Author(s)

Jose A. Gutiérrez Bravo, Raquel Garcia, Erasmo Cadena

Department of Mining Engineering, Universidad de León, Campus de Vegazana, León, Spain.

Coal-fired plants are under pressure to reduce their carbon-intensity. Available options include co-firing CO₂-neutral biomass, oxy-fuel-combustion as part of a carbon capture process or a combination of both to give a “CO₂-negative” power plant. BioCCS, the combination of CO₂ Capture and Storage (CCS) with sustainable biomass conversion, is the only large-scale technology that can achieve net negative emissions. Combining, developing and demonstrating the oxy-combustion of high ratios of sustainable biomass with coal in flexible circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler will bring significant advances in the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. Areas addressed include possibilities for: biomass characterization; handling and feeding; co-firing ratios definition; CFB oxy-co-combustion studies; combustion performance; boiler flexibility in fuel and load; main emissions analysis; slaging, fouling and agglomeration; corrosion and erosion; and implications on plant operation and associated costs. The article will detail a comprehensive understanding on sustainable biomass supply, co-firing ratios and how direct biomass co-combustion under oxy-fuel conditions can be implemented. It seeks to push biomass co-combustion in future large-scale oxy-fuel CFB power stations to high thermal shares while enhancing the power plants’ operational flexibility, economic competitiveness and give operational procedures. There will be a need to consider the public acceptance of power production from coal and coal sustainability, by its combination with renewable sources of energy (biomass).

Carbon Capture Use and Storage (CCUS), Biomass Combustion, Carbon Capture, CFB Boiler

Bravo, J.A.G., Garcia, R. and Cadena, E. (2018) Flexible Co-Combustion of High Ratios of Sustainable Biomass with Coal in Oxy-CFB Boiler for CO₂ Capture. Journal of Power and Energy Engineering, 6, 12-22. doi: 10.4236/jpee.2018.611002.