Utilization of Fly Ash and Bottom Ash from Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion (CFBC) Technologies

Energy production from fossil fuel combustion results in the emission of greenhouse gasses, the dominant contributor being CO₂. It is well known that greenhouse gas emissions from energy production can be reduced by the use of alternative energy sources such as nuclear power and renewable energy sources. Renewable energy sources are expected to become increasingly important for our future energy demand. The effect of greenhouse gasses on global climate change has been acknowledged by many governments worldwide, and the reduction of the emissions of these gasses is becoming increasingly important. Several technologies are being developed for CO₂ capture and sequestration from coal fired plants. Among those, oxy circulating fluidized bed combustion technology is one of the most promising methods to produce a stream of concentrated CO₂ ready for sequestration. Use of recycled flue gas/oxygen mixtures for combustion in circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) offers advantages over oxy-fuel combustion with conventional pulverized fuel (PF) firing technology.