CETHAR CFB BOILER ARRANGEMENT

ADVANTAGES OF CETHAR CFB BOILERS

Water cooled hot loop cyclone CETHAR CFB boilers adopt a circular water cooled hot loop cyclone and down leg and loop seal assembly, all made up of membrane panel enclosure. This has advantages over the uncooled plate and refractory lined cyclone designs. CETHAR cyclone handles hot solids at around 900 C in contrast to other CFB designs with cold cyclone handling gases at 400 C. The collection efficiency of the cyclone is proven to be better at higher temperatures. The circular enclosure of the cyclone is a traditional design which is time tested and technically proven in various industrial applications compared to unconventional beam separator designs available in the market manufactured with conventional fabricating techniques simple to be supported from the top with hangers lighter and easier to erect than an uncooled plate and refractory cyclone The membrane panel construction of the cyclone makes it very easy to integrate with the furnace reduces the requirement of for high temperature refractory work reduces the requirement of hot expansion joints that are required with a plate and refractory cyclone. In fact, water cooling the cyclone completely eliminates the need of large fabric expansion joints between the furnace and cyclone inlet and between loop seal and furnace. The cooled cyclones require Only 25 mm refractory over the tube crown compared to 400 mm thick refractory in plate and refractory cyclones. Lesser thickness results in a single layer of refractory whereas higher thickness warrants a multi-layered refractory. Multi-layered refractory experiences more expansion cracks due to thermal shocks. Lesser thickness of refractory results in reduced cold start up time, cooling down time, improves cycling capability, reduces weight and maintenance costs.

The skin temperature of the cyclone outer surface covered with insulation and lagging, is no different than the rest of the boiler. This significantly reduces the radiant heat loss as compared to the plate and refractory cyclone. There is no technical demand for any special refractory materials that are to be imported and the refractory used is commercially available abrasion

resistant refractory only and can be installed by any reputable supplier.

A higher degree of fuel flexibility CETHAR CFBs can burn virtually any fuel cleanly and efficiently in view of two key design features of our technology, namely the relatively low combustion temperatures and the residual heat of the bed material that circulates repeatedly through the combustion chamber. Typically our boilers can burn any fuel without the support of an auxiliary fuel, provided its heating value is sufficient to raise the combustion air and the fuel itself above its ignition temperature. Moreover, CETHAR boilers can be designed to burn multiple fuels in the same boiler, without requiring any major modifications in the boiler pressure parts when changing fuels (provided advance information is furnished in the design stage). This not only provides many technical advantages, but also provides significant commercial advantages. Since fuel typically represents about 40-50% of a plants operating cost, substitution of less expensive low-grade fuels can have a dramatic impact on lowering the cost of electricity generation. A wide range of fuels including high ash sponge iron wastes like dolochar, middling and rejects from coal washeries, and low ash high sulfur petroleum cokes, high moisture biomass and agro wastes and low moisture coals, high ash and moisture lignites with appreciable sulfur content etc. can be burned in one specific boiler without any major changes in the boiler pressure parts.

High combustion efficiency The combustion efficiency of CETHAR CFB boilers is very high because of the following: The continuous circulation of solids through the CETHAR CFB system keeps the fuel in an ideal combustion environment for a long period of time Excellent vertical and later mixing of the gas-solid and solid-solid higher burning rate of coarser particles recycling of unburned fuel particles back to the furnace longer residence time in the combustion loop consisting of furnace, cyclone and loop seal resulting from gas solids slip velocity extension of the combustion zone up to the top of furnace (as much as 35 m in large boilers) and further beyond to the circulating loop comprising the highly efficient hot cyclone and the loop seal The long residence time results in very efficient fuel combustion, while minimizing process changes resulting from sudden changes in fuel quality.

Low SO2 emissions CETHAR CFBs do not require complicated and expensive downstream Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) equipment to meet environmental regulations since sulfur capture can be efficiently carried out in the furnace itself. CETHAR boiler is ideal for meeting current requirements for SO2 emissions in view of the following features: maintaining an optimum bed temperature window of 850 - 870 C longer residence time in the combustion loop finer limestone size distribution uniform homogeneous distribution The limestone injected into the furnace separately reacts with the sulfur released from the fuel in the following steps: a. Calcination of limestone
CaCO 3 + heat = > CaO + CO 2

b.

Reaction with sulfur (sulfation)

CaO +

1 O 2 + SO 2 = > CaSO 4 + heat 2

The product, CaSO4, is an inert substance known as gypsum. Low NOx emissions Due to the relatively low combustion temperature "thermal" NOx formation by oxidation of molecular nitrogen in the air is negligible. NOx formation due to nitrogen in the fuel is reduced by "staged" combustion. Thus, combustion is taking place under reducing conditions and leads to the formation of molecular nitrogen N2, instead of NO as in the case with oxidizing conditions. NOx emissions in PC boilers can only be reduced with an expensive downstream. Selective Catalytic Reduction System (SCR) equipment.

Good turn down rates The high fluidizing velocity and resulting solid density in the furnace in the CETHAR CFB boilers results in a heat transfer rate that is approximately proportional to the boiler load. There is no need to slump sections of the fluid bed at low loads to achieve the turn down. The hot circulating solids also help attaining stable operating conditions

over a wide range of boiler loads.

No need for in-bed tubes, which are subject to erosion Unlike some of the other designs available CETHAR CFB boilers do not have any in-bed tubes to absorb the heat released. Apart from the radiant evaporator or super heater panels required for large capacity units, CETHAR boilers do not have any other in-furnace heating sections. This results in the following advantages: Minimized / no erosion of pressure parts No horizontal elements need to be arranged in the furnace across the gas flow carrying higher solid density. Elimination of hundreds of opening for the arrangement of heating surfaces and in turn the access and inspection openings Provision of major heating surfaces in the back pass allows more flexibility to choose a larger pitch, provide space for additional heating surface area in future and easy access for repair and maintenance.

Smaller furnace cross section A high heat release rate per unit furnace cross section is a major advantage of CETHAR CFB boilers. In view of this, CETHAR CFB needs to have lower cross section (almost half) compared to a BFB boiler for the same heat output.

Fewer fuel feed points The good mixing obtained in the furnace and the extended combustion zone in the entire circulation loop of the CETHAR CFB boilers allow one fuel feed point to serve a larger grate area compared to BFB boilers. In a typical 25 MW unit, CFB needs only two fuel feed points compared to over 16 in a BFB.

Elimination of Slagging CETHAR CFB boilers typically operate at low furnace temperatures, in the 850900 C compared to PC fired boilers. This eliminates slag formation and reduces the volatilization of alkali salts (sodium and potassium etc) and reduces boiler corrosion and convective surface fouling. For typical Indian coals the ash from CETHAR fluidized bed boilers are non-sticky and friable in nature and this in most cases eliminates the need for the complete soot blowing system resulting in reduced investment and maintenance costs.

High Availability

CETHAR CFB boilers result in very high availability to the end users with reduced maintenance and unplanned outage time because of the following: the unique design features (thinner refractory, no expansion joints, water cooled cyclone etc) well proven boiler components the design is developed from extensive commercial operating experience of wide range of CETHAR fluidized bed boilers for a variety of fuels.

Easy to Operate and Maintain The same elements that make CETHAR CFB boilers highly reliable also make them simple to operate and maintain. Maintenance costs for a CETHAR CFB are typically lower than those of a similar-sized PC boiler.