Evaluation of coal derived liquids as utility boiler fuels eastern test

The synthetic fuels evaluation at Mississippi Power Company's Plant Sweatt is just one of a number of tests, sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to assess the potential of coal derived, liquid synthetic fuels as an alternative or substitute for liquid petroleum fuels. Specifically, the work done at Plant Sweatt examined the applicability of six liquid synthetic fuels to a full scale, wall fired utility boiler. Results on the first three synthetic fuels(SRC-II(Full range mixture), H-Coal(Heavy fraction) and H-Coal(Blended mixture)) indicate that all three have higher boiler efficiencies and produced fewer emissions than the baseline fuels, natural gas and No. 6 fuel oil. Results of testing on the last three synthetic fuels (SRC II(Middle distillate fraction), H-Coal(Light fraction) and Exxon Donor Solvent) await further data reduction. The burners out of service technique in combination with reduced excess combustion oxygen was very successful, providing as much as a 50% reduction in NO/sub x/ levels. Particulate emissions from the synthetic fuels were very low, on the order of 0.01 lb per million Btu. These coal derived liquid fuels appear to be quite adequate for petroleum liquid replacement in existing units and should certainly be considered in the design basis formore » liquid fuel boilers of the future.« less