This paper presents the results of a study on modifying a pulverized coal-fired steam boiler in a 250 MWe power plant for oxygen combustion conditions. The entry point of the study is a boiler that was designed for standard air combustion. It has been proven that simply substituting air by oxygen as an oxidizer is not sufficient for maintaining a satisfactory operating mode, not even with flue gas recycling. Boiler design optimization aggregating modifications to the boiler’s dimensions, heating surfaces and recycled flue gas flow rate, and specification of a flue gas recycling extraction point is therefore necessary in order to achieve suitable conditions for oxygen combustion. Attention is given to reducing boiler leakage, to which external pre-combustion coal drying makes a major contribution. The optimization is carried out with regard to an overall power plant conception for which a decrease in efficiency due to CO2 separation is formulated.
A Pulverized Coal-Fired Boiler Optimized for Oxyfuel Combustion Technology