemistry, chlorine, sulphur, process temperature and
design affect the tendency of a coal to foul or slag.

Table on following page details some of the relationships used to estimate the
potential slagging or fouling factor of a coal.

Note the relationships are estimations and predictive ability varies from coal to
coal.

Recent research shows that a better prediction of coal slagging and fouling is
made from looking at solid, liquid and gaseous phases of the Al-Ca-Mg-Fe-Si
oxides at high and low temperatures. This is done by sophisticated testing
and computer modeling.

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Parameter Calculation Limits

Total acid % SiO2+TiO2+Al2O3 -
Total base % Fe2O3+Na2O+K2O+CaO+MgO -

Base to Acid ratio Total Base/Total Acid -

Slagging factor Total Base/Total Acid x TS %db Low <0.6

Medium 0.6 to 2.0
High 2.0 to 2.6
Severe >2.6
Fouling factor Total base/Total acid x Na2O Low <0.1
Medium 0.1 to 0.5
High 0.5 to 1.0
Severe >1.0
Chlorine Chlorine % ad Low <0.30
Medium 0.30 to 0.45
High 0.45 to 0.60
Severe >0.60
Sodium Sodium Oxide % db Low <2.0
Medium 2.0 to 5.0
High 5.0 to 8.0
Severe >8.0

 Heat Transfer and Steam Generation

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The heat of combustion is used to produce superheated (supercritical) steam.

Typical properties of superheated steam are 2500 psi and 550ºC.

The furnace chamber is divided into two zones.

 Combustion

 Convection

Heat transfer takes place at the combustion zone by radiation from the flame
to water tubes producing saturated steam and to a radiant superheater.

In the convection zone heat is transferred from hot flue gases to superheater
tubes. The temperature of the flue gases must be decreased before
convective transfer. This typically below 1050ºC. This means the radiant heat
transfer surface must be sufficient to achieve temperature drop.

Heat transfer also takes place by convection in the economiser (water heater)
and air heater.

PCC steam turbines range in size from 50 to 1300 MWe. Most are over 300
MWe to take advantages of economies of scale.

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 Boiler Efficiency

Boiler efficiency is measured as the energy produced (e.g. MWh) divided by

the coal feed energy (e.g. GJ/t).

Factors are:

 Energy of feed coal

Directly related to efficiency, higher energy higher output

 Coal moisture

Higher moisture means lower efficiency

 Coal hydrogen content

Higher hydrogen means loss of heat in flue gas from higher moisture

 Boiler design

Design related to feed coal/s

Corrosion problems associated with higher temperatures.

 Excess air ratio

Decreasing excess air ratio increases efficiency

 Steam pressure and temperature

Higher steam pressure and temperature (up to 30 MPa and 600ºC) means
better heat transfer. Restriction is material failure at higher temperatures.
Research is looking at advanced alloy material for superheater and furnace
wall surfaces.

 Heat transfer efficiency

Using thicker materials to improve strength and wear at higher temperature

means loss in heat transfer efficiency. Stronger and thinner alloys hope to
resolve this problem.

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