THE ENERGY INDUSTRY TIMES - OCTOBER 2016 2200 MWe Green Power Plant currently under commissioning in Samcheok, South Korea. The Samcheok plant has four large 550 MWe Amec Foster Wheeler CFBs utilising ultrasupercritical steam conditions (257 barg, 603/603°C). These CFBs are now the most advanced units in the world and are a far cry from the CFB boilers of the early days. CFBs were originally developed as a solution for industrial facilities with a need for steam and power combined with sources of unwanted by-products, such as waste bark, wood, plastic, cardboard, paper and sludges. Over the last 20 years, Amec Foster Wheeler has broadened both fuel flexibility and unit size so much that many power companies have taken notice. Many now see CFBs as a way to produce low cost power from low quality fuels such as brown coals, lignites, and waste coals, as well as, high-energy, hard-to-burn fuels like anthracite and petroleum coke. As the coal market has changed, this ability to burn a broad range of fuels – especially low quality coals – has seen CFB technology come Running circles around fuel costs Despite the inexorable global shift to renewables, coal will continue to play a major role in power generation for years to come – especially in Asia, countries like Turkey, South Africa, Egypt parts of Eastern Europe, Middle East and South Amercia . According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) World Energy Outlook 2015, global coal capacity additions will be just below 1150 GW between 2015 and 2040 under its New Policies Scenario (the WEO 2015 central scenario). In China, although renewables will account for 60 per cent of overall capacity additions, notably coal will account for almost a quarter of its gross additions, i.e. 383 GW out of a total 1650 GW. India meanwhile, will add 306 GW of new coal plants out of a total 888 GW. Traditionally, pulverised coal (PC) boilers have been the technology of choice for coal fired generation, accounting for the vast majority of the market but according to Amec Foster Wheeler things are changing, with circulating fluidised bed (CFB) technology gaining ground. Robert Giglio, Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, Amec Foster Wheeler said: “Ten years ago 95 per cent of utility-scale boilers were PC; CFBs weren’t even in that market but in the next 10 years they will be chosen more and more for large coal plants. Right now CFBs represent about 10 per cent of the market and the expectation that this could grow to 30 per cent in the next 5-10 years is not unreasonable.” The two drivers behind the technology’s adoption are the continuing scale-up in boiler size and fuel flexibility. While CFBs have been around for more than 40 years, it is only over the last 10 years that their use in large utility power plants has grown strongly. As CFB boilers have reached sizes and efficiency levels never imagined, they are drawing an increasing amount of attention from utility power companies around the world. Amec Foster Wheeler’s CFB technology has been proven at increasing sizes, reaching the 200 MW utility size in the 1990s. Today, it has around 35 CFB units of over 200 MWe scale in operation or under construction capable of burning a wide range of fuels. At the same time, the technology has been improved to raise boiler efficiency. The technological advance to once-through supercritical (OTSC) units was first demonstrated at the 460 MWe Łagisza plant in Poland, which entered commercial operation in 2009. Since its startup, the plant has operated on a range of bituminous coals and has demonstrated a lower heating value (LHV) net plant electrical efficiency of 43.3 per cent. “The boiler we built in Poland was the first proof-of-concept for CFBs in big utility coal power plants,” said Giglio. Another supercritical CFB project was also recently completed in Russia. This 330 MWe CFB unit, designated Novocherkasskaya GRES No. 9, began commercial operation in July this year. The boiler, which is the first of its kind in the country, is capable of combusting a wide selection of fuels including anthracite, bituminous coal and coal slurry. An even more impressive example of large-scale CFB technology is the Special Technology Supplement As the global market for coal moves from one based on fixed calorific value to a more flexible price versus quality market, there will be increasing opportunities for circulating fluidised bed (CFB) technology, especially in countries where coal is likely to remain an important part of the generation mix for decades to come. Junior Isles The 2200 MWe Samcheok Green Power Plant, currently being commissioned in South Korea, is the most advanced CFB in the world
Energy Industry Times October 2016
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