Experimental Study on Ammonia Co-Firing with Coal for Carbon Reduction in the Boiler of a 300-MW Coal-Fired Power Station

To reduce CO_(2) emissions from coal-fired power plants,the development of low-carbon or carbon-free fuel combustion technologies has become urgent.As a new zero-carbon fuel,ammonia(NH_(3))can be used to address the storage and transportation issues of hydrogen energy.Since it is not feasible to completely replace coal with ammonia in the short term,the development of ammonia-coal co-combustion technology at the current stage is a fast and feasible approach to reduce CO_(2) emissions from coal-fired power plants.This study focuses on modifying the boiler and installing two layers of eight pure-ammonia burners in a 300-MW coal-fired power plant to achieve ammonia-coal co-combustion at proportions ranging from 20%to 10%(by heat ratio)at loads of 180-to 300-MW,respectively.The results show that,during ammonia-coal co-combustion in a 300-MW coal-fired power plant,there was a more significant change in NO_(x) emissions at the furnace outlet compared with that under pure-coal combustion as the boiler oxygen levels varied.Moreover,ammonia burners located in the middle part of the main combustion zone exhibited a better high-temperature reduction performance than those located in the upper part of the main combustion zone.Under all ammonia co-combustion conditions,the NH_(3) concentration at the furnace outlet remained below 1 parts per million(ppm).Compared with that under pure-coal conditions,the thermal efficiency of the boiler slightly decreased(by 0.12%-0.38%)under different loads when ammonia co-combustion reached 15 t·h^(-1).Ammonia co-combustion in coal-fired power plants is a potentially feasible technology route for carbon reduction.