LAUSR

Coal and biomass co-combustion in existing utility boilers is a promising option of mitigating the fossil energy crisis and reducing the gaseous emissions of NOx, SOx, and CO2. However, ash-related problems including fouling, slagging, and corrosion cause damage to heat exchange tube and reduce boiler efficiency. In an attempt to give better insights into slagging behavior during coal/biomass combustion, an experimental investigation was conducted to study the growth of slag when coal was co-fired with wood and corn stalk in a 300 kW pilot-scale furnace. For comparison, combustion of pure coal was also conducted. During the experiments, biomass proportions of 5% and 10% by weight were examined. Slags formed on an oil-cooled deposition probe were collected, sampled and analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Change in slag thickness with time was obtained by a CCD monitoring system. With two thermocouples in the probe, the heat flux through the slag could be measured....