Date of Graduation

1996

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

Limestone calcination is an important process for the power generation industry. Calcination is the precursor to the sulfation process which is used for flue gas cleanup. This research studies the effects of a pulse combustion exhaust stream on the calcination of limestone. Results are presented for different types of limestone, injected at different exhaust stream conditions and locations in the exhaust stream. Certain conditions show promising results in the form of larger calcination percentages and larger surface areas. Results of pulsating cases were compared to results found using a steady combustor. A computer code modeling the pulse combustor was used to provide data of conditions in the pulse combustor tailpipe. A second program for particle tracking/calcination was used to follow the particle as it was injected into the gas stream and calculate its calcined percentage. Small to medium amounts of calcination and BET surface areas were seen in the experimental results. Numerical results gave small calcinations for all the tested cases. One notable result was massive fracturing of the largest particle sizes in the pulse combustor injection cases. Comparisons of numerical results to experimental showed fair agreement in the steady combustion injection cases, but no agreement at all in the pulse combustion injection cases. It is believed that the fracturing plays a major role in the differences seen between the experimental and numerical results.

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