Dependence of Sulphur Capture Performance on Air Staging in a 12 MW Circulating Fluidised Bed Boiler

Book chapter, 1993

Three cases of air staging were examined in a 12 MW circulating fluidised bed boiler: i) no staging, ii} normal staging and iii) intensified staging. The conditions inside the combustion chamber were investigated by zirconia cell measurements of the oxygen partial pressure, 0.35, 0.65 and 8 m above the bottom air distributor plate. A significant effect of the degree of staging was seen in the two lower locations: At 0.65 m height the fraction of time under substoichiometric conditions was low in the no-staging case (2-35%), at normal staging it was 70-90%, whereas at intensified staging it was 100Y.. At 0.35 m height, i.e. in the dense bed, a similar effect was seen, although the fraction of time under reducing conditions was lower. The fraction of time under reducing conditions was low in the top of the combustion chamber in all three cases . The increase in the fraction of time under reducing conditions with a higher degree of staging is associated with a decrease in sulphur capture. It is assumed that a release of SO2 from CaSO4 takes place during the transitions between oxidising and reducing conditions. Thus, the rapid alternations between oxidising and reducing conditions, as seen with the zirconia cell, offer an explanation of the reductive decomposition and, accordingly, of the dependence of sulphur capture on temperature and on the extent of staging.