Cel The use of mines gas, a mixture of methane, air and carbon dioxide, a waste product of coal mining operations, to fuel an industrial water tube boiler plant consisting of three water tube boilers operating at 14 Bar and each rated at 36 T/H of steam. Each boiler is fitted with two burners originally arranged to fire natural gas or fuel oil.Three test runs have been carried out, the first at 90% full power in which the boilers were fed with mines gas; the second with 90% full power and the boilers fed with 84% mines gas and 16% natural gas. In the third test run the boilers were fed with only natural gas.Overall efficiency - 80.9% 79.51% 81.61%Nett efficiency - 89.74% 88.15% 90.74%The installation has now been in use since the summer of 1980 and almost no problems have been experienced. A boiler trial by an independant authority has further shown that the overall efficiency is virtually the same as that obtained when the boilers were new. In the first year of operation the Mines Gas supply fell somewhat short of requirements and auxiliary fuels, both Natural Gas and oil were in fairly frequent use.In the years since 1980 the quantity of gas available from the colliery has varied considerably increasing to some 17 Million therms/year but later declining to 10 Million. At various times virtually all of the company's combustion equipment has been connerted to the new fuel. This includes a regenerating furnace manufacturing sodium silicate glass and various forms of A.R. Heater used for chemicals drying. In 1987 a new power station was built in which electricity is generated by means of two 1500 kw gas engines operating on methane gas from the colliery. Heat from the exhausts and cooling systems of these engines is recovered and used in steam raising. The power station is very cost effective and operates on base load in parallel with the national grid it generates about on third of site electricity requirement. Despite the variable quantities of gas available is remains the most important single fuel on site and is expected to continue in use until well into the next century.Further exploitation of gas is limited by the relatively small number of collieries with significant supplies. A large chemicals company in the North West of England has obtained a supply of gas from a nearby colliery and has apllied it to Mr Boiler Plant using Burners of the same type as used by crosfield. There has also been considerable interest in the power generation project both for colliery methane and also similar fuels such as landfill gas.The gas is conveyed by pipeline from Parkside colliery to the boiler plant of Joseph Crosfield and Sons Ltd, and as received typically consists of 46% methane, 1% higher hydrocarbons mixed with atmospheric air (43.8%) plus a small amount of additional CO2. Calorific value is high (16.78 MJ/m3) and stoichiometric air/fuel ratio low (4.4 volume) attributed to high air content, and in the Warrington plant partly replaces traditional fuels in three water tube boilers of 836 m2 surface for evaporation and 24 m2 for steam superheaters. Each boiler delivers 14 bar - 265 deg. C. steam at 36 T/h after accommodation.The most important choice to be made is related to the variations in mines gas methane content and the time it takes to mix with the combustible air supply. The presence of variable quantities of air in the mines gas varies its requirements for combustible air, effects which can be avoided by conversion of the gas to a standard fuel. Program(-y) ENG-ENALT 1C - Programme (EEC) of financial support for projects to exploit alternative energy sources, 1979-1984 Temat(-y) 1.6 - INDUSTRY Zaproszenie do składania wniosków Data not available System finansowania DEM - Demonstration contracts Koordynator Joseph Crosfield and Sons Limited Wkład UE Brak danych Adres WA5 1AB Warrington Zjednoczone Królestwo Zobacz na mapie Koszt całkowity Brak danych
