Numerical investigation of heat transfer characteristics in utility boilers of oxy-coal combustion

Oxy-coal combustion has different flue gas composition from the conventional air-coal combustion. The different composition further results in different properties, such as the absorption coefficient, emissivity, and density, which can directly affect the heat transfer in both radiation and convection zones of utility boilers. This paper numerically studied a utility boiler of oxy-coal combustion and compares with air-coal combustion in terms of flame profile and heat transferred through boiler side walls in order to understand the effects of different operating conditions on oxy-coal boiler retrofitting and design. Based on the results, it was found that around 33 vol% of effective O2 concentration ([O2]effective) the highest flame temperature and total heat transferred through boiler side walls in the oxy-coal combustion case match to those in the air-coal combustion case most; therefore, the 33 vol% of [O2]effective could result in the minimal change for the oxy-coal combustion retrofitting of the existing boiler. In addition, the increase of the moisture content in the flue gas has little impact on the flame temperature, but results in a higher surface incident radiation on boiler side walls. The area of heat exchangers in the boiler was also investigated regarding retrofitting. If boiler operates under a higher [O2]effective, to rebalance the load of each heat exchanger in the boiler, the feed water temperature after economizer can be reduced or part of superheating surfaces can be moved into the radiation zone to replace part of the evaporators.