Bottom Ash

Courtesy of the American Coal Ash Association

Bottom ash is agglomerated ash particles, formed in pulverized coal furnaces, that are too large to be carried in the flue gases and impinge on the furnace walls or fall through open grates to an ash hopper at the bottom of the furnace. Physically, bottom ash is typically grey to black in color, is quite angular, and has a porous surface structure. Bottom ash is coarse, with grain sizes spanning from fine sand to fine gravel. Bottom ash can be used as a replacement for aggregate and is usually sufficiently well-graded in size to avoid the need for blending with other fine aggregates to meet gradation requirements. The porous surface structure of bottom ash particles make this material less durable than conventional aggregates and better suited for use in base course and shoulder mixtures or in cold mix applications, as opposed to wearing surface mixtures. This porous surface structure also makes this material lighter than conventional aggregate and useful in lightweight concrete applications. Bottom ash applications include its use as a:

Filler material for structural applications and embankments Aggregate in road bases, sub-bases, and pavement Feed stock in the production of cement Aggregate in lightweight concrete products Snow and ice traction control material

The Truth About Wet Bottom Ash Hoppers: A Different Perspective On Refractory
By Gary Bases Wet bottom ash hoppers may have a dirty job, but dont let that fool you when it comes to how important this component is for a steam generating, coal-fired boiler. These water-filled hoppers are used to collect ash and slag, which are by-products of burning coal. A steam generating boiler simply cannot operate without an ash hopper. The No. 1 reason for ash hopper failure is improper material selection or application. A properly

Click Photo to Enlarge

installed ash hopper lining should last up to 10 years. Unfortunately, the average ash hopper lining today lasts only about 5 years, costing the power industry thousands of dollars in lost revenue. This article provides need-to-know information about this vital component. General Information As described, a wet bottom ash hopper is a water-filled steel tank with a protective lining used to collect bottom ash and slag from a steam-generating boiler that uses coal as its main source of fuel. It can be in the shape of a V, or it can be a multileveled, flat-bottom type. The number of hoppers required will depend on the size of the boiler and the amount of storage capacity required. Each V-shaped section or flat-bottom level usually has a separate discharge to remove the slag and ash collected within the ash hopper. Two types of ash fall into a wet bottom ash hopper: coal ash and slag. Coal ash is the residual product left after burning of the fuel and slag, which is the formation of molten, partially fused, or re-solidified deposits on the furnace walls inside the boiler. The coal ash and slag fall into the water-filled ash hopper from the furnace above. This is emptied by opening a gate that allows the slag, ash, and slurry mix to flow into another watertight chamber. The ash, slag, and slurry mix is made up of various-size chunks of ash and slag. It passes through a grinder or crusher and onto a conveyor belt to be transported to a designated landfill. Water is used to fill the ash hopper to make it possible to remove the ash and slag, and cool the exposed ash-hopper lining from the radiant heat coming from the furnace area above. The ash hopper is filled to a certain level, and the exposed upper portion of the ash-hopper lining must be water cooled. This is done by a water curtain arrangement at the top of the ash hopper that allows water to continually run over the surface of the lining material. The ash-hopper lining is made of brick or refractory, or a combination of the two, and is used to protect the ash-hopper plate. The slag, ash, and slurry mix content can be very corrosive to the lining materials because of the surface porosity of the lining material. The slag, ash, and slurry can penetrate the surface of the lining and cause its deterioration. Furnace vs. Hopper Some steam-generating boilers require refractory inside the lower furnace area to protect the furnace water wall tubes from ash and slag created by the burning of fuel (such as coal, biomass, and black liquor). The refractory material used inside a furnace must be slag resistant and must have proper thermal conductivity to assist in the formation of a frozen layer of slag between the refractory surface and the molten slag. This thin slag layer is formed by the interaction of several factorsthe cooling action of the studded furnace tube walls, the thickness of the refractory material, and the thermal conductivity of the refractory material. Inside wet bottom ash hoppers, however, no such frozen layer can exist to protect the refractory from the corrosive action of the combination of slag, ash, and water found inside the ash hopper. Unlike the furnace area of a boiler, a wet bottom ash hopper lining must contend with the type of water being used to fill the ash hopper. Most power plants are located near a river and use river water to fill their ash hoppers. It has been found that when the phosphate levels of river water begin to approach 8 percent or greater, a chemical reaction can occur between the water pH and the lining material. To choose the right material for use inside a wet bottom ash hopper, one should consider that the lining material has to withstand the pH in the water and take into account the chemical makeup of the slag and ash that will fall into the ash hopper. A typical wet bottom ash hopper analysis would involve the steps highlighted in Figure 1. Basic Problems To Consider When designing, relining, or repairing a wet bottom ash hopper, it is important to understand

the following factors, which most often cause lining failure in a wet bottom ash hopper: 1. 2. Loss of water curtain above the water line. Loss of the water curtain can cause the surface of the refractory (usually about 1 inch thick) to pop off in sheets. This is due to rapid temperature changes in the lining materials surface. Improperly sized, spaced, or rotated anchors. Anchors should be sized at 2/3 or 3/4 of the total lining thickness, with one of the two tines or legs of the anchor longer than the other. Refractory anchors also should be spaced evenly in a staggered pattern (for example, 9- x 9-inch staggered centers) with each row of anchors rotated 90 degrees. This will help prevent the creation of a potential shear plane. Improper lining material selection. (See steps on page 24 for proper material selection.) Improper lining material installation. (This can include quantity or application.) Mechanical failure. An example of this is large slag deposits falling into the ash hopper. Expansion failure. This can including improperly installed lining or anchors, or choosing the wrong materials.

3. 4. 5. 6.

To choose a new lining material or understand why a lining failed, one must follow certain steps, such as those previously discussed in Understanding Refractory Failure (see the August 2006 Insulation Outlook). Conclusions An ash hopper is a collection area for ash and slag, and does not contribute to a boilers efficiency or energy savings. However, ash-hopper failure requires a boiler to be shut down. A complete ash-hopper replacement (including the plate and lining material) can be expensive and time-consuming. Complete replacement of an ash hopper can cost as much as $500,000 and take a month or more to complete. Only by following proper lining material selection, handling, and installation procedures can one prevent a lining failure and keep an ash hopper in operation. The longer a hopper is in operation, the longer a boiler makes money. It clearly pays to pay attention to wet bottom ash hoppers.

This article appeared in the May 2007 issue of Insulation Outlook.

Subscribe to Insulation Outlook magazine Want to respond to this article? Interested in authoring an article for a future issue of Insulation Outlook? Contact the Editor

Author
Gary Bases Gary Bases is the president of BRIL Inc., an independent consulting firm specializing in brick, refractory, insulation, and lagging. He is also the author of The Bril Book (a complete guide to brick, refractory, insulation, and lagging systems), The Bril Book II (a technical manual that includes bril application drawings for the power generating industry), and The Bril Book IIIthe book of bril. He may be contacted at 330-665-2931 or [email protected].

BOTTOM ASH HANDLING

Jet Pumping System
BSBKs product profile includes Jet Pumping System for intermittent removal of bottom ash collected at furnace bottom of PF type boilers. System comprises of water impounded refractory lined Bottom Ash Hopper (BAH) of adequate capacity with water seal trough and dip plates, allowing free expansion of the furnace without any air ingress. Continuous water make-up and overflow system keeps the temperature at 600C in the BAH. Intermittently, de-ashing is done through operation of the inclined hydropneumatically operated feed gate, clinker crusher and jet pump. High pressure water supplied to the jet pump acts as motive water to pump the bottom ash slurry to dewatering bins/slurry sump. BSBKs Jet Pumping Systems are installed upto capacity of 85TPH and for power plants upto 600 MW.

Mecgale specializes in complete line of Bottom Ash Handling Systems. Product range in bottom Ash Includes :Water Impounded Hopper & Jet Pumping System Submerged Scrapper Conveyor System Dewatering Bin Bed Ash Handling System

Water Impounded Hopper & Jet Pumping System

Hot Bottom ash from boiler furnace are quenched after falling into water impounded hopper and collect at the bottom of the hopper. After a predetermined time Discharge gate fitted at the bottom of the hopper allows ash/ clinker to pass through specially designed clinker grinder and then pumped by Jet pump to transport the ash slurry to nearby slurry sump or Dewatering bin, depending on system in use. The centrifugal Slurry Pump fitted at the ash sump conveys both Bottom Ash & Fly Ash to the ash pond situated at longer distance. This System utilizes lean slurry method (concentration about 25% - 30%). To control water wastage the free water from ash pond are pumped back to slurry sump. From there Slurry pump conveys both Bottom ash & Fly ash to its final destination. In case of Dewatering bin, the overflow water from the dewatering bin goes to a settling tank and finally to a surge tank where relatively clean water is stored for reuse. At regular intervals , the dewatering bin is drained to remove maximum water from stored ash. The semi-dry ash is then discharged from Dewatering Bins to the truck or wagon for transporting the moist ash for final disposal area/reuse.

Bottom Ash Handling System Through Submerged Scrapper Conveyor

The Submerged Scrapper Conveyor placed below bottom ash hopper quenches the hot bottom ash coming from boiler furnace. The water trough of the submerged conveyor provides required water sealing to the boiler. The scrapper bar fixed on the high quality scrapper chain continuously moves at slow speed and the slat portion of the conveyor drains the water from the ash. From the Scrapper conveyor the moist ash is feed into a belt conveyor for onward disposal to a storage bin for final loading into trucks/wagons for final disposal or discharged into sluice trench for transferring to the slurry sump.

The biggest advantage of Submerged Scrapper Conveyor is minimal water wastage and avoids
water related pollution/problem.

Mecgale is having technological association with very reputed foreign manufacturer and can deliver very high quality Submerged Scrapper Conveyor even up-to 800 MW unit.

Dry Bed Ash Handling System Through Ashcon

Dry bed ash from the after cooler of CFBC,AFBC..etc boilers is collected in the watercooled surge hopper. Ashcon placed underneath the surge hoppers, conveys the material. Ashcon is designed to convey abrasive and irregular sized material at temperature even up-to 450 C. For Clinker ash, Clinker grinder breaks larger lump into a small size and continues to deposit ash and broken clinker into the Ashcon for further conveying. Bed ash is transported in low velocity through enclosed pipeline to storage silo, this reduces pipeline erosion. This system does not require water thereby negates all water related difficulty and problems.

BOTTOM ASH AND BED ASH

Water Impounded Hopper and Water powered Jet Pumping System
Ash and clinkers produced inside boiler furnace are quenched and stored in water impounded hopper having refractory lining. Clinkers are crushed to small pieces by specially designed CRUSHERS and then pumped by Jet Pulsion Pumps through pipelines directly to ash disposal area or to ash slurry sump for onward disposal through ash slurry pumps. Where Bottom Ash is required in semi-dry condition for open Truck Transportation, De-watering Bins are used for storing the Ash and taking out the conveying water from the stored ash.

Bottom Ash Hopper Under Construction

Bottom Ash Disposal System with Closed Loop Water Recirculation and Zero discharge Pollution free Arrangement
DCIPS offers system suitable for generating commercially acceptable dry ash with water recirculation features which enable re-use of the transport water in repeated cycle. In this system, the ash is transported by pipeline from water impounded hopper through Crusher and Jet Pump into a dewatering tank for storage. The overflow and the drain water from the dewatering tank is taken to a settling tank and thereafter to a surge tank where relatively clean water is stored for reuse. At predetermined intervals, the dewatering tank is drained to remove all the water from stored ash. Semi-dry ash is then discharged from Dewatering Bins to the truck or wagon for transportation to ash dump area or for any end use. This system can also be designed for zero discharge conditions thereby ensuring practically no outflow of the contaminated water from the system except for occasional blow-down.

Crusher

Bottom Ash Disposal System with De-Watering Bins and Closed Loop Water Recirculation System

Submerged Scraper Conveyor / Belt Conveyor Systems

These systems employ continuously operating scraper conveyor or submerged belt conveyor

running below boiler furnace. The trough containing the conveyor is filled with water for quenching of bottom ash. Bottom ash is discharged into a sluice trench for transportation to slurry sump or to a conveyor for storage in silo for subsequent truck transportation.

Pneumatic Vacuum and Pressure Conveying Systems

Similar to Fly Ash conveying, DCIPS offers systems for Bottom Ash and Bed Ash handling from FBC or CFBC Boilors to be transported pneumatically to Silos. Plants supplied by DCIPS are working satisfactorily. Control Room for Bottom Ash Handling System