The interrelation between fuzzy logic and cluster renewal approaches for heat transfer modeling in a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) has been established based on a local furnace data. The furnace data have been measured in a 1296 t/h CFB boiler with low level of flue gas recirculation. In the present study, the bed temperature and suspension density were treated as experimental variables along the furnace height. The measured bed temperature and suspension density were varied in the range of 1131–1156 K and 1.93–6.32 kg/m3, respectively. Using the heat transfer coefficient for commercial CFB combustor, two empirical heat transfer correlation were developed in terms of important operating parameters including bed temperature and also suspension density. The fuzzy logic results were found to be in good agreement with the corresponding experimental heat transfer data obtained based on cluster renewal approach. The predicted bed-to-wall heat transfer coefficient covered a range of 109–241 W/(m2K) and 111–240 W/(m2), for fuzzy logic and cluster renewal approach respectively. The divergence in calculated heat flux recovery along the furnace height between fuzzy logic and cluster renewal approach did not exceeded ±2%.
The purpose of this work is to find a correlation for heat transfer to walls in a 1296 t/h supercritical circulating fluidised bed (CFB) boiler. The effect of bed-to-wall heat transfer coefficient in a long active heat transfer surface was discussed, excluding the radiation component. Experiments for four different unit loads (i.e. 100% MCR, 80% MCR, 60% MCR and 40% MCR) were conducted at a constant excess air ratio and high level of bed pressure (ca. 6 kPa) in each test run. The empirical correlation of the heat transfer coefficient in a large-scale CFB boiler was mainly determined by two key operating parameters, suspension density and bed temperature. Furthermore, data processing was used in order to develop empirical correlation ranges between 3.05 to 5.35 m·s-1 for gas superficial velocity, 0.25 to 0.51 for the ratio of the secondary to the primary air, 1028 to 1137K for bed temperature inside the furnace chamber of a commercial CFB boiler, and 1.20 to 553 kg·m-3 for suspension density. The suspension density was specified on the base of pressure measurements inside the boiler’s combustion chamber using pressure sensors. Pressure measurements were collected at the measuring ports situated on the front wall of the combustion chamber. The obtained correlation of the heat transfer coefficient is in agreement with the data obtained from typical industrial CFB boilers.