Numerical modeling of the gasification based biomass co-firing in a 600 MW pulverized coal boiler

Gasification based biomass co-firing was an attractive technology for biomass utilization. Compared to directly co-firing of biomass and coal, it might: (1) avoid feeding biomass into boiler, (2) reduce boiler fouling and corrosion problem, and (3) avoid altering ash characteristics. In this paper, CFD modeling of product gas (from biomass gasification) and coal co-firing in a 600 MW tangential PC boiler was carried out. The results showed that NOx emission was reduced about 50–70% when the product gas was injected through the lowest layer burner. The fouling problem can be reduced with furnace temperature decreasing for co-firing case. The convection heat transfer area should be increased or the co-firing ratio of product gas should be decreased to keep boiler rated capacity.