Impact of Black Liquor Firing

Characteristics on Recovery
Boiler Operation
Ibrahim Karidio and Vic Uloth
Paprican Boiler Optimization &
Emissions Control Services

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvskyl, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006

Factors That Affect Recovery Boiler
Operation
The efficient operation of Kraft recovery boilers is greatly
impacted by a number of factors including:
Boiler design (aspect ratio, air system, liquor delivery
system, materials, etc)

Combustion air split and flow distribution

Liquor quality (Heating value, viscosity, Inorganic to

organic ratio, residual alkali content, swelling behavior,
etc)

Liquor firing characteristics (temperature, pressure,

nozzle type, etc.)

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006

Factors That Affect Black Liquor Sprays

Liquor viscosity
Viscosity is a complex function of liquor chemistry
(Alkali content, extractives, wood type), liquor solids,
temperature, pulping and evaporation conditions.
Liquor injection pressure
Liquor nozzle type and opening size
Splash plates, wedge nozzles or V/U Jet nozzles
Liquor gun angle and nozzle plate design
Other liquor physical and chemical properties
Swelling behavior, soap content, inorganic to
inorganic ratio, etc.

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006

Scope of this Presentation
Data and observations from 5 recovery boilers to assess the
impact of liquor temperature, injection pressure, nozzle type
and gun angles on recovery performance.

Although, Paprican has access on data collected during

optimization in 50 recovery boilers (42 in Canada and 8 in the
USA).
Operations in 31+ of the Canadian recovery boilers, and 6
of the U. S. recovery boilers have been optimized.

Recovery boiler throughput was increased by 3 20%,

while reducing the water wash frequency.

Optimisation is also being used in tackling the issue of

material failure in Kraft recovery boilers (Primary Air Port
Cracking, etc).
7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006
 Performance indicators
Amount of carryover
Indicator of fouling and plugging

Chemical reduction efficiency

Smelt quality and fluidity

Lack of fluidity has become a serious safety concern

Boiler emissions (CO, SO2 , TRS, NOx, Particulate matter)

Symptomatic of other lower furnace issues

Thermal Efficiency

Char bed shape, size and temperature profile

Surrogate indicator of some of the above
7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006
Characteristics of the Five Boilers

Type Air levels BLS Solids Liquor

Mlb/day % pressure
Psi

Boiler 1 CE/ABB 3 4.2 68 18-24

Boiler 2 B&W 3 3.95 68-70% 12-15

Boiler 3 B&W 3 3.95 73-76 Up to 32

Boiler 4 CE/ABB 3 3.0 68-70 12-16

Boiler 5 CE/ABB 4 (2 levels of 1.6 70 15

Secondary
Air)

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006

Impact of Shear Rate on Black Liquor
Viscosity
Viscosity vs Shear Rate ACSFHBL- 31/01/2002 @ 68% Solids

350

300
Viscosity (cP)

250

200
150

100

50

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Shear Rate (1/s)
Viscosity @ 90C (cP) Viscosity @ 100C (cP) Viscosity @ 110C (cP)

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006

 500 Viscosity - Shear Profile at 120 C

400

300
Viscosity (cP)

200

100

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500
Shear Rate (1/s)
7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, 30S-120C
July 31 August 2, 2006
60S-120C
Impact of Temperature and Liquor Solid
Concentration on Viscosity
200

180 110.5C
160
115C
116C
Liquor viscosity (cP)

140
120C
120 125C
100

80

60

40

20

0
65.0% 66.0% 67.0% 68.0% 69.0% 70.0% 71.0%
Liquor Solids

Viscosity measured at 250 s-1 and for REA = 2.25%

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006
Impact of Temperature and Liquor Solid
Concentration on Viscosity
350
66.20% 70.60%
300

250
Viscosity in cP

200

150

100

50

0
90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130
Temperature (degrees C)

Viscosity measured at 250 s-1 and for REA = 2.25%

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006
Effect of REA on BL Viscosity
72.2% S-fired BL at 110C

400

350
Viscosity (cP)

300

250

200
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0
REA (%)

Douglas Fir + Hemlock Black Liquor

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006
 Impact of Liquor Temperature on
Carryover
Mill 2: Splash plates; nozzles;
Compromise is required between an acceptable carryover and good smelt
flow and low emissions.
16
4 BL Guns @ 2.866 MLb/day
& no gas burners
14 BLT =259 F, 14.33 psi

3 BL Guns @ 2.027 MLb/day

12 & 4 gas burners
Carryover in gram/10min

BLT =258 F, 14.6 psi

10
3 BL Guns @ 2.027 MLb/day
4 BL Guns @ 2.801 & 4 gas burners
8 BLT =256 F, 13.75 psi
MLb/day
255 F, 14.5 psi
6

0
255 258 256 259
Liquor temperature (F)

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006

Impact of Liquor Pressure (Boiler 1)
165 9

160

8
155

150
7
Pressure, kPa

Carryover
145

140
6
135

130
5

125

120 4
Test #1

Test #2

Test #3

Test #4

Test #5

Test #6

Test #7

Test #8

Test #9

Test #10

Test #11

Test #12

Test #13

Test #14
7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006
Impact of Liquor solids and temperature
72% solids
131 C
210 kPa
(4 splash plates)

Carryover: 9.35 g
Flue gas temperature at bullnose:
75% solids 967 C
128 C Bed is melting
214 kPa Smelt is flowing but very viscous
(4 splash plates)
Later air flow distribution had
Carryover: 6.30g to be modified to adjust bed
Flue gas temperature at shape and smelt flow.
bullnose: 905 C
Large bed
Smelt spouts plugging

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006

Impact of Liquor Gun Inclination Angle on
Carryover
Boiler 2: 4 Splash plates; 124 C; 14.5 psi;
Same pattern observed at Boilers 1 and 3
Existence of an Optimum Gun angle?
18
-26
16
-17
14
C arryover in g /10 m in

-22
12

10 -22
8

0
-22 -26 -17 -22
Liquor gun angles

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006

Isothermal Cold Flow Velocity Profile (m/s)
Before and After Optimization

Typical
vertical
velocity
profile due
to an
imbalanced
air flow
distribution

Chimney
pushed
against
front wall

Chimney re-centred
after optimisation
7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006
Splashplate Nozzle Types
Conventional Wedge

Different Spreading Angle

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006
 Impact of gun angle and nozzle type on
Boiler 5
Carryover Opacity CO SO2
Changes (g/10min) ppm ppm

All Splash plates 3.5 44% 84 0.6

(F/R/B/L)
-8/-4/-8/-6
All lowered to -10 3.1 39% 387 1.2

All splash plates and -10 3.8 31% 44 9.2

Front and rear replaced 2.2 44% 54 0.6

by similar size wedge
nozzles
High opacity was found to be the result of a limited electrostatic precipitator
Splash plates were 45 plate from boiler supplier. Carryover low due to
measurement location.
7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006
Wedges versus splash plates

For same nozzle opening, wedge nozzles

require higher liquor header pressure than
splash plates. However nozzles resulted in
lower carryover. Wedge nozzles tend to put
more liquor on the boiler walls and in the
corners. This may cause problems with
smaller furnaces.

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006

Nozzle arrangement For Boiler 6
Splash
Splash
plate
plate

Beer can
nozzle

Beer can
nozzle

Splash Splash
plate plate
7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006
Impact of Nozzle type For Boiler 6
Char bed Wall to Wall Flue Gas T CO
T Max T (C) at Tertiary ppm
(C) at bed air level (C)
6 splash plates (SP) 1000 29 888 63
SW liquor
4 SP + 1 BC 1037 28 863 NM
SW liquor
4 SP + 2 BC 1059 67 863 33
SW liquor
4 SP + 2 BC 1036 34 NM 66
Transition liquor
(SW + HW)

Beer can nozzles supplied by Crenshaw Machinery for trial.

Carryover was not an issue at this mill. Both types of nozzle yielded very low carryover.

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006

Conclusion

Many variables in black liquor firing can affect

boiler operation.

Understanding and controlling these variables

can help in greatly improving boiler efficiency
and throughput.

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006

Acknowledgments

Paprican
Personnel at Mills 1-5
Paprican Member Company mills

7th Black Liquor Colloquium, Jyvaskyla, Finland, July 31 August 2, 2006