Evaluation of performance of Anglo-Mafube bituminous South African coal in 550 MW opposite-wall and 575 MW tangential-fired utility boilers

•We have developed a tool for predicting firing behavior of coals in utility boilers.•The tool has been tested for various coals fired in Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) utility boilers fired.•We also developed a method for predicting fouling and slagging of coal fly ash.•These methods were applied Anglo-Mafube bituminous South African.

We have developed a tool for the prediction of the firing behavior of any coal in a specific boiler that included many aspects such as emissions, performance, and operational issues. The tool has been tested for various coals fired in Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) 550 MW opposite-wall and 575 MW tangential-fired utility boilers fired. We also developed methods for studying the fouling and slagging behavior and determining the emissivity of the fly ash. In this study we further the development of these methods and applied them to investigate a new bituminous coal in a 50 kW test facility and these full-scale coal-fired boilers - Anglo-Mafube bituminous South African (MAF) coal - with the objective to predict its behavior in these boilers. From this study, light can be shed on the behavior of MAF coal in other boilers.