DEVELOPMENT OF THE AERATED FLOW COMBUSTOR FOR HIGH EFFICIENCY, CLEAN COMBUSTION OF COAL

THE AERATED FLOW COMBUSTOR (AFC) IS A NEW, ADVANCED CONCEPT OF COMBUSTOR DESIGN, APPLICABLE TO THE HIGH EFFICIENCY, CLEAN, DIRECT COMBUSTION OF COAL, COAL SLURRIES, MOST SOLID AND LIQUID FUELS, AND HAZARDOUS WASTES. AFC IS BASED UPON AN ADVANCED, INTEGRATED, INTERDISCIPLINARY COMBINATION OF TECHNOLOGIES, INCLUDING FLUIDIZED BED COMBUSTION, AERATED FLOW OF SOLIDS, AND CIRCULATION-LOOP GAS-SOLIDS CATALYTIC REACTOR TECHNOLOGIES. THE PROCESS RETAINS THE ADVANTAGES OFFLUIDIZED BED COMBUSTION, BUT ELIMINATES THE ELUTRIATION OF FINES FROM THE COMBUSTOR AND THE BYPASSING OF GASES WITHOUT COMPLETE COMBUSTION. THE AFC REPRESENTS A THIRD GENERATION OF THE FLUIDIZED BED COMBUSTION PROCESS. THE ADVANTAGES OF THE AFC PROCESS INCLUDE COMBUSTION EFFICIENCES THAT CAN, IN CONCEPT, APPROACH COMPLETE COMBUSTION. EXTREMELY LOW EMISSIONS OF SULFUR DIOXIDE, NITROGEN OXIDES, CARBON MONOXIDE, HYDROCARBONS, POLYAROMATIC HYDROCARBONS, AND CARBON-CONTAINING PARTICULATES ARE ALSO EXPECTED. THE AFC PROCESS IS EXCEPTIONALLY FLEXIBLE WITH RESPECT TO FUEL VARIABILITY AND CAN ACCOMMODATE LOW VALUE, HIGH ASH SOLID FUELS SUCH AS OIL SHALE, WOOD, OR MUNICIPAL REFUSE. IT IS PARTICULARLY WELL SUITED TO THE COMBUSTION OF SOLID OR LIQUID HAZARDOUS WASTES. PHASE I WILL COMPRISE A TECHNICAL EVALUATION AND FEASIBILITY STUDY; A COLD MODEL DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION, AND EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION STUDY; QUANTITATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING CORRELATIONS BASED ON THEORY AND COLD MODEL DATA; AND PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF A SMALL PILOT FACILITY THAT WILL SERVE AS A FULLY OPERATIONAL SMALL COMMERCIAL UNIT, AS WELL AS AN INSTRUMENTED TESTING PROTOTYPE DURING PHASE II.