Experimental study of solid circulation rate and pressure distribution characteristics in a cold fluidized bed with an external heat exchanger in an municipal solid waste incinerator

Abstract

The external heat exchanger (EHE) can solve the problem of the insufficient heating surface due to the large‐scale circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler effectively; furnace temperature and bed temperature can be regulated quickly and accurately with the adjustment of the solids circulation rate (SCR). The ash differs from coal‐fired boilers in particle size, density, and other physical parameters, so the circulation and heat transfer characteristics are not identical. The results of SCR and pressure distribution in a cold CFB experimental system with an EHE in which the height of the partition (HP) could be adjusted were analyzed. Experiments studied the effect of fluidized air velocity in the riser (Ug), HP of the EHE, and the pressure of the supply air chamber (PSA) in the EHE on SCR using quartz sand with an average size of 0.239 mm. It was noted that SCR increased with Ug and PSA in the range of 7.01–28.37 g/s with the increase in Ug, and the maximum value of SCR was obtained when PSA was 750 Pa and the HP was 80 mm. The experiments also noted that the increase in SCR significantly affected the pressure distribution in the region of high solids content (EHE and the region above 600 mm in the riser). A reference to the above characteristics of SCR and pressure distribution variations can be considered for operating commercial CFB waste incinerators.