Power Plant Technology

MENG 412
MOHY MANSOUR

CHAPTER 4: Fuel and Combustion

Fuels storage 1980s

Fossil
Fissile
Fusil

Coal
Oil and Gas
Uranium and thorium
Deuterium

1021 J
32
6
600
1010

Coal
Anthracite:
Highest grade of coal (86 98 % of C)
Low content of volatile matter (methane CH4 )
Shiny black, dense, hard, brittle
Burning in stokers, not pulverized

Coal
Bituminous: (name from bitumen)
Contains 46 86 % of C
Largest group
Volatile matter 40 %
Heating value 25000 32600 kJ/kg
Burn easily in pulverized form
It is ranked in five groups: low volatile, medium-volatile
and high-volatile A, B and C. Low volatile has high
heating value
Low-volatile (Grayish black), high-volatile
(homogeneous or laminar)

Coal
Sub-bituminous:
Lower heating value 19300 26750 kJ/kg
High moisture content (15 30 %)
Low in sulfur content
Brownish black or black and mostly homogeneous
Divided in three groups A, B and C according to rank

Coal
Lignite: (name from Latin lignum, means
wood)
Lowest grade
Brown and laminar, visible wood fiber
Heating value: 14650 19300 kJ/kg
High moisture content
Not economic to transport over long distance
Divided in two groups A and B according to rank

Proximate analysis
Fixed carbon (Original sample all volatile,

moisture and ash)

Volatile matter
Moisture content
Ash
Sulfur

Ultimate analysis
More scientific and gives: C, H2, O2, N2 and
Sulfur

Heating Value
HHV
HHV = 33961.4 YC + 144219.6 (YH YO /8) +
9420.8 YS
kJ/kg
LHV
LHV = HHV - mw hfg
LHV = HHV 9 mH2 hfg
mw mass of water vapor per unit mass of fuel

Coal Firing
Mechanical stokers

Pulverized coal firing (fine size < 0.074 mm and

larger size < 0.297 mm)

Cyclone-furnace
Fluidized-bed combustion

Coal Firing
Mechanical stokers

Coal Firing
Pulverized coal firing

Crushers: Ring-type coal crusher

Coal Firing
Pulverized coal firing (size < 0.075 mm and

<0.297mm)

Crushers: hammer-mill coal crusher

Coal Firing
Pulverized coal firing

Crushers: Bradford breaker for large capacity,

produces relatively uniform size distribution

Coal Firing
Pulverized coal firing (0.074 mm < size < 0.297 mm)
Pulverizers:
Feeding + drying + pulverizing
Types:
Low speed ball type < 75 rev/min
Medium speed ball-and-race type > 75 rev/min and <225 r/min
High speed > 225 rev/min

Coal Firing
Pulverized coal firing

Pulverized coal system

Pulverized coal direct firing system

Pulverized coal burner

Pulverized coal burner

Cyclone Furnace

Fluidized Bed Combustion

The combustion occurs within a fluidized coal

particles in a furnace
It is used to remove sulfur during combustion
(concurrent type of pollutants removal combustion
system, i.e. of removing pollutants during the
combustion process)

Fluidized Bed Combustion

Fluidized Bed Combustor

Desulfurization

Adding limestone {mainly calcium carbonate

(CaCO3) with some Magnesium carbonate (MgCO3)}

to remove sulfur dioxide (SO2) to produce calcium
sulfate (CaSO4)

SO2 + CaCO3 + O2 ----- CaSO4 + CO2

Operating temperature: 750 950 oC (no NOx)

Fluidized Bed Combustion

Fuel
27

Fuels:
Paraffin

Cn H2n+2
Olefins
[one double bond on C]
Cn H2n
Diolefins [two double bond on C]
Cn H2n-2
Acetylene [one triple bond on C]
Cn H2n-2
Cycloparffins [single bond ring]
Cn H2n
Aromatics [unsaturated ring structure with double C bonds]
Cn H2n-6
Alcohol
similar to Paraffin with OH replacing one H

Gaseous and Liquid Fuels

Paraffin (alkanes)
CnH2n+2
1: meth
CH4

2: eth
3: prop
4: But
5: pent
6: hex
7: hept
8: oct
9: non
10: dec

C2H6
C3H8
C4H10
C5H12
C6H14
C7H16
C8H18
C9H20
C10H22

-ane

29

Hydrocarbon Fuels:

Combustion equations
Exhaust dew point
Combustion Temperature

Gaseous and Liquid Fuels

Hydrocarbon

Naphthene (cycloparaffin)
CnH2n
Aromatic
Benzene CnH2n-6

Naphthalene CnH2n-12

Alkyl radical

CnH2n+1
Methyl CH3
Ethyl C2H5

Combustion Equation
Stoichiometric Combustion Equation of C

By volume

by mass

Combustion Equation
Stoichiometric Combustion Equation of H2

By volume

by mass

Combustion Equation
Stoichiometric Combustion Equation (by volume)

Stoiciometric Air-to-Fuel Ratio

 Write the combustion equation and calculate the

stoichiometric AF of the following fuels:

Methanol (CH3OH)
Octane (C8H18)
80 % methane, 10 % propane, 3% oxygen and the rest is
nitrogen

Heat of Combustion

Heating Value

Combustion Temperature

Adiabatic Flame Temperature

Exhaust Dew Point

Examples 12.4-8

Emulsion firing
An emulsion is a suspension of a finely divided fluid

in another
e.g. water in heavy oil (helps atomization through
microexplosions)

Coal-Oil and Coal-Water mixtures (COM, CWM)

The advantages:
Can replace oil firing
Cheaper than oil
COMs 50% coal
CWMs 70-80 % coal: can replace oil fuel. Sometimes

preferred than COMs

Liquid, Gas and Solid by-products

Liquid by-products:
Solvents
Waste oil
Oil sludge
Oil-water emulsions
Polymers
Resins
Chlorinated hydrocarbons
Phenol
Tars
Combustible chemicals
Greases
Fats
Main disadvantage: Variations of physical and chemical properties

Liquid, Gas and Solid by-products

Gas by-products:
Refinery gas: from the conversion of crude oil to
gasoline
Coke-oven gas: from the manufacture of coke from
raw coal. It contains about 50 % Hydrogen, one-third
methane and the rest are other gases. HHV = 14200
21300 kJ/kg
Regenerator gas: produced in catalytic-cracking
processes

Liquid, Gas and Solid by-products

Solid by-products:
Wood: 70 % volatile matter, 25 % carbon and about 5
% ash.
Sugar cane waste (Bagasse): 50 % moisture, up to 84
% volatile matters. 8400 9770 kJ/kg

Liquid, Gas and Solid by-products

Solid waste:
Industrial waste: wood, paper, metal scrap and
agriculture waste products.
Burning solid waste:
Wide assortment of contents
High moisture content
Danger of explosion
Unknown effect on power plant operation
Wide variation of heating value
Burning a mixture of solid waste and fossil fuel
Refuse burning in incinerators
Conversion of organic waste to synthetic fuel

Synthetic Fuel (synfuels)

Gaseous and liquid fuels produced largely from

coal and also from various waste and biomass

Produced by
Gasification
Liquefaction

Coal Gasification
Low HV gas: composition CO, H2, N2, and some CO2
Production: burning feedstock with mixture of air and
steam
eqs 4-9 4-11

Synthetic Fuel (synfuels)

Coal Gasification
Medium HV gas: composition CO and H2
Production: burning feedstock with mixture of oxygen and
steam
High HV gas: composition largely methane
Production: converting medium HV through two steps
1. CO-rich gas saturated with steam and then passed through
catalytic reactor
eqn 4-12
2. Methanation: reaction of CO and H2

Combined Cycle Power Plant

For low-HV gas

Synthetic Fuel (synfuels)

Coal Liquefaction
Oil Shale
Fine grained rock formed by hardening of clay
Tar Sands
It is a thick, extremely viscous bitumen locked in sands and slit
to form sodden, sticky seiplastic material.

Biomass
Organic matter produced by plants

Includes wood waste and bagasse

Assignment
Problems: 1, 5 (AF by mass, oC), 7, 9, 11 [Chapter 7 of

Power plant Engineering]

Due Date: 16 March 2014

 Midterm: