A coal-fired combustion system for industrial processing heating applications. Quarterly technical progress report, January 1995--March 1995

PETC has implemented a number of advanced combustion research projects that will lead to the establishment of a broad, commercially acceptable engineering data base for the advancement of coal as the fuel of choice for boilers, furnaces, and process heaters. Vortec Corporation`s Phase III development contract DE-AC22-91PC91161 for a {open_quotes}Coal-Fired Combustion System for Industrial Process Heating Applications{close_quotes} is a project funded under the DOE/PETC advanced combustion program. This advanced combustion system research program is for the development of innovative coal-fired process heaters which can be used for high temperature melting, smelting and waste vitrification processes. The process heater systems to be developed have multiple use applications; however, the Phase III research effort is being focused on the development of a process heater system to be used for producing value added vitrified glass products from boiler/incinerator ashes and industrial wastes. The primary objective of the Phase III project is to develop and integrate all the system components, from fuel through total system controls, and then test the complete system in order to evaluate its potential marketability. The test program consisted of one test run, with a duration of 100 hours at a nominal feed rate of 1000 lbs/hr. Throughout the test, the CMS was fired with coal and a coal by-product (i.e. coal-fired boiler fly ash) as the primary fuels. Natural gas was used as an auxiliary fuel as necessary to provide process trim. The feedstock consisted of a coal-fired utility boiler fly ash and dolomite and produced a stable, fully-reacted vitrified product. The fly ash, supplied by PENELEC, contained between 6 and 12% by weight of carbon because of the low NOx burners on the PENELEC boilers. Therefore, a substantial portion of the required thermal input came from the fly ash