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Particle holdup and the average residence time in the cyclone of a Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) boiler are important information for describing events post-combustion in the cyclone that often lead to a noticeable increase in the temperature of the flue gas. The existing results for the variation of particle average residence time with fluidizing gas velocity are contradictory since they were obtained under different operation conditions. A cold CFB apparatus made of plexiglass was established with a riser of 5 m in height and 0.2 m in diameter and equipped with a standard Lapple cyclone. The particle holdup was directly measured by the mass in the cyclone when the system was shut down. The solid concentration at the cyclone inlet was kept in the range generally used in CFB boilers. The experimental results showed that the particle holdup in the cyclone was equal to ca. 10-40% of the corresponding bed material in the riser and that it increases monotonously with both the fluidizing gas velocity and the initial static bed height, and approximately linearly with the solid circulation rate. In addition, within the experimental conditions, the cyclone pressure drop increases monotonously with particle holdup. It was found that the average residence time of the particles either increased or decreased linearly with the fluidizing gas velocity, depending on the initial static bed height. Nevertheless, both variation rates were very small. In a view of engineering applications, the average residence time of the particles in the cyclone is insignificantly affected by the fluidizing gas velocity, initial bed inventory and solid circulation rate, within the range of experimental conditions examined. (Abstract Copyright [2008], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

An experimental study was conducted to assess the possibility of determining particle holdup by measuring the pressure drop of a conventional cyclone used in a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler. It was found that within a wide range of inlet solid concentrations, i.e., 0.54–4.42 kg/kg-gas, the cyclone pressure drop increased linearly with inlet solid concentration at a given gas velocity, while the pressure drop between the dust exit and the vortex finder of the cyclone remained almost constant. Since particle holdup increases virtually linearly with solid flow rate, the particle holdup in the cyclone can be derived from the cyclone pressure drop, and therefore, an equation set was proposed to calculate the particle holdup from the cyclone pressure drop.

A float nozzle was designed and developed for use with large-scale industrial circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers. The gas distributor equipped with the float nozzle has a unique pressure drop characteristic. It has a higher resistance than other nozzles which results in the formation of an effective barrier against backflow at low boiler loads, which results from the pressure fluctuation caused by bubble burst and solids coming from the recycle system. In addition, it has a relatively low pressure drop at high or full boiler loads, which can greatly reduce the energy cost of the primary air fan.