Biomass co-firing in a pressurized fluidized bed combustion (PFBC) combined cycle power plant: A techno-environmental assessment based on computational simulations

Ye Huang, D McIlveen-Wright, S Rezvani, YD Wang, Neil Hewitt, BC Williams

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

66 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The co-utilization of coal with biomass and biomass waste in a pressurized fluidized bed combustion (PFBC) system is a promising power generation option for addressing various areas of concern relating to the anthropogenic sources of harmful emissions, the global reliance on fossil fuel and the overall energy supply issues. In this study, coal with a wide range of biomass and biomass waste types such as straw, willow chips and switch grass as well as miscanthus and olive pits are fired in an advanced PFBC system. The produced gases and the evolved heat energy are employed to run a combined cycle. To understand the behavior of the proposed system, detailed computational simulations are carried out utilizing various feedstock mixtures ranging from 100% coal to 40% biomass. The results of the simulations are used to show the effect of co-firing on the technical and environmental performance of the power plant.The results show that the main parameters affecting the overall power plant efficiency are the co-firing ratios and the specific properties of the chosen biomass/waste types. Furthermore, the investigation indicates that the steam cycle output reacts more sensitive to the fuel configurations than the gas turbine cycle. As expected, the increased fraction of biomass or waste significantly reduces net CO2 emissions, and has a beneficial influence on SOx emissions. NOx emissions tend to rise for all biomass types, except the high moisture content willow chips, with increasing co-firing fraction.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)927-934
JournalFuel Processing Technology
Volume87
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - Oct 2006

Bibliographical note

Reference text: [1] Tomas Lindberg and Jim Anderson, Co-firing of biomass and coal in a pressurised fluidised bed combined cycle, results of pilot plant studies, The 14th ASME International FBC Conference, Vancouver May (1997).

[2] R. Abe and H. Sasatsu et al., Prediction of emission gas concentration from pressurized fluidized bed combustion of coal under dynamic conditions, Fuel 80 (2001), pp. 135–144. Article | PDF (384 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (13)

[3] E. Alvarez and J.F. González, Combustion of Spanish coals under simulated pressurized–fluidized-bed-combustion conditions, Fuel 78 (1999), pp. 335–340. Article | PDF (149 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (5)

[4] R.N. André and F. Pinto et al., Fluidized bed co-gasification of coal and olive oil industry wastes, Fuel 84 (2005), pp. 1635–1644. View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (32)

[5] W.D. Jong and Ö. Ünal et al., Thermo-chemical conversion of brown coal and biomass in a pressurised fluidized bed gasifier with hot gas filtration using ceramic channel filters: measurements and gasifier modelling, Appl. Energy 74 (2003), pp. 425–437.

[6] W.L. Van De Kamp and D.J. Morgan, The co-firing of pulverised bituminous coals with straw, waste paper and municipal sewage sludge, Combust. Sci. Technol. 121 (1996), pp. 317–332. Full Text via CrossRef

[7] P.-Y. Zheng et al., Analysis of the environmental impact of a PFBCCC (pressurized fluidized bed combustion combined cycle) system by using an exergy method, Reneng Dongli Gongcheng 18 (2003) (1), pp. 74–77 (in Chinese).

[8] M. Forster et al., Mathematical modelling of pressurized fluidized bed systems — simulation of a combined cycle power plant, Recent Prog. Genies et Procedes 14 (2000) (76), pp. 559–567.

[9] O. Takahira et al., Development of dynamic simulator to analyse pressurised fluidized-bed combustion combined-cycle power plants, IHI Eng. Rev. 30 (1997) (3), pp. 79–85.

[10] Y. Huang, J.T. McMullan, D. McIlveen-Wright and S. McCahey, Emissions reduction by co-firing biomass or waste with coal in a pressurized fluidised bed combustion combined cycle power plant, Proceedings of the International Conference on New and Renewable Energy Technologies for Sustainable Development – Renewables 2004, 28 June – 1 July 2004, Evora, Portugal (2004) Paper 1.4.

[11] Lars Storm Pedersen et al., Full-scale co-firing of straw and coal, Fuel 75 (1996) (13), pp. 1584–1590. Article | PDF (944 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (41)

[12] B.C. Willams and J.T. McMullan, Development of computer models for the simulation of coal liquefaction processes. In: Imariso and Bemtgen, Editors, Progress in Synthetic Fuels, Graham and Trotman, London (1988), pp. 183–189.

[13] B.C. Williams and J.T. McMullan, Techno-economic analysis of fuel conversion and power generation systems — the development of a portable chemical process simulator with capital cost and economic performance analysis capabilities, Int. J. Energy Res. 20 (1996), pp. 125–142. Full Text via CrossRef | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (25)

[14] Dirk Veenhuaizen, Private Communication, September, 1999.

[15] Seven A. Jansson and Jim Anderson, Progress of ABB's PFBC Projects, The 15th International Conference on Fluidised Bed Combustion, Savannal, Georgia, USA (1999).

[16] Ove Gustasson, PFBC for Combined Heat and Power Generation, Fernwärme International-FWI vol. Jg. 22 (1993), pp. 210–217.

[17] Jim and Lynne Anderson, PFBC: competitive power with minimal environmental impact, Practical Experience. IChE Conference November 3–4, London UK (1997).

[18] Y. Huang, J.T. McMullan and B.C. Williams, Influences of coal type on the performance of a pressurised fluidised bed combustion power plant, Fuel 79 (2000) (13), pp. 1595–1601. Article | PDF (117 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (7)

[19] Advanced Electric Power Generation Fluidized Bed Combustion, http://www.lanl.gov/projects/cctc/factsheets/tidd/tidddemo.

[20] W.F. Podolski et al., Pressurised Fluidised Bed Combustion Technology, NOYES Data Corporation, New Jersey USA (1983).

[21] Council Directive 2001/80/EU, on “the limitations of emissions of certain pollutants into the air from large combustion plants”, Official Journal of the European Communities, L309, 27th November 2001.

[22] P. Thornley and Y. Huang, Extended life cycle analysis of bioenergy plant, Proceedings of the 2005 World Renewable Energy Congress, Aberdeen, UK, May (2005).

[23] http://www.ecn.nl/phyllis/single, National Renewable Energy Laboratoy (USA) report.

[24] http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/powersystems/publications/Clean_Coal_Topical_Reports/topical1.pdf, Tidd: The Nation's First PFBC Combined Cycle Demonstration.

[25] http://www.ms.ornl.gov/researchgroups/corrosion/staff/pdf/IGW-0414.pdf., Materials Issues in Bubbling PFBC Systems, I.G. Wright, J. Stringer and J.M. Wheeldon.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Biomass co-firing in a pressurized fluidized bed combustion (PFBC) combined cycle power plant: A techno-environmental assessment based on computational simulations'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this