Review on research and development of oxy-coal burner for carbon capture

In the past two decades, the oxy-fuel combustion of pulverized coal has been extensively developed, leading to the completion of several large industrial pilot oxy-fuel plants worldwide. Various types of oxy-fuel burners have been designed and tested in large-scale pilot plants as key components of oxy-fuel combustion. These burners face major challenges in terms of their flame stability because of their decreasing stream momentum ratio and increasing carbon dioxide concentration. However, it offers flexibility in adjusting the oxygen concentration in each burner stream. This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art knowledge on oxy-coal burner design and operation in power plants. First, the combustion characteristics under oxy-fuel conditions are briefly introduced. Subsequently, the principal requirements and fundamental parameters of the oxy-coal burners are discussed. The development process of oxy-fuel burners is also presented. Moreover, a compatible design strategy and scaling-up techniques are described for oxy-coal burners developed by the authors over the past ten years. The performances of oxy-coal burners in three large pilot oxy-fuel plants worldwide are summarized and compared. Finally, concluding remarks are provided and potential research needs are suggested.