Combustion of bark and wood waste in the fluidized bed boiler

In the Energy Development Strategy of Russia for the Period until 2035, special attention is paid to increased use of local fuel kinds—one of which is biofuel, in particular, bark and wood waste (BWW)— whose application at thermal power plants in Russia has been not developed due to the lack of appropriate technologies mastered by domestic energy mechanical engineering. The article describes the experience of BWW combustion in fluidized bed boilers installed on the energy objects of northern European countries. Based on this, reference points were defined (it is the section of boiler air-gas path where initially the approximate temperatures are set), making it possible to carry out a thermal design of a boiler and ensure its operation reliability. Permissible gas temperature at the furnace outlet at BWW combustion amounted to 950–1000°C. Exit gas temperature, depending on the implementation of special measures on protection of air heater from corrosion, amounted to 140–190°C. Recommended hot air temperature is within the range of 200–250°C. Recommendations for determining the boiler furnace dimensions are presented. Based on the presented reference temperatures in the main reference points, the thermal design of hot water boiler of KV-F-116-150 type with 116 MW capacity was carried out. The analysis of the results and comparison of designed boiler characteristics with operating energy boilers, in which a fuel is burned in a fluidized bed, were carried out. It is shown that, with increasing the boiler capacity, the ratio of its heating power Q to the crosssectional area of furnace chamber F rises. For power-generating boiler of thermal capacity of 100 MW, the ratio is within 1.8–2.2MW/m². The boiler efficiency exceeds 90% in the range of changes of exit gas temperature typical for such equipment.