Characterization of hot-gas filter ash under PFBC operating conditions

The objective of this program was to perform bench scale dynamic tests of ash formation and long-term ash cake formation in pressurized fluidized bed combustion (PFBC) systems to help in the development of methods to predict possible filter bridging problems and suggest possible strategies for mitigating these problems. During the program, four ash formation tests using a washed coal from the Consol Enlow Fork mine, with two size distributions of Plum Run dolomite at two different temperatures, were completed under conditions simulating the operation of the American Electric Power (AEP) Tidd PFBC. In addition, the same test matrix, plus two tests using no sorbent, was completed with the Belle Ayr Powder River Basin sub-bituminous coal, which will be used at the Southern Company Services (SCS) Wilsonville, Alabama, power systems development facility (PSDF)