A. Kaupp, e-mail: webmaster@kaupp.

net

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Fuels for steam generation

Issue
In energy audits of combustion systems, the fuel properties are mostly neglected or not well understood leading to false recommendations and undesirable side effects.

Learning Objectives

Understanding how physical/chemical properties of fuels are reported. Appreciation for the often confusing published data about fuel properties. Selecting the correct fuel data for thermal efficiency calculations. Being able to discuss fuel switching options with a client. Knowing the properties of local fuels.

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1. Fuel cost savings versus fuel savings

As shown in Lecture 1 fuel costs are by far the highest cost of most boiler operations. They account for 60-90 % of total steam costs in most systems. Consequently reducing fuel costs is a major objective of any boiler energy audit. As a consultant you are interested to reduce fuel costs even if the energy consumption stays the same or increases. This strategy may conflict with Government guidelines that subsidies energy conservation projects and requires a company to save fuel energy. However, some energy conservation projects save energy costs but increase energy consumption. A typical example is a fuel switch from fuel oil to solid fuels.

2. Solid fuels delivery contracts

The first question to ask, is how the client purchases solid fuels and whether the firm has an option and can choose from various suppliers. Firms requiring large quantities of solid fuels should not purchase by ton but rather pay per MJ of energy received. The reason is that solid fuels such as coal, wood, or bagasse may carry large quantities of water or ash. Both solid fuel components are not contributing any MJ to the energy input to the system. Even worse they will significantly lower system efficiency. In the case of water, additional energy is needed to evaporate the water and in the case of large amounts of ash, some carbon remains in the ash and valuable chemical energy is discharged through the waste bin. Purchasing solid fuels based on Baht/1000 MJ can already reduce energy costs significantly and will improve thermal efficiency, because it may result in reduced water and tramp ash on delivery. The second issue that should be clarified prior to an audit, are so called opportunity costs of solid waste fuels. Firms that generate their own waste (sugar mills, rice mills, wood and food processing companies) often wrongly argue that the fuel is a waste and therefore for free. In reality no fuel is for free, because of fuel processing and benefication costs from the state of as received (ar) to as fired (afired) as well as lost opportunities to use available excess fuel energy for other purposes such as power generation. Preparing a table as shown below for the case of wood highlights the issue. It is assumed that wood costs the same 500 Baht/ton

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independent of its moisture content. Any moisture in a fuel will lower the thermal efficiency as indicated in column 4. Of interest are only the costs for the useful energy found in the steam.
Table 1: Wood (50 % C, 6% H, 44% O, 0% N, 0% S maf)
Moisture % HHV MJ/ton LHV MJ/ton System Eta * Baht/ ton Baht/ 1000 MJ Baht/ 1000 MJ useful

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

19.71 17.74 15.77 13.80 11.83 9.86 7.88 5.91

18.39 16.31 14.23 12.14 10.06 7.97 5.89 3.81

77.12 75.57 73.64 71.15 67.81 63.12 56.02 44.06

500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500

25.37 28.18 31.71 36.23 42.27 50.71 63.45 84.60

32.90 37.29 43.06 50.92 62.33 80.34 113.26 192.01

* System efficiency taken from 10 ton/hour steam boiler fired with wood, at 8 % O2(dry gas, for all moisture contents)

There is a double penalty to be paid if a high moisture fuel is bought in Baht/ton instead of Baht/energy content. Reasonably dry wood with 20 % moisture costs about 43 Baht per 1000 MJ of useful energy while very wet wood at 60 % moisture would cost about 113 Baht or 260 % more. Changing the purchasing practice can therefore significantly reduce fuel costs and improve thermal efficiency.

3. Physical/chemical properties of a solid fuel

Four standard tests are common: The ultimate chemical analysis determines the mass percentage of Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), Oxygen (O), Nitrogen (N), Sulfur (S), ash and water of the fuel. The proximate analysis, determines the mass percentage of volatiles, ash, and fixed carbon. A test to determine the moisture content of the fuel on a wet or dry basis. A bomb calorimeter test to determine the Higher Heating Value (HHV) of the fuel in MJ/kg, as received.

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There seems to be an amazingly high level of confusion and misunderstanding concerning reporting of solid fuel properties. One should be aware of the following: The HHV of the fuel (as received) is determent by a laboratory. Most laboratories report the HHV on a moisture free basis (mf). That may cause the misconception that the HHV is the energy content of a fuel in a totally dry state. The LHV is not measured, but rather calculated from the HHV. In order to calculate the LHV the amount of water vapor generated during the combustion of the fuel must be known. The water vapor refers to physically and chemically bound water in the fuel. Calculating the chemically bound water in the fuel, one must know the Hydrogen content of the fuel. The LHV is certainly not the energy content of the fuel in a wet state. It is the HHV minus the energy stored in the physically and chemically bound water of the fuel. Any ultimate chemical analysis of a fuel where the percentage of the species does not add up to 100 % is incomplete. Whoever has done the test forgot to report the results of the proximate analysis. As consultant you are mostly interested in four numbers, the HHV, ash, moisture, and sulfur content of the fuel. In the literature reporting of solid fuel properties are either done on an as received (ar), as fired (afired), ash free (af), moisture and ash free (maf) basis. It is a quite challenging task to figure out on what basis data is reported. All biomass fuels, except coal, no matter whether we talk about rice hulls, water lilies, wood, bagasse or coconut shells have on the average the following ultimate chemical composition on a moisture and ash free basis C: 50 % H: 6 % O: 44 % N: 0 % S: 0% and a Higher Heating Value of about 20 MJ/kg on a moisture and ash free basis.

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The above generic ultimate chemical composition of biomass combined with more specific data about the moisture and ash content of the fuel is sufficient as data input for thermal efficiency calculations, of biomass fired combustion systems. Large quantities of either moisture or ash in a fuel give ample opportunities for energy saving potentials. Except for coal only traces of sulfur are found in other solid biomass fuels.

4. Physical/chemical properties of liquid fuels

Liquid fuel testing is done similarly to solid fuel testing. However the ultimate chemical analysis of liquid fuels is rarely published. Instead it is more common to report the C/H ratio and the density of a fuel oil. In particular the density is a parameter that is tested with almost any delivery of a fuel, because it influences preheating temperature and oil line pressure settings.
Table 2: Average physical/chemical properties of fuel oils
Type Density at 20 oC C H O+N S HHV

Light fuel oil (type EL or fuel oil # 2) Heavy fuel oil (type S or fuel oil # 6) Highly viscous fuel oil (Bunker C)

0.82 - 0.86 0.90 - 0.96 0.98 - 1.08

85.5 86 87

13.5 11.5 10

0.5 1 2

0.5 1.5 1

44.6 43.4 42.5

The C/H ratio changes from 6.6 for a very light fuel oil to over 12 for a highly viscous and heavy fuel oil. The ultimate chemical analysis of fuel oils is rarely available, on the other hand the density is well known. If the density is known one may calculate the HHV from the Hydrogen, water and ash content of the fuel. Under normal circumstances fuel oils have either no ash and no water or only traces smaller 0.15%. Some countries have norms that regulate fuel oil properties and classify fuel oils. In other countries fuel oil quality may not be normed and it is sometimes not clear what type of fuel oil the client gets.

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Fuel oil suppliers commonly set maximum values for the fuel density and minimum values for the HHV. They do not guarantee a specific density or HHV for their blends. Most common problems are The fuel oil has been mixed with waste oil having a high metal and ash content. Inexpensive fuel oils have a high sulfur content, and or high density, because there is always a premium paid for light grade low sulfur oil. The fuel oil has been tampered with water and shows a high water content of between 5 % and 15 %. The fuel oil is contaminated with solids and shows a high ash content. The fuel oil has a high fraction of asphalts and shows a high density (> 1.10) In particular emulsifying a fuel oil with water and selling it as a hydro-oil grade that supposedly yields a higher thermal efficiency of the boiler is a popular trick in some countries, where small oil retailers are difficult to control. Typical boiler troubles listed below are caused by oil quality problems: Excessive smoke generation Worn out burner nozzles Excessive corrosion Fire flies emerging from the flame envelope As a consultant it may be worthwhile to check oil quality and supplier if the above symptoms are excessive.

5. Gaseous fuels
Gaseous fuels are without any question the easiest fuel to combust with the least danger of fouling a boiler. However they are also the most expensive. Chemical analysis is done on a volumetric basis and the HHV is calculated based on volumetric analysis. In most cases one deals with natural gas (NG), liquefied petroleum gas

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(LPG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), or compressed natural gas (CNG, at 160 bar). To use gaseous fuels in boilers is a question of economics. In cases where the specific energy costs per 1000 MJ of useful energy of a gaseous fuel and a fuel oil are close, it may be worthwhile to look into fuel switching. This topic will be discussed in Lecture 5. LPG is a mixture predominantly of commercial propane and commercial butane. Its composition is typically 80 % propane and 20 % butane(on a liquid volume basis). However blends go as low as 50:50, depending on application and costs of propane. Observe that propane has a vapor pressure of 8.53 bar (absolute) at 20 C while butane has a much lower vapor pressure of 2.06 bar. Consequently equipment requiring higher gas pressures need LPG with a higher propane fraction. The HHV of commercial propane is 50.3 MJ/kg while butane has a HHV of 49.5 MJ/kg. The HHV of commercial LPG does therefore vary slightly between 49.6 MJ/kg (80P:20B) and 49.8 MJ/kg (50P:50B). LPG is either sold per weight or per liquid volume. Liquid densities at 15 C are 0.524 kg/liter (80P:20B) to 0.545 kg/liter (50P:50B) The natural gas and LPG sold in Thailand have the following average chemical composition (% volume):
Table 3: Properties of Natural gas and LPG
Type CH4 C2 H6
C3H8 Propane C4H10 Butane

CO2

N2

H2 S

HHV

Thai gas LPG 0 0 80 20 0 0 0 49.8

Depending on what LPG pressure is needed at ambient conditions the ratio of butane to propane changes. The colder the climate and the higher the pressure the more Propane is found in LPG.

6. Comparison of solid, liquid and gaseous fuels

From an energy auditors point of view a few more parameters such as amount of air needed per MJ of fuel energy converted

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amount of water generated per MJ of fuel energy converted

are of interest. The amount of air needed plays a role in the design of forced and induced draft fans and dimensioning of duct sizes. Occasionally one deals with boilers where the fuel does not match the boiler design, in particular if fuel switching has taken place. As shown in table 1 increasing the moisture content of a fuel will significantly reduce the steam generation capacity of a boiler. While reasonably dry biomass may have a yield of 5 tons of steam per ton of fuel, this will drop to 2.5 tons of steam at 50 % moisture. The amount of water vapor generated during the combustion process has a significant impact on thermal efficiency, because both the physically and chemically bond water must be evaporated. All water in the fuel leaves the boiler in vapor form at between 150 o C and 300 oC and is also one cause of corrosion. The following table 4 gives an overview. Note the difference in water generation per MJ of fuel energy provided to the furnace. Air requirements vary from 0.27 to 0.37 cubic meter of air per MJ of fuel energy supplied. Implications are discussed in the exercise section.
Table 4: Combustion air requirements and water generation
Fuel m3 Air / MJ fuel gram H2O / MJ fuel % O2 in stack

Light fuel oil Highly viscous fuel oil Butane Propane Wood (20% H2O) Wood (40% H2O) Bagasse (50% H2O) Anthracite (84% C, 5% H2O) Lignite (67% C, 30% H2O)

0.304

27.87

0.316 0.278 0.277 0.373 0.373 0.373 0.372 0.365

21.80 32.09 33.19 40.84 61.96 78.85 15.61 40.40

5 3 3 8 8 8 7 7

6. Summary

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Physical and chemical fuel properties as related to energy efficiency issues were discussed. One should keep in mind the following Water in a fuel will significantly lower thermal efficiencies and drive up specific energy costs per MJ of useful energy. Less expensive fuels are more difficult to combust and will result in decreased system efficiencies. Fuel switching from a high priced fuel to a lower priced fuel will usually decrease system efficiency and may require substantial retrofitting of furnace systems. High sulfur contents in liquid fuels may cause considerable corrosion problems in heat exchangers and may force an operator to increase stack gas temperature to stay above the dew point.. Besides the name plate information of the boiler, a fuel specification sheet should be established.

Fuel Specification Sheet for : <client name>

Fuel (generic description) Fuel (brand name) Retailer / supplier Ultimate chemical analysis (as received, % mass) Fuel bought in units of Higher and lower Heating Value (MJ/unit) Price as received, Baht/unit Remarks HHV LHV C H O N S Ash Water

Some of the required data may not be available or must be calculated from literature data.

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EXERCISES
All exercises are standard tasks associated with advisory services in the field of boiler efficiency testing. To assist in the calculation an EXCEL spreadsheet is used.

Task 1
To demonstrate the influence of moisture on the energy content of the fuel you are asked to generate a graphics that shows the HHV and LHV of wood as a function of its moisture content. The moisture content is varied from 0 % to 80%.
Hint: Select fuel # 1 and press the Graphics button. Results are shown in folders Graphic and Losses.

Task 2
You received from a laboratory the following ultimate chemical analysis of rice hulls. All components add up to 100.
Specie mass % (maf) mass % (ar)

C H O N S
SUM HHV

50 6 44 0 traces
100 % 19.71

______ ______ ______ ______ traces

_______

The laboratory did not perform a proximate analysis to determine the ash and water content of the rice hulls. You take the numbers from the literature as 14 % H2O (wet basis) and 22 % ash (wet basis). Calculate the as received composition of rice hulls, and its HHV.
Hint: Select Fuel # 2. Use first the Water spinner to adjust the moisture content and than the Ash spinner.

Task 3

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You buy an extra light fuel oil. Determine the change in HHV and costs if the fuel contains 1, 2, 10, 15 % water.
Water content % HHV MJ/kg Costs Baht/liter
0 1 2 10 15

Hint:

Select Fuel # 3 and cycle through the Water spinner. Record the change in fuel costs.

Would you buy the high moisture fuel for this price? ___________

Task 4
You are not so sure about the composition of LPG. The Propane content may be everything from 90 % to 50 % (liquid volume). Calculate the difference in HHV for LPG with 90 % and LPG with 50 % Propane. Also compare the ultimate chemical composition.
LPG
90% P / 10% B 50% P / 50% B Difference, %
HHV, MJ/kg C H

Is the difference in percent significant? ______________________

Hint: Select Fuel # 10 (90% P : 10% B) and Fuel # 11 (50% P : 50% B)

Task 5
A client has two suppliers of coal whom both charge 800 Baht/ton. A laboratory has determined the following coal characteristics:
Fuel Coal A
H2 O Ash HHV (maf) MJ/ton Baht/ton

25

31

800

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Coal B

10

15

31

800

Advise the client which one is the better deal.

Hint: Select Fuel # 12 (= coal A). Decrease moisture content from 25% to 10 % and increase the ash content from 5 % to 15 %. Compare the calculated new price with the price for coal B.

There is a slight omission in this calculation. In what way may a change from coal A to coal B effect the thermal efficiency of the system?

Task 6
One of the more serious difficulties with verification of fuel cost reductions in the range of 1 to 5 % are changing energy contents of the fuel. In particular with solid fuels there is an additional complication of not being able to reliably measure the fuel consumption. Energy contents of gaseous and liquid fuels do not change so much. Changes in the HHV of 1 to 3 % are possible, in particular if suppliers are changed. Consider bagasse with a moisture content variation of 3 % from 47 % to 53 % (wet basis) around an average of 50 %. Calculate the change in HHV. Use 50 % as reference.
Bagasse 47 % 50 % 53 %
HHV MJ/kg % change

Hint:

Select Fuel # 1 and change the water content and name of this fuel. Save this fuel under the name Bagasse (47%), Bagasse (50%), and Bagasse (53%) respectively. Calculate the percentage change by hand.

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Consider a scenario, where recommendations are made that will reduce fuel consumption on paper by 6 %.
Case 1:

The client implemented your recommendations and saved 6 % of fuel costs, but moisture content of the fuel went up from 50 % to 53 %. The client implemented your recommendations that did not reduce fuel costs at all, but moisture content of the fuel went up from 50 % to 53 %. The client implemented your recommendations that actually reduced fuel costs by 6 % and moisture content of fuel went down from 50 % to 47 %. The client implemented your recommendations, no fuel cost reductions were achieved and moisture content of fuel went down from 50 % to 47 %.
Performance rating Remarks
You did a good job, but your efforts were futile and will not be recognized because the energy input decreased. The client will see no real change . Your recommendations were ineffective anyway and unfortunately the energy input decreased at the same time. The client will argue that your recommendations increased energy consumption. You did a good job and luckily the energy input increased as well which puts you in a situation where your predicted fuel cost reduction have doubled. Your recommendations were ineffective, but the client will still save, because luckily the energy input increased. The client will falsely attribute fuel savings to your efforts.

Case 2:

Case 3:

Case 4:

Case

1:
6% were saved and H2O: 50% 53%

Negative Very negative Very positive Positive

2:
0% were saved and H2O: 50% 53%

3:
6% were saved and H2O: 50% 47%

4:
0% were saved and H2O: 50% 47%

As shown your performance rating by the client depends on the circumstances. However doing every thing right will not always give you a good rating as case 1 illustrates, while sometimes you may be lucky and hide your failures, demonstrated by case 4.

Task 7
The ultimate chemical composition of fuel oils is seldom given. However the specific weight, (= density) is known. Assume the density of the fuel is known and given as 0.883 kg/liter. Start with a standard extra light fuel oil composition of

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C = 85.50 H = 13.50 O = 0.25 N = 0.25 S = 0.50 Ash = 0 Water = 0 Density = 0.833

new C = new H =

and adjust the carbon and hydrogen content in such a way that the sum of all the species is still 100 and the calculated density of the fuel equals 0.883. Enter the changed values for C and H. You need to recalculate the HHV anytime C or H is changed.

Task 8
One cause for a cold fire in solid fuel combustion is caused by too much moisture in the fuel that needs to be evaporated and heated up together with the dry combustion gases to a reasonable adiabatic flame temperature of 1400 oC. The situation is worsened by too much excess air. You are asked to estimate the adiabatic flame temperature of a high moisture fuel at 0 % excess air and 200 % excess air. At what moisture level drops the adiabatic flame temperature below 1200 oC? Consider both cases of 0 % excess air and 200 % excess air.