Power boilers should be characterized by high flexibility in terms of loads, which results from the demand for electricity. In addition to the flexibility of the boiler, it is also important for the boiler to operate under technical minimum conditions while maintaining harmful emissions standards. A boiler operating with a technical minimum should also exhibit a stable combustion process. The paper presents the results of numerical combustion research for the minimum load of the two-pass ultrasupercritical boiler with front wall swirl burners system. The combustion stability for the minimum boiler load of 40% for the three mill system configurations has been demonstrated. Based on the numerical tests carried out in terms of obtaining the most favourable combustion conditions and the emission of harmful substances, the most favourable of them cases was indicated.

In the paper the influence of moisture content of wood on the heat losses and thermal efficiency of a boiler is analysed. The moisture content of wood has a negative effect, especially on flue gas loss. The mathematical dependence of the thermal efficiency of a boiler is presented for the following boundary conditions: the moisture content of wood 10–60%, range of temperatures of emitted flue gases from the boiler into the atmosphere 120–200 C, the emissions meeting the emission standards: carbon monoxide 250 mgm-3, fly ash 50 mgm-3and the heat power range 30–100%.

Among the technologies which allow to reduce greenhouse gas emission, mainly carbon dioxide, special attention deserves the idea of 'zero-emission' technology based on boilers working in oxy-combustion technology. In the paper the results of analyses of the influence of changing two quantities, namely oxygen share in oxidant produced in the air separation unit, and oxygen share in oxidant supplied to the furnace chamber on the selected characteristics of a steam boiler including the degree of exhaust gas recirculation, boiler efficiency and adiabatic flame temperature, was examined. Due to the possibility of the integration of boiler model with carbon dioxide capture, separation and storage installation, the subject of the analysis was also to determine composition of the flue gas at the outlet of a moisture condensation installation. Required calculations were made using a model of a supercritical circulating fluidized bed boiler working in oxy-combustion technology, which was built in a commercial software and in-house codes.

The paper presents a concept of producing energy on the basis of modern alternative fuels to be burnt in low- and medium-power stokerfired boilers. The thermal energy contained in water vapour and hot water will be utilized in producing, in combination, of electrical energy, and for heating of cubature objects. Modern alternative fuels in the form of briquettes and pellets will be produced from hard coals and municipal waste other than hazardous. There have been presented the properties of alternative fuels obtained, and the concept of their utilization in the process of energy production in cogeneration.

Describing the gas boiler fuel consumption as a time series gives the opportunity to use tools appropriate for the processing of such data to analyze this phenomenon. One of them are ARIMA models. The article proposes this type of model to be used for predicting monthly gas consumption in a boiler room working for heating and hot water preparation. The boiler supplies heat to a group of residential buildings. Based on the collected data, three specific models were selected for which the forecast accuracy was assessed. Calculations and analyses were carried out in the R environment using “forecast” and “ggplot2” packages. A good quality of the obtained forecasts has been demonstrated, confirming the usefulness of the proposed analytical tools. The article summary also indicates for what purposes the forecasts obtained in this way can be used. They can be useful for diagnosing the correct operation of a heat source. Registering fuel consumption at a level significantly deviating from the forecast should be a signal to immediately diagnose the boiler room and the heat supply system and to explain the reason for this difference. In this way, it is possible to detect irregularities in the operation of the heat supply system before they are detected by traditional methods. The gas consumption forecast is also useful for optimizing the financial management of the property manager responsible for the operation of the boiler room. On this basis, operating fees or financial operations with the use of periodic surplus capital may be planned.

The changes in the domestic solid fuel market (including forecasted increases in the fuel prices) and the growing requirements related to actual environmental standards, result in increased interest in renewable energy sources, such as biomass, wind and solar energy. These sources will allow to achieve reduction in the CO2 emission, and consequently – avoid environmental costs after 2020. Therefore, the development of distributed energy systems, based on the use of biomass boilers, gas boilers and high efficiency combined heat and power units, will enable the fulfillment of current standards in the field of energy efficiency and emission of pollutants to the atmosphere. It should be emphasized that the actions taken to reduce emissions (e.g. anti-smog act) will contribute to reducing coal consumption in the municipal and housing sector (households, agriculture and other customers) in favor of biomass and other renewable energy sources. The article reviews selected biomass technologies:

- fluidized, dust and grate boilers,

- straw-fired boilers,

- cogeneration systems powered by biomass,

- torrefaction and biomass carbonisation.

The mentioned technologies are characterized by a high potential of in the field of dynamic development and practical application in the coming years. Thus, they can improve difficult situation in the distributed energy sector with a capacity up to 50 MW.

Low emission has a significant impact on air quality in Poland. Low sources are found which lead to high concentrations of pollutants in the area inhabited by humans. The effects of low emissions on health and life in the polluted areas (Małopolska, Silesia) are conducive to radical decisions regarding the quality of solid fuels and their combustion facilities. At present, local anti-smuggling laws have been introduced in the two provinces banning the burning of the most emitting fuels such as mules, flotoconcentrates and lignite. Regional EU-funded programs for the use of renewable energy sources (RES) and energy efficiency improvement will transition to the implementation phase of the approved projects as of 2017. This is expected to significantly reduce energy consumption for heating buildings and replacing old boilers and automatic furnaces with low-emission heating devices. In the case of households, proving that the residential building has adequate energy efficiency characteristics is necessary in order to receive co-financing for replacing an old solid fuel boiler with a new low-emission boiler,. The paper will present the current situation on the regulation of the fuel market in the household and small–scale consumer sector and the proposal for changes to the law on monitoring and control of solid fuel quality. Another important issue will be significant changes in heating up to 500 kW, proposed by the Ministry of Development in October 2016. The proposed regulation precedes the implementation of the Ecodesign Directive, which will come into effect as of 2022 for room heaters and heating furnaces up to 500 kW for solid fuels. All these actions will help reduce low emissions and improve energy efficiency.

The energy obtained from biomass in the global balance of energy carriers is the largest source among all RES. It should be borne in mind that the share of biomass as an energy carrier in the total balance is as much as 14%. The basic sources of renewable energy used in Poland are the wind power industry and biomass. Organic chemical compounds are the source of chemical energy for biomass. The biomass can be used in a solid form (wood, straw) or after being converted to liquid (alcohol, bio-oil) or gas (biogas) form.

Pellets, meaning, the type of fuel of natural origin created from biomass compressed under high pressure without the participation of any chemical adhesive substances are recognized as the most common and available grades of biomass. Wood pellets manufactured from sawdust, shaving, or woodchips are the most popular type of pellets on the market. Fuel created in the form of granules is very dense and can be manufactured with low humidity content, which translates into an exceptionally high burn efficiency.

The authors of this article burned agro pellets from Miscanthus giganteus without additives and with solid catalyst and conducted a series of tests that determine the impact of boiler settings (blast power, time of feeding, chimney draft) on the process of burning fuel in real conditions. A solid catalyst was used to improve combustion conditions in one of the fuels. The catalyst burns carbon monoxide and reduces nitrogen oxides. The results in the form of observation of selected parameters are summarized in the table.

Wood pellets, commonly referred to as biomass fuel, are increasingly used in heating and district heating in the European Union countries, including Poland. Their use in class 5 and/or Ecodesign boilers enables an individual consumer to use energy from renewable sources, reduce the environmental burden by reducing the emission of harmful compounds, and provides a sense of comfort by automating the boiler system. The article presents the current situation in the global wood pellet market, describes the basic quality standards applicable to this fuel during production, and indicates the difficulties in the implementation of programs co-financing the replacement of obsolete coal-fired boilers with automatic class 5 biomass-fired boilers. The research presented in this article is focused on the presence of contaminants in the DIN Plus, EN Plus, and A1 pellets, as well as in non-certified pellets. The analysis has shown that the use of wood pellets containing prohibited substances negatively affects boiler operation and contributes to the formation of slag and the emission of harmful compounds, making the discussed fuel non-ecological.

Calculations were performed of the thermal system of a power plant with installed water pressure tanks. The maximum rise in the block electric power resulting from the shut-off of low-pressure regenerative heaters is determined. At that time, the boiler is fed with hot water from water pressure tanks acting as heat accumulators. Accumulation of hot water in water tanks is also proposed in the periods of the power unit small load. In order to lower the plant electric power in the off-peak night hours, water heated in low-pressure regenerative heaters and feed water tank to the nominal temperature is directed to water pressure tanks. The water accumulated during the night is used to feed the boiler during the period of peak demand for electricity. Drops in the power block electric power were determined for different capacities of the tanks and periods when they are charged. A financial and economic profitability analysis (of costs and benefits) is made of the use of tanks for a 200 MW power unit. Operating in the automatic system of frequency and power control, the tanks may also be used to ensure a sudden increase in the electric power of the unit. The results of the performed calculations and analyses indicate that installation of water pressure tanks is well justified. The investment is profitable. Water pressure tanks may not only be used to reduce the power unit power during the off-peak night hours and raise it in the periods of peak demand, but also to increase the power capacity fast at any time. They may also be used to fill the boiler evaporator with hot water during the power unit start-up from the cold state.

The paper presents the method of on-line diagnostics of the bed temperature controller for the fluidized bed boiler. Proposed solution is based on the methods of statistical process control. Detected decrease of the bed temperature control quality is used to activate the controller self-tuning procedure. The algorithm that provides optimal tuning of the bed temperature controller is also proposed. The results of experimental verification of the presented method is attached. Experimental studies were carried out using the 2 MW bubbling fluidized bed boiler.

According to data of the Central Statistical Office, the amount of sludge produced in municipal wastewater treatment plants in 2010 amounted to 526000 Mg d.m. The forecast of municipal sewage sludge amount in 2015 according to KPGO2014 will reach 642400 Mg d.m. and is expected to increase in subsequent years. Significant amounts of sludge will create problems due to its utilization. In order to solve this problem the use of thermal methods for sludge utilization is expected. According to the National Waste Management Plan nearly 30% of sewage sludge mass should be thermally utilized by 2022. The article presents the results of co-combustion of coal and municipal sewage sludge in a bubbling fluidized bed boiler made by SEFAKO and located in the Municipal Heating Company in Morag. Four tests of hard coal and sewage sludge co-combustion have been conducted. Boiler performance, emissions and ash quality were investigated.