Following almost 2 years of development work, N+P is proud to announce that the newly developed proprietary Subcoal® Pulverized Alternative Fuel (PAF) quality has been successfully burned on a 24 MW pulverized fuel burner. In a sequence of 3 industrial scale trials, carried out at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’s (MHPS) Research & Innovation Centre, the new fuel quality behaved much better than expected. The new fuel, produced from 100% non-recyclable waste, was able to achieve a stable flame on MHPS’s DS® Ultra Low NOx burner without any support fuel like oil or gas. This marks a crucial milestone for the newly developed fuel, which has been specifically designed to replace 100% coal, petcoke or lignite in industrial applications.
As project partner for the Uskmouth conversion project in Newport, Wales, UK, carried out by Simec Atlantis Energy, N+P developed the new Subcoal® PAF quality, suitable for usage in the challenging environment of a pulverized fuel boiler. The new fuel quality has significantly improved the milling properties, achieving up to 90% < 3mm particle size after milling. Equally important, the flowability properties of the fuel have also significantly improved, allowing the fuel to be milled and distributed using existing mills, handlings systems and burners. These properties have now been confirmed during the industrial scale trial.
The new PAF quality was milled using a conventional vertical rollers mill, the pulverized fuel was then fed via the existing handling systems to the 24 MW burner at a rate of close to 4 ton per hour. MHPS also investigated and confirmed that flue gas emissions were within anticipated levels and that the burner was able to achieve expected low NOx performance whilst maintaining low CO levels. These results mark a significant milestone for the Uskmouth conversion project, but also confirm the fuels potential for other projects.
In parallel to the recently carried out trials at MHPS, N+P have now introduced the new fuel quality to a number of clients in the cement and lime sector. Specifically for clients who are looking to replace the last 10-40% of their fossil fuel load, the new PAF quality can be very interesting. The fuel can potentially also supplied as a milled product, like e.g. lignite. The higher density of the milled product compared to traditional (high quality) SRF and the flowability properties make the fuel suited to be used in existing handling systems, allowing users to quickly switch their fuel mix. The first trials are expected to be carried out end the end of this year.