Investigation on Co-combustion characteristics and NOX emissions of coal and municipal sludge in a tangentially fired boiler

Using the current coal-fired power plant to treat sludge with large annual production is an efficient sludge treatment method. Nevertheless, the majority of the previous studies concentrated on sludge co-firing with low blending ratio and moisture content in utility boiler. Further analysis and discussion are necessary regarding the impact of sludge with high blending ratio and high moisture content on co-firing performance as well as the potential interactions between high moisture content sludge and coal during the co-firing process. The simulation results of the verified computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model can be regarded as numerical experiments. In the present research, CFD was used to analyze the co-firing characteristics of municipal sludge and coal in a 600 MW tangentially fired utility boiler. The impacts of sludge moisture content, blending ratio, blending strategy, and secondary air (SA) distribution on co-combustion characteristics and NOX emissions were investigated, and their potential synergistic effects were assessed. The co-firing of coal and sludge has little impact on the furnace outlet temperature while potentially lowering NOX emissions, provided that the net calorific value of the feeding of the mixture of sludge and coal is kept constant. The reduction of sludge moisture content can significantly improve co-combustion performance, but it also facilitates NOX production. Blending sludge from the position of the medium-upper burners can reduce the number of layers needed to burn the sludge in practical coal-fired boiler. Furthermore, the SA distribution has a major impact on the furnace outlet flue gas temperature and NOX content. The shrunk-middle type is the optimum scheme for SA distribution. This study contributes to a deeper knowledge of the actual co-firing of sludge and coal in the utility boiler and provides a possible theoretical foundation for the widespread, clean, and effective use of sludge.