Circulating Fluidized Bed Technology

for Large Scale Power Generation
Using Coal and Petroleum Coke

Timo Jäntti
Kalle Nuortimo
Foster Wheeler Energia Oy
Finland

Presented at Russia Power

Moscow, Russia
March 5-7, 2012
Abstract

Based on some estimates global consumption of coal in 2030 is projected to be about the
same as today. Coal consumption is increasing strongly in China, India and South-East Asia.
In Europe coal consumption is estimated to not grow but still about 170GW of new power
generation capacity based on fossil fuels will have to be installed by 2020. There is also a
growing interest towards firing petroleum coke and other refinery byproducts to produce
steam with high efficiency and availability in CFB boilers. Efficiency and environmental
performance, especially CO2 emissions will be one of the key issues to consider when
planning the new capacity.

The proven high efficiency circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) technology offers good solutions
for high efficiency electricity production and CO2 reduction. Foster Wheeler is the world’s
leading supplier of high-efficiency, low-emission circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers for
coal and petroleum coke firing. First high efficiency CFB power plants to utilize the
supercritical steam parameters in coal firing with once-though steam cycle technology are
Lagisza, 460MWe in Poland, and Nocherkasskaya, 330 MWe Russia. As a next step, Foster
Wheeler has been given a full notice to proceed by Hyundai Engineering and Construction
for the design and supply of four 550 MWe (gross megawatt electric) supercritical circulating
fluidized-bed (CFB) steam generators for the Samcheok Green Power Project for Korea
Southern Power Co., Ltd. (KOSPO). For petroleum coke firing, commercial scale of 300
MWe is achieved with 2 x 300 MWe and 2 x 330 MWe –references in USA. Latest European
deliveries include 100 MWe Deven JSCo in Bulgaria and 70 MWe Lukoil Energy & Gas in
Romania s.r.l.. These CFB boilers are now in commercial operation. Furthermore, Foster
Wheeler has developed its CFB technology to commercially offer the 600 - 800 MWe size,
with a net efficiency of about 45 %(LHV).

INTRODUCTION

The target for high efficiency in modern power plants is set not only because of economical
reasons but also for enhanced environmental performance in terms of reduced fuel needs,
quantity of ash generated and pollutants emitted. Cutting CO2 emission has become
increasingly important after the Kyoto Protocol and European Union emission trading. As
coal will remain an important source of energy, the focus has been set to improve the
efficiency of coal fired power plants. To achieve this goal, supercritical steam parameters
have been applied. Most large European thermal power plants built for fossil fuels such as
coal and brown coal over the last decade have had supercritical steam parameters and have
been based on pulverized coal (PC) fired once-through boiler technology. Circulating
Fluidized Bed (CFB) boiler technology has been growing in size and number over the past
three decades and it has established its position as utility scale boiler technology. Plant sizes
up to 460 MWe are in commercial operation today, including the 460 MWe Łagisza CFB
plant with supercritical steam parameters.

When the Łagisza power plant began commercial operations in late June 2009, it marked a
new era in the evolution of circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology. At the heart of the
460 megawatt electric (MWe) Łagisza power plant is the world’s largest CFB boiler, which is
also the world’s first once-through unit (OTU) supercritical CFB boiler. Large enough to
produce electricity at utility scale, the Łagisza plant has met or exceeded all emissions and
performance expectations since coming online. Figure 1 is a picture of the plant, located in
the Katowice area of southern Poland.

Figure 1 - Łagisza Power Plant

The adoption of the Kyoto Protocol for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has
increased the urgency of reducing CO2 emissions in fossil fuel power plants. Since coal will
remain an important source of energy, the focus has been on improving the efficiency and
environmental performance of new or repowered older coal-fired power plants. Foster
Wheeler addresses this need with its proven CFB boiler technology, a clean-coal platform
with a unique low-temperature combustion process that cleanly and efficiently burns both
traditional fuels and carbon-neutral fuels. Originally developed more than 30 years ago, CFB
boilers have maintained a market leadership position through ongoing technical innovation.
The Lagisza CFB produces electricity at an efficiency level well above that of typical coal
plants. The unit incorporates a number of advanced design features such as compact solid
separators, INTREX™ super heaters, and low-temperature flue-gas heat recovery that
captures valuable heat that would otherwise be lost.

The unit incorporates also – for the first time ever in any CFB – highly efficient BENSON
vertical once-through technology developed and licensed by Siemens AG, Germany. Foster
Wheeler’s CFB technology with its low and uniform furnace heat flux is very well suited for
the BENSON technology. The once through (OTU) supercritical CFB unit combines high
plant efficiency with the well-known benefits of CFB technology, such as superior fuel
flexibility, inherently low emissions and high availability. Since all emission requirements
can be met without the need for wet desulfurization and selective catalytic reduction (SCR)
systems, total plant investment cost was lower for a CFB boiler, compared to the traditional
pulverized coal (PC) alternative also investigated for the Łagisza plant. In addition, plant
efficiency has increased from about 35 percent to nearly 44 percent based on the fuel’s lower
heating value (LHV). Compared to the original plant, nitrogen oxide (NOx) has been
reduced by 71 percent and CO2 by 28 percent due to the CFB repowering. The gaseous
emissions from the plant meets the requirements of the new European Union Large
Combustion Plant Directive (LCP), Table 1.

Table 1 Emission limits

Emission (6% O2, dry) mg/m3n

SO2 200
NOx 200
Particulates 30
The Łagisza plant, owned by Polish utility company Południowy Koncern Energetyczny SA
(PKE), replaced old power blocks of the existing 1960’s-era Łagisza Power Plant. The
existing blocks consisted of seven units (110-125 MWe each). The new boiler is located
adjacent to the old boilers and many of existing plant systems like coal handling and water
treatment have been renovated and utilized for the new CFB unit.

The PKE Łagisza CFB boiler design

The boiler design for Łagisza plant is based on well proven Foster Wheeler CFB –
technology. It utilizes the experience of over 350 reference units.

The fuel data is shown in Table 2. The main fuel for the boiler is bituminous coal. The fuel is
sourced from 10 local coal mines with wide range of coal parameters, proving once more the
fuel flexibility of the CFB technology.

Table 2 Fuel specification

Bituminous Coal
Design fuel Range
LHV (a.r.) MJ/kg 20 18 – 23
Moisture % 12 6 – 23
Ash (a.r.) % 23 10 – 25
Sulfur (a.r.) % 1.4 0.6-1.4
Chlorine (dry.) % < 0.4 < 0.4
a.r. = as received

The steam parameters for the boiler were specified by the PKE. The selected steam pressure
and temperature are proven in other supercritical units and conventional boiler steel materials
can be used. Table 3 presents main design steam parameters of this 460 MWe CFB boiler.

Table 3 Design Steam parameters at 100 % load

SH flow kg/s 361

SH pressure MPa 27.5
SH temperature °C 560
 RH flow kg/s 306
RH pressure MPa 5.48
Cold RH temperature °C 315
Hot RH temperature °C 580
Feed water temperature °C 290

The plant net efficiency is naturally dictated by the selected steam parameters, steam cycle
configuration, cooling tower conditions and boiler efficiency. In Łagisza design the boiler
efficiency is improved by flue gas heat recovery system, which cools the flue gases down to
85 °C thus improving the plant net efficiency. The calculated LHV net plant efficiency for
Łagisza is 43.3 % and net power output is 439 MWe.

Figure 2 Steam circuitry

In the Łagisza CFB boiler, the feed water enters the boiler at a temperature of 290 °C for
preheating in a bare tube economizer (Figure 2). Water is then fed to the enclosure walls of
the INTREX™ fluidized bed heat exchangers and further to the distribution headers of the
evaporator (furnace) walls. The water is heated in the evaporator wall tubes, and dry steam
exits at the evaporator outlet. As the boiler operates in sliding pressure mode, dry-out will
occur in the subcritical region, as in all once-through designs, at a certain elevation of the
evaporator, causing a reduced internal heat transfer coefficient and locally increased tube and
fin temperatures. In CFB boilers, the furnace heat flux is considerably lower than in PC
boilers, and the highest heat flux occurs in the lower furnace, where water is always sub-
cooled.

From the flue gas side, Łagisza’s furnace design is based on extensive analysis of all the fuels
and limestones that are going to be used. These have given the required data for the design
models to make predictions for circulating material particle size distribution, solids densities
and finally the heat transfer with gas temperatures. The design resulted with a furnace cross
section of 27.6 x 10.6 m and height of 48.0 m. The Łagisza CFB boiler is presented in figure
3.

Figure 3 Łagisza CFB Boiler Design

A single fluidizing grid is utilized in the bottom of the furnace under which there are separate
air plenums introducing primary air to furnace. The primary air flow for these air plenums is
measured and controlled separately to insure equal air flow to all sections of the grid and
uniform fluidization. The single continuous fluidizing grid ensures simple control as well as a
stable and uniform operation of the furnace.
Fuel is introduced to the side walls of the furnace via feeding points giving the same grid area
per feed point as used in other boilers. Secondary air is introduced also on long furnace walls
at different elevations to provide staged combustion for minimizing the NOx emissions.

Lagisza Commercial Operation

Operation experience of the Łagisza boiler has been excellent. Over the whole load range
boiler has performed as designed and operation has been steady and easily controllable. Basic
process parameters on different levels of load are shown on table 4.

Table 4 Process parameters on different load levels

40 %MCR 65 %MCR 80 %MCR 100 %MCR

Main steam flow kg/s 144 235 287 361
Main steam pressure Bar 131 186 231 271
Main steam temperature °C 560 560 560 560
Reheat temperature °C 550 572 580 580
Flue gas exit temperature °C 80 81 86 88

Peak heat fluxes in a CFB boiler are clearly lower than experienced in PC boilers. Because of
the low heat fluxes in a CFB furnace, the full load water-steam mass flow rate can be in the
550 – 650 kg/m2s range. This low mass flux creates a “natural circulation” characteristic that
together with stable circulation of the solids giving more uniform heat flux distribution, will
result in reduced tube –tube temperature differentials.

Based on the analysis result from Łagisza CFB, heat flux profiles to furnace walls have been
low and uniform during coal firing. Due to uniform heat fluxes to furnace walls, steam
temperature variation after evaporator has been minimal when operating above Benson-point.
Emissions have been lower than set by the Large Combustion Plant (LCP) directive and a
low flue gas exit temperature together with good combustion efficiency are guaranteeing high
thermal efficiency.

Control concept chosen for the Łagisza boiler has turned out to be a success. The CFB is
behaving well on transient conditions and on the other hand all the parameters are stable as
the boiler is operated on steady state conditions.
Łagisza plant provides base for scale up to larger CFB units

The Lagisza boiler’s general layout was based on the conventional in-line arrangement that
has been applied in Units 4 – 6 at the Turów power plant. Mechanical scale up was also
reasonable modest since physical size of the Łagisza boiler is not significantly larger than
boilers already in operation for lower grade fuels like brown coal in the Turów units. No
problems regarding mechanical scale up of the boiler occurred during commissioning. Boiler
auxiliary equipments functioned without major problems from minimum up to maximum
boiler load.

As Foster Wheeler is heading for larger boiler sizes and higher efficiencies it is important to
collect all possible information from Łagisza to achieve a better understanding of large CFB
boilers. As planned during the boiler commissioning and trial operation, Foster Wheeler
carried out an extensive testing program on the Łagisza boiler. Performance of the boiler was
tested on steady state operation as well as in dynamic conditions and data from the
measurements will be used for validation of the process –and dynamic models for large scale
CFB.

Operating experiences of the world’s first CFB utilizing supercritical steam parameters have
been excellent. Boiler operation has been stable and easily adjustable while heat fluxes to
furnace walls on coal firing have been low and uniform- as was expected. This provides a
good knowledge base for Foster Wheeler to propose CFB technology with super-critical
steam parameters up to the 800 MWe scale in the near future.

NOVOCHERKASSKAYA PROJECT
General
In year 2007 “The Sixth Wholesale Power Producer” OGK-6 made a decision to take a step
forward in their power producing capacity in terms of combustion technology and steam
parameters. A selection of supercritical CFB combustion technology with 565/565 oC steam
temperatures was made to be used in a new “Novocherkasskaya GRES Unit No 9”(Figure 5).
 Figure 5: Novocherkasskaya GRES Unit No 9

Foster Wheeler was selected as a supplier of the 330 MWe CFB boiler(Table 5) to PJSC
Energo Mashinostroitelny Alliance (EM Alliance). Manufacturing of pressure parts within
FW’s scope of supply – furnace walls’, grid and wingwall superheaters took place on FW’s
Fakop workshop in Sosnowiec (Poland), cyclones, furnace roof and Intrex superheaters were
manufactured in WarkausWorks (Finland). The boiler is capable of combusting wide
selection of fuels including anthracite, bituminous coal and coal slurry.

Table 5.Design values of Novocherkasskaya GRES Unit No 9

Plant Electrical Output (Gross/Net) MWe 330/312
Net Plant Efficiency (LHV/HHV) % 41,5/39,9
Net Plant Heat Rate (LHV/HHV) kJ/kWh 8681
SH flow kg/s 278
SH pressure bar(g) 247
SH temperature °C 565
RH flow kg/s 227
RH pressure bar(g) 37
RH temperature °C 565
Feed water temperature °C 280

Current status
Basic design, followed by detail design as well as purchasing procedures is ready and all
engineering activities have been finished. Manufacturing of pressure parts was completed in
April 2010. Pressure parts' as well as other equipment's deliveries to customer have been
completed on May 2010.

SAMCHEOK GREEN POWER 4 X 550 MWE SUPERCRITICAL CIRCULATING

FLUIDIZED-BED STEAM GENERATORS IN SOUTH KOREA

Foster Wheeler has been given a full notice to proceed by Hyundai Engineering and
Construction for the design and supply of four 550 MWe (gross megawatt electric)
supercritical circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) steam generators for the Samcheok Green
Power Project for Korea Southern Power Co., Ltd. (KOSPO). Contract includes the design
and supply of four 550 MWe advanced vertical tube, once-through supercritical CFB steam
generators feeding two steam turbines. The CFB steam generators will be designed to burn
coal mixed with biomass while meeting stringent environmental requirements. When these
CFB units enter commercial operation in 2015, they will be the world's largest and most
advanced CFB’s providing KOSPO with a new level of fuel flexibility, reliability and
environmental performance.

DESIGN STUDY OF A 800 MWE CFB

Łagisza has validated Foster Wheeler’s supercritical CFB design platform providing a solid
base for the further scale-up of the CFB technology. Foster Wheeler is offering today
supercritical CFB up to scale 800 MWe in size for bituminous coal, meeting the highest
requirements for plant efficiency and environmental performance. Specially, India and South-
East Asia are potential areas for large scale supercritical CFB technology in near future.

PETROLEUM COKE FIRING IN UTILITY SCALE

Petroleum coke, a solid residue by-product of the crude oil refining processes, mostly delayed
coking, is a very attractive fuel for large-scale power production due it’s high carbon content,
low hydrogen and almost free of ash qualities. Foster Wheeler is the market leader in
petcoke-fired CFB-boilers with over 45 references and over 60 % market share in petroleum
coke fired boilers. CFB is suitable technology also for firing other refinery by-products. For
petroleum coke firing, commercial scale of 300 MWe is achieved with 2 x 300 MWe and 2 x
330 MWe references in USA. Latest European deliveries include 100 MWe Deven JSCo in
Bulgaria and 70 MWe Lukoil Energy & Gas in Romania s.r.l.. These CFB boilers are now in
commercial operation.

Deven JSCo, Bulgaria

Foster Wheeler recently replaced two Russian PC boilers at Deven’s soda ash plant in
Devnya, Bulgaria (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Deven 100MWe CFB boiler in Bulgaria

Value added seen by Deven in Coke Fired CFB Technology (Table 6) is gained from flexible
fuel sourcing, where coke is supplied from nearby Foster Wheeler cokers and also local
limestone is used. Deven CFB boiler is designed to burn up to 80% (7.5% sulfur) coke with
Russian semi-anthracite coal. FW Full Release for the project was received in 2006
and CFB plant start-up was in June 2009.

Table 6:Design values of Deven JSCo, CFB boiler

Total Heat Output 312 MWth
Plant Electrical Output 100 MWe
Steam Flow 111 kg/s
Steam Pressure 100 bar
Steam Temperature 540 C
Fuel Petroleum Coke
FW Full Release 2006
Commercial Operation 2009

Lukoil Energy & Gas

For petroleum coke firing, Foster Wheeler recently replaced oil boilers at Lukoil’s refinery in
Ploiesti, Romania (Figure7). Delivery included a 70 MWe boiler in November 2007, which
entered into commercial operation in October 2010. Dependency on crude oil as boiler fuel
was decreased (Table 7), plant capacity increased (Table 8), emissions were lower (Table 9)
and fuel sourcing capabilities flexible.

Figure 7: Lukoil CFB boiler in Romania

Table 7:Design fuel for Lukoil boiler

Design fuel:
Petroleum Coke
LHV (a.r.) MJ/kg 31,14
Moisture % 10,2
Ash (a.r.) % 0,55
Sulfur (a.r.) % 3,53

Table 8:Design steam data for Lukoil boiler

 Total Heat Output 185 MWth
SH flow 72 kg/s
SH pressure 100 bar
SH temperature 540°C
Feed water temperature 214°C

Table 9:Emissions for Lukoil boiler

Emission (6% O2, dry) mg/m3n

SO2 200
NOx 200
Particulates 30

Summary

Circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology has established its position as a utility-scale
boiler technology. When considering either new plants or repowering old plants, efficiency
and environmental performance are the key issues. High efficiency means lower fuel
consumption, and lower levels of ash and air emissions, including lower emissions of carbon
dioxide (CO2). To achieve these goals, supercritical steam parameters have been applied.
First high efficiency CFB power plants to utilize the supercritical steam parameters in coal
firing with once-though steam cycle technology are Lagisza, 460MWe in Poland, and
Novocherkasskaya, 330 MWe Russia. As a next step, Foster Wheeler has been given a full
notice to proceed by Hyundai Engineering and Construction for the design and supply of four
550 MWe (gross megawatt electric) supercritical circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) steam
generators for the Samcheok Green Power Project for Korea Southern Power Co., Ltd.
(KOSPO). Contract includes the design and supply of four 550 MWe advanced vertical tube,
once-through supercritical CFB steam generators feeding two steam turbines.
.
Initial operating experiences of the world’s first CFB utilizing supercritical steam parameters
have been excellent. Extensive development work combined with Lagisza experiences
provides a good knowledge base for Foster Wheeler to propose CFB technology with super-
critical steam parameters up to scale 800 MWe.
For petroleum coke firing, commercial scale of 300 MWe is achieved and latest deliveries
include 100 MWe Deven JSCo in Bulgaria and 70 MWe Lukoil Energy & Gas in Romania
s.r.l..
REFERENCES

/1/ T. Jäntti et al.; ” Łagisza 460 MWe Supercritical CFB - Design, Start-up and
Initial Operation Experience” Presented in P-GEN Europe 2009, Cologne,
Germany, 26 –28 May, 2009

/2/ T. Jäntti et al.; ” Circulating Fluidized-bed Technology – Towards Zero CO2

Emissions” Presented in P-GEN Europe 2006, Cologne, Germany, 31 May,
2006