Development of fluidized bed combustion and its application in power plants

Other conference contribution, 2006

Boilers using fluidized bed combustion (FBC) increase in number and capacity all over the world. New developments of FBC aim at building high-efficiency plants in larger sizes, intended for electric utility operation. Past and present boilers are built in sizes of less than a few hundred MW for industrial use, in many cases operated with difficult fuels or biomass and waste. There is a longer experience with these smaller boilers and the related development is focused on the properties of the fuels and their impact on boiler operation. For the future larger boilers intended for electric utilities, scale-up in size and enhancement of efficiency are the most important features of development. Enhancement of efficiency is achieved by choosing very high supercritical steam data combined with the introduction of Benson-type of steam-water flow. The aim is to compete with highly developed and efficient pulverized coal boilers.