Prospects of Fluidized Bed Combustion in Power Generation

Power plays a great role in our daily life aiding in diverse activities such as industry, agriculture, transport etc. Power provides our homes with light and heat. The living standard and prosperity of a nation vary directly with increase in use of power. In short, “Power is the power of a nation”. As Technology advances, the consumption of power is steadily increasing. This necessitates two main options for the scientific community. They are: 1. Search for new sources of energy. 2. Devise new and effective ways of producing energy. A new and efficient method of utilization of energy should satisfy the following conditions: 1. It should be technologically feasible for usage in varying conditions. 2. It should be economically viable. 3. It should show a marked increase in performance over the systems currently under use. 4. It should be reliable and flexible. Since the advent of industrialization coal has been the most predominant form of fuel under use and will probably remain so for a few more decades to come. The whole world depends heavily on the energy obtained from coal. The known reserves of coal, a fossil fuel may not last forever. Hence the imperative to develop efficient methods of burning coal, thus decreasing fuel wastage and various losses associated with the other systems of burning coal. Fluidized Bed Combustion (FBC) has attracted international attention as an alternative coal fired technology for the future. In addition to its potential advantages in the area of boiler performance and pollution control, it also provides considerable fuel flexibility. This has opened doors to the use of unconventional fuels which otherwise would not have been possible to be utilized for steam generation. Amongst these are high ash and high sulfur coals that are abundantly available throughout the world. This report covers the operating experience at the Power Block of Coastal Papers Ltd., a member company of the AP Paper Mills Ltd., India during the period Jan 2001 and June 2001 on the 36 t/h atmospheric fluidized bed boiler supplied by M/S Cethar Vessels Ltd., India. This report covers the details the boiler setup, water treatment, boiler operation, turbo generator, and the various plant characteristics. India has an estimated 112 billion tones of coal reserves and 40% of it contains more than 32% ash. The state of Bihar has around 1185 million tones of low volatile coal and the state of Assam has about 2500 million tones of high sulphur coal.