Conventional renewable power generation - fluidised bed biomass combustion

Supervisors: Professor Bill Nimmo, Professor Mohamed Pourkashanian, Professor Lin Ma and Dr Kevin Hughes.

To achieve the UK's ambitious target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 without compromising energy security, the UK's conventional power plants must be operated in a flexible manner in terms of high efficiency, using alternative fuels, eg biomass, and integrating technologies for carbon abatement, eg carbon capture and storage (CCS).

Ultra-supercritical (USC) steam Rankine cycle power generation combined with circulating fluidised bed (CFB) and fluidised bed (FB) combustion technology is the most viable alternative to the pulverised coal (PC)-based USC power generation. In addition, operating under USC/FB/CFB conditions has a number of advantages over USC/PC, particularly regarding fuel flexibility.

However, there are still many fundamental research and technical challenges facing the development of this technology. In particular, combustion issues related to safe and stable operation of CFB/FB boilers when burning a variety of solid fuels are not yet fully understood and there is a great need to develop novel materials that will be able to cope with adverse conditions associated with operation.

For further information contact Professor Bill Nimmo (w.nimmo@sheffield.ac.uk).