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The eccentric-swirl-secondary-air combustion technology (ESSACT) is an innovative technology to comprehensively solve high NO x emission and unburned carbon content in fly ash of the down-fired boiler with swirl burners. In this study, a breakthrough idea (i.e. decreasing burner injection angle (θ b)) is proposed to further greatly improve coal burnout of the improved boiler. Using a laser particle dynamic analyzer, the distributions of average and fluctuation velocities of gas/solid (GS) flows, distribution and decay of particle volume flux and jet trajectory of burner primary air in a 1:10 scale model of full-scale furnace at different θ b of 0°, 8°, 15° and 25° are acquired. The effects of θ b on GS flow characteristics (i.e. downward depth of GS flows, recirculation zones below arches and air flow fullness in the lower furnace) in the furnace are intensively studied. As the θ b decreases, the maximum vertical velocity of GS flows increases in the whole lower furnace, and the vertical fluctuation velocity of GS flows and the turbulent intensity and diffusion also increase. With decreasing θ b , maximum recirculation velocity and dimension of recirculation zone below arches both increase continuously, which is conducive to improving ignition and burnout of pulverized coal. Especially, the maximum recirculation velocity with θ b decreasing from 25° to 15° and the dimension of recirculation zone below arches with θ b decreasing from 15° to 8° increase more obviously. With decreasing θ b , the ejection effects of vent air and staged air on GS flows from arches are more effective. In the region below staged air, the maximum particle volume flux for the θ b of 0° and 8° is more than twice that for the θ b of 15° and 25°. As a result, the downward depth of GS flows and air flow fullness in the lower furnace both increase with decreasing θ b. To improve coal burnout of the down-fired boiler applying ESSACT, the θ b is recommended to be set below 8°. Image 1 • A novel low-NO x technology is proposed for a down-fired boiler with swirl burners. • Gas/particle flow characteristics are studied at various burner injection angles. • Recirculation zone and downward depth of flows both increase with decreasing angle. • Particles are more effectively ejected by vent and staged air with decreasing angle. • The burner injection angle is recommended to be set below 8° for the boiler. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the problem of late ignition and poor burnout of Foster-Wheeler down-fired boilers, this study proposed a new combustion technology, which combines adding on arch secondary air and alternately arranging the fuel-lean coal/airflow (FLCA) and fuel-rich coal/airflow (FRCA). The coal particle trajectories of FLCA and FRCA and overall aerodynamic characteristics in the furnace were studied at FRCA and FLCA ratio (RRL) of 5:5, 7:3, and 9:1. The results showed that even at a low FRCA ratio, the new combustion technology could still effectively ensure the penetration depth of pulverised coal/airflow. At different RRL values, the main airflow from the arch appeared in the near-wall area and could penetrate downwards into the cold ash hopper area. With an increase in the value of RRL, the deflection degree of FLCA towards the furnace wall increased, while that of FRCA decreased. At RRL of 7:3, both the penetration depth and deflection degree of FRCA and FLCA were at a high level, which was conductive to promoting the burnout and recommended in practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To effectively control the flow and combustion of pulverised coal in down-fired boilers and improve their thermal efficiency while ensuring low NOx emissions, on arch secondary air (OASA) combustion technology and a smoke-tracing analysis were proposed. The aerodynamic characteristics of a 300-MWe Foster Wheeler (FW) down-fired boiler with the OASA ratios (ROASA) of 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%, the flow trajectories and mixing characteristics of OASA, and fuel-rich coal/air flow (FRA) and fuel-lean coal/air flow (FLA) were studied experimentally. For the ROASA of <10%, FRA and FLA flow to furnace centre soon after they are injected into the furnace. OASA and FLA may mix with FRA before ignition. For the ROASA of 20% or higher, FRA and FLA flow to the near-wall area soon after being injected into the furnace. FRA mixes with OASA after ignition. With the increase in ROASA, the mixing distance between OASA and FRA increases first and then decreases. The penetration depth of coal/air flow and furnace airflow fullness increases. For the ROASA of 30%, the dimensionless penetration depth of coal/air flow can exceed 0.7. Furnace dimensionless airflow fullness at all the dimensionless heights can exceed 0.6. In real operation, the recommended ROASA is between 20 and 30%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a gas-particle cold-modeling experiment, the particle dynamic analyzer (PDA) is used to investigate the effects of fuel-lean coal/airflow angle and ratio of oil secondary air to F-layer secondary air on the gas/particle flows characteristics in the furnace of a Foster Wheeler (FW) down-fired boiler with enhanced stable combustion technology. As the fuel-lean coal/airflow angle increases from 10° to 45°, the peak value of the vertical dimensionless velocity of the gas/particle flows gradually increases, and the peak position gradually moves to the near wall region. As the ratio of oil secondary air to F-layer secondary air (the secondary air ratio for short) increased, the peak value of the vertical dimensionless velocity of the gas/particle flows gradually increased and the peak value position of the dimensionless velocity gradually moved towards the near-wall region. In actual operation, for the perspective of performance and safety, the recommended fuel-lean coal/airflow angle and secondary air ratio is 30°and 1:2 respectively. The enhanced stable combustion technology had been applied to two 600 MW FW down-fired boilers, and these boilers can achieve stable operation when burning a wide range of coal quality under the load section from 200 MW to 600 MW. • A Foster Wheeler down-fired boiler retrofitted with novel low-load stable combustion technology is studied by PDA. • Effects of fuel-lean coal/airflow angle and secondary air ratio on the gas/particle flows characteristics were investigated. • The fuel-lean coal/airflow angle of 30° and the secondary air ratio of 1:2 is recommended. • This novel low-load stable down-fired boiler combustion technology is suitable for a wide range of coal quality combustion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A new over-fire air (OFA) program, which called arch-supplied OFA, is proposed for Foster Wheeler (FW) type down-fired boiler in this paper. The OFA nozzles are setting on arches near the furnace center and emitting OFA flow into the furnace at an inclined angle. Cold airflow experiments were conducted to determine the effect of the OFA ratio on the aerodynamic field in a small-scale furnace modeled for a 660-MWe down-fired boiler. As the OFA ratio increases, the penetration depth of the OFA flow increases in the level direction and the turning point from downward to upward of the OFA flow moves to the furnace center. At the same time, the velocity of the F-tier airflow decreases and its ability to bring the arch-injected airflow to deeper positions weakens and the turning point from downward to upward of the F-tier airflow moves to the wall. When the OFA ratio is 20%, the OFA flow could penetrate to the furnace center in the level direction and mix with the upflowing gas completely, while the arch-injected airflow have sufficient travel distance and enough residence time in the lower furnace. Thus, considering the penetration depth of arch-injected flow in the vertical direction and the OFA flow in the level direction, an OFA ratio of 20% is recommended for the new OFA arrangement according to the present work. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using an IFA300 constant temperature anemometer system, cold air experiments on a scale-model of a down-fired pulverized-coal 300MWe utility boiler with swirl burners were performed to investigate the influence of the staged-air flow ratio on flow characteristics in the furnace. This ratio was increased in incremental steps over the range of 7%–20%. The flame reach of the downward airflow was decreased with the ratio increased. A shallower reach is accompanied by a weaker mixing of vent and staged-air. At lower ratios, mixing is good and thus favors coal combustion but weak mixing at intermediate ratios produces a delay in the mixing point. This is compensated by an increasing recirculation zone under the arch that benefits ignition and the appearance of an upward airflow below the mixing point due to an increasing influence of vent air. At higher ratios still, this upward flowing disturbance is centered higher up in the furnace generated primarily by mixing with staged-air as vent-air mixing weakens. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Numerical simulations are carried out to investigate the influence of burner nozzle–organization–mode (N–O–M) on flow field distribution and combustion characteristics of a 300‐MWe subcritical down‐fired boiler. Three typical N–O–Ms respectively designed with Mitsui Babcock Energy Limited (MBEL), fuel‐lean coal/air flow down‐setting (FD), and multi‐injection multistaging combustion (MIMSC) technology are studied, plus industrial‐size measurements on the original MBEL boiler. Vertical velocity attenuation index (η) and maximum dimensionless penetrating depth (γ) are introduced to estimate the transfer effect and penetrating capacity of pulverized coal/air flow. Results uncover that under the N–O–M based on MBEL technology, flow field and temperature field are deflective. η is 9.257. Under N–O–Ms based on FD and MIMSC technology, flow field and temperature field present obvious symmetry. η respectively are 4.365 and 2.921. γ are correspondingly about 0.8 and 1.36. Carbon content in fly ash and NOx emissions at furnace outlet are lowest (5.77% and 735.21 mg/m3 (O2 = 6%)) under the N–O–M with MIMSC technology. The bigger the η is, the worse penetrating characteristics of coal/air flow is, resulting in poor burnout of pulverized coal. Therefore, MIMSC technology is recommended for the boiler improvement, and η should be taken into account in the design of new down‐fired boiler N–O–Ms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]