Solid Fuels

Hsin Chu
Professor
Dept. of Environmental Engineering
National Cheng Kung University
1

1. Introduction
Solid

fuel embraces a wide variety of

combustibles, ranging from wood, peat and
lignite, through refuse and other low calorific
value substances, to coal and other solid
fuels derived from it.
Coal represents by far the largest component
of the worlds fossil fuel reserves.

 In

thermal terms 90% of the known

hydrocarbon fuel deposits are formed by
coal.
The carbon: hydrogen ratio of coal is the
highest of the fossil fuels, hence the calorific
values of coals are principally determined by
the carbon in the fuel.

 It

is usual to consider coals in terms of their

rank: in general, a high ranking coal will have
a high carbon content.
The other major coal constituent element,
hydrogen, is present in hydrocarbons which
are released as volatile matter when the coal
is heated.

 Coal

is a sedimentary rock of vegetable

origin.
Vast deposits of plant material, formed
approximately 80 million years ago, were
consolidated by pressure, heat and earth
movement.
The rank of a coal is related to its geological
age and, generally, its depth in the earth.
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 The

ranking sequence is:

Wood
Peat
Lignite (brown coal)
Bituminous Coal
Anthracite
In general, deposits close to the surface which
can be worked by strip mining produce a more
economical fuel than deep mined coal.
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 Coal

was the fuel which fired the Industrial

Revolution, but it is no longer the cheapest
option among the fossil fuels.
The cost of working the deposits and the
investment in technology needed to meet
increasingly stringent emissions standards
have increased the cost of burning coal.

 Recent

developments in gasification
processes have shown that it is possible to
produce gas from coal at a viable thermal
efficiency and to remove the sulfur from the
fuel at the same time.

2. Coal Classification
As

the rank of a coal increases, its carbon

content increases from 75% to about 93% (by
weight), the hydrogen content decreases from
6% to 3%, and the oxygen content decreases
from 20% to 3%.
A useful method for analyzing a coal is the
proximate process.
Proximate analyses of some common fuels
are given in Table 9.1 (next slide).
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Table 9.1 Composition of some typical solid fuels (% by mass)

Fuel

Carbon

Volatile
matter

Moisture

Ash

Peat
Lignite
Bituminous
Coal
Anthracite

44
57
82

65
50
25

20
15
2

4
4
5

90

10

 The

moisture in coal is made up of two

components: surface moisture and inherent
moisture.
The former is affected by the way in which
the coal is stored, and is thus variable.

11

 Coals

are also analyzed in terms of their

elemental constituents, giving the ultimate
analysis which was used earlier in
stoichiometric calculations.
Typical ultimate analyses of two types of solid
fuels are given in Table 9.2 (next slide).

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Table 9.2 Ultimate analyses (% by mass) of some coals

Coal

Carbon

Hydrogen

Oxygen

Nitrogen

Sulfur

Anthracite

94.4

2.9

0.9

1.1

0.7

Bituminous

89.3

5.0

3.4

1.5

0.8

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3. Coal Properties
There

are a number of properties which are

important in identifying the suitability of a coal
for any given application:
Size
Some common size groups, together with
their rather picturesque names, are given in
Table 9.3 (next slide).

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Table 9.3 Size distribution for coals

Name
Large Cobbles
Cobbles
Trebles
Doubles
Singles

Upper limit (mm) Lower limit (mm)

>150
75
100-150
50-100
63-100
38-63
38-63
25-38
25-38
13-18

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 Calorific

value
The ranking of a coal is not necessarily
related to its calorific value.
Coal fuels generally have a range of values
from 21 to 33 MJ/kg (gross).
The design rating of a coal-fired burner is
usually based on an estimated calorific value
of 26 MJ/kg (6,200 kcal/kg).
16

Ash Fusion Temperature

The melting point of the ash left after combustion of
the coal is of particular importance in terms of the
combustion and ash disposal equipment.
If the ash fuses it produces a glassy, porous
substance known as clinker (slag).
The combustion equipment will be designed to
handle either clinker or unfused ash, and use of the
wrong type of coal can have dire consequences.
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Sulfur Content
Many deep-mined coals have a fairly high sulfur
content, typically around 1.5% by weight.
The same consideration apply to coal-fired
installations as to oil-fired combustion equipment
namely that condensation inside the plant must be
avoided and that the design of the flue must ensure
that ground concentration of sulfur oxides are
controlled within acceptable limits.

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4. Coal Combustion
Coal

combustion is a two-phase process and

the objective of the burner is, as always, to
achieve complete combustion of the fuel with
maximum energy efficiency.
Three common ways of burning solid fuels
are currently in use and are briefly reviewed
below.

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Pulverized Fuel
The coal is ground to a very fine size (about
0.08mm or more than 70% pass through #200
mesh) when it can be made to behave rather like a
liquid if air is blown upwards through the powder.
The preparation and handling equipment is very
expensive and pulverized fuel installations are
generally only economically viable in very large
scale applications, such as thermal power stations.

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 The

fuel is injected in the form of a conical

spray, inside a swirling conical primary air
supply in a fashion analogous to that for an
oil burner.
Fluidized Bed Combustors (FBC)
The basic principle of operation is that the
coal is mixed with an inert material (e.g.
sand) and the bed is fluidized by an
upwards flow of air (Fig. 9.1, next slide).
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Although the fluidization requires more fan power

than the conventional grate combustions (Figs. 9.3
& 9.4), there are a number of advantages in FBC:
(1) The bed temperature can be kept cooler than
in the case of grate combustion-fluidized bed
temperatures are generally within the range
750-950.
This means that ash fushion does not occur and
the low temperatures produce less NOX.

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 (2)

High rates of heat transfer can be attained

between the bed and heat exchanger
tubes immersed in it.
(3) A wide range of fuel types can be burned
efficiently.
(4) additives (such as limestone) can be
used which react with oxides of sulfur
retaining the sulfur in the bed with
consequent reduction in SOX emission.
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Grate Combustion
The simplest, and most common, way of burning
coal is by igniting a bed of the fuel on a porous grate
which allows air to rise through the bed, either by
buoyancy in smaller equipment or with fan
assistance in the larger, automatic stokers.
The combustion of a coal on a grate commences
with heat transfer to the raw coal from the adjacent
incandescent fuel.
The first effect that this has is to drive off the volatile
matter from the coal.
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 The

volatiles will then rise through the bed,

partly reacting with the hot carbonaceous
material above it, to burn as a yellow flame
above the bed.
As the combustion process proceeds, the
volatile matter decreases until there is only
the carbonaceous residue left, which burns
with the intense emission of radiation.
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 As

the air enters the fuel bed from below, the

initial reaction is the combustion of the
carbon to carbon dioxide.
In the hot upper region of the gas this is
reduced to carbon monoxide:
CO2 + C 2CO
Which burns in the secondary air above the
bed.
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 The

effect of this is to decrease the

concentration of oxygen from 21% at entry, to
zero at about 100 mm above the grate.
At this point, there is a peak in the carbon
dioxide concentration which falls away as the
reduction to carbon monoxide proceeds (Fig.
9.2, next slide).

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 Underfeed

Stoker
Next slide, Fig. 9.3, coal is fed into the retort
by the action of a screw.
When combustion is completed at the top of
the bed, a residue of ash and clinker remains
which falls to the sides of the retort.

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 The

de-ashing of underfeed stokers is

generally a manual process, although some
manufacturers offer automatic ash-handling
facilities.
Bituminous singles with an ash fushion
temperature of around 1,200 are an
appropriate fuel for this type of device.

32

 Chain

Grate Stoker
A diagram of a chain grate boiler is shown in
Fig. 9.4 (next slide).
The coal is supplied by the travelling grate
and the thickness of the bed controlled by the
guillotine door.
The speed of the grate and an air damper
setting control the firing rate.
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 The

fuel for such boilers is usually smalls

(about 13-25 mm) with a high ash fushion
temperature.
The ash falls from the end of the grate into a
pit, from where it can be removed by a
conveyor belt or screw.

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5. Coal Storage and Handling

Solid

fuels are stored in bunkers-normally a

quantity equivalent to 100 hours at peak firing
rate is the target storage capacity, with a
minimum amount of 20 tonnes.
Coal is usually conveyed into storage from
the delivery vehicle by tipping or by
pneumatic conveyance along pipes.

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