Experimental evaluation of sorbents for sulfur control in a coal-fueled gas turbine slagging combustor

This paper reports on a slagging combustor that has been used to evaluate three calcium-based sorbents for sulfur capture efficiency in order to assess their applicability for use in a oil-fueled gas turbine. Testing is competed in a bench-scale combustor with one-tenth the heat input needed for the full-scale gas turbine. The bench-scale rig is a two-stage combustor featuring a fuel-rich primary zone an a fuel-lean secondary zone. The combustor is operated at 6.5 bars with inlet air preheated to 600 K. Gas temperatures of 1840 K are generated in the primary zone and 1280 K in the secondary zone. Sorbents are either fed into the secondary zone or mixed with the coal-water mixture and fed into the primary zone. Dry powered sorbents are fed into the secondary zone by an auger into one of six secondary air inlet ports. The three sorbents tested in the secondary zone include dolomite, pressure-hydrated dolomitic lime, and hydrated lime. Sorbents have been tested while burning coal-water mixtures with coal sulfur loadings of 0.56 to 3.13 weight percent sulfur. Sorbents are injected into the secondary zone at varying flow rates such that the calcium/sulfur ratio varies from 0.5 to 10.0