PFBC - Clean coal technology status and experience

There are currently 4 PFBC (Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion) plants in operation (Sweden, Spain, US, Japan), utilizing five of ABB's P200 PFBC modules, with a total of 53,000 hours on coal. Results show that the PFBC process and its main specific components do function as intended over the full load range. Environmental performance has been as expected or better (sulfur and NOx emissions). Some technical problems have been found and corrected, such as a high cycle fatigue of blades for the variable speed low pressure turbine; the shape and the material of the blades have been modified, and resonance frequencies avoided. Other PFBC projects (Japan) are presented. 3 tabs