Takahiro Oshita

Study of immersed heat exchange surface for high-efficiency heat recovery from wire-rim tires in a fluidized-bed boiler

In an internally circulating fluidized-bed (ICFE) boiler, the fluidized bed is separated by a partition into main combustion and heat recovery chambers. The flows in these chambers are generated by using silica sand as the fluidizing medium. To determine the overall heat transfer coefficient (HTC) of the boilers panel-type immersed heat transfer tubes, combustion tests were performed with wire-rim tires. The overall (HTC) of a panel tube array was lower than that of a zigzag tube arrangement. In practice, the heat absorbed by the fins makes the coefficients of either type of tube array almost identical. The air flowrate in the circulating bed at the bottom of the heat recovery chamber can be changed to control the overall HTC to a value virtually identical with that of a zigzag tube array. The combustion of wire-rim tires leads to a buildup of wires in the zigzag array, hampering the transfer of heat. Yet, the panel-type array showed no buildup so that it was possible to maintain steady operation with this type of tube arrangement.