Unique Coal-Burning Heating System Dedicated at Clemson University

Combustor Employs Rapid-Fire, Rocket-Like Pulses

Clemson, South Carolina - One of the world's most innovative coal combustors -- a one-of-a-kind system that uses rapid-fire, rocket-like pulses to enhance the efficiency of the coal-burning process -- was dedicated today on the campus of Clemson University in South Carolina.

Later this fall, as students, staff, and cooler weather return to the campus, the advanced coal combustor will provide a new source of heat for the university, supplementing the existing steam distribution system. It will also be the focal point of future university research into clean coal combustion.

Today, officials from Clemson University, the South Carolina Energy Research and Development Center, the U.S. Department of Energy, and Manufacturing and Technology Conversion International, Inc. (MTCI), the technology's developer, joined to dedicate the 6-story-high unit and conduct the first public tours of the "pulsed atmospheric fluidized bed combustor."

The advanced coal-burning system is the product of nearly six years of development by MTCI, a small business and innovative technology developer headquartered in Columbia, MD, near Baltimore. Amal Mansour, President and Chief Executive Officer of MTCI, represented the company at today's ceremony.

MTCI's affiliate, ThermoChem Inc., expects to market the innovative combustor in the United States and overseas where its compact size and clean-burning performance are expected to be major selling points particularly for companies, institutions and even cities that operate their own central steam heating plants.

The technology is based on "bubbling fluidized bed combustion," a process for burning coal while simultaneously removing potential pollutants inside the boiler.

In a typical fluidized bed combustor, coal-particles tumble inside the boiler, suspended on upward-blowing jets of air. Sulfur-absorbing limestone particles are mixed with the coal to capture sulfur polllutants before they can escape the boiler. The turbulent mixing motion -- which accounts for the name "bubbling" -- enhances the burning process, allowing combustion temperatures to be held below the level where large amounts of nitrogen oxide pollutants form. The capability of reducing both sulfur- and nitrogen-oxide emissions -- both are known to cause acid rain -- makes fluidized bed combustion one of the most promising new technologies for burning coal cleanly.

MTCI carries the "bubbling" process a step further. A "pulsed combustor," positioned at the top of the boiler and fueled by tiny coal particles, sends pulses of coal combustion gases into the tumbling coal and limestone mixture roughly 80 times every second. As the rapid-fire pulses move through the burning mixture, hot spots are dissipated and the intensity of the combustion process is increased. The result is a more even, more efficient coal combustion process.

The pulse combustor also reduces the size of the fluidized bed unit. Without the pulse combustor, a typical industrial-size fluidized bed may be 100 feet tall or higher; with the combustor, the unit will be only 60 to 70 feet high. In addition to being attractive for facilities where space is limited, the more compact size could mean lower capital costs, particularly compared to a conventional coal combustor.

At Clemson University, the unit is positioned in the center of the campus, adjacent to the central energy facility.

While still considered a prototype, the system has already passed its first major test. Earlier this summer, it operated for 108 hours in startup testing. At today's dedication, the director of the South Carolina Energy Research and Development Center, Dr. Lawrence Golan, reported that the system performed better than expected during its initial check-out.

The first long-term, sustained tests are expected to begin in November, or at the onset of the heating season, and run through the 1996-1997 winter.

When fully operational, the advanced combustor will generate about 50,000 pounds of steam per hour, about one-half the steam required to heat the campus buildings on a peak usage day.

According to Golan, the new system could save Clemson up to 20% of its fuel costs because of its greater efficiency and ability to use a less-expensive grade of coal.

DOE funded the $7.6 million development effort as a cooperative project with MTCI, ThermoChem, Clemson University, and the S.C. Energy Research and Development Center. Throughout the development effort, key information was supplied by laboratory research conducted by faculty and graduate students at Clemson.

DOE's Morgantown (WV) Energy Technology Center is overseeing the Government's role in the developmental effort.

-End of TechLine-

For more information, contact:
Hattie Wolfe, DOE Headquarters, (202) 586-6503, e-mail: hattie.wolfe@hq.doe.gov

Donald L. Bonk, DOE Morgantown Energy Technology Center, (304) 285-4889, e-mail: dbonk@metc.doe.gov