Carbide slag is a waste residue during the production of acetylene. Due to its high content of Ca(OH)2, carbide slag becomes a potential alternative to limestone as the in-bed desulfurizer of circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers. In this study, the calcination and sulfation characteristics of carbide slag were investigated by three different facilities, thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), 1 MWth pilot CFB boiler, and 690 t·h−1 CFB boiler. Pore structures and sulfation behaviors of carbide slag and limestone were investigated for the sake of comparison. The results showed that carbide slag has a lower calcination temperature than limestone. Its calcined product has a better pore structure and desulfurization activity. The carbide slag exhibited a higher desulfurization efficiency than the limestone in the pilot tests. The SO2 emission concentration showed a downward trend with the increase of molar fraction of carbide slag in the desulfurizer. Meanwhile, carbide slag had a better sintering-resistance property, which makes it possible to effectively reduce SO2 emissions even at high combustion temperatures (>910 °C). While the field test results were similar to that of the pilot tests, the desulfurization efficiency of carbide slag with the same Ca/S mole ratio was higher than that of limestone. The fine size of carbide slag particles and the lower separation efficiency of the cyclone on the 690 t·h−1 boiler left the carbide slag with insufficient residence time in the furnace. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure a high separation efficiency of the cyclone if the carbide slag is used as an alternative desulfurizer in furnace.
Obtaining Low N2O, NO, and SO2 Emissions from Circulating Fluidized Bed Boilers by Reversing the Air Staging Conditions