Fuel 90 (2011) 29512964

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Fuel
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Review article

Scale-up of uidized-bed combustion A review

Bo Leckner a, Pal Szentannai b, Franz Winter c,
a

Department of Energy and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Gteborg, Sweden Department of Energy Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary c Institute of Chemical Engineering, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
b

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
Methods for scaling of uidized-bed combustors are reviewed. It is found that a general scaling methodology, including simultaneously uid-dynamic and combustion scaling, cannot be applied in practical scaling tests. Simplications are needed. The approach followed here is to differentiate between uiddynamic scaling, combustion scaling, both related to the basic equations describing the phenomena, and boiler scaling that means scale-up from one boiler size to another, where established design elements can be utilized in the scaling procedure. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 7 October 2010 Received in revised form 17 March 2011 Accepted 28 April 2011 Available online 13 May 2011 Keywords: FBC Fluidized-bed combustor Fluid dynamic scaling Combustion scaling Boiler design

Contents 1. 2. 3. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fluid-dynamic scaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Combustion scaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1. General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2. The horizontal scaling problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3. The vertical scaling problem riser. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4. Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5. Application of the vertical scaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6. The impact of the cyclone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7. The vertical scaling problembubbling bed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8. Concluding remark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Boiler design scaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conclusions and discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2951 2953 2954 2954 2956 2957 2958 2958 2959 2960 2960 2961 2963 2964

4. 5.

1. Introduction Scaling methods have been used with success in engineering applications to transfer information from equipment of one size to another similar equipment having a different size. Mathematical
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: franz.winter@tuwien.ac.at (F. Winter). 0016-2361/$ - see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2011.04.038

modelling is the most basic approach to scale-up, but often also the most complex one. Even though mathematical expressions can be formulated to be generally valid, it may be difcult to solve them even with present computational means. A step towards simplication is to convert the mathematical expressions describing the process into a dimensionless form, thereby deriving dimensionless numbers, which contain the decisive parameters to be scaled. The dimensionless numbers are equally valid for both small and large

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B. Leckner et al. / Fuel 90 (2011) 29512964

Nomenclature Aexternal ab A Ar a1, a2 c C CFB D Dx Da d dp,50 f() Fr G g Hu L k K M NTU n N m P PC Pe PSD q Q R Re Sc Sh Stk t x,x yv u, u U, U external particle surface area (m2) specic bubble surface area (m2) cross section surface area (m2) Z z dimensionless vertical coordinate () vertical coordinate (m)

Archimedes number Ar f p l2 f p () coefcients concentration (mole/m3), particle concentration qp (1 e) (kg/m3) dimensionless concentration, c/c0 () circulating uidized bed diffusion or dispersion coefcient (m2/s), riser diameter, cyclone diameter (m) diameter of vortex nder (m) Rx2 Damkhler number, Da Rx uc or Dc () particle dimension (m) cut size (m) function 2 Froude number, Fr u gL () solids ux (kg/(m2 s)) acceleration due to gravity (m/s2) lower heating value (MJ/kg) height of riser, length (m) transfer coefcient, reaction rate coefcient (m/s) effective reaction coefcient () molecular mass (kg/k mol) number of transfer units () circulation number () number () mass fraction() or mass (kg), coefcient related to g () pressure (Pa) Pulverized coal Pclet number Pe = ReSc = Lu/D () particle size distribution surface power (MW/m2), dened in Eq. (42) power (W) chemical reaction rate (1/s) or (kg/(m2 s)) Reynolds number, Re = quL/l (-) Schmidt number, Sc = l/(qD) () Sherwood number, Sh = kdiff dp/D () Stokes mumber, Stk
dp;50 uin Dq 18lDcykl
2

q q q d3 g

Greek letters b dimensionless velocity () D difference e voidage () g cyclone efciency () u sphericity () l viscosity (kg/m s) q density (kg/m3) rc volume concentration of char in the solids phase (m3/ m3) s time, time constant (s) Index 0 avg b be c char cycl dev diff e f gg gs h i in kin mf N ox p r s t u v z I, II p,50 1

()

vr,CS vhCS

time (s) distance (bold is vector) (m) gas yield (kg gas/kg combustible) supercial velocity (bold is vector) (m/s) dimensionless velocity (bold is vector) () radial gas velocity in cyclone (m/s) tangential gas velocity in cyclone (m/s)

Standard conditions average bubble bubbleemulsion carbon char cyclone devolatilization diffusive external, emulsion, equivalent uid, gas gasgas gassolid horizontal species, number entrance kinetic minimum uidization number of particle size fractions oxygen particle riser solid terminal, transport lower vertical, actual coordinate plant I and II cut size far from a surface

geometrically similar applications within the domain of validity of the mathematical expressions themselves. These dimensionless numbers or groups of parameters form the basis for scaling from one size to another. The simple cases of developed ow through tubes characterized by Reynolds number, or heat transfer characterized by Nusselts number, being a function of the Reynolds and Prandtl numbers, are well known examples of successful scaling. These ideas were applied to boilers [1], but the procedure of scaling requires a description of both uid-dynamics, chemical reactions and heat transfer in a complex geometry, and the effort referred to resulted in such a great set of dimensionless numbers that it did not prove useful for scaling. It appears that scaling by means of dimensionless criteria could not be carried out in a rigorous way in complex cases, and simplifying compromises are necessary to make this method technically useful. If a

rigorous solution is sought, mathematical modelling is a more promising route, although complexity and long computation times are obvious obstacles also for this route, particularly in the two-phase medium of a uidized bed where combustion and heat transfer take place. However, scaling by means of dimensionless criteria may be feasible if the rigorous treatment is somewhat relaxed, and the scaling task is carried out with some compromises. A rst procedure to be tried could be to differentiate between uid-dynamic scaling, combustion scaling, and boiler-design scaling; a division of approaches that will be followed below where a survey of scaling will be presented: a review which does not have the purpose of including all previous work, but rather to relate the various scaling methods in an overview aiming at illustrating uidized-bed combustion scaling.

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2. Fluid-dynamic scaling In the two-uid model of two-phase ow, the ow is treated as interpenetrating gaseous and particle media connected by coupling terms that express the interaction between the phases. These equations together with constitutive relationships and boundary conditions have been used to derive similarity criteria in the form of dimensionless numbers for uidized beds. The comprehensive work of Glicksman and coworkers together with analogous work by other researchers in this area is summarized in a review by Glicksman et al. [2], where the dimensionless numbers are derived and presented. The set of dimensionless parameters obtained from the equations, is called the full set, and is written as

qp qp u0 dp qf u0 L G u2 0 ; ; geometry; u; PSD ; ; ; gL qf lL l qp u0

This set of criteria can be expressed in various ways by manipulating the parameters, for instance, in the form of Reynolds numbers

qp qp u0 dp qf u0 L G u2 0 ; ; ; geometry; u; PSD ; ; gL qf l l qp u0
or with Archimedes number (qp % qp qf)

qp qf qp dp g qf u0 L G u2 0 ; ; ; geometry; u; PSD ; ; gL qf l2 l qp u0
but the same set of parameters is involved in all cases:       

Supercial gas velocity u0. Surface mean particle diameter dp. Riser dimension L, often the risers hydraulic diameter D is used. Particle density qp. Gas density qf. Gas viscosity l. External solids circulation ux G.

In addition, g acceleration due to gravity is included, but this quantity is constant in the present application. The dimensionless parameters should be similar in a model bed and in a target application. Moreover, the geometries of the model bed and the target application should be similar, as well as the sphericities u of the bed particles and the particle-size distributions (PSD) of the bed materials. The full set of scaling parameters Eqs. (1)(3) results in a unique set of values of particle diameter and density as well as of the dimensions of the bed. It may be difcult to satisfy all criteria in a scale model. Therefore Glicksman et al. [2] suggested a simplied set of scaling parameters, valid in the low as well as in the high particle Reynolds number ranges and with some approximation also in the region between these cases

model and in the target plant. Moreover, the geometries of the plants should be similar, and in all three cases some conditions (u, PSD) are imposed on the particles used. Among several alternative proposals of uid-dynamic scalinglaws, that of Horio and coworkers [3] should be mentioned. According to Glicksman, this scaling technique, although derived in an entirely different manner, is equivalent to the simplied set of parameters. There are several examples of scaling in Ref. [2], but here a few independent experiences will be shown from scaling of a 12 MWth boiler using a cold, 1/9th down-scaled plastic model uidized with air, where visual observations and measurements could be made conveniently. In one of these works [4], the purpose was to investigate the performance of several furnace exit congurations. The other work [5] was a study of the dispersion of gas in the twophase suspension of a uidized-bed riser. Fig. 1 presents a view of the boiler and the down-scaled model. The boiler was operated with low-ash wood chips using only primary air in order to simplify the scaling situation as much as possible. As usual, the amount of fuel in a uidized-bed combustor is low and does not inuence the uid-dynamic behavior of the bed, and, consequently, the size of the fuel particles is not accounted for. The scaling followed the simplied scaling law, Eq. (4). Scaling according to the full scaling law would have required bed particles that were not available. Even with the simplied scaling criteria perfect particles could not be found, and those attained with iron and steel particles in [4] deviate to some extent from the numbers theoretically derived, as seen in Table 1. Slightly better bronze particles with a size of 0.06 mm and a density of 8800 kg/m3 were used in [5]. The table illustrates how closely the desired data of the scaling law (column Eq. (4) in the table) could be approached. The size distributions were made reasonably similar by sieving and by the fact that the boiler was operated with low-ash wood chips of best quality, thereby maintaining the size distribution and the particle density of the initial bed (the bed was not affected by ashes). It is not a simple task to nd perfectly suitable particles. In the present case the selected iron and steel particles deviate slightly from the target density and they had some irregularities in their surface structure. As seen from Fig. 2: the surfaces were rather rough and the particles were far from spherical.

qp u0 G u2 0 ; ; geometry; u; PSD ; ; gL qf umf qp u0

and even more simplied in the viscous limit

u2 G 0 u0 ; ; geometry; u; PSD ; gL umf qp u0

In the simplied expressions, an analysis of the correlation for the drag force allows removing the dependence on dp/L, and the Archimedes number is substituted by u0/umf. Furthermore, in the viscous set of dimensionless numbers, gas-phase inertia is assumed to be negligible compared to viscous forces, and qf/qp is omitted. As can be seen, these sets of dimensionless criteria consist of ve, four or three parameter groups to be set equal in a scale

Fig. 1. (a) The 12 MW boiler at Chalmers University. (b) The 1/9 th plastic model of the boiler operated under ambient conditions [4].

2954 Table 1 Scaling data corresponding to the case in Fig. 1. Quantity Unit

B. Leckner et al. / Fuel 90 (2011) 29512964

12 MW CFB

According to scaling law Eq. (4) Iron particles 20 u01/3 dp 0.18 56 L/9 qp3.0 7860 1.19 1.72 105 G1.01 Steel particles 20 u01/3 dp0.15 46 L/9 qp3.1 8027 1.19 1.72 105 G1.03

Temperature Supercial velocity Particle diameter Riser dimension Solid density Gas density Gas viscosity Solids circulation ux

C m/s lm m kg/m3 kg/m3 m2/s kg/m2 s

850 u0 ds 305 L

qp
2600 0.31 1.45 104 G

20 u01/3 dp019 57 L/9 qp3.7 9720 1.19 1.72 105 G1.25

Fig. 2. Photos of solids in boiler and model. From [4].

The iron particles in the scaled bed (the model) represented very well the solids volume concentration along the height of the boilers furnace and coincided with the concentrations measured there. Also the solids ux and the pressure uctuations in the bed were quite similar in the model and in the boiler. For some still unknown reason, the net solids ux of the steel particles, as well as the corresponding density prole in the upper part of the column of the model were lower than for the sand used in the boiler and for the iron particles in the model. However, in the lower part of the riser the agreement between model and boiler was good, not only with the iron but also with the concentration of steel particles,

as well as in terms of pressure uctuations. In the case of dispersion measurements [5] no problems were reported, and good agreement between model and furnace was obtained, as illustrated by the example in Fig. 3. Also in the development of future large-scale circulating uidized-bed (CFB) boilers cold modelling is carried out, where high importance has been given to hydrodynamic similarities in the development of cyclone congurations [6] as seen in Fig. 4. No other information regarding the scaling was given, however. Similar studies have been made by others, e.g. [7]. 3. Combustion scaling 3.1. General In the uid dynamic case, the problem often consists in transferring information from a cold (room temperature) small-scale

Fig. 3. Comparison of gas concentration proles resulting from tracer gas injection in the boiler and in the scale model. The uidization velocity was 3.25 m/s and the injection height 4.7 m from the bottom in the boiler. The corresponding data in the scale model were 1.1 m/s and 0.52 m. The Pclet number Pe = 400. From [5].

Fig. 4. Scaled-down test facility operated at room temperature to investigate cyclone performance (particularly the distribution of solids between the tree cyclones) for a 600 MWe CFB boiler [6].

B. Leckner et al. / Fuel 90 (2011) 29512964

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model to a larger uidized-bed boiler operated under hot conditions (800900 C), and in some applications, even at high pressure. In contrast, in combustion scaling, combustion usually takes place both in the small and the large plants. Then, the chemical reactions related to combustion and their progress in the combustor play the most important role. Usually, signicant parameters can be kept the same in the small and the large-scale plants, and this is already a great step towards scaling. Such parameters are: bed temperature (assumed constant in the entire bed), total excess-air ratio, primary-air stoichiometry, fuel and bed material (including particle size and size distribution). Also the uidization velocity should be kept at about the same level in the devices to be compared. If the just mentioned operation similarities are fullled, the dimensions height L or width D of the vessel and the criterion G/(qpu0) are the only remaining parameters from the uid dynamic scaling that have to be adjusted. The others are already similar. The latter criterion to be determined actually represents the particle volume concentration cp(L) in the upper part of the riser, as can be seen from Eq. (6), valid for rather disperse ow, which is not too much affected by particleparticle interaction (clusters)

qp u0

qp 1 eu0 ut % 1 e cp L qp u0

If the average particle density in the riser

 cp

DP g qp L

is used instead of the exit density to represent the particle density (particle concentration) in the riser, an observable quantity is obtained, since not only the particle solid density qp, the height of the riser L, but also the pressure drop over the riser DP, can be measured. Two geometrically similar plants, plant I and plant II, would tend to behave in a similar way if their average particle concentrations are the same in both plants,  cp;I  cp;II . Combination of Eqs. (6) and (7) leads to the conclusion that the pressure drop over the combustion chamber DP can substitute G as a scaling parameter for boiler scaling. This is an advantage, because DP (or bed inventory), is an independent parameter, whereas G is dependent and not independent as it might be in chemical CFB reactor scaling with particles of Class A. Following Knbig et al. [8], a scaling criterion could be derived from Eq. (7) as

such equipment. In Ref. [8], for instance, an effort was made to compare the combustion performance of a narrow test rig (0.1 m inner diameter) and a wider boiler (1.6 1.6 m cross section) observing scaling conditions. Even if it is obvious that the uid dynamics were not scaled in the horizontal direction of the test tube, relevant information could be obtained reasonably well on reactions that take place in the vertical sense of the equipment, compared with corresponding reactions in a boiler, because the residence times were of similar magnitude. (2) In a different approach, information from a small-scale test can be applied to a larger boiler; this is the chemical similarity, which allows results from bench scale reactors to be applied in large-scale equipment [10]. (3) Experience from a small boiler is to be transferred to a larger boiler. In this case, the width is already quite large and the differences are probably not so important, as long as it is wider than the largest scale affecting the uid dynamics, for instance, the size of the largest bubbles. The bubbles are limited in size by the height of the bottom bed, which is smaller than the width of the furnace even in a small boiler, so this criterion is usually fullled. Then, the uid dynamics may not be perfectly scaled, but the devices behave in sufciently similar way to make other scaling criteria more important than those of uid dynamics. This simple line of thought is contradicted by recent computations of the effective dispersion coefcient in the bed, showing that the dispersion coefcient continues to rise with bed width up to a width of about six meters [11]. However, this nding still requires experimental verication. For the combustion reactions, the mixing, bringing fuel and reactant together, and the times of reaction are the important processes. A reacting fuel particle is transported both in the horizontal and in the vertical directions in the furnace, while the oxygen in the gas, serving as uidization medium, is owing essentially in the vertical direction through the furnace, and at least initially, evenly distributed over the cross section. Hence, processes both in the horizontal and in the vertical direction are of signicance for combustion scaling. For combustion scaling, the works of Damkhler [12] in 1936, Zeldovich [13] and Thiele [14] in 1939 are useful. These works essentially came to the same conclusion, but the latter two authors focused on the treatment of single catalyst particles, while Damkhlers approach was more general and also included chemical conversion compared with the transport processes in a reactor, both from a thermal and from a chemical point of view, the latter being the one of importance here. In addition to the uid-dynamic equations, a dimensionless equation is formulated for mass transport of a species i (here representing gas or solid fuel components with a dimensionless concentration Ci) that is produced or consumed by a chemical reaction, as expressed by a source term. The three-dimensional mass-transport equation can be written for steady state in two equivalent ways

DPI LI DPII =LII

Qi et al. [9] derived Eq. (6) in a different way but their conclusion is the same: the relationship is only valid for a non-clustering situation (when the particles can be regarded as single, not inuenced by surrounding particles), and it has to be corrected if related to an average riser concentration. The correction factor was 0.3 shown to be the Froude number Fr = u2 , which, however, o /(gL), Fr is included in the scaling criteria Eqs. (1)(5) and is identical in Cases I and II, so the resulting Eq. (8) is valid. The remaining similarity criterion, expressing that the devices to be compared are geometrically similar, cannot be fullled in all cases. There are three common situations: (1) Tests are made in a laboratory device with the purpose of obtaining information on the combustion and related chemical reactions in a full-scale boiler. In this case, the width dimension D of the laboratory device is usually much smaller than that of the full scale, while the height dimension, at least within reasonable limits, can be subjected to some scaling strategy. In general L/D is >30 in the laboratory equipment, while boilers have L/D < 10, because of the difference in width, D. There are many tests published from

 C i 1 divgrad C i Dai;I divU Pei

or

 C i divgrad C i Dai;II Pei divU

10

where Da is the Damkhler number, expressing the ratio of the chemical reaction rate Ri to the rate of transport by convection c0u0/x0 or by diffusion c0 Di =x2 0 . Consequently, Dai,I = Dai,v = Rix0/ (c0u0) and Dai;II Dai;h Ri x2 0 =Di c 0 ), the rst and the second

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B. Leckner et al. / Fuel 90 (2011) 29512964

FUEL

AIR

vertical scale-up problem, determined by the residence time of fuel components in the riser as well as in the remaining circuit, where cyclone efciency and height of the furnace are essential parameters. Scaling between Plant I and Plant II requires that the residence times L/u of gas and particles in the risers of the two plants be identical in order to allow the reactions to take place to the same extent in both cases

uI LI uII =LII

12

FUEL

Fig. 5. The horizontal distribution of fuel at a fuel feed point. x is the average spread of the fuel at a certain time. Air is introduced evenly over the cross section.

Damkhler numbers [12], which are later used in the relevant directions and then called vertical (index v) and horizontal (index h) Damkhler numbers. Pei = ReSc = x0u0/Di is the Pclet number, the product of the Reynolds and the Schmidt numbers, expressing the ratio of transport by convection to transport by diffusion. Note that Dai,v = Dai,h/Pei. U is the dimensionless local average velocity vector. In a general way, the Damkhler criterion can be expressed as

This relationship is valid for the gas but also for the particles carried by the gas, provided that the slip velocity, the difference in velocity between gas and particles, is proportional to the gas velocity u (this may not be rigorously the case, but the inuence of variations of the slip is small compared to other factors involved, and this feature can be treated in a rather approximate way). The residence time is longer for most particles than for the gas because of recycling of particles through the cyclone loop. Therefore, their residence time has to be multiplied by the number of times a particle circulates, and this depends on the efciency of separation as will be further treated below. In order to fulll Eq. (12) in scaling between plants of heights LI and LII, the uidization velocity has to be adjusted. Then the uid-dynamic similarity is affected. 3.2. The horizontal scaling problem Leckner and Werther [15] applied the Damkhler criterion, Eq. (11), to a fuel particle with the equivalent diameter dp to express the signicance of two important reactions occurring while the fuel particle is transported in the horizontal direction of the furnace: devolatilization and char combustion. The devolatilization time, including drying, for a fuel particle is usually written
2 sdev a1 da p

Da transport time=reaction time

11

The Damkhler criterion can be related to burn-out of char or gas rising in the vertical direction through the furnace, and also to the processes in the horizontal direction. Only the horizontal and vertical components of the equations are treated here. Similar relationships are valid for heat transfer, but this is not important in the present context, as the temperature is given and assumed constant in the entire bed. The solid fuel is added from one or several feed points at the wall of the furnace and the fuel particles that are not instantaneously carried away by the gas are spread over the crosssectional area of the furnace. Fuel and oxygen (air) are likely not well mixed over the cross section of a large boiler, as illustrated in Fig. 5, showing how the spread of fuel from a feed point into the uidized bed meets the evenly distributed uidization gas. This leads to a potential maldistribution of fuel that becomes more severe as the size of a combustor increases and the fuel particles have to be transported longer distances. It is the aim of a designer to reduce this inconvenience as much as reasonable, for instance, by choosing a suitable number of fuel feed points. There is also a contribution to the horizontal distribution of fuel from the char in the return material separated by the cyclones, and although this smoothes the fuel distribution, it is clear that the problem needs more care the larger the boiler is. This is the horizontal scale-up problem. The volatiles from the fuel and the gaseous combustion products are released from the fuel particles and carried upward by the uidization gas. Also small char particles may be captured by the vertical gas stream and brought upward while they burn. Eventually, if they do not have time to burn, the particles reach the particle separator (usually one or several cyclones). The coarser fuel particles of a size that could be carried by the gas stream are separated by the cyclone and returned to the bed, whereas the remaining (nest) fuel particles and unburned gas, in case complete gaseous conversion is not attained, pass the cyclone into the ue-gas duct and constitute a combustion loss. This is the

13

where the rst constant a1 is related to the specic fuel and is about 106 s=ma2 . The second constant a2 depends on the physical process. Theoretically, a2 approaches unity if the devolatilization is thermally limited by the external heat transfer. If the process is controlled by the kinetics, it becomes independent of particle size and approaches zero. For particles controlled by thermal conduction, a2 approaches two. These numbers are approximate, because other factors also play a role. Empirically, for most fuels the constant a2 ends up in the region of 1.52 [16]. The burnout time of the relatively coarse char being dispersed in the bottom bed can be described roughly by the Nusselt square-law for external diffusion-controlled, shrinking particle,

schar

qchar d2 p;0
4M c ShDox cox;1

14

where qchar is density of char with an initial size of dp,0, Mc molecular mass of carbon, Sh Sherwood number, Dox molecular diffusion coefcient of oxygen in the vicinity of the particle, and cox is the average oxygen concentration (mole/m3) in the bed. Obviously, more rened expressions can easily be derived to estimate char burnout time under the present or other combustion regimes, if necessary. The average dispersion time of the fuel particle can be estimated by using Einsteins classical expression [17]

st x2 =2Dh

15

where x is the average dispersion distance and Dh is an average horizontal dispersion coefcient in the bed. With the reaction and dispersion times of Eqs. (13)(15) inserted into Eq. (11), information on the controlling processes

B. Leckner et al. / Fuel 90 (2011) 29512964

2957

SO2 RELEASED/AVERAGE

4
Overall O2

6
2
Top of primary zone, O2

4 2
0

1
SO2 Released/Average SO2

0 0 1 2 3 4 5

DISTANCE FROM FRONT WALL, m

Fig. 7. Horizontal SO2 and O2 proles in a large-scale CFB burning bituminous coal. The fuel is fed from the left-hand side. Adapted from [18].

Fig. 6. Horizontal Damkhler number vs dimensionless dispersion distance, expressed as the average spread of a particle x [m] related to an average particle size dp [m].

critical; the airfuel mixture was more homogeneous, and the deleterious effect of reducing zones is then less notable, resulting in better sulfur capture. The effect of mixing can be estimated roughly from Fig. 6. 3.3. The vertical scaling problem riser

(the slowest ones) can be obtained. This is illustrated graphically in Fig. 6, showing the horizontal Damkhler number versus the average dimensionless distance of dispersion in the horizontal direction, x/dp. Somewhat arbitrarily, one can say that the fuel is sufciently evenly distributed over the cross section when Dah < 1, whereas the contrary is true when Dah > 1. In the latter case, as shown by Eq. (11), the reaction is faster than the mixing. More specically Fig. 6 shows that devolatilization is much faster than char combustion; for fuels containing a high amount of volatiles the critical Dah is reached already at a distance of 0.1 m of cross-sectional width with mm-sized fuel particles, whereas for char particles of the same size this takes place only at a width of about 1 m. This Da number obviously depends on the size of the fuel particle: larger particles are transported longer distances before reacted and are less critical for mixing than small ones. The conclusion is clear: it is easier to obtain an even distribution of fuel and air across the cross section of an FBC furnace with a low-volatile, coarse fuel than with high volatile or ne fuel. Consequently, fuel and oxygen tend to be better mixed in narrow laboratory-scale beds than in large beds. This conclusion is valid, although there is an increasing impact of the walls on the uid dynamics as the vessel becomes small. In addition one has to be aware of the tendency for very small fuel particles to be carried away with the gas. The intention is not to make an exact calculation but rather an estimation, and therefore certain approximations are acceptable. An interesting experience was made by Alliston and Wu [18] with respect to horizontal distribution of fuel. They tested limestones in a small pilot-scale CFB, burning bituminous coals as a support for the design of full-scale boilers. Later, when the boilers were built, the results from the test unit could be compared with those from the boilers in cases with the same limestone, coal and operation data. The conclusion from the comparison was that, despite the similarities in operation conditions and materials used, the tests in the small-scale plant always showed better sulfur capture than those in the large boilers. An explanation can be derived from their published oxygen and sulfur dioxide proles, shown in Fig. 7. The gure shows how the oxygen is completely consumed in the vicinity of the fuel feed point of the 5 m wide boiler by the volatiles released there. In that area also the SO2 concentration is high because sulfur capture by limestone is inhibited under reducing, oxygen-poor conditions [19]. In the smaller unit, mixing is less

While the gas ows in the vertical direction in the lean suspension of the riser, mixing takes place with similar intensity as in a single-phase turbulent ow [5]. Additional mixing is produced by the injection of secondary air. This provides the reaction environment for the gas and the particles, which are transported upwards in the furnace by the vertical gas ow, leaving through the cyclone. If the mixing is sufcient, the gaseous reactions are always fast enough to be completed before the gases leave the cyclone. Char combustion, however, is much slower and some of the particles may have to be circulated several times to be reacted. Then, a certain part (1 g) of the char particles escapes the system because of the cyclone efciency g < 1, and the mass of recirculating char particles m of a given, constant size (independent of combustion) will be reduced each time L/up that they pass the cyclone

dm m1 g yielding m m0 expt =st dt L=up

where

st

L=up 1 g

is the time constant of the transport process, which is a measure of the time spent by the particles in the reactive environment, when the number of passes through the cyclone is n 1=1 g and the vertical particle velocity is up = uo ut, the difference between the average supercial velocity in the riser and the terminal velocity of a single particle, neglecting clustering effects. The cyclone efciency is usually represented by an empirical function

1 1 dp;50 =dp m

where the coefcient m depends on the type of cyclone. It is between 2 and 6 (here 2 is used) and dp,50 is the cut size, which can be written as [20]

dp;50

s 9lDx v rCS

qp v 2 hCS

O2 CONCENTRATION, %
16 17 18 19

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B. Leckner et al. / Fuel 90 (2011) 29512964

0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 10

1 2 3

10

10

10

Particle size, m
Fig. 8. Cyclone efciency for the particular case of a cut size of dp,50 = 27 lm.

coefcients to emphasise the approximate nature of this quantity. In comparison to the estimate of the dispersion, the fuel conversion times have a reasonable accuracy, although the detailed mechanisms and their dependence on size were not treated here. For the vertical process, the burnout time was derived for a strictly external surface-controlled reaction, expressed with the initial particle diameter (Eq. (14)). The derivation can be developed for any other relevant reaction mechanism, although it may be difcult to nd a closed form. If combustion follows the shrinking core or the shrinking particle model, the fuel particles change their size or their density, respectively. In both cases the separation efciency according to Eqs. (18), (19) is reduced, so the residence time is shorter compared to a fuel particle retaining its initial properties. 3.5. Application of the vertical scaling In the vertical scaling case Dav should be greater than unity to ensure that the particles, statistically seen, have had time to react during their ight, and the desired situation here is Dav > 1, whereas for the horizontal Damkhler number Dah < 1 is preferred. The situation for char particles carried through the vertical direction of the riser can be illustrated by a simplied calculation. In this calculation we assume the particles to have constant sizes. Other input data are: particle and bed temperature 850 C, oxygen concentration in the entire riser 5%, char density 1600 kg/m3, Sh = 2, and char combustion kinetics taken from Ref. [21]. The result is shown in Fig. 9a and b. Very small particles have sufcient time for reaction during their path through a riser and the Damkhler number for these particles is larger than unity. This is also true for the larger, entrained particles, which are captured by the cyclone and recirculated. However, for particles in between these extremes there is a critical size range where unburned particles may escape the cyclone. Fig. 9a shows that with a tall riser this problem becomes alleviated. This is, in essence, an illustration of

where Dx is the diameter of the vortex nder, vrCS and vhCS are the radial and the tangential gas velocities at the edge of the inner vortex, at a ctitious surface extending down from the vortex nder. With these data the efciency can be described as in Fig. 8. The mass of circulating char particles is reduced because of reaction. According to the reactivity denition related to the external surface of the particle

dm Aexternal Rchar Aexternal M c K e;o cox dt

Fractional efficiency

20

and Ke,o the effective combustion coefcient, including resistances to reaction by external diffusion, diffusion through an ash layer, and kinetics

K e;o

dp 1 dp dp dc 2 kdiff 2dc Dox;ash dc kkin

! 1 21
2

where kkin is the kinetic rate, Aexternal pdp the external surface of a spherical char particle, (dp dc)/2 the thickness of the ash layer, and kdiff is the external mass-transfer coefcient. For the simplest case with external diffusion control and shrinking particle mode (as an example) we have

Rchar Mc K e;o cox;1 M c kdiff cox;1

Mc ShDox cox;1 dp

(a)

2.5
40

22
V

30

20

2 1.5
10

Integrated over time, Eqs. (20) and (22) give Eq. (14), the burnout time t = schar for the present conditions. With the transport time from Eq. (17) the resulting vertical Damkhler number, Eq. (11), becomes.

Da

1 0.5
Parameter: Riser height, m

Dav st =schar
3.4. Discussion

23

0 0

50

dP, m
20

100

150

200

There are two approaches to the determination of the times involved in the Da numbers. One is detailed mathematical modelling, when the phenomena involved are described with some accuracy. The other approach is the more primitive one used here, looking for characteristic numbers only, which indicate the features involved. However, the scaling criteria must be relevant and comparable. In the horizontal scaling case the total combustion time of a diffusion-limited char particle was used because the devolatilization was described by the total time. The transport, on the other hand, was described by a characteristic number representing an average dispersion of solids. The criterion is derived from the diffusion equation that was established for Brownian motion. The corresponding data available for uidized beds, although sometimes called diffusion coefcients, are derived from measurements, in most cases including convection mechanisms together with diffusion. They should then be called dispersion

(b)

2.5
30

2
V

1.5 1 0.5
Parameter: d

40

Da

0 0

p,50

, m

50

dP, m

100

150

200

Fig. 9. Vertical Damkhler number vs char particle size. Riser height as a parameter at a cyclone cut-size of dp,50 = 27 lm (a). Cyclone cut-size as a parameter at a riser height of 30 m (b).

B. Leckner et al. / Fuel 90 (2011) 29512964

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the vertical scaling problem: a low riser is less efcient than a tall one because the combustion efciency is lower. However, the combustion efciency may be affected in many other ways. One of the most important inuencing factors, the cyclone efciency, expressed in the form of its cut size dp,50, is shown to have a decisive impact on the char burnout in Fig. 9b. In addition to the parameters studied here, there is an inuence from various factors such as: the reactivity of the char, the tendency to fragmentation and attrition, the oxygen concentration of the surrounding gas, the temperature, and so on. 3.6. The impact of the cyclone With a constant contribution to the circulating ow from y ashes and small char particles entering into the circulation loop Gin, a simple mass balance on the circulation loop yields the circulation ow

[22,20]. They found that the loading of particles above a certain limiting loading cp,L (the saltation condition) would always be separated, whereas the particles below this limiting value are separated similar to a low-loaded cyclone. The efciency can then be written (according to one of Muschelknauz approaches, quoted from [20]),

g 1

 N cp;L dp;50 cp;L dp;50 X gi mi cp cp i1

28

where mi is the ith mass fraction and gi is the corresponding efciency according to Eq. (26). Both constituents of the cyclone efciency depend on Stokes number, and therefore, the efciency of highly loaded cyclones becomes

gdp f Stk; cp;L =cp

29

G Gin =1 g

24

It was shown how the cyclone efciency plays a signicant role for the burnout of char. At the same time as an increase in cyclone efciency extends the residence time of char, the simple relationship, Eq. (24), shows how it enhances particle circulation in general and consequently also vertical solids concentration and heat transfer. Also the cyclone efciency is affected by the scale. Assume two plants, a small-scale plant (index I) and a large-scale plant (index II) with geometrically similar cyclones. Usually, in combustion comparisons the uidizing velocity u (as well as other parameters mentioned above) is kept the same in both plants. Then, with the same surface power (heat release per square meter cross-sectional area, proportional to gas velocity at constant air ratio) in both uidized-bed risers, the total power of the combustors Q is related to the ow through the riser uoAr, and this, in turn, is equal to the ow through the cyclone

In geometrically similar cyclones with similar gas and particles, therefore, the Stokes number could serve as a characteristic number both for the limiting value and for the fractional separation efciency, although it is not exactly equal to the criteria dened by Muschelknauz. Therefore, assuming that Stokes number scaling could be applied, the Stokes numbers should be the same for approximate similarity

dp50;I uin Dq dp50;II uin Dq 18lDcycl;I 18lDcycl;II

or

30

dp50;I dp50;II 
2

Dcycl;I Dcycl;II

31

Combination of Eqs. (25) and (31) gives

Q I $ u o Ar ; I $

ucycl D2 cycl;I ucycl D2 cycl;II

dp50;I dp50;II

4

QI Q II

32

Q II $ uo Ar;II $
that is

D2 QI Ar;I cycl;I 2 Q II Ar;II Dcycl;II

25

Here Ar is the cross section of the riser and D2 cycl that of the cyclone. ucycl is a corresponding through-ow velocity in the cyclones related to the cyclone diameter Dcycl, or it could even be the inlet velocity uin. Hoffmann and Stein [20] have treated cyclone scaling and pointed out that the great number of parameters inuencing the cyclone behavior can be reduced to a few dimensionless numbers, of which the Stokes number can be shown to be the most important one, provided that the cyclone Reynolds number is sufciently large and that the particle loading is small. For geometrically similar cyclones

gdp f Stk
where

26

The conclusion is that under the given conditions (geometrical similarity and constant entrance velocity) larger cyclones inevitably obtain higher cut size and, hence, lower efciency than smaller ones, as seen from expressions of the cut size, for instance Eq. (19). To this problem we can add the effect of the residence times in the cyclones. In the above presentation, the residence time in the cyclone was not included in the calculation of the gas residence time for simplicity (although it could have been added to the residence time in the furnace). The cyclone works as an afterburner that contributes to the burnout of both gases and particles. It is clear that a small cyclone, having shorter gas residence time, is less favorable than a large one in this respect. An example in the form of a comparison of the residence times in three CFB combustors is given in Table 2. The combustors were of widely different sizes to illustrate scale effects, although they are not geometrically similar and not scaled according to the above considerations. However, they were operated under similar combustion conditions. It can be concluded from the table that the gas residence-times in the furnaces were reasonably similar in the research rig, pilot

dp50 uin Dq Stk 18lDcycl

Table 2 Gas residence-times in three CFB combustors of different scale [23].

27

Name of plant Thermal power (MW) Volume of the combustion chamber (m3) Volume of the cyclone, including entry duct (m3) Gas residence time in the combustion chamber (s) Gas residence time in the cyclone (s)

TUHH 0.029 0.13 0.024 2.6 0.5

CTH 6 31.4 12.4 2.2 0.9

Flensburg 109 590 490 3.8 3.2

where Dq is the difference between particle and gas density. The efciency condition Eq. (26) is not fullled in the CFB application where the particle loading is high. However, Muschelknauz and coworkers have especially studied the separation conditions in highly loaded cyclones. Summaries of their work can be found in

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plant and the commercial boiler, except that the cyclone in the commercial boiler was much greater than in the other equipment.

Cin

Bubb

Concentration

3.7. The vertical scaling problembubbling bed In some cases the vertical processes in the bubbling bottom-bed dominate the combustion performance of the boiler. Then it is a common approach to represent the uid dynamics by the uidization velocity and by various transport coefcients. The starting point for modelling, as well as for the derivation of scaling criteria, is the vertical (one-dimensional) mass-transport equation. The one-dimensional version of Eq. (9) for oxygen in the vertical direction Z = z/L without dispersion is,

le ph

ase

Cb,out

ce
Emulsion

Height
Fig. 10. Concentrations in the bubble and particle phases of a uidized bed.

dC Dav dZ

33

where C = c/cin is the dimensionless concentration of oxygen along the reactor, expressed in volume fractions, transported with the constant uidization velocity U = u/uo and reacted by Dav = Rz0/ cinu0. In dimensional form Eq. (33) becomes

dc R dz

34

This equation is applied to the ow of oxygen in the bubble and particle (emulsion) phases of a uidized bed (details can be found in a recent review [24]). The usual assumptions are that the volatile gases (gg) only react in the bubble phase, whereas the gassolid reactions (gs) take place in the emulsion phase, where the char is found most of the time. Expressed for the two phases, Eq. (34) takes the form of Eqs. (35) and (36) whose last term represents the gas transported from one phase to the other through the specic surface of the bubbles ab = 6eb/db for spherical bubbles of diameter db with the exchange coefcient kbe,

and their effects are analysed. Similar, but more complex solutions are available for combustors and gasiers. Common boundary and other conditions are seen in Fig. 10, where the emulsion phase has been assumed to be well stirred with constant concentration ce, supplied from the bubbles with oxygen, which is gradually removed by reaction. The catalytic beds differ from the fuel conversion beds in two ways: (1) there is no volatile release and (2) the reacting bed particles are not affected (unless poisoned), whereas in the fuel bed, additional knowledge on the size distribution and degree of conversion of the fuel particles is needed for a solution. The parameter rc = 1 in a catalytic bed, since all bed particles are supposed to be active, whereas in a fuel bed rc < 1 and has to be determined. The simplest possible solution of Eqs. (35) and (36) for a catalytic bed with no ow through the particle phase of constant voidage has been shown [25] to be

dc eb u0 umf b eb Rgg eb ab kbe cb ce dz

35

  Dags NTU C zL exp Dags NTU

41

ee umf

dce 1 ee 1 eb rc Rgs eb ab kbe cb ce dz

36

The dimensionless parameters are C = c/cin, Z = z/L, b = (uo umf)/uo. The reaction terms are rst order (for simplicity only) (information on the reactions contained in K is given in [24]) and may represent drying, devolatilization, char combustion as well as homogeneous reactions,

Rgg K gg cb Rgs K gs ce
Eqs. (35) and (36) in dimensionless form are

37

eb b

dC b eb Dagg NTUC b C e dZ dC e 1 ee 1 eb rc Dags NTUC b C e dZ

38

ee 1 b

39

The dimensionless criteria characterizing the process are: Damkhler numbers Da, often called Number of Reaction Units, and the Number of Transfer Units NTU, together with the velocity ratio b, dened as follows:

The reactions are rst order for simplicity, rc = 1, b = 1 and the voidages are included in Dags. NTU describes the transfer of gas from the bubbles to the particles, and the rate of reaction in the presence of gas in the reactor is given by Dags. An early scaling of catalytic reactors by means of this reaction was carried out by Werther [27] who used empirical information on the impact of the reactor scale (width) on the NTU (the width of the vessel inuences the bubbles). It was then possible to determine the reactor height necessary for a given conversion (Cz=L) in reactors of various widths. Afterwards similar models have been applied to several types of catalytic scaling problems and, in an extended form, also to combustor modelling. There are limitations in applying the criteria just mentioned to scale-up of combustors, principally because of the much higher velocities employed in combustors compared to many chemical reactors. Available scientic information on high velocity uidization has normally been obtained in narrow test rigs (typically 0.1 m, and in most cases less than 0.5 m in diameter) without considering scaling, and where the wall effects can be suspected to be large. The data available are therefore uncertain to use for scaling of combustors, especially the bubble properties bb, ab and kbe. 3.8. Concluding remark

Dagg

u0 umf K gg C b L K gs C e L eb ab kbe L ; Dags ; NTU ; b u0 u0 u0 u0 40

Solutions of the equations are often presented in analytic form. Especially for catalytic uidized-bed reactors several examples have been shown in reviews [25,26], where common simplifying assumptions, also used in combustion applications, are sorted up

Simplied approaches have been used in the absence of detailed uid-dynamic and mixing information. Gaseous reactions in combustor scaling depend on mixing of fuel and air, and hence, mostly on the horizontal dispersion of fuel. The vertical transport time is always much longer than the combustion time for gas reactions and is not a problem, provided that fuel and air are mixed. For char

B. Leckner et al. / Fuel 90 (2011) 29512964

2961

combustion, on the other hand, the vertical transport time is a limiting factor, directly related to scaling. In that environment at high gas velocities, the impact of bubbles is degenerated into an innite contact surface for exchange between particle and bubble phase (NTU ? 1) and Eq. (41) now represents a situation close to plug ow with some back mixing. In its simplest form, we are interested in the efciency of combustion in a L m high reactor with a given temperature and oxygen concentration, usually disregarding the features of a bubbling bed. This leads to the considerations presented in the previous sections. 4. Boiler design scaling Fluidized-bed boilers have undergone a gradual scale-up in size during the last 30 years, as shown in Fig. 11 from statistics on CFB boilers in the world except China and China alone where also a great number of CFB boilers are in operation. During the last 10 years the interest has been focused on utilitysize CFB boilers. This means, sizes of at least 600800 MWe (the number in thermal MW is more than twice as large) to compete economically with pulverized coal (PC) boilers. Other applications, such as biomass boilers, are limited in size by the supply of fuel, because transportation of biomass fuel sets a limit, and the industrial boilers are limited on the demand side and have already reached their maximum sizes. Non-circulating (bubbling) uidized beds can be treated by the methods described above, but they are less interesting for scale-up to electric utility size.

This development can be illustrated by the layout of a furnace, as seen in Fig. 12, showing the horizontal cross section of CFB furnaces with cyclones of Foster Wheelers design from 1994 and onwards (Similar data have been shown by other boiler makers). During the process of gradual scale-up, the elements of design from smaller boilers are used in larger boilers with a rather small individual increase in size, instead increasing the number of repeated elements. The cyclone is such an element whose efciency tends to decrease with increasing size, although, as seen in the particular case of Fig. 12, both number and size can be considered. Therefore, the number of cyclones is increased instead of excessively changing their size. This, on the other hand, leads to the question of whether all parallel cyclones will perform in the same way, especially when applying an uneven number of cyclones [31], an issue that also motivated the research shown in Fig. 4 regarding cold model testing of parallel cyclones. There are a few relationships concerning the shape of the combustion chamber that are worth mentioning: again, the crosssectional size and the height are important scaling parameters, now also from a heat transfer point of view. The cross-section surface-power qc [MWfuel/m2 crosssection ] is a direct measure of the foot-print of the furnace. At a given amount of excess air, the mass ow of gas upwards through the furnace uoqgas divided by the specic mass ow of gas per kg fuel, yv, including fuel moisture, and multiplied by the lower heating value Hu, gives the fuel power released per square meter cross-sectional area

qc uo qgas Hu =yv
2 000 1 800
World except China China

42

1 600 1 400 1 200 1 000 800 600 400 200 0 1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

2015

Year
Fig. 11. Development of the capacities of Circulating Fluidized Bed boilers up to 2010 expressed in MW thermal power. (Sources: [28] World except China; [29] China; recalculated from MWe data).

It is known that the quantity Hu/yv is surprisingly constant, independent of type of fuel, and the density qgas is constant for a combustor at a given bed temperature and pressure (atmospheric or pressurized). For this reason the surface power is basically proportional to the uidization velocity. The impact of surface power according to Eq. (42) on furnace size is as important today for scale-up as it was in the beginning of the development of uidized-bed combustion. The development started with bubbling beds, where elutriation of particles from the bed was seen as an inconvenience that should be avoided, as is reected from publications in the early International Fluidized Bed Combustion Conferences, for instance. To do so, but to retain high surface power (high uidization velocity), large-particle beds were proposed to allow high uidization velocity without elutriation, and, among other topics, work was carried out on heat transfer to immersed heat exchangers in large-particle beds. It soon became evident that immersed boiler tubes in uidized beds operated at high velocity were not a viable solution because of severe erosion on the tubes. It appears that tubes in dense uidized beds can only withstand erosion to some extent at low uidization velocity but then the surface power is also low, and this results

CFB Boiler Load, MW th

Fig. 12. Scale-up of CFBmodular approach [30]. Cross sections of the furnace with connected cyclones.

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B. Leckner et al. / Fuel 90 (2011) 29512964

in a wide furnace. Then a creative, but in retrospect quite natural, thought was presented proposing to remove the boiler tubes from the bed, increase the uidization velocity, reduce the size of the bed particles to allow the particles to be carried away by the gas, and employ the tubes covering the furnace walls for heat exchange by convection and radiation. Of course, particles serving as a heat transport medium were then carried away with the gas; a particle separator and a system for recirculation of particles to the bed were needed. This lead to the introduction of circulating uidized bed, CFB in boilers (CFB had been invented already in 19401950 [32] with application in the petroleum industry). At the same time as the uidization velocity was increased, so was the surface power and, therefore, the combustion chamber became more reasonable in size, a fact that formed the basis for further advantageous scale-up. Unfortunately, because of the decreasing surface to volume ratio of a furnace at increasing volume (size of the boiler), the wall surfaces are not sufcient for heat absorption in large boilers. Now, the scale-up problem became a problem of nding heat exchanger surface area in addition to that on the walls of the combustion chamber. The problem is most easily understood by studying a cube with side length L. The wall area available for the corresponding furnace (volume) is proportional to 1/L and the available relative surface area decreases with increasing size L of the furnace. As a result, there is ample space for heat transfer surface in small devices, while there is a decit of space for wall surface area in large boilers. It is well known that in laboratory devices, the walls are so efcient for cooling that even insulation is not sufcient to compensate for the heat loss, and usually electrical heating is required to maintain a desired bed temperature. As the combustion chambers grew in size, more wall surface area can be covered by heat transfer surfaces, but already at about 50 100 MWth all available wall area is occupied, and additional types of surface are needed. This becomes especially critical for scale-up to utility sizes. Fig. 13 displays some types of heat transfer surface in contact with the bed material. Surface (a) is the furnace wall covered by tubes, protected by refractory in the most exposed places. The numbers indicate examples of different type of inserted heat transfer surfaces: (1) wing walls the most common type, tube bundles protruding from the walls like wings, (2) platen tube bundles for superheaters, (3) omega tubes expensive, at surfaces with an omega-shaped void for steam-water ow, extended inside the furnace space and protected against erosion (4) additional inside tube-walls in very large boilers. Often the particle separator is made up of heat transfer tubes (Surface b), but they are protected by refractory and their heat transfer capacity is limited. Surface (5) is a heat exchanger in the return leg from the cyclone, utilizing the

a b

4 5

Fig. 13. Heat transfer surfaces in the bed loop of a CFB boiler. Adapted from [33].

return ow of particles from the separator. There are several arrangements, as seen in Fig. 14. It should be noted that the heat transfer surfaces related to the scale-up problem are those within the recirculation loop, required to achieve a desired bed temperature. In this context, the tube bundles of the back pass are not of interest, as they serve for cooling the ue gases downstream of the circulation loop. They belong to conventional boiler equipment. However, the organization of the bottom part of the furnace, the return system for bed material from the separator, and the related bed material handling are of particular interest, as they create possibilities for cooling the bed material and for allocation of superheaters. This is illustrated in Fig. 14 where the designs of thee major boiler manufacturers are compared. The tube bundle in the INTREX cooler receives hot bed material from the particle separator (external circulation) but also from the internal bed material falling down along the furnace walls

Fig. 14. Details of the bottom zone of various designs of large-scale CFB (not drawn in the same scale). The left-hand design is a pant-leg bottom part with external heat exchangers from an Alstom boiler [34]. In the central gure, an INTREX cooler from Foster Wheeler [35], and to the right, shown for comparison, the lower part of a Metso boiler with an integrated ash cooler from the 160 MWth Manitowoc plant. The seemingly empty part (the loop seal, supplied with particles from the cyclone) contains a heat exchanger.

B. Leckner et al. / Fuel 90 (2011) 29512964 Table 3 Comparison between conceptual designs. Item Size MWe Steam pressure bara Steam temperature (C) Separators Bed cooling except walls Size
a

2963

Foster Wheeler [33]

Alstom [34]

800 450600 315 (design pressure) 270 (header outlet) 604/621 600/620 8 6 Internal walls + INTREX (1020 MWth each), eight consisting of two in series External heat exchangers (no size limitation) Ten meter wide to allow penetration of secondary air, pant-leg in Alstom. Less than 50 m high, and as wide as needed for the power of 2.5 4 MWth/m2 cross-section area

Actually, the pressures are equal but expressed for different locations.

(internal recirculation). As a comparison, the arrangement from the Metso boiler on the right-hand side of the gure, a heat exchanger in the loop seal also utilises the returning bed material for heating, but no details are presented. The other large boiler maker, Alstom, whose boiler is seen on the left-hand gure, employs a more extensive arrangement of heat absorption in the form of separate external heat-exchangers with greater capacity (if needed). In recent designs the external heat exchangers are moved in closer contact with the furnace. Additional surfaces inside the combustion chamber are used for middle-sized boilers when such surfaces are more convenient than the external ones that are more useful for the largest boilers. The ow from the loop seal to the external heat exchanger can be controlled by a hot valve (cone valve). In Europe, mostly old power stations use coal. A decade ago gas became the dominant fuel and very few coal-red plants were built. A certain amount of coal power plants are planned, and there is a recent trend towards diversication with the purpose of reducing the dependence on gas and also because of rising prices on gas compared to coal. In countries like India and China coal-ring is more important, and CFB with increasing size is now introduced to a large extent. Modern coal-red power stations employ efcient and well developed PC boilers, whose size is about 2000 3000 MWth, with high steam data to achieve high efciency in power production. The only CFB boilers included in this group of power-producing units are those having the advantage of burning coals that are less suitable for PC boilers. Both size and efciency of CFB boiler power-plants have to increase in order to be competitive. A development with this aim is presently going on. The on-going development effort aims at increasing steam data in a CFB from conventional 540/540 C, 170 bar to supercritical 600/620 C and 270 bar and even higher if new tube materials become available. This would require a Benson-type of boiler (oncethrough). CFB appears to be suitable for such an application, since the heat load on the furnace walls is quite even and highest in the bottom part, which is in a position of boiling heat transfer on the water side far away from the critical point. The two largest manufacturers of CFB, Alstom and Foster Wheeler, have both made conceptual designs of uidized-bed boilers for sizes between 450 to 800 MWe. Some features are summarized in Table 3. In addition, the very ambitious work on scale-up by Electricit de France [36,37] should be mentioned. The shape of the combustion chambers cross section tends to be rectangular (see Fig. 12). The length of penetration of secondary air jets determines the maximum width to about 10 m. The height is determined by allocation of heat transfer surface, but with various additional heat transfer surfaces, as shown above, excessive heights can be avoided, and 4050 m seems to be the ideal maximum height. The third dimension is determined by the gas ow that has to pass the combustion chamber to burn the given amount of fuel at a given excess air and uidization velocity (that is, the power of the boiler). The gas velocity should be high to limit the size of the combustion chamber. On the other hand, erosion on walls and heat transfer surfaces increases with velocity, so the

velocity may be chosen as the result of a compromise, to be in the order of 45 m/s, yielding a heat release of 2.54 MWth/m2 cross-sectional area. This determines the length of the combustion chamber, given that particle separators, fuel feed devices and secondary air nozzles have space enough to be located on the side walls.

5. Conclusions and discussion Strict scaling of all simultaneous processes in a combustion device can be formulated theoretically, but it can hardly be carried out in practice. Therefore, combustion scaling with application to uidized bed combustors has to be focused on a particular aspect of the scaling problem after an analysis of the system to identify the limiting processes. Here three aspects have been treated according to their particular possibilities and conditions: uid-dynamic scaling, scaling of combustion processes, and scale-up related to boiler design. Heat transfer is only implicitly involved in the scaling by the assumption of a bed temperature. Fluid-dynamic scaling, based on scaling criteria derived from the fundamental uid-dynamic equations, describes the movement of the two-phase medium in a uidized-bed reactor. It can be performed with relatively good success, transferring results form a small-scale, cold test-rig to a large boiler operated in its normal conditions. The most difcult part in this process is to nd bed particles of correct size, shape, and density for the cold scalemodel. Combustion scaling could include scale-up of the chemistry, such as studied in a small laboratory bench-scale reactor and then applied to the large-scale boiler. It also means the scale-up of data, obtained in a laboratory combustion-plant, to a boiler or from a small boiler to a larger one, both employing about the same operation data. In scaling-up from a laboratory plant, complete uiddynamic similarity can never be attained, because a laboratory plant by denition must be limited in size, at least in the horizontal direction, whereas the residence times required to represent combustion conditions can be approached in the vertical direction. Despite this limitation, several aspects of combustion-related reactions can be studied in such devices if one is aware of the consequences of the restrictions. In combustion scaling from boiler to boiler, provided the operation conditions are about the same as in the target plant, the uid dynamics play a subordinate role. The scaling can focus on the vertical or horizontal transport or reaction phenomena depending on the purpose of the study, using the Damkhler number as a scaling criterion. In boiler-design scaling the main problem is the scale-up of known features to very large size. Then, scaling can use design elements already developed, similar in size but multiplied in number, to reach the large size. Examples of such multiplied items are feed systems, cyclones, return loops etc. The new problems consist in nding place for cooling surfaces and to obtain an even distribu-

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