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Combustion Science and Technology

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Combustion Characteristics and NO x Emissions of Two Kinds of Swirl Burners in a 300-MWe Wall-Fired Pulverized-Coal Utility Boiler
Zhengqi Li , Jianping Jing , Zhichao Chen , Feng Ren , Bin Xu , Hongda Wei & Zhihong Ge
a a a a a a a a

School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China Available online: 12 Jun 2008

To cite this article: Zhengqi Li, Jianping Jing, Zhichao Chen, Feng Ren, Bin Xu, Hongda Wei & Zhihong Ge (2008): Combustion Characteristics and NO x Emissions of Two Kinds of Swirl Burners in a 300-MWe Wall-Fired Pulverized-Coal Utility Boiler, Combustion Science and Technology, 180:7, 1370-1394 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00102200802043318

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Combust. Sci. and Tech., 180: 13701394, 2008 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0010-2202 print/1563-521X online DOI: 10.1080/00102200802043318

COMBUSTION CHARACTERISTICS AND NOX EMISSIONS OF TWO KINDS OF SWIRL BURNERS IN A 300-MWe WALL-FIRED PULVERIZED-COAL UTILITY BOILER Zhengqi Li, Jianping Jing, Zhichao Chen, Feng Ren, Bin Xu, Hongda Wei, and Zhihong Ge
School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China

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Measurements were performed in a 300-MWe wall-fired pulverized-coal utility boiler. Enhanced ignition-dual register (EI-DR) burners and centrally fuel rich (CFR) swirl coal combustion burners were installed in the bottom row of the furnace during experiments. Local mean concentrations of O2, CO, CO2 and NOx gas species, gas temperatures, and char burnout were determined in the region of the two types of burners. For centrally fuel rich swirl coal combustion burners, local mean CO concentrations, gas temperatures and the temperature gradient are higher and mean concentrations of O2 and NOx along the jet flow direction in the burner region are lower than for the enhanced ignition-dual register burners. Moreover, the mean O2 concentration is higher and the gas temperature and mean CO concentration are lower in the side wall region. For centrally fuel rich swirl coal combustion burners in the bottom row, the combustion efficiency of the boiler increases from 96.73% to 97.09%, and NOx emission decreases from 411.5 to 355 ppm @ 6% O2 compared to enhanced ignition-dual register burners and the boiler operates stably at 110 MWe without auxiliary fuel oil. Keywords: NOx; Pulverized coal; Swirl burner; Utility boiler

INTRODUCTION Coal plays an important role in world energy production. In China, coal constitutes approximately 75% of the primary energy resources and is the predominant energy resource for the power industry. For pulverized-coal-fired boilers in power plants, high NOx emissions, flame stability at low load and high-temperature
Received 1 December 2006; accepted 18 January 2008. We thank M. Costa and J. L. T. Azevedo for the support to this work. This work was supported by Hi-Tech Research and Development Program of China (Contract No. 2007AA05Z301), the Ministry of Education of China via the 2004 New Century Excellent Talents in University (Contract No. NECT04-0328), Heilongjiang Province via 2005 Key Projects (Contract No. GC05A314), Key Project of the National Eleventh-Five Year Research Program of China (Contract No. 2006BAA01B01), the National Basic Research Program of China (Contract No. 2006CB200303), and the Post-doctoral Foundation of Heilongjiang Province LRB07-216. Address correspondence to Zhengqi Li, School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, 92, West Dazhi Street, Harbin 150001, P.R. China. E-mail: green@hit.edu.cn (Z. Q. Li)

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corrosion on the water-cooled walls of the furnace are the main concerns in design and operation. Low-NOx pulverized-coal burner technologies present an efficient method to solve these problems, of which the enhanced ignition-dual register burner has been widely applied (Larue and Cioffi, 1988). Li proposed a new low-NOx pulverized-coal burner technology, the centrally fuel rich swirl coal combustion burner, based on the radial bias combustion burner and enhanced ignition-dual register burner. Industrial experiments performed on full-scale boilers reveal the coal combustion characteristics and mechanism of NOx formation. Costa et al. (1997, 2003, and 2007) measured local mean gas species concentrations (O2, CO, CO2, NOx), gas temperatures, and char burnout at several ports in a 300-MWe, front-wall-fired, pulverized-coal utility boiler. Vikhansky et al. (2004) measured heat fluxes in a 550-MWe, opposite-wall-fired, pulverized-coal utility boiler. Experiments have been performed in pulverized-coal, tangentially fired and wall-fired boilers (Butler and Webb, 1991; Butler et al., 1992; Li et al., 2004; Bonin and Queiroz, 1991, 1996; Black and McQuay, 1996; Tree and Webb, 1997; Fan et al., 1999), but few detailed measurements have been performed in the burner region. In this work, measurements were performed in a 300-MWe, wall-fired, pulverized-coal utility boiler. An enhanced ignition-dual register and centrally fuel rich burners were installed in the bottom row of the furnace during experiments. Data were recorded for local mean concentrations of O2, CO, CO2, NOx, gas temperatures and the temperature gradient, char burnout and release of C, H and N from coal at positions in the region of the two burners. A comparison was made between Costa et al. (2007) in port 3.6 and the data measured along the side wall in this paper for the concentrations of O2, CO, CO2, NOx, and gas temperatures. The influence of the enhanced ignition-dual register and centrally fuel rich burners on the efficiency of coal combustion, NOx emissions and flame stability without auxiliary fuel oil at low load is also presented.

UTILITY BOILER A B&W B-1025=16.8-M type boiler with a 300-MWe unit was made by Babcock & Wilcox Beijing Co. Ltd. The opposite-wall-fired, pulverized-coal boiler with a dry-ash type furnace is equipped with 20 enhanced ignition-dual register burners. There are 12 enhanced ignition-dual register burners arranged in three rows on the front wall of the furnace. The other eight burners are arranged in two rows on the rear wall, opposite the eight burners in the top and bottom of the three rows on the front wall. Five medium-speed mills and a positive-pressure direct-fired system are used to supply pulverized coal to the burners. Figure 1 shows the enhanced ignition-dual register burner, which has eight radial vanes in the inner secondary air duct and 12 tangential vanes in the outer secondary air duct. The swirling directions of the inner and outer secondary airflows are identical. Under the influence of the particle deflector and conical diffuser, pulverized coal carried by the primary air diffuses along the radius and gathers in the region close to the primary air tube wall, which results in a coal-rich flow in the peripheral zone of the primary air and a coal-lean flow in the central zone.

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Figure 1 Enhanced ignition-dual register burner and position of the monitoring pipe (dimensions in m): (1) primary air duct, (2) inner secondary air duct, (3) outer secondary air duct, (4) water-cooled wall, (5) tangential vanes, (6) radial vanes, (7) monitoring pipe, and (8) conical diffuser.

Figure 2 Centrally fuel rich burner and position of the monitoring pipe (dimensions in m): (1) primary air duct, (2) monitoring pipe, (3) cone separators, (4) radial vanes, (5) inner secondary air duct, (6) tangential vanes, and (7) outer secondary air duct.

EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF WALL-FIRED COAL BOILER Table 1 Design parameters of the two kinds of swirl burners in the utility boiler Enhanced ignition-dual register burner 0.1979 0.5648 0.6677 75 353 5.80 3.59 8.37

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Quantity Exit area of the primary air (m2) Exit area of the inner secondary air (m2) Exit area of the outer secondary air (m2) Temperature of the primary air (C) Temperature of the secondary air (C) Mass flow rate of the primary air (kg s1) Mass flow rate of the inner secondary air (kg s1) Mass flow rate of the outer secondary air (kg s1)

Centrally fuel rich burner 0.2597 0.4979 0.6677 75 353 5.80 3.59 8.37

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When the primary air is emitted into the furnace through the burner nozzle, the fuel-rich flow in the peripheral zone of the primary air premixes with the secondary air, which moves most pulverized coal into the low-temperature secondary air. The flow that loses coal mass in the peripheral zone of the primary air and the fuel-lean flow in the central zone both enter the central recirculation zone. Thus, there is a low concentration of pulverized coal in the high-temperature central recirculation zone (Larue et al., 1988). Figure 2 shows the centrally fuel rich burner, which has 16 bent-shaft vanes in the inner secondary air duct and 12 tangential vanes at the entrance of the outer secondary air duct. Compared to the enhanced ignition-dual register burner, the centrally fuel rich burner has cone separators in the primary air tube to affect the distribution of pulverized coal in the primary air instead of a particle deflector and conical diffuser. Under the influence of the cone separators, pulverized coal carried by the primary air is concentrated into the central zone of the primary air, which results in a coal-rich flow in the central zone of the primary air and a coal-lean flow in the peripheral zone. To compare the combustion characteristics and NOx emission of the enhanced ignition-dual register and centrally fuel rich burners, experiments were carried out in the utility boiler. Table 1 shows the design parameters for the two burners.

IN SITU INDUSTRIAL COLD AIR FLOW EXPERIMENTS Characteristics of the flame can be analyzed and predicted from in situ industrial cold air flow experiments. Table 2 shows the experimental parameters. In the cold flow experiments, a coordinate frame was set at the outlet of the burner. A thin cloth was fixed for each grid of the frame. The traverse distance between two measurements was 0.1 m. We estimate the uncertainties in establishing the location of the central recirculation zone border were 0.1 m. From the flow direction of the cloth, the jet borders and the central recirculation zone boundary of the burner were measured. Figure 3 shows the aerodynamic field of the two burners, L is the distance to the exit of the burner along the jet flow direction, r is the distance to the chamber axis along radius direction, and D is the burner outer diameter of the outer secondary

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Z. LI ET AL. Table 2 Cold air flow experimental parameters of the two burners Enhanced ignition-dual Centrally fuel register burner rich burner 4.15 2.95 6.88 60 35 20 4.38 3.12 7.40 60 35 20

Quantity Mass flow rate of the primary air (kg s1) Mass flow rate of the inner secondary air (kg s1) Mass flow rate of the outer secondary air (kg s1) The vanes angle of the inner secondary air (see Figs.1 and 2) () The vanes angle of the outer secondary air (see Figs.1 and 2) () Air temperature (C)

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air duct (D 1.495 m). For the centrally fuel rich burner, the divergent angle is 90 and the maximum length and diameter of the central recirculation zone are 1.20 D and 1.27 D respectively. For the enhanced ignition-dual register burner, the divergent angle is 67 and the maximum length and diameter of the central recirculation zone are 1.07 D and 0.74 D, respectively. The results show the centrally fuel rich swirl coal burner created a larger central recirculation zone and divergent angle than did the enhanced ignition-dual register burner. The inner secondary air vanes of enhanced ignition-dual register burner are adjustable. To ensure the vanes can be flexibly adjusted, there is a gap between vanes and pipes. Some of the inner secondary air ejects into the furnace without passing the vanes, which results in lower swirl ability of the enhanced ignition-dual register burner. For the centrally fuel rich burner, the inner secondary air vanes are fixed on the pipes. Thus, the centrally fuel rich swirl coal burner creates a larger central recirculation zone and divergent angle than does the enhanced ignition-dual register burner.

Figure 3 Jet border and the central recirculation zone boundary of the two burners.

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MEASUREMENTS OF GAS TEMPERATURE, GAS SPECIES CONCENTRATION AND CHAR BURNOUT IN THE BURNER REGION Data Acquisition Techniques Because a swirl burner works independently, there is little variation in temperature and velocity field. Data were obtained for the gas temperature, gas species concentration and char burnout in the region of burner No. 4, which was at the bottom on the rear wall (see Fig. 4). Data which were measured at positions along the X direction near the burner region using a water-cooled stainless steel probe inserted through monitoring ports (see Figs. 1 and 2) in the burner. The initial measurement position along the X direction was on the rear wall. Data which were measured at positions along the direction from the side wall to the burner were measured through a monitoring port in the side wall, as shown in Fig. 4. Measurements were made in the enhanced ignition-dual register burner region when the four burners in the bottom row on the front wall were not operating. Thus, to maintain consistent experimental conditions throughout the measurements, these 4 burners were also stopped when measurements were performed in the centrally fuel rich burner region. To avoid the water-cooled stainless steel probe being distorted by hot gas, the distance

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Figure 4 Schematic top view of the burners and the monitoring ports at the bottom of the furnace (dimensions in m).

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Figure 5 Water-cooled stainless steel probe.

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between the measured point and side wall is no less than 1.5 m. Thus, the measured point is never in the center of the burner. The study on the center of the burner is done by numerical simulation. Gases were sampled using a water-cooled stainless steel probe and analyzed online on a Testo 350 M instrument. Gas temperature was measured using a nickel chromium-nickel silicon thermocouple placed inside a water-cooled stainless steel probe. Char sampling was also performed using a water-cooled stainless steel probe. The water-cooled stainless steel probe is shown in Figure 5 and consists of a water-in pipe, water-out pipe, sampling pipe, outer pipe and so on. The high pressure cool water coming from the water-in pipe cools the sampling pipe and the water after the heat change outflows from the water-out pipe. The gas was sampled by a sampling pipe. When smoke entered the sampling pipe, the temperature deceased rapidly and the pulverized coal stopped burning. The samples passed through filtrating devices into a Testo 350 M gas analyzer to be analyzed. The coke sample was obtained with a vacuum pump and sampling pipe, between which there is a cyclone separator, coke collector, flow meter and other devices. The accuracy of the Testo 350 M gas analyzer for each species measurement is 1% for O2 and CO2, 5% for CO, and 5 ppm for NO and NO2. Calibration was carried out on each sensor before measurement. The CO2 concentration that cannot be measured directly by the Testo 350 M gas analyzer was calculated from the O2 concentration using CO2 CO2;max 20:94 O2 20:94 1

where CO2,max is the largest CO2 percentage of fuel combustion, which ranges between 18.4% and 18.7% for bitumite coal. CO2,max is 18.5% in this experiment.

Char Burnout Char burnout was calculated using w 1 xk =xx =1 xk 2

where w is the char burnout, x is the ash weight fraction, and the subscripts k and x refer to the ash contents in the input coal and char sample, respectively.

EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF WALL-FIRED COAL BOILER Table 3 Characteristics of the coal used in the experiments Enhanced ignition-dual register burner Centrally fuel rich burner

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Quantity Proximate analysis (as received, wt.%) Ash Volatiles Fixed carbon Moisture Net heating value (kJ kg1) Ultimate analysis (as received, wt.%) Carbon Hydrogen Nitrogen Sulfur Oxygen

25.18 32.26 39.78 16.1 16920 47.05 2.29 0.62 0.82 7.94

27.13 33.15 40.82 11.8 17790 48.05 2.51 0.54 1.23 8.74

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The percentage release of components (C, H and N) was calculated using b 1 xix =xik xak =xax 3

where xi is the weight percentage of the species of interest, xa is the ash weight percentage and the subscripts k and x refer to different contents in the input coal and char sample, respectively (Costa et al., 2003). During the experimental campaign, the utility boiler was operated stably with a full load. Table 3 shows characteristics of the coal used in the experiments. Table 4 summarizes the boiler design and operation parameters. The values given in Table 4 are averaged over the duration of the experimental campaign. Tables are presented to summarize the results for each burner in the appendix.

Table 4 Boiler design and operation parameters for two burners Enhanced ignition-dual register burner 973.2 16.3 536.2 537.5 3.2 147.3 243.7 656.1 74.0 369.0 Centrally fuel rich burner 974.3 16.7 537.8 538.5 3.2 148.1 251.7 663.6 73.0 362.0 Design parameters 1025.0 16.8 540.0 540.0 3.4 154.2 285.3 731.3 75.0 353.0

Quantity Flow rate of the main steam (ton=h) Pressure of the main steam (MPa) Temperature of the main steam (C) Reheat steam outlet temperature (C) Reheat steam outlet pressure (MPa) Coal feed rate (ton=h) Primary air flow rate (ton=h) Secondary air flow rate (ton=h) Primary air temperature (C) Secondary air temperature (C)

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Before examining the data, it is necessary to show distribution of particle volume flux for two burners. A three-component particle-dynamics anemometer is used by Chen (2007) for measurements, in the near-burner region of the characteristics of gas=particle two-phase flows with a centrally fuel rich swirl coal combustion burner and enhanced ignition-dual register burner, in a gas=particle two-phase test facility. Figure 6 shows profiles of the particle volume flux in the range from 0 to 100 mm in different cross-sections of the two burners, where particle volume flux is the particle volume passing per unit area per unit time, where d is the outer diameter of the outer secondary air duct. Compared with the enhanced ignition-dual register burner, in the same cross-section, the particle volume flux peak value near the chamber axis of the centrally fuel rich burner is much closer to the chamber axis. In the cross-section L=d 0.5, the maximum particle volume flux of the centrally fuel rich burner is three times that of the enhanced ignition-dual register burner. In six cross-sections from L=d 0.3 to 2.5, the particle volume flux in the central recirculation zone of the centrally fuel rich burner is much larger than that of the enhanced ignition-dual register burner. In the three sections from L=d 0.3 to 0.7, the maximum particle volume flux in the central recirculation zone of the centrally fuel rich burner is five times that of the enhanced ignition-dual register burner. Due to the centrally fuel rich burner structure and particle inertia, particles in the fuel-rich primary air duct are ejected directly into the chamber center and form the peak for the particle volume flux near the chamber axis. For the enhanced ignition-dual register burner, when particles eject into the primary air duct, because of either collision with the conical diffuser or guidance of the conical diffuser, the particles form a zone of peak particle volume flux near the chamber axis. Particles

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Figure 6 Particle volume flux profiles for the two burners.

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mix with the secondary air, and some are taken by the secondary air to form another other peak zone separate to that near the chamber axis. Figure 7 shows profiles of the gas temperature near the burner region for the two burners. For both burners, the gas temperature along the X direction first increased and then decreased, with high increase rates in the early stage. The rate of gas temperature increase was 238C=m at positions between 0 and 0.2 m from the centrally fuel rich burner and 145C=m at positions between 0 and 0.2 m from the enhanced ignition-dual register burner. Thus, the gas temperature and its rate of increase were higher in this region for the centrally fuel rich burner. For both burners, gas temperatures increased sharply and then remained at a high level at a distance from the burner because of rapid combustion of the pulverized coal in the hightemperature gas. At positions away from the burner, the gas temperature gradually decreased due to fuel consumption and mixing of the primary and secondary airflows. The profiles in Figure 7a show the centrally fuel rich burner could maintain a gas temperature up to 1000C at a distance of 0.20.9 m from the burner, but the enhanced ignition-dual register burner could only maintain a gas temperature up to 1000C at a distance of 0.30.4 m from the burner. Thus, the centrally fuel rich

Figure 7 Profiles of gas temperature measured (a) along the X direction and (b) in the radial direction near the burner.

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burner has a larger high-temperature zone, which is more advantageous for pulverized coal combustion and burnout. As observed in Figure 7b for both burners, gas temperature increased from the side wall to the burner center. Thus, gas close to the high-temperature central recirculation zone is at a higher temperature than that near the water-cooled side wall. The gas temperature near the water-cooled side wall was higher for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner than for the centrally fuel rich burner (see Fig. 7b). Figure 7b shows the gas temperature trends measured in this work and by Costa et al. are similar. However, the temperatures measured by Costa et al. are larger. This is because Costa et al. measured the temperature at the 3rd row of burners whereas we measured the temperature at the 1st row, and the types of burners and coal character were also different. Figure 8 shows O2 concentration profiles near the burner region for the two burners. For both burners, the O2 concentration along the X direction first decreased sharply and then slowly decreased (see Fig. 8a). The minimum O2 concentration along the X direction was 0.84% for the centrally fuel rich burner at 0.4 m from the rear wall and 8.51% for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner at 0.6 m from

Figure 8 Profiles of O2 concentration measured (a) along the X direction and (b) in the radial direction near the burner.

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the rear wall. Thus, the O2 concentration in the central zone was lower for the centrally fuel rich burner than for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner. The reason for the initial sharp decrease in O2 concentration along the X direction is that the pulverized coal combusts rapidly and consumes a great deal of oxygen. At positions away from the rear wall, the O2 concentration increases because oxygen in the secondary air is supplied to the primary air. As observed in Figure 8b, the O2 concentration from the side wall to the burner changed slightly for both burners. Furthermore, the O2 concentration near the side wall was higher for the centrally fuel rich burner than for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner. As observed in Fig. 8b, the O2 concentration measured by Costa et al. is much lower than that in the enhanced ignition-dual register and centrally fuel rich burners. This is because Costa et al. performed experiments adopting the over fire air system for the boiler, which decreased the air supply in the main burning zone. Figure 9 shows CO concentration profiles near the burner region for the two burners. For both burners, CO concentrations along the X direction first increased and then decreased (see Fig. 9a). Figures 8a and 9a show that, along the X direction,

Figure 9 Profiles of CO concentration measured (a) along the X direction and (b) in the radial direction near the burner.

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CO concentration decreases with increasing O2 concentration. When pulverized coal begins to burn it does so quickly and this requires much O2. At this time, there is little secondary air mixing with primary air, which results in much CO without sufficient O2. With the distance between measured point and water-cooled wall increasing, more secondary air mixes with primary air and CO transforms into CO2. Costa et al. (2003) obtained the same result in their experiments. The maximum CO concentration along the X direction was 39448 ppm for the centrally fuel rich burner at 0.5 m from the rear wall and 20685 ppm for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner at 0.6 m from the rear wall. The CO concentration in the central zone was higher for the centrally fuel rich burner than for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner. As observed in Figure 9b, the CO concentration from the side wall to the burner first increased and then decreased for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner; the CO concentration was very low for the centrally fuel rich burner. Furthermore, the CO concentration near the side wall was lower for the centrally fuel rich burner than for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner. As observed in Fig. 9b, the CO2 concentration measured by Costa et al. were larger than the data for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner and centrally fuel rich burner, because the O2 concentration in the main burning zone was lower. Figure 10 shows CO2 concentration profiles near the burner region for the two burners. The CO2 concentration along the X direction increased and remained at a high level for both burners (see Fig. 10a). The CO2 concentration in the central zone was higher for the centrally fuel rich burner than for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner. The CO2 concentration first increases because combustion of the pulverized coal leads to a rapid decrease in O2 concentration; the CO2 concentration then remains at a high level while the CO concentration gradually decreases. As observed in Figure 10b, for both burners the CO2 concentration changed slightly because the O2 concentration changed slightly. Furthermore, the CO2 concentration in the region near the side wall was higher for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner than for the centrally fuel rich burner. Figure 10b shows the CO2 concentrations measured by Costa et al. were higher than the data for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner and centrally fuel rich burner, because the O2 concentration in the main burning zone was lower. Figure 11 shows char burnout near the burner region for the two burners. The average char burnout measured along the X direction was higher for the centrally fuel rich burner than for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner (see Fig. 11a). Char burnout measured from the side wall to the burner was high near the side wall for both burners (see Fig. 11b). Figure 12 shows the release of C, H and N from coal near the burner region for the two burner types. Hydrogen release was fastest and carbon release was slowest, which agrees with the laboratory results of Ismail (1989) and Smoot et al. (1984), and the industrial results of Costa et al. (2003). As observed in Fig. 12a, release of C, H and N from coal along the X direction was faster for the centrally fuel rich burner than for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner, indicating the coal combustion rate was higher for the centrally fuel rich burner. The release of C, H and N from coal measured from the side wall to the burner wall was high near the side wall for both burners (see Fig. 12b).

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Figure 10 Profiles of CO2 concentration measured (a) along the X direction and (b) in the radial direction near the burner.

From the aerodynamics and the distribution of particle volume flux for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner, the central recirculation zone is small and particle volume flux is low in the burner center zone. It is difficult to form a high temperature, high pulverized coal concentration in the burner center zone. The gas temperature is low and the ignition of pulverized coal is delayed, which is not in favor of burn-out. Thus, the local mean O2 concentration near the enhanced ignition-dual register burner was higher compared to the centrally fuel rich burner, while local mean concentrations of CO and CO2, char burnout, and release of C, H and N were lower. For the centrally fuel rich burner, the central recirculation zone is large enough to inhale much hot gas and pulverized coal is concentrated in the burner center. The majority of the coal carried by the primary air entered the center of the central recirculation zone near the burner, so the concentration of pulverized coal in the central recirculation zone increased and the residence time of the coal in the central recirculation zone was prolonged.

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Figure 11 Char burnout measured (a) along the X direction and (b) in the radial direction near the burner.

This led to a high-temperature and fuel-rich atmosphere in the central recirculation zone, which increased the gas temperature, accelerated pulverized coal ignition, and increased the coal combustion rate, which is advantageous for burnout. Compared to the enhanced ignition-dual register burner, local mean concentrations of CO and CO2, char burnout, and release of C, H and N were higher near the centrally fuel rich burner, but the local mean O2 concentration was lower. For enhanced ignition-dual register burner, particle volume flux in the secondary air is larger than that in other position. Thus, near the side wall, the gas temperature, CO concentration and CO2 concentration are high and O2 concentration is low. For the centrally fuel rich burner, pulverized coal in the primary air duct is ejected directly into the burner center and a little pulverized coal is carried into secondary air due to the burner structure and particle inertia. Thus, near the side wall, the gas temperature, CO concentration and CO2 concentration are low and O2 concentration is high. The collision probability between pulverized coal and the side wall is reduced. This is advantageous for the formation of an oxidizing atmosphere near the

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Figure 12 Release of carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen from the coal measured (a) along the X direction and (b) in the radial direction near the burner.

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water-cooled wall, which increases the ash fusion point, and for resisting slagging and high-temperature corrosion (Huffman et al., 1981; You and Zhou, 2006). Figure 13 shows NOx concentration profiles near the burner region for the two burners, where the NOx reduced to 6% O2. The NOx concentration along the X direction first increased and then decreased near the centrally fuel rich burner. For the enhanced ignition-dual register burner, the NOx concentration along the X direction first increased and then remained at a high value. The NOx concentration in the center of the burner region was much higher than for the centrally fuel rich burner region. From the side wall to the burner, the NOx concentration increased for both burners, with fluctuations. The NOx concentrations for both burners were almost the same. Figure 13b shows the mean concentrations of NOx measured by Costa et al. were lower than that of enhanced ignition-dual register and centrally fuel rich burners. This is because an over fire air system was used in the boiler. Compared to the enhanced ignition-dual register burner, the NOx concentration in the center of the centrally fuel rich burner region was much lower. When the pulverized coal exits the outlet of the centrally fuel rich burner, devolatilization

Figure 13 Profiles of NOx concentration measured (a) along the X direction and (b) in the radial direction near the burner.

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takes place and the release of volatiles from coal increases with increasing gas temperature. At the same time, the release of N from coal and NOx emission increases. With the distance between the measured point and water-cooled wall increasing, the gas temperature becomes high and there is an increase in the release of volatiles from the coal. The pulverized coal concentration and volatile concentrations are high in the central recirculation zone with a low amount of O2. In this reducing environment, NOx formation is low and most of the reactive nitrogen is converted to N2 (van der Lans et al., 1997). For the enhanced ignition-dual register burner, the rapid burning of pulverized coal is also the reason for the initial increase in NOx concentration. The pulverized coal concentration, gas temperature and release ratio of volatiles from coal are low in the central recirculation zone of the enhanced ignition-dual register burner. Because volatiles burn in an oxidizing atmosphere, NOx emission increases. With increasing distance from the side wall to the burner center in the hightemperature central recirculation zone, the gas temperature and pulverized coal concentration increased, resulting in an increase in NOx concentration for both burners.

COMPARISON OF BOILER PERFORMANCE FOR THE ENHANCED IGNITON-DUAL REGISTER AND CENTRALLY FUEL RICH BURNERS Combustion Efficiency Combustion efficiency gives the degree of pulverized coal burn-out and is calculated using g 1 q4  Aar  32700 100 aslag Cslag aash Cash q4 Qr 100 Cslag 100 Cash 4

where g is the combustion efficiency (%), q4 is the incomplete loss (%), Aar is the produced ash (%), Qr is the heat entering the furnace (KJ=kg) that is almost equal to the net heating of the fuel, aslag 0.1 and aash 0.9 are ash mass fractions in slag and fly ash, Cslag and Cash are carbon fractions in slag and fly ash, 32700 is the give by per kilogram carbon burns completely. The error of in the carbon content analysis apparatus is 0.1%. With eight centrally fuel rich burners on the bottom row, the boiler could run stably at a load of 300 MWe. The test showed the negative furnace pressure, main steam pressure, main steam temperature, reheated steam pressure and reheated steam temperature all met the design requirements. Compared to the enhanced ignition-dual register burners, combustible material content decreased from 6.54% to 5.86% in the fly ash and from 3.19% to 2.87% in the slag. The efficiency of pulverized coal combustion increased from 96.73% to 97.09%.

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Table 5 Operation parameters at their minimum load without auxiliary fuel oil for the two burners Enhanced ignition-dual register burner 179.5 743.0 10.5 518.0 518.0 75.7 184.2 69.0 378.0 291.3 94.0 Centrally fuel rich burner 110.0 624.0 6.8 514.0 506.7 95.4 136.5 64.0 297.0 231.0 63.2

Quantity Minimum load without auxiliary fuel oil (MW) Flow rate of the main steam (ton=h) Pressure of the main steam (MPa) Temperature of the main steam (C) Reheat steam outlet temperature (C) Negative pressure of the furnace (Pa) Primary air flow rate (ton=h) Primary air=fuel temperature (C) Secondary air temperature (C) Secondary air flow rate (ton=h) Coal feed rate (ton=h)

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NOx Emission Experiments With eight centrally fuel rich burners on the bottom and the boiler operating at the rated load of 300 MWe, NOx emission was measured at the outlet of the air preheater. NOx emission was 411.5 ppm @ 6% O2 for the enhanced ignition-dual register burner and 355 ppm @ 6% O2 for the centrally fuel rich burner, a decrease of 56.5 ppm (13.74%). The NOx emission measured by Costa et al. was below 243.9 ppm @ 6% O2, which was lower than data for the centrally fuel rich burner and enhanced ignition-dual register burner. Influence on the Boiler Minimum Load Without Auxiliary Fuel Oil A low-load experiment was performed with random coal using eight centrally fuel rich burners on the bottom row. Proximate analysis of the experimental coal yielded Vdaf 35.12%, Mar 15.07%, Aar 19.9%, and Qnet,ar 19080 kJ=kg. With only eight centrally fuel rich burners on the bottom row running, the load stabilized at 110 MWe (36.7% rated load) for 2 h. Boiler steam parameters were in the normal range. Furnace pressure fluctuation was 50 Pa, which implies combustion was stable in the furnace. The flame scanners showed a steady signal rather than an intermittent signal, and the boiler ran well. For the enhanced ignition-dual register burners, the minimum load was up to 180 MWe (60% rated load) without auxiliary fuel oil. Table 5 shows the operation parameters at minimum loads without auxiliary fuel oil for the two kinds of burners. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate the local mean concentrations of CO and CO2 gas species, the gas temperatures and the temperature gradient, char burnout and the release of C, H and N measured at positions along the X direction near the centrally fuel rich burner region were all higher than the values obtained near the enhanced ignitiondual register burner region. The mean concentrations of O2 and NOx measured at positions along the X direction near the centrally fuel rich burner region were lower.

EMISSION CHARACTERISTICS OF WALL-FIRED COAL BOILER

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Compared to the enhanced ignition-dual register burners, at positions near the side wall, the mean O2 concentration was higher and the gas temperature and mean concentrations of CO and CO2 were lower for the centrally fuel rich burners. The analysis results for C, H and N release indicate that hydrogen release is most rapid and carbon is released slowly. For the enhanced ignition-dual register burners, the efficiency of pulverized coal combustion was 96.73%, NOx emission was 411.5 ppm @ 6% O2, and the minimum load was up to 180 MWe without auxiliary fuel oil. For the centrally fuel rich burners, the efficiency of pulverized coal combustion was 97.09%, NOx emission was 355 ppm @ 6% O2 and the minimum load was up to 110 MWe without auxiliary fuel oil.

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REFERENCES
Black, D.L. and McQuay, M.Q. (1996) Particle size and velocity measurements in the radiant section of an industrial-scale, coal-fired boiler: The effect of coal type. Combust. Fire, 328, 1927. Bonin, M.P. and Queiroz, M. (1991) Local particle velocity, size, and concentration measurements in an industrial pulverized coal fired boiler. Combust Flame, 85, 121133. Bonin, M.P. and Queiroz, M. (1996) A parametric evaluation of particle-phase dynamics in an industrial pulverized-coal-fired boiler. Fuel, 75, 195206. Butler, B.W. and Webb, B.M. (1991) Local temperature and wall radiant heat flux measurements in an industrial scale coal fired boiler. Fuel, 70, 14571464. Butler, B.W., Wilson, T., and Webb, B.W. (1992) Measurement of time-resolved local particle cloud temperature in a full-scale utility boiler. Proc. Combust. Instit., 24, 13331339. Chen, Z.C. (2007) Studies on characteristics of gas-particle two phase flows with centrally fuel rich swirl coal combustion burner and its application. Ph.D. Dissertation, Harbin Institute of Technology (in Chinese). Costa, M., Azevedo, J.L.T., and Carvalho, M.G. (1997) Combustion characteristics of a frontwall-fired pulverized-coal 300 MWe utility boiler. Combust. Sci. Technol., 129, 277293. Costa, M., Silva, P., and Azevedo, J.L.T. (2003) Measurements of gas species, temperature, and char burnout in a low-NOx pulverized-coal-fired utility boiler. Combust. Sci. Technol., 175, 271289. Costa, M. and Azevedo, J.L.T. (2007) Experimental characterization of an industrial pulverized coal-fired furnace under deep staging conditions. Combust. Sci. Technol., 179, 19231935. Fan, J.R., Sun, P., Zheng, Y.Q., Ma, Y.L., and Cen, K.F. (1999) Numerical and experimental investigation on the reduction of NOx emission in a 600 MW utility furnace by using OFA. Fuel, 78, 13871394. Huffman, G.P., Huggins, F.E., and Dunmyre, G.R. (1981) Investigation of the hightemperature behaviour of coal ash in reducing and oxidizing atmospheres. Fuel, 60, 585597. Ismail, M. (1989) Char burnout and flame stability in pulverized fuel furnace. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of London. Larue, A.D. and Cioffi, P.L. (1988) Low NOx burner development in the USA. Mod. Power Syst., 8, 4247. Li, Z.Q., Yang, L.B., Qiu, P.H., Sun, R., Chen, L.Z., and Sun, S.Z. (2004) Experimental study of the combustion efficiency and formation of NOx in an industrial pulverized coal combustion. Int. J. Energy Res., 28, 511520.

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Smoot, L.D., Hedman, P.O., and Smith, P.J. (1984) Pulverized-coal combustion research at Brigham Young University. Prog. Energy Combust. Sci., 10, 359441. Tree, D.R. and Webb, B.W. (1997) Local temperature measurements in a full-scale utility boiler with over fire air. Fuel, 76, 10571066. Van der Lans, R.P., Glarborg, P., and Dam-Johansen, K. (1997) Influence of process parameters on nitrogen oxide formation in pulverized coal burners. Prog. Energy Combust. Sci., 23, 349377. Vikhansky, A., Bar-Ziv, E., Chudnovsky, B., Talanker, A., Eddings, E., and Sarofim, A. (2004) Measurements and numerical simulations for optimization of the combustion process in a utility boiler. Int. J. Energy Res., 28, 391401. You, C. and Zhou, Y. (2006) Effect of operation parameters on the slagging near swirl coal burner throat. Energy Fuels, 20, 18551861.

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APPENDIX
Table A1 Experimental results of centrally fuel rich burner along the X direction CO (dry volume ppm) Char burnout (%) Carbon release (%) CO2 (dry volume %)

X (m)

Gas temperature (C)

O2 (dry volume %)

NOx (dry volume ppm @6% (3%)O2)

Hydrogen release (%)

Nitrogen release (%)

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0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.9

574 825 1050 1066 1078 1080 1067 1055 1051 1006 995 960 880 838

19.95 13.71 4.55 1.52 0.84 1.00 1.23 1.51 1.72 1.98 2.13 2.88 2.88 3.05 5.72

774 3050 4440 16933 25791 39448 38821 37084 36586 36095 30912 26169 17213 7741 3267

0.87 6.39 14.48 17.16 17.76 17.62 17.41 17.17 16.98 16.75 16.62 15.96 15.96 15.81 13.45

371.2 464.4 431.2 342.4 301.0 315.6 320.5 357.6 359.0 395.6 374.6 365.9 345.4 335.6 362.4

(445.5) (557.3) (517.5) (410.9) (361.2) (378.7) (384.6) (429.1) (430.8) (474.7) (449.6) (439.0) (414.4) (402.7) (434.9)

53 62 66

50.4 54.1 49.6

78.8 77.3 89.3

61.7 65.4 48.2

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Table A2 Experimental results of enhanced ignition-dual register burner along the X direction CO (dry volume ppm) Char burn out (%) Carbon release (%) CO2 (dry volume %) Hydrogen release (%) Nitrogen release (%)

X (m)

Gas temperature (C)

O2 (dry volume %)

NOx (dry volume ppm @6% (3%)O2)

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0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.2 1.4

568 722 894 1004 1015 972 950 802 745 704

20.23 19.60 17.51 11.28 9.37 9.30 8.51 8.87 9.40 10.13 11.32 12.06 12.62

59 471 1561 3366 8624 16546 20825 19825 18336 16235 8667 5223 4850

0.63 1.18 3.03 8.53 10.22 10.28 10.98 10.66 10.20 9.55 8.50 7.85 7.35

97.6 267.8 455.6 464.4 549.3 610.2 553.7 587.3 586.8 615.6 531.7 557.1 545.9

(117.1) (321.4) (546.7) (557.3) (659.1) (732.3) (664.4) (704.8) (704.2) (738.7) (638.0) (668.5) (655.0)

32.3 45.7 43.2

29.5 31.2 25.8

48.4 51 42.8

40.1 47.5 39.4

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Table A3 Experimental results in the radial direction near centrally fuel rich burner O2 (dry volume %) Char burnout (%) Carbon release (%) CO (dry volume ppm) CO2 (dry volume %) NOx (dry volume ppm @6% (3%)O2) Hydrogen release (%) Nitrogen release (%)

Distance from the side wall (m)

Gas temperature (C)

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0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.5 1.6

675 732 762 782 794 804 805 821 819 828 841 852 860 871

11.61 10.57 10.3 10.16 10.65 10.08 9.17 9.44 9.42 9.6 10.27 10.3 10.55 11.35

18 16 14 12 15 12 12 12 10 11 10 9 10 9

8.24 9.16 9.40 9.52 9.09 9.59 10.40 10.16 10.18 10.02 9.43 9.40 9.18 8.47

300.5 (360.6) 285.9 (343.0) 270.2 (324.3) 279.5 (335.4) 287.3 (344.8) 290.7 (348.9) 275.6 (330.7) 288.8 (346.5) 294.6 (353.6) 293.7 (352.4) 312.7 (375.2)

96.7 96.1 96.2

94.1 93.5 96.7

97.5 99.5 99.5

98.8 97.6 97.7

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Table A4 Experimental results in the radial direction near enhanced ignition-dual register burner O2 (dry volume %) Char burnout (%) Carbon release (%) CO (dry volume ppm) CO2 (dry volume %) NOx (dry volume ppm @6% (3%)O2) Hydrogen release (%) Nitrogen release (%)

Distance from the side wall (m)

Gas temperature (C)

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0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.5 1.6

780 835 884 900 937 960 966 997 1007 1017 1057 1059 1037 1024

7.65 7.36 6.95 6.78 6.63 6.3 6.21 5.83 5.88 5.79 5.97 6.42 7.02 7.41

82 176 208 257 542 571 571 627 623 615 603 604 520 434

11.74 12.00 12.36 12.51 12.64 12.93 13.01 13.35 13.31 13.38 13.23 12.83 12.30 11.95

271.7 (326.0) 262.9 (315.5) 274.1 (329.0) 286.3 (343.6) 283.9 (340.7) 298.0 (357.7) 290.2 (348.3) 291.7 (350.0) 291.7 (350.0) 282.0 (338.3) 318.5 (382.2) 302.4 (362.9) 302.4 (362.9) 299.0 (358.8)

97.6 98.4 98.4

97.3 98.6 97.7

99.5 99.2 99.7

98.5 99.1 99.2