Chemical Engineering Science 54 (1999) 5565}5571

Next generation CFBC

S. Rajaram
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Tiruchirapalli, India

Abstract

CFBC boiler can utilise all grades of coal and lignites in an e$cient and environmentally clean way. Its development was initiated
in the mid 1970s and several CFBC boilers have been installed worldwide. The largest in operation is a 250 MW plant at Gardanne,
France. CFBC designs with lower auxiliary power, lower refractory content, more appropriate support systems and with super critical
steam pressures are being evolved to optimize overall costs. Future generation of power from coal is expected to be from Integrated
Gasi"cation Combined Cycle plants based on Circulating Fluidised Bed Combustion and gasi"cation.  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd.
All rights reserved.

Keywords: CFBC; Coals; Lignites; Super-critical CFBC; CFBC based combined cycle plants; IGCC

1. Introduction
Coal has re-emerged as a major energy source for
power generation after having played a subsidiary role to
oil during the mid 20th century. Today about 40% of all
world electricity is generated from coal, almost double
that of its nearest competitor, namely hydro (Table 1).
World coal production was about 4630 million tonnes in
1996 (Table 2); therefore, coal is the most important fuel
source for electricity generation in the world today and
would also continue to dominate the power station fuel
scenario in the foreseeable future. In Asia, coal's share of
the total electricity production rose from 26% in 1980 to
42% in 1992 and is projected to increase to about 54%
by 2010. However, realising electric power from coal in
an e$cient and environmentally clean way has remained
the biggest challenge that nature has imposed on man-
kind. Circulating #uidised-bed combustion (CFBC)
technology is probably the best solution reached com-
mercially to this challenge posed by nature. CFBC
e!ectively utilises all grades of coal in an environmentally
clean and e$cient way and is therefore expected to out-
last conventional coal burning technologies for power
production. Most coals available in the US have moder-
ate to high sulphur in them and require expensive add-on
gas cleaning equipment to contain SO when utilised in
V
conventional pulverised fuel (PF) "red boilers. CFBC
with its unique in situ SO capturing ability (by the
V
addition of a sorbent like limestone along with coal) has
been able to utilise these coal e!ectively. Although coal in
India have low sulphur, their high ('45%) ash content
causes operational and maintenance problems like coal
mill outages, #ame stabilisation problems at lower loads
and erosion when used in PF boilers.
CFBC technology holds a great promise for these
high-ash coals since it does not require pulverisation of
the fuel but only crushing, the required ignition energy is
provided at all loads by the huge solids inventory in the
CFB combustor and the ash can be handled dry.
Petroleum coke, a solid residue from oil re"neries
which have installed coking units to improve the pro"t-
ability of the re"ning process, is gaining increasing
acceptance as an alternate fuel (Dallas, 1997). Its charac-
teristics include low volatile content, high sulphur
(4}8%), very low ash (containing metallic compounds)
and very high heat value (about 6000 kcal/kg). Conven-
tional boilers primarily require add-on desulphurisation
equipment that are very expensive and also experience
fouling and corrosion of heat transfer surfaces. However,
a CFB boiler * with its inherent capability to absorb
SO in situ along with the combustion process by the

addition of limestone with the fuel, contain NO to very
V
low levels because of lower combustion temperature and
also due to staging the combustion air * can utilise
Petroleum Coke in a very e$cient and environmentally
clean way.
The total lignite production is 1000 million tonnes in
the world today (Table 3). Lignite is a young coal which
has undergone less coali"cation than bituminous coal
and anthracite. These are characterised by their high

0009-2509/99/$ - see front matter  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 0 9 - 2 5 0 9 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 2 8 8 - 2
5566 S. Rajaram / Chemical Engineering Science 54 (1999) 5565}5571

Table 1 moisture (35}70%) and oxygen contents and their low

World electricity generation in 1988 calori"c value just about half of bituminous coals). Some
of the lignites found in Australia, China, Germany, USA
Fuel Trillion Wh (%)
(Texas), the erstwhile Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and in
Coal 4287 39 the Gujarat region of India have moderate to high sul-
Oil 1271 12 phur in them. As mentioned above, their e!ective utilis-
Gas 1394 13 ation in PF boilers would require very expensive add-on
Hydro, etc. 2182 20 #ue gas conditioning systems while CFB boilers with
Nuclear 1891 17
their in situ SO capturing capability make utilisation of
V
Total 11025 100 these fuels techno-economically very attractive.
CFBC technology can thus utilise a wide range of fuels
Note. Extracted from IEA coal research report. and is therefore quite di!erent from the other coal utilis-
ation technologies such as PF "ring. CFBC can e!ec-
Table 2 tively burn almost all combustible materials * not only
Major coal producing countries * 1996 any type of coal and lignite but also coal washery wastes,
anthracite culm, and other industrial wastes.
Country Production
(million tonnes)

Total coal Hard coal 2. The CFBC boiler system * a description

China 1375 1330 Combustion in a CFB boiler takes place in a vertical

USA 959 878 chamber called the combustor amidst "ne grained solids
India 296 271 suspended in an upward #owing stream of gas.
Russia 255 163
Australia 249 195 The gas is generated by a fuel combustion while intro-
Germany 240 53 ducing about 40}50% of the total air as primary air
South Africa 208 208 through an air distributor at the bottom of the combus-
Poland 202 138 tor and the remaining as secondary air into lower/middle
Kazakhastan 79 75 sections of the combustor to e!ect complete and staged
Canada 76 40
Others 692 309 combustion.
The fuel and sorbent (e.g. limestone, if required) are fed
World 4630 3660 into the combustor without requiring any costly fuel
preparation/distribution system, #uidised and burned at
Sub-bituminous, bituminous, anthracite. temperatures of about 8503C. The sorbent reacts with the
Extracted from IEA coal research report.
sulphur dioxide released from burning the sulphur in fuel,
to form calcium sulphate (gypsum). Due to the "ne par-
Table 3 ticle size of the solids and the high gas velocities in the
Lignite resources and use combustor, a considerable portion of the solids are en-
trained and separated from the #ue gas in one or more
Country Proved Recent Power
recoverable annual prod generation recycling cyclones and are continuously returned to the
(million (million (million combustor via a recycle loop, while the gases exit to
tonnes) tonnes) tonnes) a convection backpass to be cooled and then cleaned and
exhausted to the stack as in conventional boilers.
Australia 36,200 35 33 CFBC boilers can be broadly classi"ed, depending on
Bulgaria 3,700 32 23.5
Canada 2,418 10 9.2 the arrangement of the heat transfer surfaces and the
China 126,500 30 22 hydrodynamics in the combustor, into the following:
Czech 2,860 103 55
FRG 35,150 127 107 E heat transfer surfaces immersed in the combustor *
GDR 21,000 296 188 typi"ed by Ahlstrom pyropower (now Foster Wheeler)
Greece 3,000 32.5 31.5
Hungary 2,883 7.1 5.6 E external #uidised * bed heat exchanger (FBHE) *
India 1,581 7.7 6.9 typi"ed by Lurgi.
Poland 14,400 50.4 49.3
Turkey 4,763 22 12.4 A typical Ahlstrom pyropower CFBC (Fig. 1) boiler has
US 32,709 57 53.5 a combustor in which the heat transfer surfaces are
USSR 94,500 122 76.8
Yugoslavia 15,000 65 65 located in the upper region where heat is absorbed. These
surfaces have tubes of special construction to face the sti!
Note. Extracted from IEA coal research report. combustor environment. The heat in the hot #ue gas
 S. Rajaram / Chemical Engineering Science 54 (1999) 5565}5571 5567

Fig. 1. Ahlstrom/FW CFBC arrangement. Fig. 2. Lurgi CFBC arrangement.

Fig. 4. DBW CFBC arrangement.

Fig. 3. B and W CFBC arrangement.

leaving the high-temperature cyclone is recovered further
by a convection pass containing the usual superheater,
economiser and airheater surfaces.
In the Lurgi CFBC boiler (Fig. 2) a mechanical Spiess
Valve located on the recycle loops permits a controlled
amount of solids to be passed through external #uid-bed
heat exchangers (FBHE) containing portions of SH/
RH/evaporator surfaces that cool the solids before they
are returned back to the combustor. FBHE helps separ-
ate fuel combustion from primary loop (combustor,
5568 S. Rajaram / Chemical Engineering Science 54 (1999) 5565}5571
cyclone, seal pot, FBHE) heat transfer, thereby enabling
the combustor to be maintained at an optimum combus-
tion conditions over wide load ranges and for fuels with
widely varying qualities. Consequently, the combustion
e$ciency increases and the limestone consumption also
reduces.
Although Foster Wheeler/Ahlstrom pyropower CFBC
and the Lurgi CFBC have the majority of the CFBC
market share, other types of CFBC with various design
features have been developed and are commercially
available.
Some typically di!erent CFB designs from the ones
described above are Babcock and Wilcox's Internally
Recirculating CFB design (featuring Studsvik's CFB pro-
cess) (Fig. 3) with U-Beam separator for primary particle
separation, Deutche Babcock and Wilcox's Circo#uid
design with low gas velocities with superheater tube
bundles arrayed in the upper combustor section (Fig. 4),
and with gas/solid temperature leaving the combustor at
300}5003C to relatively cold cyclones.
3. The present CFBC
Development of CFBC boiler technology was initiated
in the mid 1970s and it gradually increased its share in
the world FBC boiler market in the 1980s. This was due
to its advantages over bubbling FBC, e.g., better combus-
tion e$ciency, fewer fuel feed points and therefore
simpler fuel feed system, lower limestone requirement,
lower NO emissions, due to longer gas}solid contact
V
time. The "rst utility size CFB boiler in the world
of 96 MWe capacity with reheat was started up at
Stadtwerke Duisburg, Germany in September 1985 by
Lurgi. The unit was designed to generate 270 t/h, 145 bar,
5353C of SH steam and 230 t/h, 34 bar, 5353C of RH
steam while "ring coal with 20% ash and 1.5% sulphur.
Several CFB units have been installed in this capacity
range, which include 2;175 MWe CFBC plant at Texas,
New Mexico, USA by ABB-CE/Lurgi and 165 MWe
Point Aconi Plant at Nova Scotia, Canada, by Pyro-
power which are in operation for several years, all meet-
ing the design parameters and sometimes even exceeding
them. The largest CFB unit in operation is the 250 MWe
Provence/Gardanne unit installed in France by GEC
Alstrom-Stein Industrie of Lurgi design which has been
in commercial operation since April 1996 (Pierre Lucor
et al., 1997). It is designed to burn sub-bituminous Gar-
danne Coal with about 3.8% sulphur.
In India, BHEL Trichy, a leading utility boiler manu-
facturer, sensing the rapid increase in FBC capacity
demanded by the market, entered into a technical collab-
oration for CFB boilers with Lurgi Lentjes Babcock of
Germany. The "rst CFB boiler of 175 t/h, 105 ata, 5253C
was contracted to M/S Sinarmas Pulp and Paper (India)
Limited, Poona for burning coal. The unit was commis-
sioned in March 1998 and has been in operation for over
2500 h on oil. Coal "ring has just begun and the operat-
ing results are very encouraging.
Gujarat Industries Power Company Ltd (GIPCL)
placed an order on BHEL for 2;125 MWe power plant
to be located in Mangrol, Surat to burn Gujarat Lignite
with a maximum sulphur of 2.5%. Two CFB boilers
rated at 390 t/h, 132 ata, 5403C of SH steam and 350 t/h,
32.5 ata, 5403C of RH steam each are nearing completion
of construction. The units are expected to commence
operation by early 1999.
4. The future CFBC
Although present CFBC boiler costs are quite com-
petitive as compared to PF boilers while using medium/
high sulphur coals warranting add-on emission control
equipment, certain design areas of CFBC boilers still need
re"nement to outlast the conventional counterparts.
E The present boiler e$ciency levels of CFBC and PF
units are comparable. Considering the feasibility to
absorb SO in situ, CFBC boilers can be designed for
V
lower (10}153C) exit-gas temperatures thereby im-
proving the e$ciency (by 1}1.5%). Although the
CFBC boiler auxiliary power compares favourably
with that of PF boilers with add-on emission systems,
it is more by about 10}40% without these systems.
This is because of the increased power consumed by
the PA and SA fans of CFBC boilers, although the coal
mills o!set it considerably (Table 4).
E!orts to reduce the power consumption of the PA
and SA fans by optimising combustor parameters like
height, velocity and particle size would have to be
examined to push the CFBC technology ahead of PF
boilers.
E Refractory applied in the lower combustor, cyclone
and recycle systems is another area which increases
CBFC boiler installation and maintenance costs be-
sides restricting start-up and shut-down periods. De-
signs are already being evolved (like compact CFB) to
Table 4
Comparison of auxiliary power (kW) for a typical 210 MWe (estimated)
plant
Equipment PF CFBC
PA fan 967 3670
SA fan 580 1220
Ball mills 3220 *
Coal feed * 108
Others incld. Blowers 2462 3193
Total 7229 8191
 S. Rajaram / Chemical Engineering Science 54 (1999) 5565}5571 5569

Table 5
Present range of gaseous emissions

Country SO ppm(v) NO ppm(v)

 V
New Existing New Existing

Australia * * 260}420
*
Canada 250
* 356
*
Czech Rep Slovakia 175}875 175}875 320 320
European Union 140}700 * 320}635 *
France 140}700 140}700 320}635 320}635
Germany 140}700 140}700 100}195 100}640
Korea 700}1200 250}1200 355 355
Netherlands 70}245 140 50}320 320}540
Poland 190}615 235}1455 45}225 45}655
Sweden 55}190 55}320 40}265 65}265
UK 140}1050 700}1050 245}320 245}320
USA 260}520 520 340}480 270}300

Also based on annual totals.

Guidelines.
Extracted from IEA coal research report 1994.

drastically reduce the refractory content by integrating
these into the boiler steam/water circuits. This also
improves their structural rigidity and eliminates many
expansion joints on their interconnections with the
combustor. E!orts are also underway to develop ap-
propriate refractories that are abrasion resistant and
with high conductivity (to facilitate heat transfer to
enclosing membrane water walls) requiring least main-
tenance so that cost-e!ective, maintenance-free CFBC
designs can be o!ered.
E Considering the large weight of bed material and the
refractory in the lower combustor, CFBC designs with
a combination (top and bottom) of support points
have been evolved. But this leads to the inclusion of
a large number of expansion joints between the com-
bustor and its connected systems besides increasing
the erection time. CFBC designs with appropriate
boiler support systems that can optimise on overall
costs are also being evolved.
E The present gaseous emission levels (Table 5) are ex-
pected to be further reduced, neccesciating design up-
dating. Although su$cient work has already been
done in determining the mechanism of SO capture,
V
the sorbent's (limestone) interaction with NO reduc-
V
tion is still under scrutiny. Further reduction of NO
V
levels by optimally sizing the lower combustor region,
improving the secondary air admission system to-
gether with spraying of NO absorbents in the upper
V
combustor are being examined.
CFBC design development has reached a mature stage.
However, constant review on the cycles adopted for con-
version of coal to power are continuously made. Some of
them are presented in the following two paragraphs:
4.1. Super critical CFB design
Super critical CFB design improves plant e$ciencies
thereby reducing operating (fuel) costs of the plant. Once
through PF "red steam generators designed for super
critical steam conditions (241 bar/5383C) also capable of
cyclic variable pressure duty, have been available in the
last decade. Adoption of these steam cycles for CFB
boiler based power plants appears feasible, especially
considering the following inherent advantageous features
of the CFB combustion process (Skowyra et al., 1995):
E Low heat yux: The plan area of a CFB combustor is
larger than a PF boiler of equivalent rating. This
results in a lower heat input/plan area or lower heat
#ux. The average net heat input/plan area (NHI/PA)
for a typical CFB boiler is about one third that of the
PF boiler.
E Heat yux proxle: In a CFB combustor the solids den-
sity and therefore heat transfer rate is maximum at the
bottom of the combustor and decreases gradually with
increase in combustor height. The peak heat #ux is
therefore near the bottom of the combustor, where
however, the #uid temperature is the lowest as it just
enters the combustor at this place.
E This situation therefore creates a very favourable con-
dition from wall metal temperature considerations.
Moreover, in addition to the lower temperature faced
in the combustor as compared to PF boiler, the tem-
peratures are also uniform along the height of the
combustor.
E Cleaner combustor wall: Due to lower combustion
temperatures, the ash does not fuse, and there are no
ash deposits on the combustor walls. Due to the
5570 S. Rajaram / Chemical Engineering Science 54 (1999) 5565}5571
Fig. 5. First generation IGCC plant schematic.
cleaner walls the heat absorption is nearly uniform.
The heat absorption patterns change little laterally
with load, and tends to become compressed vertically
due to lower velocities, at part loads.
Developing CFB boiler design for super critical condi-
tion therefore becomes more attractive.
4.2. CFB-based combined cycle plants
The liberal allotment of oil/gas/naptha, lower capital
costs, shorter installation schedules and higher cycle ef-
"ciencies are resulting in a sudden increase in premium
fuel-based combined cycle power plants. Considering
that these premium fuels are not expected to last beyond
a few decades these combined cycle plants would have to
depend on coal as its fuel. Integrated gasi"cation com-
bined cycle (IGCC) power plant based on pressurised
CFB combustion and gasi"cation are therefore expected
to be the future electric power generation technologies
from coal. BHEL through its in-house R and D e!orts
have already commissioned a 6 MW combined cycle
power plant based on coal with a pressurised #uidised-
bed gasi"er of the bubbling bed type.
The schematic of the "rst generation IGCC plant with
a pressurised CFB combustor is given in Fig. 5. Coal and
sorbent are introduced into the pressurised CFB com-
bustor, which is fed by air from the GT compressor. The
solids are separated in a primary cyclone, and returned to
the combustor after cooling a part of these in the FBHE.
The #ue gas at about 8503C is cleaned in special "lters
before admission into the gas turbine (GT) for expansion
and power generation. A heat recovery steam generator
(HRSG) located at the back end of the GT cools the gas
by producing steam which is further heated in the FBHE
of the CFB boiler, before expansion in the steam turbine
to complete the combined cycle power plant.
Advanced IGCC plants based on integrated CFB gasi-
"cation and combustion is given in Fig. 6. Fuel and
sorbent are admitted in a carbonisor along with air from
the GT compressor, volatiles in the fuel are liberated in
a controlled atmosphere, to produce fuel gas which after
cleaning in a "ler is burnt in a topping combustor before
admission into the GT for expansion. The residual char
from the carboniser is tapped o! to a pressurised CFB
combustor where it is burnt along with air from the
GT compressor. The primary loop of the CFB boiler
collects the solids in a cyclone and these are recirculated
back into the combustor via FBHE. The hot gases leav-
ing the cyclone are further cleaned before admission to
the topping combustor and GT for expansion. A heat
recovery steam generator recovers heat from the GT
exhaust, as already explained, for expansion in a steam
turbine generator and completing the combined cycle
plant. These advanced combined cycle plants together
with advanced gas turbines with steam-cooled rotor
blades are expected to be the future power generation
technologies based on coal with overall e$ciencies ex-
ceeding 50%.
 S. Rajaram / Chemical Engineering Science 54 (1999) 5565}5571
Fig. 6. Advanced IGCC plant schematic.
5. Conclusion
Coal is expected to outlast its fossil counterparts as
a fuel source for electric power generation due to its
abundance. However, its utilisation has placed innumer-
able challenges in its e$cient and environmentally
friendly utilisation for power generation. CFB boiler
technology o!ers a unique solution for coal conversion
to electric power. The successful commercial operation of
the Provence 250 MWe CFBC-based power plant at
Gardanne, France has demonstrated its entry into the
large size utility market. Looking further ahead into the
next century, CFBC-based Combined Cycle Power plant
utilising coal is expected to be the ultimate solution to
electricity production from coal.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the management of BHEL
for having given permission to publish this paper and to
the colleagues in his group for their assistance.
5571
References
IEA coal research reports: Lignite resources and characteristics; De-
cember 1988.
IEA coal research reports: Power station coal use: Prospects to 2000;
October 1991.
IEA coal research reports: Major coal xelds of the world; January 1993.
IEA coal research reports: Environmental performance of coal xred FBC;
November 1994.
IEA coal research reports: Coal prospects in India } perspectives; Octo-
ber 1997.
Dallas, W. T. et al. (1997). An update of operating experiences burning
petroleum Coke in a utility scale CFB } The NISCO Co generation
project. International Conference on FBC * ASME.
Pierre Lucor et al. (1997). Large CFB boilers: With Provence/gardanne
start-up. (This novel technology has now passed the 250 MWe
mark). International Conference, Green Power * the need for the 21st
Century.
Skowyra, R.S. et al. (1995). Design of super critical sliding pressure
circulating #uidised-bed boiler with vertical water walls. Interna-
tional Conference on FBC * ASME.