부산대학교 도서관

Fluidized bed combustion has now broken out of its study phase and world-wide industrial experience is being accumulated. As in any emergent technology, experience both leads to new and exciting applications and also reveals areas where some of the early hopes are not fulfilled. Let us review some of the driving forces behind the commercialization of fluidized bed combustion in boilers. Some of the early research in fluidized bed combustion was oriented toward the utilization of a wide variety of low value fuels. It was early recognized that fluidized bed combustion could offer a flexibility in the use of fuels for industrial steam raising. Perhaps even more of a driving force, in this country, has been the ability of fluidized bed combustion to reduce sulfur emissions. There are two other, somewhat interrelated characteristics of fluidized bed combustion, which have been usefully applied. One is combustion intensification. Because the combustion in a fluidized bed can be quite uniform, it is possible to obtain a relatively intense combustion, resulting in a relatively small combustion chamber. This can then lead to an overall cost reduction for the boiler. The second one relates to the relatively lower temperature at which the combustion takes place and its effects on combustion by-products. Thus, NOX emissions are reduced and a particulate matter is formed which is both non-slagging and relatively large, soft, and granular. This essentially eliminates fouling of heat transfer surfaces.