Experimental research on combustion characteristics of coal gasification fly ash in a combustion chamber with a self-preheating burner

Coal gasification fly ash (CGFA) is the by-product of coal gasification in a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) and is characterized by its low volatile-content, low carbon-content, and high ash-content, which can be used as a secondary fuel. In China, the annual output of CGFA is enormous; therefore, the realization of a highly efficient CGFA combustion method would be beneficial to achieve better overall coal utilization. Nevertheless, it is challenging to burn CGFA steadily with conventional technologies because of its low volatile content. However, the coal preheating combustion technique has been proven to be an effective method to burn semi-coke and anthracite, both of which are poorly flammable, and could also be applied to CGFA. We have used an advanced preheating combustion technique with a self-preheating burner and carried out experimental investigations into CGFA combustion in a 0.4-MW CGFA preheated combustion test rig. The results show that the preheated combustion system ran smoothly and the CGFA combustion efficiency reached 98.6% with NOX emissions of 155 mg/m3 (6% O2). Therefore, the highly efficient and clean combustion of CGFA was realized, and the combustion of poorly flammable fuels using a self-preheating burner was shown to be feasible. The effects of the primary air ratio, secondary air ratio, and the position of the tertiary air inlet on the combustion characteristics and NOX emissions of CGFA were also studied.