Experimental study on combustion characteristics of a 40 MW pulverized coal boiler based on a new low NOx burner with preheating function

In this study, a novel low NOx burner is proposed and tested on a 40 MW pilot pulverized coal combustion system, aiming to experimentally investigate the impact of preheating temperature, air ratio distribution, and thermal power on furnace combustion characteristics. The experimental results demonstrate that the pulverized coal could be preheated stably above 700 °C in the designed burner. Furthermore, an increase in preheating temperature from 500 °C to 750 °C corresponds to a proportional rise in the total volume fraction of combustible pyrolysis gases released from pulverized coal, ranging from 18.34 % to 22.85 %. Consequently, the release and combustion of pyrolysis gases effectively improve the combustion characteristics within the boiler furnace and lead to reduced NOx emissions at the furnace outlet. When the thermal power is increased from 22.5 MW to 37.5 MW, the NOx emissions at the furnace output range from 46.8 mg/Nm3 to 98.3 mg/Nm3 (at 9 % O2). Under a specific thermal power of 25MWth, the boiler furnace output NOx emissions are reduced to 47.9 mg/Nm3 (@9 % O2) without any additional NOx reduction equipment. These findings offer valuable insights for advancing cleaner and more efficient low-NOx pulverized coal combustion technology.