Impact of the circulating fluidized bed riser on the performance of a loopseal nonmechanical valve

Most advanced coal-fuel power systems require the transfer and control of solids between two or more vessels. In many instances, the key to a successful process operation is how well the solids transfer and control system has been designed. This is particularly true in a transport gasifier and circulating fluidized bed (CFB) combustors, which are dependent upon the rapid and reliable circulation of solids to maintain a constant solids concentration in the CFB. Proper design and operation of solids returning systems are essential to the performance and operation of CFB combustion systems. An experimental investigation was conducted at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to study the flow and control of a light material (cork), which has a particle density of 189 kg/m(3) and a mean diameter of 812 mu m, through a nonmechanical valve, or loopseal, in a 0.3 m diameter CFB cold model. Fluidizing this material in ambient air approximates the same gas:solids density ratio as coal and coal char in a pressurized gasifier. The loopseal is composed of the lower section of the standpipe, an upward-flowing fluidized-bed section, and a downwardly angled overflow tube which is connected to the desired return point at the bottom of the riser. In the nonmechanical valve, both the standpipe and the fluidized-bed up-flow section of the loopseal were aerated and fluidized with air, respectively. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of standpipe aeration, loopseal aeration, solids inventory, and superficial gas velocity through the riser on the flow rate of circulating solids. A correlation that predicts the solids flow rate as a function of these variables was developed. Comparison of the correlation with the experimental data is discussed. Pressure drop across the fluidized-bed up-flow section of the loopseal was found to increase slightly with the solid flow rates.