Technical advances and new opportunities for fluidized bed combustion

This paper outlines opportunities for new circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers, technical considerations in selecting a fluidized bed boiler, and CFB boiler configuration types and sizes. New opportunities for CFBs include fuel opportunities from coke, mine mouth coals, and waste products, and boiler application opportunities in industrial cogeneration, repowering, and developing nations. Technical considerations discussed for boiler selection are fuel flexibility and environmental aspects. Three boiler configurations are briefly described: (1) water-cooled cyclone with water-cooled loopseal, (2) integral cylindrical cyclone and loopseal, and (3) Cylindrical multi-inlet cyclone. CFB scale-up is also briefly discussed. 3 refs., 3 figs.