Computers and Chemical Engineering 31 (2006) 2131

Dynamic modeling and simulation of a 410 t/h Pyroflow CFB boiler

Yang Chen , Gou Xiaolong
College of Power Energy of Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, PR China
Received 23 May 2005; received in revised form 10 April 2006; accepted 14 April 2006
Available online 31 July 2006

Abstract
A modeling method for a large-scale circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler is presented. The method uses the cell approach to simulate the
axial distribution of solid and gas phases in the bed and uses coreannular construction to describe the radial distributions of solid particles and
particle clusters. At the same time, it takes into account the influence of the wide size distribution of both bed and feed materials on hydrodynamics,
chemical reactions and heat transfer. The steam side dynamic characteristics of the boiler are also considered based on the modular modeling
method. Based on the method, simulations of static and dynamic performances of a 410 t/h Pyroflow CFB boiler are carried out. The results show
that the model is capable of predicting the complete performance of the CFB boiler. The modeling method has important theoretical and engineering
values for the research of combustion technology, large-scale design and operating performances of a circulating fluidized bed.
2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Circulating fluidized bed (CFB); Cell modeling; Coreannular structure; Simulation

1. Introduction In most models, the thermal inertia of the refractory walls in

Up to the present time, considerable work has been done
on modeling of circulating fluidized bed (CFB) reactors (see
Grace, Avidan, & Knowlton, 1997 for a review). It is most com-
mon to only consider the steady-state performance of CFBs and
very few studies have reported the modeling of their dynamic
responses. However, it is very important to establish unsteady or
dynamic models capable of being used for CFB boiler control,
predicting start-up and shut-down, and calculating the response
to upset conditions. Several limited attempts (Muir, Brereton,
Grace, & Lim, 1997; Park & Basu, 1997; Weiss, Scholer, &
Fett, 1988; Zhang, Li, Zheng, & Lu, 1991) have been made to
provide a dynamic model for CFB boilers, and these dynamic
models have the following features:
The hydrodynamic model is commonly one-dimensional to
take into account axial gradients in the combustor; the radial
gradients are commonly neglected.
Most models are single particle diameter modelsan average
particle diameter is used to represent the size of feed and in-
bed materials.
Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 23 6510 3512; fax: +86 23 6510 6136.
E-mail address: yxtyc@cqu.edu.cn (Y. Chen).
the CFB loop is ignored. This has no effect on the steady-state
results, but can affect the models dynamic results because the
thermal inertia of the walls tends to damp any temperature
changes in the combustor.
Most models do not involve the steam side of the CFB boiler,
so they cannot deal with the coupling between the air/gas side
and steam side, and cannot describe the heat transfer process
accurately.
Few models have been developed for large-scale commercial
CFB boilers, just for experimental equipment or for pilot plant
size CFBs.
The main aim of this project is to develop a complete math-
ematical model of the 410 t/h Pyroflow CFB boiler. The study
attempts to address some of the shortcomings of the above mod-
els with a dynamic mathematical model of the CFB boiler. The
model integrates up-to-date theories and results of all kinds of
studies on the partial aspects or component behavior of CFB
boilers, the main processes such as hydrodynamics, devolatiliza-
tion of coal, char combustion, formation and reduction of harm-
ful substances, attrition of solid particles, separation character-
istics of the cyclone, characteristics of loop seal and bottom ash
removal system, and heat transfer are considered in detail. A
modeling method for the CFB boiler is presented which uses

0098-1354/$ see front matter 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compchemeng.2006.04.006
22 Y. Chen, G. Xiaolong / Computers and Chemical Engineering 31 (2006) 2131

Nomenclature
WB,i,j solid backmixing flow rate of jth size class out of
Cpg specific heat capacity of gas (J/kg K) ith cell (kg/s)
Cps specific heat capacity of solid (J/kg K) WD,i,j solid discharged mass flow of jth size class out of
dcl diameter of solid cluster (m) ith cell (kg/s)
dp particle diameter (m) WFa,i,j coal and limestone feed flow rate of jth size class
Dt equivalent diameter of the bed (m) entering ith cell (kg/s)
Fi,j molar flow rate of gas species i out of cell j WRec,i,j recycle ash flow rate of jth size class entering ith
(kmol/s) cell (kg/s)
FF,i,j molar flow rate of gas species i in jth cell within WTa,i,j+1 gain of particles from (j + 1)th size class to jth
the air feed flow (kmol/s) caused in the annulus by attrition (kg/s)
FRec,i,j molar flow rate of gas species i entering jth cell WTc,i,j+1 gain of particles from (j + 1)th size class to jth
from recirculation flow (kmol/s) caused in the core by attrition (kg/s)
FV,i,j molar generating rate of gas species i in jth cell XC,i,j char mass fraction of jth size class in ith cell
by volatiles (kmol/s) Xi,j solid mass fraction of jth size class in ith cell
Gk (h) entrainment flux of the kth class solid particles at Yi,j molar concentration of jth gas species in ith cell
high h (kg/m2 s)
G entrainment flux above transfer disengaging Greek letters
height (TDH) (kg/m2 s) exponential (decay) constant (m1 )
G0,k entrainment flux at dense/dilute phase interface dimensionless core diameter
(kg/m2 s) hi height of the ith cell (m)
GV,i,j molar number of gas species j created by cl void fraction of particle clusters
devolatilization in the ith cell d void fraction in the bottom zone
hto overall heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K) d,k void fraction of kth size class in the bottom zone
h height scale (m) h void fraction along the bed height
hsa height of secondary air port above distributor plate i average void fraction in the ith cell
(m) g gas viscosity (Pa s)
hg gas convective component (W/m2 K) c density of char particle (kg/m3 )
hp particle convective component (W/m2 K) cl density of particle cluster (kg/m3 )
hr radiative component (W/m2 K) bed local bed density (kg/m3 )
Ht bed height (m) g gas density (kg/m3 )
k fragmentation coefficient lean density of lean phase (kg/m3 )
kattr attrition constant (1/m) s solid density (kg/m3 )
kca coreannulus mass exchange coefficient (m/s)
Mb,i bed material mass of ith size class (kg)
Mg,i total molar number of gas in the ith cell (kmol) the cell approach to simulate the axial distributions of solid and
Mpa,i transient mass of solid in annulus (kg) gas phases in the bed, and uses coreannular construction to
Mpc,i transient mass of solid in core in the ith cell (kg) describe the radial distribution of solid particles and particle
QCh heat flux produced by chemical reaction (W) clusters. Using this method, a 1.5-dimensional dynamic and
QF heat transfer between cell and chamber wall (W) static mathematical model for a large commercial CFB boiler
rc radius of core zone (m) was developed which takes into account the influence of the
Ra,i particle attrition rate of ith size class (kg/s) wide size distribution of feeding coal, limestone and bed inven-
Ri,j sum of the produced and consumed gas species i tory on hydrodynamics, chemical reactions and heat transfer.
in jth cell The model of the water/steam side of the CFB boiler is also
Ret Reynolds number built based on the modular modeling method.
t time (s) In this paper, an integrated combustion, steamwater side and
Ta,i average temperature of annulus in ith cell (K) gasair system model for a circulating fluidized bed boiler is also
Tc,i average temperature of core i in ith cell (K) described. Meanwhile, a partitioning and multi-rate integration
U0 superficial gas velocity (m/s) technique for solving the integrated model is presented. The
Ug gas velocity (m/s) large-scale complex system dynamic model can be effectively
Umf solid minimum fluidization velocity (m/s) solved by the method.
Ut terminal velocity of particles (m/s)
Wac,i net mass transfer rate from the core to the annulus 2. Model description
in the ith cell (kg/s)
The model addressed in this paper is composed of two parts:
a combustion system model and steam side model; each is an
 Y. Chen, G. Xiaolong / Computers and Chemical Engineering 31 (2006) 2131 23

assembly of many submodels. All of these submodels are based

on conservation equations, principal physical laws, physical and
chemical process equations and empirical models.

2.1. Model structure of circulating loop

The circulating loop model includes the following sub-

models: combustion chamber model, cyclone model, standpipe
model and ash cooler model. The principal part of the model
is a series of conservation equations. To guarantee precision
and reliability for engineering analysis, a cell model scheme is
adopted to simulate gas/solid flow along the axis, meanwhile,
a core/annulus flow structure is used to simulate particle distri-
bution asymmetry along the radial direction in the combustion
system. Furthermore, the wide size distribution of feed and in-
bed materials is also taken into account.
The core/annulus flow structure has been demonstrated and
commonly accepted by many investigators. The annular (wall
region) is characterized by sheets or streamers or falling particles
interspersed with periods where there is a dilute upward-moving
solid suspension. Typical voidages of the streamers are in the
range of 0.60.8 (Senior & Brereton, 1992).
Fig. 1 illustrates the core/annular structure together with the
flow direction of both gas and solids. Both gas and solids flow
upwards in dilute suspension in the core. In the annulus, solids
flow predominantly downwards, while gas flows upwards along
the bare wall and downwards within the streamers. The thickness
of the annular wall region diminishes with height for the case
shown.
To avoid complex calculations with differential integration
in the axial direction, the primary loop of a CFB combustor
is broken down into cells. These cells are homogeneous, fully
mixed sections. The cell model scheme simply expresses the
primary loop of the CFB system and reflects the rapid fluidizing
process and principal behaviors of the combustion system such
as elutriation, backmixing, mass interchange between core and
annulus and gas plug flow in the furnace. Fig. 2 is a typical cell
Fig. 2. Typical cell configuration.
model describing the mass and energy interchange between core
and annulus.
2.2. Combustor chamber model
The circulating loop of the CFB is broken down into cells.
These cells are homogenous, fully mixed sections. The cell num-
bers are assigned as follows (Fig. 3):
Cell 1: bottom region of CFB (turbulent zone, the section
approximately between the grid and inlet point for the sec-
ondary air);
Cell 2 N: upside region of the bed (fast bed, from the sec-
ondary air-injection point to the top of the bed);
Cell N + 1: cyclone;
Cell N + 2: standpipe;
Cell N + 3: bottom ash cooler; variable N expresses the number
of cells in the bed; it is an optional parameter according to the
demand for precision and the necessity of simulation.
In order to reduce the complexity of the CFB model, the follow-
ing assumptions are made:
1. The flow structure consists of a core region of solids rising
in dilute phase, surrounded by an annulus of solids falling in
dense phase suspension (Rhodes, 1990).

Fig. 1. General core/annulus flow structure. Fig. 3. Model structure.

24 Y. Chen, G. Xiaolong / Computers and Chemical Engineering 31 (2006) 2131

2. All the gas passes through the core and there is no flow of The rate of elutriation of solid particles is given by the rela-
gas in the annulus (Grace et al., 1997). tionship of Wen and Chen (1982):
3. At any axial position, there is a net transfer rate of solids
from the core to the annulus. This rate of transfer is directly Gk (h) = G,k + (G0,k G,k ) ea(hhd ) (3)
proportional to the product of the concentration of solids in By taking into account the presence of clusters and the
the core and the interfacial area between the core and annulus core/annulus flow structure, G0,k is predicted by (Lei & Horio,
regions (Rhodes, 1990). 1998):
4. The voidage in the core does not vary with radial position    
within the core, while the voidage of the downward flowing d,k cl n 1 d,k
G0,k = p Ug ut,cl,k
2
(4)
suspension in the annulus is constant and independent of the 1 cl d,k
position in the bed.
In Eq. (4), n is the RichardsonZaki constant for the clustering
5. To describe the wide size distribution of solid particles in the
suspension flow. The cluster terminal velocity ut,cl,k is calculated
CFB, solid particles are assumed spherical and are divided
in the same manner as Lei and Horio (1998) by:
into several classes, with the size of each class represented
 
by an average size. dcl 1/2
6. Along the vertical direction, the furnace is divided into two Ut,cl,k = 3g(cl lean ) (5)
lean
regions: a high concentration region located at the bottom and
a suspension region over the high concentration region. The in Eq. (4) is the dimensionless core diameter. Werther (1993)
cross-section at the secondary air-injection port is approxi- proposed the following correlation, which was further confirmed
mately regarded as the interface between these two regions. by data from large-scale boilers:
7. The size distribution function of solid particles in the same      
U0 Dt g 0.22 Ht 0.21 h 0.73
core and annulus are identical. = 1 1.1 1 (6)
8. Hydrodynamic changes are much faster than thermal or gas g Dt Ht
composition changes (Park & Basu, 1997; Zhang et al., The rate of elutriation above transfer disengaging height
1991). (TDH), G,k , is then (Tanaka, Shinohara, Hirasue, & Tanaka,
1972):
2.3. Hydrodynamics  
U0 Ut,k p g 0.15
G,k = 0.046 g (U0 Ut,k )Re0.3
t 
Because the hydrodynamic changes occur much faster than gdp,k g
thermal and concentration changes, the hydrodynamic model (7)
will be simplified as a steady-state model. The hydrodynamic where Ret = U0 Dt /g
model is used to calculate the concentration profile of gas and According to the model assumption (3), the net mass transfer
solid in the high concentration region, suspension region, high rate of solids from the core to the annulus in the dilute zone is:
temperature cyclone region, standpipe and parameters like solid
elutriation, net rate of transfer of solids from core to annulus, Wac,i = kac s (1 i ) 2rc,i hi (8)
area ratio of core region and so on.
where kac is the coreannulus interchange coefficient which is
The model addressed in the paper deals with the core/annulus
assumed to vary with height.
structure simply when simulating. After determining the inter-
The hydrodynamic model, especially the simulation of the
face between the core and annulus, the diffusivity of solid parti-
space distribution of particle concentration, the mixing rate
cles from core to annulus is calculated based on assumption (3)
of solid particles and the mass interchange rate between core
above. In the same cell, the flow parameters are represented by
and annulus is crucial to the overall mathematic model of
their average values.
CFB. Based on the hydrodynamic model, devolatilization of
The voidage profile in the fast bed section (upper lean region)
coal, char combustion, formation and reduction of harmful sub-
is represented by (Kunii & Levenspiel, 1991):
stances, attrition of solid particles, separation characteristic of
d h the cyclone, characteristics of the loop seal and bottom ash cooler
= exp[(h hsa )] (1) and heat transfer can be described.
d a

The decay coefficient is determined by the following rela- 2.4. Combustion

tionship fitted by the authors with experimental data:
For simulation purposes, the combustion of coal particles can
 0.96  0.84  0.37
G U0 p g be modeled using the following reactions:
dp = 3.8 105
U0 g gDt g
(2) devolatilization and volatile combustion;
char combustion;
Eq. (2) reflects the relationship between the decay coefficient, NOx formation;
gas/solid properties, flow parameters and particle size. SO2 absorption.
 Y. Chen, G. Xiaolong / Computers and Chemical Engineering 31 (2006) 2131
For a dynamic model of a CFB boiler, knowledge of the
reaction rate equations for the chemical reactions involved is a
prerequisite where the kinetics are taken. Over the past decades,
extensive studies have been carried out on this aspect, so choos-
ing reliable expressions or correlations is very important to
ensure model precision. By consulting the literature and tak-
ing the characteristics of the 410 t/h Pyroflow CFB boiler into
account, the following assumptions and expressions or correla-
tions were adopted in the model.
It is assumed that volatiles of smaller sized coal particles
(dp < 1 mm) are released and combusted instantaneously at the
feed port, and that of larger coal particles (dp > 1 mm) are
released and combusted in the area between the feed port and
the top of the bed, and this area is variable. The shrinking-core
model is used to describe the combustion of char particles (Basu
& Fraser, 1991). This model assumes that the combustion of
char is taken to be under regime II in which the chemical reac-
tion rate and the pore diffusion rate of oxygen are of similar
magnitudes.
Volatile yield is estimated by the empirical correlations of
Gregory and Littlejohn (1965), and the composition of the prod-
ucts of devolatilization in weight fractions is calculated from
the correlations developed by Loison and Chauvin (1964) from
experimental data.
The rate of burning of carbon monoxide is described using
the expressions of Hottel, Williams, Nerheim, and Schneider
(1965), the rate of char combustion, the temperature of char
particle and the rate of the carbon dioxide reduction reaction
using the correlations given by Basu and Fraser (1991) and Rajan
and Wen (1980), respectively.
NOx formation in the combustion processes results from a
combination of a thermal generation process and fuel nitro-
gen oxidation. At very high temperatures, thermal genera-
tion of NOx from the air nitrogen becomes very impor-
tant, while at the low temperatures found in circulating flu-
idized bed combustior (CFBC), the dominant source of NOx
is fuel nitrogen oxidation. Because of the operating temper-
ature of the CFB boiler below 1173 K, thermal generation
of NOx is neglected, and it is assumed that fuel nitrogen
oxidizes to form NO; the formation and decomposition of
N2 O are not considered in the model. A simplified kinetic
model for the formation and decomposition of NOx in a CFB
boiler developed by Wang et al. (1998) is used to model the
process.
For limestone reaction, since CaCO3 is unstable under CFBC
conditions, the calcination process is assumed to occur instan-
taneously and completely in the lower region of the bed. The
reaction rate of a limestone particle is estimated using the expres-
sions described by Basu and Fraser (1991).
The chemical reactions associated with the combustion, for-
mation and destruction of pollutants considered in the model are
only a small part of the total picture of the complex processes
which take place in the CFB boiler, however, for the purpose
of dynamic simulation of the CFB boiler, such consideration
can reflect the relevant macroscopic phenomena of these com-
plex processes and can meet the requirements of the simulation
goal.
25
2.5. Fragmentation
The fragmentation is classified into primary and secondary
fragmentation. Primary fragmentation of a fuel particle occurs
just after its injection into the hot bed, due to losses of material
(moisture and volatiles) and internal stresses caused by heating,
drying and devolatilization. Secondary fragmentation occurs as
coal burning proceeds. It results from the weakening by com-
bustion and breaking up by collisions of bridges that connect
different regions of a coal particle. So it takes place during the
entire combustion process. Knowledge of the fragmentation of
coal particles in fluidized beds is required for establishing the
comprehensive mathematical model of combustion and under-
standing the practical coal combustion process. It was shown
that coarser particles are much more sensitive to fragmentation
than finer particles; therefore, fragmentation in the upper bed is
neglected in the model because the particles in the upper part of
the bed are much smaller than those in the bottom zone. Finally,
the following expression is adopted as the fragmentation model
in the bottom bed (Bellgardt, Hembach, Schossler, & Werther,
1987; Hua, Flamant, Lu, & Gauthier, 2004):
dp,old
q(dp,new ) = k1/3 q(dp,old ) with dp,new = (9)
k1/3
where q(d) is the particle size distribution (PSD) function, dp,new
and dp,old the particle diameters after fragmentation and before
fragmentation, respectively, and k is the fragmentation coeffi-
cient.
2.6. Attrition
In fluidized beds, particle attrition takes place by surface abra-
sion, i.e. particles of a much smaller size are created from the
original particles. The particles created are fine with a mean
diameter less than 0.050.1 mm. Previous studies have shown
that the presence of smaller particles increases the attrition of
larger ones but not the contrary. The rate of production of fine
particles can be calculated as (Merrick & Highley, 1974)
Ra,i = kattr (Ug Umf,i ) Mb,i (10)
where kattr is the attrition rate constant, i the serial number of
the particle group and Umf is the solid minimum fluidization
velocity, which varies with particle diameter. The value of kattr
is dependent on the friability of the material and kattr lie in the
range 9.11 106 for ash and 2.73 106 for limestone (Rajan
& Wen, 1980).
Other particles experience continuous size reduction; parti-
cles in the ith group are falling into the (i 1)th group at the
flow rate (Yang, 1997)
di
WT,i = Ra,i (11)
3(di di1 )
2.7. Heat transfer
The heat balance contains the upward and downward stream-
ing hot mass flows of gas and solids, the formation enthalpy of
26 Y. Chen, G. Xiaolong / Computers and Chemical Engineering 31 (2006) 2131
Fig. 4. Mass balance of gas species.
gas species generated due to reactions, feed enthalpy flows and
heat transfer to walls and tubes.
Heat transfer consists of the components gas convection, par-
ticle convection and radiation. The heat transfer coefficients of
the single components are assumed to be additive:
hto = hg + hp + hr (12)
Computation of these components follows the particle
renewal model of Basu and Fraser (1991), which gives the rela-
tionships for the fast bed to wall heat transfer in each cell of the
fast bed.
The overall heat transfer coefficient from the bed to the walls
for the rest of the CFB loop (turbulent section, cyclone, standpipe
and L-valve) was given by Basu and Nag (1996) as:
hto = 40(bed )0.5 (13)
This relationship has been validated only for the fast region of
a CFB but it is acceptable as a first approximation for the heat
transfer in the rest of the loop (Park & Basu, 1997).
2.8. Mass balance of gas species
Mass balances are made for volatile gases, carbon monoxide,
carbon dioxide, oxygen, sulfur dioxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen
and water in the core within the fast bed region and in the tur-
bulent zone (bottom region). According to assumption (2), gas
only flows in the core, so the mass balance equations for gas
are exclusively for the core, while there are no mass balance
equations for the annulus. Fig. 4 demonstrates the balance of
gas species j in the ith cell. The general gas balance equation is:
d(Mg,i Yi,j )
= Fi1,j Fi,j + FF,i,j + FRec,i,j
dt
+Ri,j FV,i,j (14)
This equation means that the rate of change in molar mass of
species j is equal to the sum of production and consumption of
the gas. According to Eq. (14), balance equations for all eight
gas species can be easily acquired.
2.9. Mass balance of solid particles
The classification of solid particles has been discussed and the
physical/chemical characteristics of the particles are considered.
Furthermore, a mass balance equation is formulated.
Fig. 5. Particles balance.
The mass interchange of jth size class particles between core
and annulus for a given cell is illustrated in Fig. 5. In core/annulus
flow structure, the thickness of the annulus is very small, so
the feed coal, limestone and recycling ash can be assumed to
enter the core region directly and they are only considered in the
balance equation of the core region.
The mass balance equation for both core and annulus of jth
size class particles in the ith cell is expressed as:
Core:
d(Mpc,i Xi,j )
= WE,i1,j WE,i,j Wca,i,j
dt
+WFa,i,j + WRec,i,j WD,i,j
+WTc,i,j+1 WTc,i,j (15)
Annulus:
d(Mpa,i Xi,j )
= WB,i+1,j WB,i,j
dt
+Wca,i,j + WTa,i,j+1 WTa,i,j (16)
According to assumption (3), the flow rate of solid particles
transmitted from the core to annulus Wca is proportional to the
product of the concentration of solids in the core and the inter-
facial area between the core and annulus regions, while the flow
rate of solid particles from the annulus to core is ignored.
2.10. Balance equation of char particles
Char particles are also classified into size classes, just as
for the other solid particles. The mass balance equation can
be formulated in the core and annulus like Eqs. (15) and (16).
The primary and secondary fragmentation of feed materials,
devolatilization of coal and attrition of bed materials should also
be taken into account.
2.11. Energy balance
The energy equation is formulated for both the gas and all
solid particles in each cell. The energy exchange for solid and
gas in the ith cell is illustrated in Fig. 6. As shown, the rate of
energy change in the core and annulus should be equal to the
 Y. Chen, G. Xiaolong / Computers and Chemical Engineering 31 (2006) 2131 27

Fig. 6. Energy balance.

net energy carried by mass interchanging and heat transferring

between the two regions, so the energy balance equations are:

Core:
dTc,i
(Mpc,i Cps + Mg,i Cpg )
dt
= WE,i1 Cps Tc,i1 WE,i Cps Tc,i + Fi1 Cpg,i1 Tc,i1
Fi Cpg,i Tc,i Wca,i Cps Tc,i + QCH,i (17) Fig. 7. MMS model schematics of steam/mater side.

Annulus:
coupling these equations with the energy equations (Eqs. (17)
and (18)) for each cell.
dTa,i
(Mpa,i Cps ) = WB,i+1 Cps Ta,i+1 WB,i Cps Ta,i Fig. 7 gives a graphical schematic representation for the
dt steam/water side model of the 410 t/h Pyroflow CFB boiler.
+Wca,i Cps Tc,i + QF,i (18)
3. Simulation procedure
During operation, feed coal, limestone, air and recycled ash
enter the dense phase region, so the heat carried by these mate- Based on the model described above, the static state and
rials should be considered in the energy balance equation. dynamic performances of the 410 t/h Pyroflow CFB boiler can
be investigated. An overview of the geometric parameters and
2.12. Steam/water side model working conditions of the CFB boiler is given in Table 1.
For the simulation test, the CFB combustion zone is divided
The B&W Modular Modeling System (MMS) was chosen into 30 serial cells vertically. Particles are discretized into 15
as the modeling tool for the steam and water side of the CFB groups in total. The maximum feed coal diameter is 7 mm.
boiler because the MMS allows one to quickly build a graphical Table 2 shows the ultimate and proximate analyses of the test
schematic representation for a plant by selecting from a library coal and Tables 3 and 4 show the size distributions of feed coal
of predefined power plant components to dynamically simulate and limestone particles, respectively.
their operation. In addition, each component has a calcula- The overall model of the 410 t/h CFB boiler is comprised of
tion subroutine which facilitates determination of a steady-state the circulating loop of CFB and the steam/water side model.
condition and performance of routine calculations for the com- For the equations comprising the overall model, the first-order
ponent. These calculations, termed auto-parameterization, help ordinary non-linear differential system of the balance equations
avoid repetitive and often tedious hand calculations for model
initialization. Table 1
Component connection is provided within the MMS based on Geometric parameters and working conditions of the CFB boiler
connectivity rules defined for each component. The simulation Cross-section of boiler (m2 ) 14.122 7.082
code generator makes use of the graphically defined connec- Boiler height (m) 31.133
tions to automatically and analytically define fluid flow paths, Height of secondary air injet inlets (m) 3.01
MCR steam flow rate (kg/s) 113.9
mechanical couples or signal/logic flow paths within the simu- Superheated steam pressure (Pa) 9.8
lation model. Superheated steam temperature ( C) 540
Because the CFB boiler model was not available in the MMS Coal feed rate (kg/s) 13.8
library, new modules were created by modifying existing MMS Limestone feed rate (kg/s) 3.1944
fossil power plant natural circulating steam drum boiler mod- Primary air flow (N m3 /h) 74
Primary air ratio (%) 60
els, keeping model equations that describe the dynamic perfor- Desulfurized efficiency (%) >90
mances of the steam and water side of the steam drum, and
28 Y. Chen, G. Xiaolong / Computers and Chemical Engineering 31 (2006) 2131

Table 2
Analysis of the coal
Proximate analysis Value Ultimate analysis Value

Moisture (wt%) 8.71 Carbon (wt%) 59.9

Ash (wt%) 22.16 Hydrogen (wt%) 2.91
Volatile matter (wt%) 10.56 Oxygen (wt%) 2.49
Calorific value (MJ/kg) 22.55 Nitrogen (wt%) 0.71
Sulfur (wt%) 3.12

Table 3
Size distributions of feed coal
Diameter (m) >4000 40002000 20001000 1000500 <500

Cumulative weight 6.73 37.51 21.45 21.78 12.5

fraction (%)

of the circulating loop is firstly rewritten by the finite difference

technique using the format of the RungeKuttaGill method
and then the set of non-linear algebraic equations obtained is
solved by a combined NewtonRaphsonRelaxation algorithm.
Variables of iteration are as follows:

molar flow rate of each gas species out of each cell, Fi,j ;
solid backmixing rate of each particle class in each cell, WB,i,j ;
char mass fraction of each particle class in each cell, XC,i,j ; Fig. 8. Overall calculation scheme of the complete model.
average temperature in the core in each cell, Tc,i ;
average temperature in the annulus in each cell, Ta,i .
4. Simulations and discussion
Meanwhile, the steam/water side model is a first-order dif-
4.1. Predicting steady-state performances
ferential algebraic system of equations, and the differential part
of the equations is solved by Gears stiff method. Therefore,
Compared with measured data recorded by the data acqui-
the integrated model is solved by the partitioning and multi-rate
sition system (DAS) of the boiler, in the combustion chamber,
integration technique. The main aspects of this technique are:
temperature profiles both in the core and annulus calculated by
the model are illustrated in Fig. 9. The calculation is currently
The integrated step determined by Gears stiff algorithm very sensitive to the approach of the volatile release rate and so
which solves the water/steam side model is taken as a ref- a different volatile combustion assumption shifts the tempera-
erence step for the calculation of the complete model. The ture profile accordingly. For the calculations, it is assumed that
coupling of the two submodels within this step is neglected. volatiles of smaller sized coal particles (dp < 1 mm) are released
During one step, the equations of the circulating loop model and combusted instantaneously at the feed port, and that larger
are calculated with the step determined according to the coal particles (dp > 1 mm) are released and combusted in the area
required accuracy and the water/steam side parameters used
for the circulating loop model can be acquired by interpola-
tion.
If needed, iteration for steps (1) and (2) can be adopted to
improve the accuracy of the simulation.

The overall calculation scheme for the complete model is

shown in Fig. 8.

Table 4
Size distributions of feed limestone
Diameter (m) 70002500 25001500 15001000 <1000

Cumulative weight 10 30 20 40
fraction (%)
Fig. 9. Temperature profiles in the combustion chamber.
 Y. Chen, G. Xiaolong / Computers and Chemical Engineering 31 (2006) 2131
Fig. 10. Mass fraction of solid particles at different positions.
between the feed port and the top of the bed. As the figure shows,
the former five points of measured data are closer to the temper-
ature of the annulus, while the last point is very close to that of
the core.
Taking into account the effects of feed coal fragmenta-
tion, devolatilization, solid particle attrition and core-shrinking
caused by combustion. Fig. 10 illustrates the solid particle size
distributions at different places in the circulating loop. Curves
14 represent the distributions of solid materials held up in the
loop in the bottom region of the bed, and at heights of 6.112,
18.523 and 30.9 m, respectively, curve 5 represents the size
distribution in the standpipe and curve 6 represents the size dis-
tribution of fly ash exhausted from the cyclone. It is obvious
that the fraction of small-sized particles increases as the height
increases, while the fraction of large-sized particles decreases.
This is caused by elutriation, backmixing and attrition of the
particles. In the high temperature cyclone, the size of ash is
very small. Most large-sized particles accumulated in the bot-
tom dense region.
Gas concentration distributions of O2 , CO2 , SO2 and NO are
shown in Fig. 11. The rapid changes in gas concentration due to
secondary air injection can be seen clearly.
4.2. Dynamic simulation
Like any engineering model, the present model uses several
simplifications and assumptions to keep the computational com-
Fig. 11. Distributions of gas concentration in the core.
29
Fig. 12. Core temperature response at different heights.
plexity under control. So it is imperative that the accuracy of its
predictions should be checked against experimental data. As an
example, the transient response of a 410 t/h Pyroflow CFB boiler
is simulated when a step change is made to the coal feed rate. As
in the work of Park and Basu (1997), the objective of the sim-
ulation is to estimate the correctness of the model qualitatively.
The simulation process is designed as follows:
maintaining that the model runs steadily for 20 s at the rated
load;
at the end of 20 s, feed coal is suddenly increased by 5%, and
that value is then maintained for 1800 s;
thereafter, the coal feed rate is suddenly dropped to 10% of
the rated load, and maintains such a state for 5000 s;
at 6820 s, the feed coal rate is restored to its original rated
value.
Fig. 12 shows the temperature responses in the bottom dense
region (curve 1), at a height of 18.5 m (curve 2) and a height of
30.9 m (curve 3).
The responses of gas concentrations of O2 , SO2 , CO2 and
NO at the outlet of the boiler are shown in Figs. 13 and 14,
respectively. It is obvious that the chemical reaction rate of gas
species varies as the coal feed rate changes, so the concentrations
of the gas species change correspondingly.
For water/steam side response, the simulation process
assumes that the opening of the turbines throttle valve is con-
stant, and the feed water flow rate is assumed invariable. Fig. 15
Fig. 13. O2 and SO2 concentrations at outlet of the bed.
30 Y. Chen, G. Xiaolong / Computers and Chemical Engineering 31 (2006) 2131
Fig. 14. CO2 and NO concentrations at outlet of the bed.
Fig. 15. Steam parameters responses.
gives the response curves of several principal parameters in the
water/steam side of the boiler. When the coal feed rate increases
suddenly, more heat is absorbed by the waterwall, so the pressure
of the steam drum and main steam increases correspondingly.
On the other hand, the pressure of the steam drum and main
steam decreases as the feed coal rate decreases. The change in
steam temperature is related to heat transfer and steam flow rate.
From Fig. 15, a conclusion can be reached that as the feed coal
rate increases suddenly, more heat is absorbed by steam and then
the steam temperature increases correspondingly and steam flow
rate increases as pressure increases, but the increment of steam
flow rate caused by the increment of pressure makes the temper-
ature drop. If the feed coal rate decreases suddenly, the opposite
phenomenon will be observed.
5. Conclusions
A complete dynamic model of a large-scale CFB boiler has
been developed, and the model is both mechanistically and
empirically based. Mechanistic models incorporate mass and
energy balances and generally allow simulation and design as
well as control, whereas empirical models are very helpful when
the process is poorly understood and operates within a relatively
narrow range of conditions.
The model predicts both the spatial and time-resolved
response of the parameters throughout the CFB loop and on
the water/steam side of the boiler. Testing the proposed model
against measurements with a commercial CFB boiler, and com-
paring the dynamic simulation results with similar work done
by Park and Basu (1997), the steady-state and dynamic per-
formances predicted by the model are in good agreement with
measurements and are qualitatively correct.
Although the model is related to a particular CFB boiler, the
modeling method has general applicability and can be readily
adapted to other CFB boiler systems.
Although several attempts have been made by the authors
to develop the dynamic simulation of a 410 t/h Pyroflow CFBC
boiler, there are some weaknesses which can still be addressed:
The modeling of the core/annulus structure is not comprehen-
sive enough, and some significant phenomena like stagnant
gas flow and reaction in the annulus zone, mass transfer of
gas species between core and annulus and radial dispersion
in the core zone have not been considered.
The thermal capacity of refractory materials and the heat
transfer to these surfaces were not taken into account.
The temperature dependence of the kinetic rate constants and
possibly of other properties used in the model need further
verification.
Continuing efforts are required to improve the model and to
provide verification using experimental data. Data giving gas
concentration profiles and profiles of other variables like tem-
perature and voidage for the CFB boiler are especially critical
for testing the model in the future.
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