Evaluation of a zirconium additive for the mitigation of molten ash formation during combustion of residual fuel oil

摘要

Florida Power & Light Company (FP&L) currently fires a residual fuel oil (RFO) containing catalyst fines, which results in a troublesome black aluminosilicate liquid phase that forms on heat-transfer surfaces, remains molten, and flows to the bottom of the boiler. When the unit is shut down for a scheduled outage, this liquid phase freezes to a hard black glass that damages the contracting waterwalls of the boiler. Cleaning the boiler bottom and repairing damaged surfaces increase the boiler downtime, at a significant cost to FP&L. The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) proposed to perform a series of tests for FP&L to evaluate the effectiveness of a zirconium additive to modify the mechanism that forms this liquid phase, resulting in the formation of a dry refractory phase that may be easily handled during cleanup of the boiler.