Boiler fuel test programs

In 1979, because of a lack of large samples, boiler fuel test programs will be limited to small scale equipment. However, in 1980, large samples of liquids in the 5,000-10,000 barrel range should become availabel from the H-Coal pilot plant at Catlettsburg, Kentucky and the Exxon Donor Solvent process at Baytown, Texas. It would be preferable to run a number of tests utilizing different utility sites and types of electric generation... 

The combustion test program of synthetic liquid fuels is being conducted in a 20-horsepower (hp) firetube boiler and associated equipment. The system consists of a 20-hp, Johnston, three-pass, firetube boiler designed to transfer roughly 670,000 Btu/hr to the water side a water treatment and feed system a fuel holding tank and transfer pump and a stack exhaust duct equipped with numerous sample ports for gaseous and particulate emissions testing. 

To date, the test program has consisted of two periods of No. 6 fuel oil firing, two periods of SRC-II firing, and two combustion runs on No. 2 oil. Each test period was preceded by a few brief tests to shake down the boiler and determine settings for the atomizing air flow, fuel preheat temperature, and fuel/air proportioning controller. To date, eight runs have been made with No. 6 oil five at about 23% excess air and three at about 11 excess air. Two runs have been completed on No. 2 oil one at 11% excess air and one at 20% excess air. Five SRC-II fuels have been tested a... 

Undetermined. Full-scale reactor has not been permitted in the United States (but was tested as part of ACWA Program). Data is not yet available. Trial bums to obtain RCRA and other permits may be required. Permit for using reactor off-gas as a boiler fuel will be required. 

Seward Generating Station, under the ownership of GPU Genco, was the location of numerous opportunity fuel tests. It was the location of one of the most extensive development programs described in numerous papers and publications [13-14,16, 31-34]. In the Seward CWS program, low-density slurries were prepared and fired in both Boiler 14 and Boiler 15. Boiler 14 was a 32 MW wall-fired Babcock Wilcox boiler with... 

The flow of fuel to the boiler should have been slopped automatically when the water level fell to a dangerous level. Unfortunately, the low-level trip failed to function. (Many newer boilers come equipped with backup low-level trips.) The operatingengineer investigating this incident determined that this trip had not been tested for years. He set up the following program to prevent a recurrence. First, the fuel gas control valve was locked into its normal operating position with its hand jack. Then the low-liquid-level trip pot (see Fig. 17-1) was blocked in and drained down. Finally, an operator verified that the pneumatic signal to the fuel-gas control valve fell to zero (this valve was AFC—air failure closes). 

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