Emissions from Combustion of Solid Fuels

Ash-forming species are the main source of particles of solid combustion under controlled conditions, e.g., in power plants and large industrial boilers. For instance, the share of unburned fuel in total particulate emissions of combustion of pulverized coal is normally less than five percent (Lammi et al., 1993). Emissions from fluidized bed combustion also contain particles of the bed material and, if limestone injection into the boiler is applied, also particles originating from limestone. For small-scale boilers and stoves that are mainly used in the domestic sector the share of unburned fuel is usually high.

Description

Activity: Burning of solid fuels (excluding fuelwood) in stationary sources (power plants, industry and residential sector).

Unit: kt/PJ fuel consumed.

Emission factors

To reflect the differences in fuel qualities across countries, TSP emission factors for solid fuels are calculated with a mass balance approach using country-specific data on ash content, heat value and the fraction of ash retained in the boiler following the methodology of Section 2.3.1.

Combustion conditions, especially in large boilers, have a strong influence on mass concentrations of TSP, PM10and PM2.5in the flue gas and on PM size distribution profiles (e.g., Flagan and Seinfeld, 1988; Moisio, 1999). Ash-forming minerals account for most of the particulate matter emissions from solid fuels and form particles of different sizes depending on e.g., mineral matter composition and combustion conditions. Mineral matter, occurring as mineral inclusions or heteroatoms present in the coal molecules, consists of refractory metal oxides (SiO2, MgO, FeO, Al2O3 etc.) and more volatile species (Na, K, Cd, As, Pb, etc.).

Refractory compounds are not directly volatilized at the temperatures of normal combustion processes, and they form mainly relatively large sized particles (1-50µm). Volatile compounds volatilize in high temperatures. A small part of the refractory species might also volatilize in reductive high temperature conditions. Volatilized species mainly form very small particles (0.01-0.5 µm) via nucleation, condensation, agglomeration and coagulation (Flagan and Seinfeld, 1988).

The source sector split distinguished in RAINS does not allow including all these combustion parameters. However, a distinction was made for power plants and industry between three types

biomass combustion. Particles from grate combustion are usually relatively large, with a mean size of 60-70µm (Lammi et al., 1993).

! Fluidized bed combustion (FBC) (e.g., PP_EX_OTH2), typically mid-size (up to 100 MW) installations. The theories of fine particle formation presented in the literature (e.g., Lind, 1999) suggest that particle size distributions in fluidized bed combustion are different to pulverized fuel combustion. Since boiler temperatures in atmospheric fluidized bed combustion installations are lower, volatilization of ash takes place at a lesser extent and less fine particles are formed. In the coarse particle mode (particles larger than 2.5 µm), FBC produces larger ash particles than pulverized fuel combustion (Moisio, 1999).

In addition, some relatively large particles of bed material and, if limestone injection is used, particles originating from limestone are also entrained with the flue gas. Mean fly ash particle sizes before ESP in circulating FB combustion of coal of 20-30µm have been measured (Lind et al., 1995, 1996).

! Pulverized fuel combustion (e.g., PP_EX_OTH3). Globally, pulverized coal combustion is a very common way of energy utilization, and the particle formation in these types of boilers has been widely studied. Coal is first milled to a fine powder (40-80µm) and then blown into the boiler. Combustion temperatures are high, reaching up to 2000 K. Because of these high temperatures, volatile species and a small fraction of the refractory components of the ash-forming species are effectively volatilized. Volatilized species mainly form small particles (0.01-0.5 µm) via nucleation, condensation, agglomeration and coagulation (Flagan and Seinfeld, 1988). The fraction of the volatilized ash is usually less than ten percent. The non-volatilized mineral compounds form larger ash particles, usually above 1 µm (Moisio, 1999). Pulverized fuel combustion of peat is somewhat analogous to coal (Moisio, 1999).

The ash retention parameter is used in addition to the fuel characteristics to enable a more accurate reflection of “raw gas” emission rates. Table 3.1, Table 3.2 and Table 3.3 below present an overview of reported emission factors and measured size fraction distributions.

Table 3.1: Uncontrolled emission factors reported in the literature for coal combustion [kt/PJ].

Source Installation type PM2.5 Coarse PM10 >PM10 TSP

Small furnaces 0.110 0.270

Domestic boilers 0.090 0.150

BUWAL, 2001

Industrial boilers 0.045 0.050

UBA, 1999a Domestic furnaces, hard

coal 0.250

Domestic furnaces, brown

coal 0.350

EPA, 1998a Small boilers, top loading 0.291

Small boilers, bottom

loading 0.273

Pulverized coal, dry

bottom boilers 1.818

Pulverized coal, wet

bottom boilers 1.273

Hard coal, stoker firing 1.200

Pulverized lignite boilers 1.105

Pulverized 3.6 – 5.4

Lammi et al.,

1993 Fluidized bed 4.3 – 7.2

Meier and Bischoff, 1996

Grate firing, lignite

2.237

Table 3.2: Size fractions reported in the literature for coal combustion [percent of TSP emissions].

Source Installation type PM2.5 Coarse PM10 >PM10 TSP

UBA, 1999a Domestic furnaces, hard coal 90 % 100 %

EPA, 1998a Small boilers, top loading 14 % 37 % 100 %

Small boilers, bottom loading 25 % 41 % 100 %

Pulverized hard coal, dry

bottom, no control 6 % 23 % 100 %

Pulverized hard coal, wet

bottom, no control 21 % 37 % 100 %

Pulverized lignite, no control 10 % 35 % 100 %

Moisio, 1999

Pulverized, hard coal, no

control 6 % 52 % 100 %

Fluidized bed, hard coal, no

control 5 % 26 % 100 %

Table 3.3: Size fractions used in RAINS for solid fuel combustion [percent of TSP emissions].

Fuel PM2.5 Coarse PM10 >PM10 TSP

Coal 13 % 39 % 52 % 48 % 100 %

Derived coal 30 % 40 % 70 % 30 % 100 %

Biomass 93 % 3 % 96 % 4 % 100 %

Waste 60 % 30 % 90 % 10 % 100 %

Applicable Control Options

The control options used in the RAINS model includes end-of-pipe techniques for industrial installations, i.e., cyclones, bag filters and electrostatic precipitators. For small coal combustion installations in the residential and domestic sector, two types of modern boilers/stoves (see Table 2.7) are included to simulate the gradual replacement of old facilities (no end-of-pipe options are considered for this sector).