Integration of Ultra-Supercritical OTU and

CFB Boiler Technologies

Goidich, S. J., Fan, Z., Foster Wheeler North America Corp, Livingston, NJ
Sippu, O., Foster Wheeler Energia O.Y., Varkaus, Finland
Bose, A. C., National Energy Technology Laboratory, Pittsburgh, PA

Abstract
Once-through utility (OTU) boilers have the advantage that they do not rely on the density
difference between water and steam to provide the driving force for water circulation to cool and
protect the furnace enclosure evaporator tubes. With the boiler feedpump providing the driving
force for circulation, the OTU boiler can be operated at pressures well above the critical point
[3202 psia (220 bar)], and, in combination with elevated steam temperatures [>1100°F (593°C)],
can significantly increase the efficiency of a Rankine cycle power plant. This increase in plant
efficiency reduces fuel consumption for a given output, thus proportionally reducing all pollutant
and waste streams including CO2 emissions. However, the benefits of elevated steam
conditions must be balanced with plant cost, reliability, and operational flexibility. The
advantages of ultra-supercritical boiler technology have been demonstrated in the high gas
temperature, high heat flux environment of suspension-fired boilers with units in operation
having capacities in excess of 1000 MW e with steam at approximately 1130°F (610°C), 4350
psia (300 bar). The process environment and features of the circulating fluidized bed (CFB)
boiler has the potential to extend the limits of the OTU technology and also further reduce
emission levels. Described in this paper is the design of an 800 MW e ultra-supercritical CFB
boiler, which is part of an on-going CFB boiler conceptual design study program jointly funded
by the US Department Energy and Foster Wheeler. The feasibility of achieving the future target
of 700°C (~1300°F) steam temperatures, in the relatively low [~1600°F (871°C)] gas-side
temperature environment of the CFB furnace, is also discussed.

Introduction
A U.S. Department of Energy and Foster Wheeler technology R&D partnership is
completing a conceptual design study (Ultra-Supercritical CFB Boiler Conceptual
Design Study, DE-FC26-03NT41737) which is jointly funded by the U.S. Department of
Energy and Foster Wheeler. The two primary objectives of the study are:

(1) to determine the economic viability of Ultra-Supercritical OTU CFB Technology and
(2) identify pathways for the diffusion of Ultra-Supercritical OTU Technology into CFB
Technology.

The study consists of evaluating the following cases:

CFB OTU Unit Size and

Technology Technology Steam Cycle Conditions
Case 1 - Current Current 400 MW e, 593°C (1100°F), 311 bar (4500 psig)
Case 2 - Future Current 800 MW e, 604°C (1119°F), 311 bar (4573 psig)
Case 3 - Future Future 800 MW e, ~700°C (1300°F), ~365 bar (5300 psig)
The Case 1 design, described in
Reference 1, was configured similar to
the Lagisza 460 MW e unit ordered by
Poludniowy Koncern Energetyczny SA
(PKE) in Poland (Ref. 2). The Lagisza
design is complete and a full notice to
proceed with procurement, fabrication,
and construction was received at the
end of December 2005. When the
Lagisza unit (Figure 1) goes into
operation in 2009, it will be the world’s
largest CFB and first supercritical CFB
boiler.

Described in this paper are features of

the Case 2 - 800 MW e ultra-
supercritical CFB OTU boiler design, Figure 1.
and results of the Case 3 evaluation to Lagisza 460 MW e Supercritical OTU CFB

determine the potential for increasing

the 800 MW e steam conditions to target values of ~700°C (1300°F) and ~375 bar
(5400 psig). The original capacity of the Case 2 and 3 boiler designs was specified
as 600 MW e (Ref. 1) which, at the time the study was initiated in 2001, was the unit
size targeted for large scale CFB boilers. However, more recently, Foster Wheeler
(Ref. 3) has begun investigations into scaling the technology up to 800 MW e. As a
result, the capacity for the Case 2 and 3 units was increased to 800 MW e.

Design Basis
The site conditions, fuel, sorbent, and steam cycle conditions, as well as the
emission levels to which the CFB boiler was designed are summarized in Table 1.
Also included are significant heat and material balance, and plant performance
parameters. The emission targets are typical of current regulation expectations. An
SNCR is included for NOx control. Sulfur capture is achieved with limestone addition
to the furnace. The limestone consumption and plant efficiency are values without
an ash hydration system, a backend polishing scrubber, or flue gas heat recovery
system (Ref. 2) included. These enhancements are beyond the scope of this study,
and are options which can be included for improved performance.

800 MWe OTU CFB Boiler Configuration

A CFB boiler can be configured in many ways to optimize performance and minimize
cost. The inter-relationships between the selected steam turbine cycle, fuel and
sorbent characteristics, emission requirements, as well as site conditions and
constraints, will dictate how the boiler is configured. These project specific
requirements, and sometimes customer preference for specific features will
determine the boiler configuration. Options for locating heat transfer surface and
methods for reheat steam temperature control are illustrated in Figure 2.
 Table 1. 800 MWe OTU CFB Design Basis and Performance Parameters

Site Conditions: Steam Conditions:

Elevation m (ft.) 152.4 (500) Main Steam Flow Rate kg/s (M lb/h) 568.8 (4514.0)
Design Air Pressure bar (psia) 0.99 (14.4) Main Steam Temperature ºC (ºF) 604 (1119)
Dry Bulb Temperature ºC (ºF) 17.2 (63) Main Steam Pressure barg (psig) 315 (4573)
Wet Bulb Temperature ºC (ºF) 12.2 (54)
Relative Humidity % 55 Reheat Steam Flow Rate kg/s ( M lb/h) 487.2 (3867.0)
Reheat Steam Temperature ºC (ºF) 621 (1149)
Illinois No. 6 Coal Reheat Steam Pressure barg (psig) 44.1 (639)
Proximate Analysis
Moisture wt. % 11.12 Feedwater Temperature ºC (ºF) 289 (553)
Ash wt. % 9.70
Volatile Matter wt. % 34.99 H&M Balance Parameters:
Fixed Carbon wt. % 44.19 Flow Rates:
Flue Gas kg/s (M lb/h) 741.8 (5887.2)
Ultimate Analysis Combustion Air kg/s (M lb/h) 681.5 (5408.8)
Moisture wt. % 11.12 Coal kg/s (M lb/h) 66.2 (525.4)
Carbon wt. % 63.75 Limestone kg/s (M lb/h) 17.5 (139.1)
Hydrogen wt. % 4.50 Total Ash kg/s (M lb/h) 23.5 (186.1)
Nitrogen wt. % 1.25
Chlorine wt. % 0.29 Temperatures:
Sulfur wt. % 2.51 Furnace Exit ºC (ºF) 859 (1579)
Ash wt. % 9.70 Flue Gas Entering Air Heater ºC (ºF) 327 (620)
Oxygen (by difference) wt. % 6.88 Flue Gas Leaving Air Heater ºC (ºF) 126 (258)
Bottom Ash ºC (ºF) 260 (500)
HHV kcal/kg 6481
(Btu/lb) (11,666) Excess Air % 20

Greer Limestone Emissions:

Calcium Carbonate wt. % 80.4 Sulfur Capture % 96
Magnesium Carbonate wt. % 3.5 SO2 mg/NM3 (lb/MMBtu) 111 (0.09)
Moisture wt. % 0.1 NOx mg/NM3 (lb/MMBtu) 100 (0.07)
Inerts wt. % 16.0 Particulate mg/NM3 (lb/MMBtu) 14 (0.01)

Reactivity Index 2.5

Power Generation Plant Performance

Gross Output MWe 805 Turbine Back Pressure psia (mm Hg) 1 (50.8)
Net Output MWe 739 Net Plant Efficiency % HHV Basis 40.7

HEAT TRANSFER SURFACE LOCATIONS:

ENCLOSURES: 5 1 6
1 FURNACE ENCLOSURE 2
2 FURNACE ROOF 4
3 SOLIDS SEPARATOR B 1 2
3
4 INTREX ENCLOSURE
1
5 CROSS-OVER DUCT
6 HRA ENCLOSURE A
PANELS: C
1 WINGWALLS 2
2 PLATENS
3 3
3 OMEGA PANELS
4 FULL HEIGHT WALLS
SERPENTINE TUBE COILS:
1
D 4
1 INBOARD PARALLEL PASS
2 OUTBOARD PARALLEL PASS
5 REHEAT TEMPERATURE CONTROL:
3 CASING ENCLOSURE 4
A FLUE GAS PROPORTIONING
4 SERIES PASS
B SPRAY WATER ATTEMPERATION
5 INTREX E
C STEAM BYPASS
SUPPORT TUBES:
D INTREX SOLIDS BYPASS
1 HRA HANGER TUBES
E INTREX FLUIDIZATION

Figure 2. Surface Location and Reheat Steam Temperature Control Options

The boiler configuration selected for the 800 MW e ultra-supercritical CFB is similar to
that for the Case 1 - 400 MW e design with the size of critical components increased
according to the scale-up philosophy described in Reference 3. Front and side
elevation drawings of the 800 MW e unit are included in Figures 3 and 4. The
steam/water circuitry is defined in Figure 6.

Figure 3. 800 MWe Ultra-Supercritical OTU CFB – Front View

 Figure 4. 800 MWe Ultra-Supercritical Out CFB – Side View

As unit size increases, the furnace cross-sectional area increases in proportion to

the increase in fuel firing and heat release rate. However, the furnace enclosure
perimeter does not increase as fast as the cross-sectional area. In going from 400
MW e to 800 MW e there is a proportional reduction in furnace perimeter of about
18%. To compensate for this loss in heat transfer surface, additional internal heat
transfer surface (membrane wingwalls or platen type panels) or INTREXTM (Ref. 4)
serpentine tube coils must be added.

INTREXTM heat exchangers offer the following advantages:

• Integration of the water-cooled INTREXTM enclosure with the furnace walls

eliminates the need for large and costly refractory lined solids transfer ducts
and expansion joints.
• INTREXTM heat transfer rates are about 2 to 3 times greater than in the
furnace resulting in less heat transfer surface being required.
 • The combination of both internal and external solids circulation extends the
steam temperature control range, and improves heat transfer.
• The elevation of the internal circulation solids openings reduces the back
pressure that the sealing device (wall or loopseal) must seal against which
minimizes the seal height and improves seal stability.
• For ultra-supercritical steam temperatures, the INTREXTM serpentine tube
coils, as compared to membrane type internal furnace panels, simplifies
pressure part fabrication and construction since post weld heat treatment of
high temperature materials is not required.

However, to take advantage of these features,

the integrated INTREXTM configuration occupies
a portion of the furnace perimeter, which on
large units, as noted above, is proportionally
reduced. Space around the furnace perimeter
is required to position fuel and sorbent feed
points, start-up burners, stripper/coolers,
overfire airports, etc. Therefore, there is a
practical limit as to how wide the INTREXTM
chambers can be (Figure 5). More INTREXTM
surface can be added by increasing INTREXTM
depth or height. However, increased depth
adds to mechanical complexity and increased
height raises blower head and power
consumption. Another option implemented for
the 800 MW e design and initially described in Figure 5.
Space Between INTREXTM
Reference 4 is to use a stacked INTREXTM bed

SH I

To turbine

Furnace 2nd pass SH IV HP- bypass

Solids SH III
roof walls separators INTREX INTREX

From turbine
RH I
Water/Steam
separators RH II
INTREX To turbine
Furnace

To flash tank
INTREX-
chambers

Economizer II

Economizer I

HP-heaters
From feed tank
Feed water pump

Figure 6. 800 MWe OTU CFB Steam/Water Circuitry

arrangement as illustrated in Figure 3. This arrangement EXTERNAL
provides a convenient means for increasing INTREXTM SOLIDS from
e
SEPARATORS
heat transfer surface, and, for the Case 2 steam
conditions, eliminated the need to use furnace internal
superheater panels. Solids collected by the Compact BYPASS

separators pass first through the upper eight (8)

INTREXTM cells. The solids then cascade down into the INTERNAL
lower eight (8) INTREXTM cells before being returned back SOLIDS from
FURNACE
to the lower furnace. Slots in the lower furnace front and SH-IV a/b
rear walls adjacent to the INTREXTM cells allows hot
solids from the lower furnace to fall into the lower cells, BYPASS

adding to the mass of available solids for enhanced heat

transfer to the lower INTREXTM tube bundles. As
schematically illustrated in Figure 7, solids can be
bypassed around both upper and lower INTREXTM cells
SH-III/RH-II
by controlling the aeration rate to the liftlegs. Figure 8
illustrates the openings in the furnace walls for internal
solids circulation to the lower INTREXTM cells. Figure 7.
Stacked INTREXTM Cells
The finishing superheater (SH-IVa/b) was
placed in the upper INTREXTM level, and the
intermediate superheater and finishing reheater INTERNAL
CIRCULATION
were located in the lower level. The reasoning OPENINGS
for this configuration is that, in a once-through
unit, final main steam temperature will always
be achieved over the once-through operating
load range because the firing rate will be
increased until the required steam temperature
is achieved. The concern is maximizing the
reheat steam temperature control range.
BYPASS RETURN

As illustrated in Figure 9, as load is reduced the

temperature in the upper furnace drops and the
amount of externally circulated solids to the
INTREXTM also drops. If the finishing reheater
were located in the upper level, the reheat LIFTLEG RETURN
steam temperature control range would be
limited. By placing the finishing reheater in the
lower level, a higher temperature difference for Figure 8. Furnace Openings for
heat transfer can be achieved with internal INTREXTM
solids circulation since at part load, the lower furnace temperature is hotter than the
upper furnace as illustrated in Figure 9. In addition, the internally circulated solids
add to the mass of material passing through the lower INTREXTM cells which results
in a smaller drop in solids temperature and a higher temperature difference for heat
transfer to the INTREXTM tubes. This effect is illustrated in Figure 10 which shows a
significant increase in finishing reheater (RH-II) duty with internal solids
circulation. The overall effect is that the total
INTREXTM duty increases with internal solids 160

circulation. The finishing superheater duty 140

4
40% 60% 75%
6 7
100%
1
dropped with internal solids circulation

(ft.)
0 0 5

HEIGHT(ft.)
120
0
because the overall increase in INTREXTM

FURNACE HEIGHT
100 % % % 0
duty lowered the furnace exit gas temperature
80 %
which resulted in a lower temperature

FURNACE
difference for heat transfer in the upper cells. 60

However, as noted above, this is not a 40

concern because main steam temperature will 20 ~100 F

always be achieved.
0
1300 1400 1500 1600 1700
For the 800 MW e OTU CFB design illustrated TEMPERATURE (F)

in Figures 3 and 4, full reheat steam

temperature [621°C (1150°F)] can be
achieved over the 40 to 100% load range. Figure 9. Furnace Temperature Profile
The combination of the stack bed
configuration, internal solids circulations, and
a parallel pass convection reheater
contributed to allowing full steam temperature
to be achieved over this wide range.

CFB Steam Temperatures for the Future

Research and development work in once-
through boiler technology has set a goal of
achieving main and reheat steam
temperatures of 700°C (1292°F) and 720°C
(1328°F). A concern with targeting these
temperatures for CFB boilers is that the Figure 10. INTREXTM Duty Change
furnace exit gas temperature is relatively low With Internal Solids Circulation
compared to pulverized coal (PC) boilers
(Figure 11).
2,400

2,200
PC FEGT
TEMPERATURE (F)

2,000
~850 F
1,800

1,600 CFB FEGT

1,400 ~550 F
ULTRA-SUPERCRITICAL
1,200 @ CFB HRA COILS STEAM TEMPERATURE
RANGE

1,000
30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
LOAD (% MCR)

Figure 11. PC vs CFB Furnace Exit Gas Temperature Comparison

The Case 3 task of the DOE study was to evaluate if a realistic 800 MW e OTU CFB
boiler could be configured to achieve 700°C/720°C steam temperatures assuming
that materials will be developed to keep the tube wall thickness comparable to those
used on current ultra-supercritical boilers. The effort was to keep within realistic
limits for CFB process parameters such as furnace temperature, velocity, etc.,
physical size and arrangement of heat exchangers, sufficient subcooling entering
and a limited amount of superheat leaving the evaporator, and a reasonable load
range over which full reheat steam temperature can be achieved.

The Case 2 800 MWe design shown in Figures 3 and 4 was modified with the
following changes:

• Furnace height was reduced 2m (6.5 ft.)

• Full height evaporator wingwalls removed
• Less conductive, thicker refractory used in lower furnace
• In-furnace platen superheaters (10) added upstream of INTREXTM SH-III
• Loop added to upper INTREXTM SH-IV (same elements high as lower cells)
• Convection reheater surface increased (+25%)
• Upper economizer surface increased (+18%), lower reduced (-63%)
• Air heater surface increased (+5%)

With these changes, the full load furnace exit gas temperature is 904°C (1659°F),
evaporator inlet water is sufficiently subcooled over the load range, maximum
evaporator outlet superheat is about 200 kJ/kg (86 Btu/lb), and full reheat steam
temperature is maintained down to approximately 45% load [717°C (1323°F) at 40%
load].

Conclusions
The 800 MW e Ultra-Supercritical boiler described in this paper integrates the current
state-of-the-art for both CFB (Second Generation Compact) and OTU (BENSON
Vertical) boiler technologies. The integration of these technologies provides fuel
firing flexibility, low grade fuel firing capability, low pollutant emissions, and high
efficiency for cost effective power production. Conceptually the CFB process can be
used to achieve the future high temperature goals for ultra-supercritical boiler
technology if features such as described in this paper (internal and external solids
circulation, stacked-bed INTREXTM heat exchanger, parallel pass HRA) are used.
Component selection options and several means to adjust where and how much
heat is absorbed give the CFB boiler the advantage to push OTU technology to its
limits for cost effective and environmentally friendly power production.

Acknowledgement
The financial support of this study by U.S. Department of Energy National Energy
Technology Laboratory under Contract DE-FC-26-03NT41737, and Foster Wheeler
North America Corp., is appreciatively acknowledged.
Nomenclature
CFB Circulating fluidized bed
ECO Economizer
FEGT Furnace exit gas temperature
HDR Header
HP High pressure
HRA Heat recovery area
INTREXTM Integrated recycle heat exchanger
OTU Once-through utility
P.A. Primary air
PC Pulverized coal
PSH Primary superheater
RH Reheater
S/C Stripper cooler
SNCR Selective non-catalytic reduction
SH-I Primary superheater in outboard HRA pass
SH-III Intermediate superheater in lower INTREXTM cell
SH-IV Finishing superheater in upper INTREXTM cells

References
1. S. J. Goidich, S. Wu, Z. Fan, A. C. Bose, "Design Aspects of the Ultra-
Supercritical CFB Boiler," International Pittsburgh Coal Conference,
Pittsburgh, PA, September 12-15, 2005.

2. I. Venäläinen, R. Psik, "460 MW e Supercritical CFB Boiler Design for Lagisza

Power Plant", POWER-GEN Europe, Barcelona, Spain, May 25-27, 2004.

3. I. Venäläinen, F. J. A. Ruiz, J. M. Jubitero, "Scaling Up Once-Through

Supercritical CFB Boilers to 800 MW e", POWER-GEN Europe, Milan, Italy,
June 28-30, 2005.

4. S. J. Goidich, T. Hyppanen, K. Kauppinen, "CFB Boiler Design and Operation

Using the INTREXTM Heat Exchanger", 6th International Conference on
Circulation Fluidized Beds, Würzburg, Germany, August 22-27, 1999.