Performance Results With ALSTOM’s Circulating Moving Bed Combuster™

ALSTOM is developing and testing a new and more efficient coal combustion technology, including a new type of steam generator known as a “circulating moving bed (CMB^TM) combustion system combustor.” The CMB^TM combustion system technology involves a novel method of solid fuel combustion and heat transfer. In this design, a heat exchanger will heat the energy cycle working fluid, steam or air, to the high temperature levels required for advanced power generation systems. This will produce a step change in both performance and capital costs relative to today’s pulverized coal and fluid bed boiler designs. In addition to high temperature Rankine cycles, the CMB^TM combustion system is an enabling technology for hydrogen production and CO₂ capture from combustion systems utilizing innovative chemical looping airblown gasification and syngas decarbonization. ALSTOM’s 3MW_th Multi-Use Combustion Test Facility has been modified to allow operation in CMB^TM combustion system mode. This paper summarizes the results of this program, which includes performance results from pilot plant testing. Participants include the U.S. DOE, ALSTOM, the University of Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The total program cost is $2,485,468 with the DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) providing 60% of the funding under Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FC26-01NT41223.