PARTS A (A1, A2 and A3) and B (B1, B2) (Complete all parts).

PART A – Combustion, emissions and explosion

A1 Burner design and flue gas composition calculations.
Length 600 - 800 words. [40 marks]

A2 Flame temperature calculations. Use the flue gas and oxidant data provided in
Table A2.1 and enthalpy data in Table A2.2. Length 600 - 800 words [30 marks]

A3 Case study of the TWA aircraft explosion that was studied in class.
Length 600 - 800 words plus diagrams. [20 marks]

PART B – Carbon Capture and Aspen Modelling

B1 Carbon Capture Technologies and Processes.
Length 250 - 350 words [20 marks]

B2 Aspen Plus Models.

Length 600 - 800 words plus tables and diagrams [50 marks]

Submission
The complete assignment (Parts A and B) should be handed in by Tuesday
14/05/2024 in Week 12 at 12 noon via Blackboard (Turnitin).
No hard copy submission.

The Turnitin submission must have 2 documents.

1. Main coursework script (including diagrams) for all of Parts A and B in Word
or PDF format. This document should contain ALL the examinable work
from the assignment.
2. Excel spreadsheets of calculations for Part A. This submission is for
verification of your own work and will not have a mark. Marks may be
deducted if not submitted.
Part A - Combustion

A1 Burner design

This question is in 2 parts and related to; (a.) full scale pulverised fuel burner design
and (b.) flue gas composition calculations.
Use the spreadsheets developed in the module to calculate the flow of combustion
air to a single, pulverized biomass fired burner rated at 30 MW at an excess air level
of 20%. The biomass (wood) has a net calorific value of 18 MJ/kg as received. The
combustion air is preheated to 523 K and this is assumed to be the temperature of

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the oxidant in the burner Ta. The composition of the biomass that is being fired is as
follows.
Composition % by mass
C 52.0
H as H2 5.0
O (diff) 37.8
N as N2 0.1
S 0.1
Ash 1.0
Moist 4.0
Total 100.0

Assume 15% of the total combustion air (by volume) to the boiler (Figure A1) is being
used as overfire air (OFA) for NOx control. (85% to the burner and 15% to OFA)

OFA Ports

Burners
Air

Fuel

Figure A1 Simplified schematic of a boiler combustion chamber.

For a single burner (Figure A2), the primary, secondary and tertiary flow velocities at
Ta are 20 m/s, 15 m/s and 50 m/s, respectively.

The core air is set at 5% of the total volume flow to the burner.
The primary air is 20% of the total volumetric flow to the burner.

The ratio of secondary air to tertiary air is 15/85 by volume.

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 a. Calculate Dt, Ds, Dp assuming that Dc is 75 mm, (see Figure A2). Velocities are
considered upstream of the swirl vanes and fuel concentrators for the
purposes of this calculation.
[20 Marks, 7,7,6 respectively]

Figure A2 Simplified schematic of a modern low-NOx, pulverised fuel burner. Note absence of fuel
concentrators and swirl vanes.

b. Adapt the calculation procedure used above with the fuel compositions and
excess oxidant level quoted in A1 data supplied above to calculate the wet
flue gas compositions for the following cases. Assume dry recycle in oxy fuel
cases.

i. Case 1. Air combustion (21 mol% O2, 79 mol% N2)

[2 marks]
ii. Case 2. A reference oxy-biomass combustion case with 21 mol% O2,
balance CO2. This reference case can be taken as equivalent to 100%
recycle.
[6 marks]
iii. Case 3. An oxy-biomass combustion case where the ratio of recycle
flue gas to the burner is 72.4%. What is the concentration of O2 in the
enriched oxidant flow to the burner under these conditions? Recycle
ratio (simplified) = oxidant enriched/oxidant reference, (kmol/100kg
coal basis).
[6 marks]
iv. Case 4 Using Case 3, match the flue gas O2 concentration in Case 1.
Report how you did that and any changes to the input process data that
you had to make
[6 marks]

[20 Marks]

[40 Marks]
A2 Flame temperature calculations

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Future power plant operating with biomass as the feedstock may be required to
operate under air and oxy-firing conditions (Carbon Capture configuration, BECCS).
Retrofitting oxyfuel combustion to a boiler will require the matching of the air-firing
case in terms of flame properties.

This question uses flue gas composition data which is different from the results
obtained in PART A1, b. (Refer to tables A2.1 and A2.2 for data).

i. Calculate adiabatic flame temperatures for Cases 1, 2, 3 and 4 using the

wet flue gas compositions given in Table A2.1. Apply a 20% heat loss
(from Hc only) to the adiabatic temperature calculation to approximate
real losses. Assume the oxidant preheat is maintained at 523 K. The
heating value (Hc) for the fuel is 17 MJ/kg. Molar enthalpies for the
combustion and oxidant components are available in Table A2.2. In your
answer show calculation steps and provide a summary table of your
results for each case.
[20 marks, 5 for each case]

ii. How does flame temperature and fuel composition influence NOx
formation processes and flue gas emissions? Discuss the difference
between coal and biomass emissions of NOx from combustion in boilers.
[10 marks, 5 marks for each part]

[30 Marks]

A3 Combustion and explosions

Consider the factors that contributed to the TWA 800 aircraft explosion.

i. Discuss the stoichiometry and flammability limits in the context of the

conditions within the fuel tank that led to the explosion. Give an
appropriate example of a Pressure-Temperature flammability limit
diagram.
[10 marks]
ii. Describe how the inerting process works and the effectiveness of
different gases with different properties. How do these properties
influence the effectiveness. Draw an appropriate inerting diagrams
including the flammability limits.
[10 marks]

[20 Marks]

Part B - Carbon Capture and Aspen Modelling

B1 Carbon Capture Technologies and Processes.

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 i. What are the major advantages of Post Combustion Capture (PCC)
compared to alternative capture processes?
[2 marks]
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i. Give a brief description of the major components and processes that occur
within a Post Combustion Capture (PCC).
[10 marks]

iii. What is the parameter used to characterise the state of the amine solvent
within the PCC plant in terms of its CO 2 content? Comment on the
advantages and disadvantages of primary and tertiary amines regarding this
parameter and their overall performance.
[3 marks]

iv. What methods can be used to increase the flue gas CO2 concentration
from air-fired natural gas combined cycle power plants? Comment on
the advantages, disadvantages and limiting factors as appropriate.
[5 marks]

[20 marks]

B2 Aspen Plus Models.

i. Create your own Aspen model to represent a Turbec T100 micro gas
turbine, based on the Turbec T100 Detailed Specifications document and
the Aspen model development covered during the module. Do not
include the hot water generation heat exchanger section at this
stage. Your aim is to investigate the impacts of varying the compressor
and turbine isentropic efficiencies, the air flow rate and the recuperator
(heat exchanger) properties, to determine if with the nominal defined fuel
inlet flow rate your model is compatible with the detailed Turbec
specifications document in terms of:

1) Net electrical power output of 100 kW

2) Turbine inlet temperature of 950 ℃
3) Exhaust gas temperature of 270 ℃ 4) Specified air mass flow rate

Assume that the fuel is pure methane with a lower heating value (LHV) of
50 MJ/kg and assume that the air is a mixture of 79% nitrogen and 21%
oxygen on a mole fraction basis.

Setup your model with the initial specifications of:

1) Methane flowrate equivalent to 333 kW.

2) Air flow rate derived from the methane flow rate and the Turbec
specifications on exhaust gas flow rate.
3) Compressor and turbine isentropic efficiencies of 0.8

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 4) Heat exchanger (Recuperator) “Hot outlet – Cold inlet temperature
difference” set to 50 ℃

Perform a series of simulations to illustrate the effects of varying the

compressor isentropic efficiency between 0.7 and 0.8, the turbine
isentropic efficiency between 0.7 and 0.8, the air flow by ±15%, and the
heat exchanger (Recuperator) “Hot outlet – Cold inlet temperature
difference” between 40 ℃ to 60 ℃. Three different values of each
parameter should be sufficient. Tabulate your results and comment on the
major effects of each parameter both on the turbine inlet temperature, the
exhaust gas temperature, and the net work output.

Fix the recuperator (heat exchanger) hot outlet temperature to 270 ℃,

and with the original air flow specification, illustrate the impacts of
compressor and turbine isentropic efficiency in this situation and comment
how the outcomes have changed compared to the previous cases. Hence
answer the question is it possible with this fixed recuperator (heat
exchanger) hot outlet temperature of 270 ℃ to replicate the nominal 100
kW power output and Turbine inlet temperature of 950 ℃. Now allow the
air flow rate to vary, and with compressor and turbine isentropic
efficiencies between the range of 0.7 to 0.8, produce an optimal model
configuration that produces a simulation result within 0.5 kW of the
nominal 100 kW electrical power output (neglecting any losses in
converting work streams to electrical power), and at the same time a
turbine inlet temperature within 2 ℃ of the specified 950 ℃. As before,
tabulate your results, and include a screen capture of your final Main
Flowsheet, labelled to show to one or 2 decimal places as you think is
appropriate the block Heat/Work values, the material stream mass flow
rates, temperatures and pressures, and the work stream power values.

State the reactor type that you used in your model, and briefly explain the
reasoning of the changes you made to its default options within your
aspen model. Explain why it is the most appropriate of the available
reactor types within Aspen to model the gas turbine combustor? Explain
why it is not appropriate to just fix the outlet temperature to 950 ℃?
[25 marks]

ii. For your optimized simulation from part i., now investigate the hot water
generation component. Add the hot water generation heat exchanger to
your model, defined based on the temperature rise of the water stream
given in the Turbec T100 detailed specification document. Using the
specified water flow rate of 2 l/s, what is the thermal output in kW from
your model in terms of hot water produced? Explain how you derived this
value.
What water flow rate is required to provide the nominal specification of 165
kW of hot water? How does the final exhaust gas temperature change at

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 this required water flow rate? Illustrate your answers by including screen
captures of the hot water generation component of your model, showing all
inlet and outlet streams with labels to 1 decimal place for temperature and
either mass or volume flow rates.
[5 marks]

iii. Using your model from part ii., what error occurs if you then increase the
water inlet flow rate to the maximum allowed water flow value given in the
Turbec T100 detailed specifications document? Explain why this error
occurs?
[3 marks]

iv. Starting from a full-scale natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) Aspen
power plant model (see week 8 folder on blackboard for the starting
model), modify it to illustrate the effects on power output (total power and
overall efficiency) of extracting some of the steam from various locations.
This is a representation of how a power plant would operate with a
postcombustion capture plant, steam would be extracted from the power
plant then cooled and condensed to provide the energy to drive the
solvent regeneration process. Assume a solvent regeneration energy
requirement of 3 MJ/kg of carbon dioxide for a 90% carbon dioxide
capture rate, and a condensed steam temperature and pressure of 120 ℃
at 2.5 bar.
Investigate the extraction of the steam before the high pressure,
intermediate pressure and low pressure steam turbines; deduce how much
steam is required from each location, the impacts on power output and
plant efficiency, and hence identify the optimal point from which to take the
steam. Illustrate your results by snapshots of relevant sections of your main
flowsheet.
[17 marks]

[50 marks]

Table A2.1

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Table A2.2 Molar enthalpies (MJ / kmol)

T(K) CO2 H2O O2 N2

400 4.008 3.452 3.029 2.971
600 12.916 10.498 9.247 8.891
800 22.815 17.991 15.841 15.046
1000 33.405 25.978 22.707 21.460
1200 44.484 34.476 29.765 28.108
1400 55.907 43.447 36.966 34.936
1600 67.58 52.844 44.279 41.903
1800 79.442 62.609 51.689 48.982
2000 91.450 72.689 59.199 56.141

END OF QUESTION PAPER