Development and testing of commercial-scale, coal-fired combustion systems: Phase III. Final report

Based on studies that indicated a large potential for significantly increased coal-firing in the commercial sector, the U.S. Department of Energy`s Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center (PETC) sponsored a multi-phase development effort for advanced coal combustion systems. This Final Report presents the results of the last phase (Phase III) of a project for the development of an advanced coal-fired system for the commercial sector of the economy. The project performance goals for the system included dual-fuel capability (i.e., coal as primary fuel and natural gas as secondary fuel), combustion efficiency exceeding 99 percent, thermal efficiency greater than 80 percent, turndown of at least 3:1, dust-free and semi-automatic dry ash removal, fully automatic start-up with system purge and ignition verification, emissions performance exceeding New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and approaching those produced by oil-fired, Commercial-sized units, and reliability, safety, operability, maintainability, and service life comparable to oil-fired units. The program also involved a site demonstration at a large facility owned by Striegel Supply Company, a portion of which was leased to MTCI. The site, mostly warehouse space, was completely unheated and the advanced coal-fired combustion system was designed and sized to heat this space. Three different coals were used in the project, one low and one high sulfur pulverized Pittsburgh No. 8 coal, and a micronized low volatile, bituminous coal. The sorbents used were Pfizer dolomitic limestone and an Anvil lime. More than 100 hours of screening test`s were performed to characterize the system. The parameters examined included coal firing rate, excess air level, ash recycle rate, coal type, dolomitic limestone feed rate, and steam injection rate. These tests indicated that some additional modifications for coal burning in the system were required