Co-combustion of refuse derived fuel with anthracites in a CFB boiler

Abstract

Combustion of Refuse derived fuel (RDF) is considered as a priority solution to energy recovery from municipal solid waste (MSW). The co-combustion characteristics of anthracite coals with RDF were determined in the commercial scale Tonghae CFB Power Plant. As the feeding ratio of the RDF to the anthracites increased to 5%, temperature and pressure were not changed in comparison with firing only anthracites. The amount of the required air was reduced due to high O2 content in RDF relative to the anthracites. The emissions of NOx, SOx, HCl and Dioxin were also measured. According to higher mixing ratio of the RDF to the anthracites, SOx, NOx emissions slightly decreased and HCl emissions increased, because RDF has relatively smaller S, N and higher Cl than the anthracites. Heavy metals of the fly ash and bottom ash and the dioxin emissions were far below Korean maximum permissible concentration level at incinerator. The results showed that it is of great use and technically possible to co-combustion of RDF with the anthracites by 5% in the form of fuel recovery and energy production in commercial scale CFB boiler.