FLUE GAS

RECIRCULATION
FOR

STOKER BOILERS

Calpenn Associates, Inc.

(A Kenneth L. Maloney, PhD, Inc. Company)

www.combustionexperts.com
 FLUE GAS RECIRCULATION SYSTEMS FOR
STOKER BOILERS

Flue Gas Recirculation (FGR) is a patented combustion modification process for stoker-fired
boilers that will increase boiler efficiency and steaming capacity, while at the same time reduce
particulates, stack opacity and NOx emissions. Emissions of sulfur oxides (SOx) can also be
controlled with FGR when limestone is added to the fuel in the form of a coal/limestone pellet.

A SYSTEM THAT PAYS FOR ITSELF

Operators of stoker boilers, particularly those installed several years ago, must contend with the
changing environmental regulations and increasing fuel costs, in addition to the usual operating
problems. The Calpenn Associates, Inc. (a sister company to Kenneth L. Maloney, PhD, Inc.)
Flue Gas Recirculation system provides a unique solution that will solve emission and
operational problems while paying for itself with improved boiler efficiency. Simple payback
periods of 1-2 years are common for many of our installations. The FGR system can be
retrofitted to all types and sizes of stoker-fired boilers including spreader stokers with traveling
grates, vibrating grates and dump grates as well as traveling chain grates and underfeed stokers
with single, double and multiple retorts. The FGR process is applicable to all fuels that are fired
on a grate including coal, wood, biomass, tires, e-fuel and garbage.

THE CONCEPT
Flue gas is diverted from a location downstream of the main boiler bank and is mixed with the
combustion air from the forced draft fan. In some cases the flue gas might also be mixed in with
the overfire air. The recirculated flue gas takes the place of greater amounts of excess air that the
stoker would normally use to keep the burning fuel bed cool to avoid clinkering and grate
overheating. The FGR system allows the cooling and the combustion requirements of the forced
draft air to be “de-coupled”. The cooling effect comes from the moisture and CO2 contained in
the flue gas. The flue gas has a greater heat capacity than air so it carries more heat away from
the fuel bed and reduces peak temperatures by as much as 250° F. With the use of the FGR
system, fuel bed cooling can now be accomplished independent of air requirements for the
combustion of the fuel. The FGR system allows the stoker boiler to operate at very low excess
air levels. Fifteen to twenty percent excess air operation is easily achieved with the FGR system.
This reduction in excess air reduces the velocity of the flue gas in the boiler and therefore
reduces the amount of flyash that is entrained in the gas stream exiting the boiler.
 Stack
Figure 1. Recirculating flue gas
in a stoker-fired boiler
improves operating efficiency,
cuts down emissions of
primary air pollutants. Induced
Draft
Fan

Boiler
Bank Econ-
omizer
Flue Gas
Dust
Collector
Coal Isolation
Damper
Furnace

Recirculated
Feeder Recirculated Flue Gas
Overfire Air Dampers
Overfire
Stoker Air Fan
Gas Injector Ambient
Overfire Air
Forced
Draft
Fan
Undergrate FGR
Combustion Air Fan
Flow Control
Damper
HOPPER EVACUATION OF THE MECHANICAL DUST
COLLECTOR
When the flue gas is taken from the hopper section of the multiclone mechanical dust collector,
the pressure drop across the collecting cyclone tubes is increased at all gas flow volumes. This
increase in pressure drop increases the “spin” velocity in the tubes and the centrifugal forces on
the flyash particulate which results in an increase in dust collection efficiency. The dust
collector also collects more of the smaller particles; those under 10 microns which normally
escape from the unit. The combination of lower flue gas flow and improved dust collector
efficiency result in boiler emission rates on the order of 0.05 pounds per million Btu’s.

PROVEN TECHNOLOGY

Calpenn Associates, Inc. has installed over 50 FGR systems in this country on all types and sizes
of stoker fired boilers. The first commercial application of FGR to a stoker boiler in the United
States became operational in 1981. Four units at this location have been operating since they
were installed. The Calpenn Flue Gas Recirculation system is recognized as acceptable and
proven control technology for stoker fired units in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, West
Virginia, Wisconsin, Washington, North Carolina, Illinois, Indiana and Oregon. In addition to
reductions in particulate and opacity along with fuel efficiency gains, the FGR system can also
lower fly ash and bottom ash carbon content as well as reduce NOx and SOx emissions. The
stoker owner can buy a cheaper grade of fuel, since the FGR equipped unit will tolerate more
fines in the fuel as well as a lower ash fusion point.

THE HARDWARE

The FGR system consists of a series of ducts that connect the flue gas take-off point with the flue
gas recirculation fan along with ducts that connect the FGR fan with the gas injection point
downstream of the forced draft fan. Isolation and control dampers are placed in the ducting to
control the flue gas flow and to isolate the system when not in use. At any time the FGR system
can be isolated and shut down and the boiler will continue to operate in its pre-FGR mode. All
flues and ducts are made of heavy gauge steel. The elbows and damper blades are fabricated
from abrasion resistant (AR) material. The FGR fan is an armored radial blade fan with scroll
liners and blades of AR material. The fan specifications include a low rotation speed to reduce
wear and increase life. A secondary mechanical dust collector can also be installed to extract the
majority of the flyash from the FGR system before passing through the ducting, dampers and
fan. The FGR flow control damper is equipped with an actuating unit that receives a signal from
a controller (PLC or DCS based) located in the control room. The flow control damper can be
operated in either automatic or manual mode. In the automatic mode the FGR system uses a
temperature base control scheme. The temperatures required for automatic operation are
ambient air, flue gas temperature at the FGR fan and the temperature of the mixture of flue gas
and air. With these temperatures the %FGR can be calculated and a curve can be programmed to
maintain a boiler load versus %FGR curve. If the FGR system were taken out of service the
boiler controls would revert back to the pre-FGR operating conditions and follow the old air
versus load curve.

OVERFIRE AIR
In some cases modifications are made to the overfire air system to improve the mixing in the
furnace to reduce soot formation and the resulting opacity that it causes. These modifications are
aimed at increasing the penetration of the overfire air to reach those portions of the over bed
regions that are not well mixed. FGR can be added to the overfire air in certain applications to
aid in the mixing objective and to further reduce the excess air in the furnace.

If the boiler is deemed to have inadequate overfire air, modifications to the overfire air system
will be included in the FGR system installation. New overfire air jets may be required and
existing jets may need to be enlarged. When this is the case the manifolding and the overfire air
fan capacities will need to be increased. On larger units there might be the requirement to put
flue gas into the overfire air to reduce the amount of fresh air that is entering the furnace above
the fuel bed. When FGR is used in the overfire air it acts to dilute the air while maintaining the
mass flow and the penetration of the jet to provide the required mixing in the furnace.

FAIL SAFE

The flow control damper is interlocked with the FGR fan so that the damper cannot be opened
until the FGR fan motor is energized and will automatically close if the fan fails. The flow logic
of the system is such that even if the FGR dampers were open when the FGR fan shuts down, the
only thing that would happen is that fresh air would pass through the FGR system into the dust
collector and out the stack. There is always plenty of time to close the isolation dampers and
prevent the flow of air through the FGR system. The FGR system can be shut down at any time
and the boiler returned to its pre-FGR operational configuration. The FGR system will not limit
steam generation in any way or cause a forced outage at any time.

GUARANTEED RESULTS

Calpenn Associates, Inc. has sufficient experience with the FGR system to be in a position to
offer performance guarantees in most applications. Calpenn has been successful in meeting the
guarantees offered to clients. We have a current list of FGR users that can be contacted or
visited who will discuss their FGR operating histories with prospective clients.
THE BENEFITS

INCREASES BOILER EFFICIENCY

LOWERS EXCESS AIR

A 50% or greater reduction in the excess air required for stable operation and for
inhibiting the fusion of ash into clinkers. Lower excess air translates directly into fuel
savings and reduced NOx formation.

100
WITHOUT FGR
80
EXCESS AIR (%)

60

40 WITH FGR

20

0
20 40 60 80 100
STEAM FLOW (% LOAD)

FUEL SAVINGS

Fuel savings of 7% or more result because reducing excess air means a reduction in the
flue gas out the stack and a savings in the fuel that would otherwise be needed to heat that
excess air.
HEAT LOSS, % OF FUEL HEAT INPUT

WITHOUT FGR
22
500° F STACK TEMP.

20

18

16
WITH FGR

14

0 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

EXCESS OXYGEN, (% 02)

REDUCED PARTICULATE AND OPACITY

A major benefit of the FGR system is the reduction in stack particulate loading and opacity.
When flue gas is extracted downstream of the I.D. fan, particulate reductions are in the range of
40-50%. When the gas is extracted from the hopper of a mechanical dust collector, particulate
reductions as high as 70-75% are possible.

HOPPER EVACUATION / FGR

Removing a portion of the gas from the hopper of a mechanical dust collector reduces the re-
entrainment of fine particulate inside the dust collector and improves overall multi-clone
performance. Traditionally, the extracted flue gas was passed through a secondary baghouse.
However, flue gas extracted from the hopper of a mechanical dust collector and recirculated
through the boiler is a proven alternative to the use of a secondary baghouse. A flue gas
recirculation/hopper evacuation system will cost less than one half the cost of a conventional
hopper evacuation/baghouse system. In addition, the flue gas recirculation system will pay for
itself usually in less than two years.
REDUCED NOx EMISSIONS

Flue Gas Recirculation is recognized by the US EPA and the State EPA’s as an acceptable
control technology for NOx emissions. This work was used to set the NOx reduction goals for
new stoker boilers. The graph below contains NOx data from coal fired stoker boilers. As you
can see, NOx emissions are higher at higher excess air. The data point with the lowest NOx
measurement is from a boiler using Flue Gas Recirculation.

NOx arises from two sources in combustion systems:

1) Fixation of atmospheric nitrogen in the air

O + N2 = NO + N
N + O2 = NO + O

This process occurs more rapidly at higher temperatures and higher oxygen concentrations.

2) Conversion of fuel bound nitrogen to NOx.

Fuel NH2 + O2 = NO + H2O

Fuel CN + O2 = NO + CO

This process also occurs more rapidly at higher temperatures and higher oxygen
concentrations. So reducing the combustion process peak temperatures and lowering the
oxygen concentration will slow down NOx formation.

The ability to operate at lower excess air is the primary variable that affects NOx reduction.
However, there are other factors that act to reduce NOx. The flue gas cools the fuel bed without
the increase in excess air and thereby lowers the conversion of fuel bound nitrogen to NOx.

AIR STAGING FOR LOWER NOx

Stoker boilers have the benefit of being in the natural “staged air” configuration with the overfire
air system supplying the “staged air” above the fuel bed. Research has shown that if the
stoichiometry of the first stage (the coal bed) can be controlled to the 2-3% excess oxygen level
then a reduction in NOx occurs when the staged air is added above the fuel bed. This staging
configuration accomplishes both a reduction in temperature of the first stage and a delayed
mixing of the final combustion air to the time when the flame is not as hot.

There is also some important chemistry that is triggered when flames are staged in this manner.
The chemistry is akin to the injection of ammonia for the reduction of NOx in flue gases.
However, in the case of the flame, the ammonia is formed in the fuel rich flame (1st stage) and its
reaction with the formed NOx is triggered by the addition of air in the second stage. All of this
gives rise to a low NOx combustion system. In a stoker you have a naturally “staged”
configuration but no good way to control the first stage stoichiometry. This is where Flue Gas
Recirculation comes in. It allows control over the first stage stoichiometry down to the levels
that trigger the staged firing NOx reductions. This is why the FGR NOx curve falls below the
baseline NOx curve.
So, to recap, the NOx reduction mechanisms of FGR are:

1) Lower excess air firing (Thermal NOx reduction).

2) Cooler fuel bed operation (Lower fuel bound nitrogen conversion to NOx).

3) Staged combustion operation with control over the first stage stoichiometry (Lower
thermal and fuel bound NOx).

NOx vs. EXCESS OXYGEN

450
Power Magazing
June 1983
400
NOx CONTENT PPM (dry @ 3% O2)

GETS NOx Data

350 (1993)

300

250
0.3#/MMBtu
200
0.25#/MMBtu
150
0.2#/MMBtu
100 Cargill/Eddyville
(Average 3 Boilers)
50
{

0
2 4 6 8 10 12
Range of expected
NOx with FGR STACK OXYGEN CONCENTRATION (PERCENT)

Lower excess air requirements and overfire air modifications can result in NOx emissions down
to 0.2 #/MMBtu on sub-bituminous coal and 0.3#/MMBtu on bituminous coal.

INCREASED STEAMING CAPACITY

A 10-20% increase in steaming capacity can be achieved if the boiler is limited by fan capacity,
stack opacity, particulate emissions or furnace pressure.

COMBUSTION IMPROVEMENTS

FGR reduces peak flame temperatures, fuel bed and grate temperatures. As a result of this it
prevents clinker formation and allows the use of a wider range of lower fusion fuels.

Calpenn’s customer list can be provided upon request.