Objective
To use straw as a fuel for chalk drying. 20% moisture to be removed from chalk in a rotary dryer. Oil burning equipment can be replaced by a cyclone furnace capable of burning straw to give a heat output of 26,000,000 B.T.Us.per hour. Potentially the annual consumption of 2,700 tonnes of straw will save 150,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil.
Straw has been successfully used as a fuel for chalk drying, replacing heavy fuel oil. 1 tonne of straw being equivalent to 282 litres of oil. The cyclone furnace is able to satisfactorily burn straw at heat outputs up to 26,000,000 B.T.Us per hour. Problems with accumulations of molten ash in the furnace mean further modifications to the plant are necessary. The plant is not being used whilst fuel oil prices remain at their present low level.
Heston bales of straw are stacked on site. The bales are conveyed at a regular, controlled rate to a bale breaker adjacent to the cyclone furnace. Broken straw is fed through the primary air fan and enters the furnace through a high velocity tangential inlet. The straw burns mainly in suspension, with any large particles completing combustion on the floor of the furnace. Hot gasses at approximately 975 deg.C are ducted from the top of the furnace to the rotary dryer. The products of combustion, including a high proportion of any ash, pass through the drying chalk.
Exhaust gases are drawn through dry cyclones and blown through a wet scrubber before discharge to atmosphere. The cyclone furnace is 10'-0" in diameter and 26'-0" high and is of mild steel with a refactory lining. An oil ignition system achieves a temperature of 425 deg.C prior to the admission of the straw fuel.
Microprocessor control ensures the safe and automatic operation of the plant.
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
DEM - Demonstration contractsCoordinator
Ipswich
United Kingdom