Fabrication and testing of a modified atmospheric fluidized bed combustor

• Main Authors: Dizon, Remus Nathaniel P., Pausing, Leong G., Yu, Delfin W.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1995
• Subjects: Fluidization; Machinery > Design; Fluidized-bed combustion
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/7729
• Institution: De La Salle University

The study involved the fabrication and preliminary testing of an atmospheric fluidized bed combustor (AFBC) for coal combustion. The preliminary tests were conducted in order to verify if the designed AFBC could perform well in burning different solid fuels.The determination of necessary parameters such as pressure drop, air flowrate, and bed height needed for the fluidization characteristics of sand particles were part of the experimental test. An acrylic plastic was used as the fluidized bed vessel.The test showed that the pressure drop in the bed remained constant at 24.0 cm of water, the flowrate ranges between 5,000 to 50,000 std. air ml per minute and the bed height was measured at 150 mm.The actual combustion tests using Bislig Coal, Charcoal Briquette and Sawdust, were conducted in order to investigate the behavior of solid fuel combustion under AFBC. Tests were made under different bed temperatures ranging from 550 centigrade to 650 centigrade, air flow rates, batch sizes and particle diameter.Data obtained include burn out time, Orsat Analysis, and temperature variations at different levels in the vessel, ranging from 100 centigrade to 800 centigrade.Analysis of the data showed that the burnt out time for Bislig Coal was almost the same as Charcoal Briquette such in the case of batch sample (40 g) of 1.44 mm particle diameter wherein the average burnt-out time for the coal was 96.52 seconds while that of Charcoal Briquette yielded 95.24 seconds. For Sawdust, the measured burnt-out time was less than five seconds.The Orsat analysis revealed that the combustion was not complete due to the presence of CO. The Bislig Coal, Charcoal Briquette and Sawdust contained 0.005, 0.006 and 0.002 carbon monoxide (in mole fraction), respectively.