MODELING OF CIRCULATING FLUIDIZED-BED COMBUSTION OF A CHAR

The combustion of a char in the 41 mm ID riser of a laboratory circulating fluidized bed combustor has been investigated at different air excesses and rates of solids (char and sand) circulating in the loop. Riser performance was characterized by an axial oxygen concentration profile as well as by the overall carbon content and particle size distribution. The proposed model accounts for carbon surface reaction, intraparticle and external diffusion, and attrition. External diffusion effects were relevant in the riser dense region where char was potentially entrapped in large clusters of inert solids. Experimental data and results of the model calculations are in satisfactory agreement.