The Babcock & Wilcox Company

Chapter 15
CycloneTM Furnaces

The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) developed tion in a boiler furnace, the volatiles burn without
the CycloneTM furnace concept in the 1940s to burn difficulty; however, combustion of the fuel carbon char
coal grades that are not well suited for pulverized coal particles requires special measures that ensure a con-
(PC) combustion. The ash from these coals has a low tinuing supply of oxygen to unburned carbon par-
melting (fusion) temperature and would enter the su- ticles. A thorough mixing of coal particles and air must
perheaters of PC units in a molten state, creating se- occur with sufficient turbulence to remove combustion
vere slagging. products and to provide fresh air at the particle surface.
The Cyclone furnace was originally designed to take PC firing achieves these requirements by reducing
advantage of: the coal to a very fine powder, nominally 70% of which
1. lower fuel preparation capital and operating costs passes through a 200 mesh (74 micron) screen. This
powder then mixes with the turbulent combustion air.
(crushers only),
2. a smaller furnace, and After this initial phase, the small particles are carried
3. less flyash and convection pass fouling (15 to 30% in the air stream with much less mixing. Without the
of the fuel ash enters the convection pass instead
of 80% for PC firing).

Cyclone furnace arrangement and basic

operation
As shown in Fig. 1 and the facing page illustration,
the Cyclone furnace consists of a horizontal cylindri-
cal barrel 6 to 10 ft (1.8 to 3.0 m) in diameter, attached
to the side of the boiler furnace. The Cyclone barrel is
of water-cooled tangent tube construction. Inside the
Cyclone barrel, short pin studs are welded to the out-
side surface of the tubes in a very dense pattern. A
refractory lining material is installed in between the
studs. This insulation maintains the Cyclone at a high
enough temperature to permit adequate slag tapping
from the bottom of the unit and significantly reduces
the potential for corrosion.
Crushed coal and some air (primary and tertiary)
enter the Cyclone through specially designed burn-
ers on the front of the Cyclone. In the main Cyclone
barrel, a swirling motion is created by the tangential
addition of the secondary air in the upper Cyclone
barrel wall. A unique combustion pattern and circu-
lating gas flow structure result (discussed below). The
products of combustion eventually leave the Cyclone
furnace through the re-entrant throat. A molten slag
layer develops and coats the inside surface of the Cy-
clone barrel. The slag drains to the bottom of the Cy-
clone and is discharged through the slag tap.

Principles of operation
To understand the Cyclone concept, the basics of
solid fuel combustion must first be considered, particu- Fig. 1 CycloneTM furnace boiler showing air, flue gas, water and
larly as they relate to PC firing. During coal combus- steam flows.

Steam 41 / Cyclone Furnaces 15-1

 The Babcock & Wilcox Company

continued rapid mixing action, the coal particulate low. The air injection locations are identified in Fig. 2
combustion must be completed through diffusion of the and later in Fig. 5.
oxygen and combustion products around the particle. The primary air enters the burner tangentially in
The relatively large PC furnace provides sufficient the same rotational direction as the secondary air,
residence time for oxygen to penetrate the combustion carrying the coal into the Cyclone. This primary air
product’s blanket around the particles as well as cool- controls the coal distribution within the main Cyclone
ing of the ash to minimize convection pass fouling. chamber. For optimized operation, the primary air is
The Cyclone furnace, on the other hand, fires rela- typically minimized to avoid throwing the raw coal too
tively large crushed coal particles of which approxi- deep or near the vortex, but must not be set so low as
mately 95% pass through a 4 mesh screen (nominal to create a fuel buildup near or in the burner. Ad-
0.187 in. or 4.75 mm) and is dependent upon the fuel equate velocity must be maintained to allow for proper
type being fired. Fuel of this size is too large to burn coal distribution into the cyclone.
completely in suspension and would pass through the The tertiary air enters the center of the burner along
PC-fired boiler without burning all of the carbon. the Cyclone axis, directly into the Cyclone vortex. It
Therefore, the large particles must be retained in place helps keep the cyclone burner door cool and controls
with the air passing over the particle (air scrubbing) the vortex vacuum which consequently determines
for complete combustion to occur. The Cyclone furnace the position of the main combustion zone, the primary
accomplishes this by forming a molten sticky slag layer source of radiant heat. As a negative effect, too high
which captures and holds the heavier particles. While an amount of tertiary air reduces the vortex vacuum
the large particles are trapped in the slag layer, the at the burner, allowing the main combustion zone to
volatiles and fine coal particles (recommended at about move deeper into the Cyclone toward the re-entrant
10+% passing 200 mesh) burn in suspension provid- throat and main boiler furnace.
ing the intense radiant heat required for slag layer com-
bustion. Ideally, all of the large coal particles become Heat rates
trapped in the molten slag where they complete carbon Within the Cyclone, the fuel burns at a heat release
burnout, leaving behind ash to replenish the slag layer. rate of 450,000 to 800,000 Btu/h ft3 (4.66 to 8.28 MWt
With most of the combustion occurring in the con- /m3), developing gas temperatures of more than 3000F
fines of the Cyclone furnace, the main boiler furnace (1649C). Heat absorption rates by the water-cooled
can be relatively small compared to a pulverized coal walls are relatively low as the unit has a relatively
furnace design. small surface protected by a refractory coating –
40,000 to 80,000 Btu/h ft3 (414 to 828 kW/m3). The
Cyclone combustion high heat release and low heat absorption rates com-
In the Cyclone, fuel is fired at high heat inputs and bine to ensure the very high temperatures needed to
under very turbulent operating conditions to maxi- complete the combustion and maintain the slag layer
mize combustion efficiency. Injecting the main com- in a molten state. The high temperature and high heat
bustion air tangentially at high velocities creates a swirl- release rate characteristics of Cyclone firing also pro-
ing motion which throws the large coal particles against vide the conditions to produce very high uncontrolled
the Cyclone inside surface, where they are trapped in nitrogen oxides (NOx) emission levels. The Cyclone
the slag layer and burn to completion. The hot gases then furnace traps and burns only as much coal as it can
exit through the Cyclone core and depart through the handle. The excess passes into the main furnace and
re-entrant throat into the main boiler furnace. boiler back-end as unburned carbon carryover. Dur-
ing overfiring, long term corrosion and/or erosion with
Air distribution associated tube deterioration could occur in the Cy-
The cyclonic gas flow does not follow a simple cork- clone and/or lower furnace regions. In addition,
screw path from entry to exit. (See Fig. 2.) The main overfiring may cause problems in the main furnace,
combustion air (secondary air) enters the Cyclone fur-
nace tangentially at high velocity and passes along
the Cyclone periphery, also known as the recircula-
tion zone. In this zone, the air-gas flow along the
chamber is away from the exit opening and toward
the burner, pulled along by the vortex vacuum cre-
ated near the burner end of the Cyclone. Closer to the
center of the Cyclone, the general gas flow is toward
the exit (re-entrant throat). Eventually, the hot com-
bustion gases flow from the recirculation zone to the
Cyclone core, known as the vortex. Once in the vor-
tex, the gases and particulate are immediately pulled
out of the Cyclone and into the main furnace. The fuel
residence time in the recirculation zone is affected
directly by the velocity of the secondary air and in-
versely by the size of the re-entrant throat opening.
The balance of the combustion air is admitted as
primary and sometimes tertiary air as discussed be- Fig. 2 Cyclone furnace gas recirculation pattern.

15-2 Steam 41 / Cyclone Furnaces

 The Babcock & Wilcox Company

convection pass, economizer, and other downstream

equipment components.
Slag layer
The intense radiant heat and high temperatures
melt the ash into a liquid slag coating which covers
the entire Cyclone interior surface except for the area
immediately in front of the secondary air opening. The
unit’s refractory lining further assists this molten con-
dition by limiting heat absorption to the water-cooled
walls. The slag coating is kept hot and fluid by com-
bustion and flows constantly from the Cyclone into the
main furnace, where it drains through a floor tap
opening into a water-filled tank. The slag layer must
be constantly replenished by the ash from incoming
coal. For this reason, bituminous coals fired in Cyclones
need a minimum of 6% ash (dry basis); subbituminous
coals must contain at least 4% ash (dry basis).
Optimal combustion conditions are generally
achieved when excess air is maintained at about 10
to 13% at the Cyclone. Cyclone operating tempera-
tures tend to decline at higher excess air levels. In
addition, the adiabatic flame temperatures within the
Cyclone will actually be higher at near theoretical air
operating conditions.
A primary indicator of Cyclone combustion tempera-
ture is the slag temperature at the slag tap. Slag tem-
perature is a function of radiant heat input to the Cy- Fig. 3 Comparison of ash distribution from a large Cyclone furnace
clone. The degree of radiant heat input indicates the unit and typical pulverized coal unit.
portion of the combustion occurring within the Cy-
clone. Relative slag temperatures can be monitored
with an optical or ultraviolet pyrometer from the fur- Cyclone because these fuels can destroy the refractory
nace side ports or by sighting through an inactive lining. The resulting loose slag and/or refractory de-
Cyclone on opposed wall-fired units. Although the tra- bris would severely erode the tubing, leading to even-
ditional method of aiming a pyrometer through the tual pressure part failure. Cyclones switching from
Cyclone front observation port has not proven to be coal to oil or gas for an extended period should have
as effective, new techniques are being investigated us- all refractory within the cyclone removed, the slag tap
ing existing scanners and/or other equipment viewing direction reversed and all air ducts cleaned. The pin
from the Cyclone front to help evaluate performance. studding can remain, although a study should be per-
Under ideal combustion conditions, the Cyclone can formed to evaluate the change in magnitude on heat
capture approximately 70 to 75% of the original fuel absorption profiles. When switching back to coal, the
ash as slag and drain it to the furnace for disposal in refractory must be reinstalled and the slag tap must
the slag tank. (See Fig. 3.) Smaller boilers can retain be set in the correct direction.
more of the ash by capturing additional quantities on
the walls and screen tubes. Other details of the Cy- Fuel criteria
clone furnace and boiler arrangements are discussed Coals and co-fired fuels (solid or otherwise) must be
under Design features. evaluated against several criteria. Volatiles must be
higher than 15% on a dry basis to ensure stable com-
bustion within the Cyclone. The ash content must be
Suitable fuels at least 6% for bituminous coals or 4% for subbitumi-
The Cyclone furnace can handle a wide range of nous coals, but should not exceed about 25% on a dry
coals from low volatile bituminous to lignite, depend- basis. Higher ash content fuels require special consid-
ing on the fuel preparation and delivery system. Cy- erations. With low ash coals, the proper slag coating
clones have also successfully co-fired solid waste fu- can not be developed, nor can it be maintained. Thin,
els such as wood chips, sawdust, bark, coal chars, low viscosity slag coatings do not protect the refrac-
refuse-derived fuel (RDF), petroleum coke, paper and tory. To compensate for this condition, the slag can be
sewage sludge, and tire-derived fuel (TDF). Fuel oils thickened by increasing excess air and reducing the
or gases (natural gas, coke oven gas, and others) can Cyclone combustion temperature if other operating
be burned in Cyclone furnaces as the primary, con- conditions permit.
tingency or startup fuel. The moisture content for standard bituminous coal
On a continuous basis, the Cyclone must fire either firing Cyclones should not exceed approximately 20%.
a solid fuel or a liquid/gaseous fuel. Long term firing Higher moisture content requires better crushing and
of oil or gas should only be pursued in a bare tube higher secondary air temperatures to dry the fuel for

Steam 41 / Cyclone Furnaces 15-3

 The Babcock & Wilcox Company

proper combustion. For subbituminous coals with For some coals and/or other solid fuels, the T250 value
moisture contents typically in the 25 to 30% region, of the slag can be lowered by altering its ash base to
other Cyclone modifications including reduced sized, acid (B/A) constituent ratio (discussed in Chapter 21)
tight gap re-entrant throats and segmented second- through the addition of a fluxing agent (e.g. limestone,
ary air velocity dampers are required to maintain good dolomite, etc.). Although B&W does not generally rec-
Cyclone operating conditions. Improved coal fineness ommend this approach, sometimes it is the only alter-
operation is also imperative to achieve good Cyclone native to improve operation. Fluxing system design
combustion when firing subbituminous coals. Particu- considerations must incorporate the capability to ac-
larly high moisture fuels may require the pre-dry sys- curately, uniformly, and continuously distribute the
tem used on lignite-fired Cyclone-equipped boilers. flux material with the fuel stream.
Operating experience demonstrates that coal ash If a Cyclone unit must burn high fusion tempera-
has a tendency to concentrate iron, initiate slag tap- ture fuel, the best approach is to adjust the T250 value
ping problems, and/or result in a corrosive iron sul- by blending in a different coal or solid fuel; however,
fide attack on the refractory and Cyclone furnace. This this usually represents higher fuel handling costs.
can be evaluated by comparing the total amount of Both fuel blending and fluxing create concerns with
sulfur to the iron/calcium and iron/magnesium ratios. maintaining acceptable consistency.
(See Fig. 4.) Frozen iron puddles found on the Cyclone Co-fired fuels must be evaluated on an individual
or furnace floor during outages provide an indication basis with emphasis placed on the resulting ash con-
of the magnitude of the potential problems. tent as a percentage of the total heat input.
Slag viscosity factor – T250 value The most important The general characteristics of coals suitable for Cy-
evaluation consideration for Cyclone coals is the slag clone furnace firing are summarized in Table 1.
viscosity characteristic or T250 value. This ultimately
separates coals into categories suitable and unsuitable
for Cyclone operation. The T250 value denotes the tem- Cyclone coal burner types
perature at which the coal slag has a viscosity of 250 In the United States (U.S.), Cyclone furnaces have
poise. At this viscosity the slag flows on a horizontal been equipped with three primary coal burner types
surface. A slag with a higher viscosity would fail to flow – scroll, vortex and radial (two sub-types), as shown
steadily from the Cyclone and main furnace and in Fig. 5. All types inject coal from the front end of the
would be too stiff to trap the unburned coal particles Cyclone and impart a swirl to the crushed coal in the
for proper combustion. The currently recommended same rotation as the secondary (main) combustion air.
maximum T250 value for all Cyclone bituminous coals To protect the burner coal inlet from excessive erosion,
is 2450F (1343C). With the advent of increasing low all utilize a protective wear liner known as the wear
sulfur subbituminous coal use in the 1990s, B&W blocks. The material used for these blocks is normally
established a T250 limit of 2300F (1260C) for subbitu- comprised of metal, ceramic, or a combination of the
minous coals fired in standard Cyclones. This value two. Finally, the burners are normally kept cool with
compensates for the effect of increased coal moisture the addition of a water-cooled jacket on the burner
on Cyclone combustion temperatures. door and the burner scroll. The main purpose of the
The preferred method of establishing the T250 value cooling jacket is personnel protection along with re-
is by experimental measurements on actual fuel ash ducing the operating temperatures of the burner it-
samples. However, due to the large database accumu- self. Since untreated water is normally used for the
lated from past testing, the T250 value can also be esti- cooling media, corrosion and pluggage can be encoun-
mated based upon calculations using the coal mineral tered with time. Although not normally recommended,
ash analysis. (See Chapter 10.) this water cooling capability has been removed by some

Table 1
Summary of Cyclone Furnace Coal Suitability

Ash Bituminous  minimum > 6% dry basis

Subbituminous  minimum > 4% dry basis
Maximum < 25% dry basis
Moisture Bin firing system (Bit.) < 20% as-fired
Direct firing system (Subb.) < 30% as-fired
Pre-dry firing system < 42% as-fired
Volatile > 15% dry basis
T250 Bituminous < 2450F (1343C)
Subbituminous < 2300F (1260C)
Coal type Bituminous
Subbituminous
Lignite

Fig. 4 Coal suitability for Cyclone furnaces based on tendency to Coal ash iron/sulfur tendencies See Fig. 4
form iron and iron sulfide.

15-4 Steam 41 / Cyclone Furnaces

 The Babcock & Wilcox Company

injection pattern resulted in a high concentration of

recirculating coal particles around the burner outlet,
leading to heavy burner wear-block erosion. The
premixing of primary air and coal required the addi-
Burner Cyclone tion of a rotary seal to protect the feeder from backflow
Furnace
of hot combustion air. Later scroll burner applications
eliminated the rotary valve by using a higher head
of coal at the feeder inlet to prevent hot air backflow
into the feeder and coal bunker.
End Views Side Views The vortex burner eliminated the rotary seal by
feeding coal and primary air to the burner separately.
Tertiary Primary Air
and
Tertiary The primary air entered the Cyclone burner tangen-
Air
Coal
Air
tially as with the scroll design, but the coal is gravity
fed (along with feeder seal air) into the backside of the
burner. Although this configuration eliminated the
Orifice tertiary air, adjusting feeder seal air has the same ef-
fect on the Cyclone vortex zone. The vortex burner
produced a similar cone shaped injection pattern as
the scroll model. Advanced ceramic wear blocks and a
Primary Air and Coal
Scroll Burner new burner door/coal inlet design have significantly re-
duced erosion problems encountered with earlier designs.
Coal
Primary Coal The development of the radial burner eliminated
Air
the severe wear-block erosion. Like the vortex burner,
the radial version does not combine coal and primary
air until both enter the burner chamber. However, on
a radial burner the coal is introduced tangentially in
the same rotation as the primary air. The coal particles
form a long rope (concentrated stream of coal) as they
are swept across the burner wear blocks and enter the
Vortex Burner
Primary Air Cyclone. This approach greatly reduces the concen-
tration of coal recirculating around the burner, effec-
Coal Coal tively reducing wear-block erosion. Similar to the scroll
Primary
Air burner, tertiary air is admitted using the same axial
Primary Air Tertiary Air entry location.
A newer thin door radial burner version with the
Tertiary option to eliminate tertiary air (and/or redirect how it
Air Orifice
is introduced) has been offered since the late 1990s.
The benefits of this design are the potential to mini-
mize and/or eliminate tertiary air without adversely
Radial Burner
affecting performance, an improved range of view
within the cyclone, and an overall smaller, easier to
Coal Coal open door.
Primary The radial burner remains the modern standard for
Air
Primary Air coal-fired Cyclones. The scroll burner is utilized on
modern lignite-fired Cyclone units because the pre-
dry system requires mixing of the primary air and coal
Tertiary Air during coal preparation, prior to the burner inlet. (See
later discussion.) As the scroll, vortex and radial type
burners have slightly different coal inlet locations,
Tertiary Air
switching from one burner to another requires a
Thin Door Radial Burner
change in the coal handling system.
Fig. 5 Primary Cyclone coal burner types.
Design features
operators. If this is done, the burner material should be
upgraded and insulation should be applied over the Boiler furnace
burner to provide personnel protection. Commercial Cyclone furnaces have been built in
The scroll burner, which was used in the first Cy- sizes ranging from 6 to 10 ft (1.8 to 3 m) in diameter,
clones, combines the primary air and coal at the feeder with standard maximum heat inputs ranging from 150
outlet and injects the mixture into the Cyclone in a to 425 × 106 Btu/h (44 to 124.6 MWt), respectively.
cone shaped distribution pattern. Tertiary air, admit- Higher Cyclone heat inputs under peaking conditions
ted at the center of the burner, controls the position are feasible with the existing equipment, but at the
of the main flame within the Cyclone. However, this cost of various operational concerns (such as higher

Steam 41 / Cyclone Furnaces 15-5

 The Babcock & Wilcox Company

unburned carbon in the flyash, higher particulate bin system, a short crusher outage does not interrupt
loadings, increased maintenance, etc.). New larger boiler operations. An existing bin system can be up-
diameter, higher capacity Cyclone designs are feasible graded to fire high moisture coals by converting the
and could be incorporated if the additional capital costs coal piping into a simple pre-dry system (see Fig. 9).
associated with such an overall retrofit can be justified The direct-fired system uses a smaller separate
versus the associated increased boiler/turbine output. crusher, sometimes called a coal conditioner, between
As illustrated in Fig. 6, the Cyclone furnace has the coal feeder and burner on each individual Cyclone
been used on three general boiler arrangements – furnace. These crushers are swept by hot air which
single wall firing with screen, open furnace single wall removes moisture from the freshly crushed coal. This
firing, and opposed wall firing. Full boiler drawings produces an advantage by improving crusher perfor-
are provided in Figs. 1, 7 and 8, respectively. Boiler mance and fuel ignition when firing coals with a mois-
and Cyclone furnace arrangements have ranged from ture content up to 30%. The direct-fired system has
one 6 ft (1.8 m) Cyclone on a single wall unit to twenty- also been used where the existing plant layout could
three 10 ft (3 m) Cyclones on an 1150 MW opposed not accommodate the bin system.
wall unit. In all cases, the main furnace is relatively The direct-fired with pre-dry system represents the
small to maintain furnace temperature over the fur- Cyclone fuel preparation system for firing lignite and
nace floor slag taps and to promote slag flow on the other high moisture coals. In addition to the hot air-
furnace walls. The lower furnace chamber also con- swept individual crushers, this system can also include
tains a protective refractory lining held in place by crusher classifiers and mechanical cyclone moisture
thousands of pin studs which are welded to the tubes. separators. The classifiers increase the coal fineness
Generally, the Cyclone boiler can be operated continu- which results in more moisture extraction and better
ously down to about 50% of total capacity. Below this
point the slag freezes on the furnace floor and plugs
the floor taps. Many units have been equipped with
larger floor slag taps to improve slag removal.
Coal preparation
The Cyclone equipped boilers feature three fuel de-
livery systems – bin, direct-fired, and direct-fired with
pre-drying configurations. (See Fig. 9.) The bin sys-
tem, the simplest, least expensive and most common,
uses a pair of large crushers in a central location to
prepare the coal for overhead storage bunkers (bins).
Because the Cyclone- required crushed coal has a rela-
tively large particle size, the storage hazards as com-
pared with pulverized coal systems are lessened, but
not eliminated. Adequate venting to remove freshly
released combustible gases from the crushed coal sys-
tems must still be maintained along with all associ-
ated dust control systems. Safety requirements are
imperative for low rank, high volatile coals. With the

(a) (b) (c)

Screened Furnace Open Furnace Open Furnace
Arrangement Arrangement Arrangement
Single Wall Single Wall Opposed Wall
Fig. 7 Radiant boiler with Cyclone furnaces (one wall) and bin system
Fig. 6 Selected firing arrangements for Cyclone furnaces. for coal preparation and feeding.

15-6 Steam 41 / Cyclone Furnaces

 The Babcock & Wilcox Company

combustion. The mechanical cyclone separators re- fusion or other difficult-firing coals, every attempt should
move the moisture and fines from the coal-air mixture be made to produce the highest percentage of coal fines.
and vent the mixture directly to the boiler furnace
through the gas recirculation plenum area. The ex- Coal feeders
clusion of moisture from the main coal increases Cy- A number of different feeders have been used with
clone combustion temperatures and subsequently Cyclones since their inception. Early units had small
enhances slag tapping. With moisture separators, this table type feeders, followed by drag types, then volu-
system, designed for lignites with moisture higher metric belt types and now gravimetric belt types, some
than 36%, handles poor Cyclone quality, low sulfur of which have been upgraded with microprocessor con-
coals as easily as standard bin system Cyclones fire trols. With the introduction of each model, the control
high grade bituminous coal. and continuity of the coal flow improved.
The preferred coal size distribution for various coal The preferred feeder type today is the gravimetric
grades is shown in Fig. 10. With high moisture, high ash (weighing) type with a microprocessor control upgrade.

Fig. 8 Universal Pressure (UP®) boiler with opposed-wall Cyclone furnaces and bin system for coal preparation and feeding.

Steam 41 / Cyclone Furnaces 15-7

 The Babcock & Wilcox Company

Fig. 10 Crushed coal sizing requirements for Cyclone furnaces.

tions could be generally reduced by installing and

properly maintaining a flue gas vent line on top of the
slag tank. The main purpose of the slag tank vent line
is to maintain a positive flow of hot furnace gases
through the floor tap, which reduces the potential of
the tap from plugging, especially at low boiler loads.
The vent typically either runs from the top of the tank
to the boiler economizer or to an aspirator which uti-
lizes windbox air to vent the flow into the furnace.
Oil and gas burners
Although coal is the primary Cyclone fuel, oil and
gas have been used as startup, auxiliary and main
fuels using the combustion system shown in Fig. 12.
Originally, the oil burner could either be a simple
transverse pipe across the secondary air inlet or a
single oil gun through the coal burner door. The trans-
verse pipe burner, or roof burner, has a single row of
radial holes directed into the Cyclone tangent. This
simple design has proven to be an excellent combus-
tor. Many Cyclones are equipped with this burner and
are typically capable of obtaining full Cyclone rated
capacity. However, injecting the oil directly into the
Fig. 9 Bin, direct-fired, and pre-drying bypass systems for coal
preparation and feeding to a Cyclone furnace. Cyclone furnace recirculation zone resulted in an ex-
tremely high heat release rate and Cyclone tubes
would experience long term thermal damage. The oil
Accurate fuel-air control is needed to optimize Cyclone roof burner continues to be used as an emergency
performance, requiring a modern gravimetric feeder. Cyclone furnace deslagger for units firing coals with
high T250 values. It is also used to deslag a Cyclone
Slag handling equipment prior to a boiler outage. When coal flow to the Cyclone
Cyclone boilers feature a batch removal system for is interrupted, a heat input of up to about one half of
disposing of slag after it is discharged from the main the Cyclone rating is recommended for continuous load
furnace. (See Fig. 11.) The molten slag continuously carrying purposes.
flows through the furnace floor tap and into a tank The alternate design uses an oil burner located at
beneath the floor where it is quenched and solidified the Cyclone centerline firing directly into the Cyclone
in a water bath. At intervals, the accumulated slag is furnace vortex.
broken down by a clinker grinder and removed in If continuous, long-term oil-only firing at full Cy-
batches. However, combustible gases can build up at clone rated capacity is required, splitting the heat in-
the top of the tank. Similarly, a plugged or partially put 50/50 between the roof burner and the center fired
closed furnace floor tap can result in carbon monox- burner should be considered.
ide accumulation. Both potentially hazardous situa- The Cyclone gas burners (capable of firing natural

15-8 Steam 41 / Cyclone Furnaces

 The Babcock & Wilcox Company

from being crushed or pulverized like coal. It gener-

ally appears that a 0.5 to 1.0 in. (13 to 25 mm) sizing
is close to optimum. Smaller grinds can be provided
by the waste rubber industry, but the cost greatly ex-
ceeds that of coal. The TDF should fire easily when
mixed with the coal. Although the steel content from
bead and radial ply tires does not affect the iron sulfide
factor noticeably, the bead wiring may be difficult to melt.
Petroleum coke A number of Cyclone operators have
successfully blended petroleum coke with their coal.
However, the lack of volatiles in petroleum coke can
delay fuel burnout, increasing furnace exit gas tem-
perature and resulting in superheater slagging.
Wood chips Wood chips, sawdust, bark and other
similar solid waste products have long been co-fired in
Cyclones. Moisture content and sizing of the prospective
waste fuel helps determine the optimum blend ratios.
Various sludges Paper mill and sewage sludge ma-
terials have been successfully co-fired with coal and/
or natural gas in new Cyclone-fired boilers. The Cy-
clones are designed to utilize a secant firing technique
for the sludge material while the coal and/or natural
Fig. 11 Batch removal slag handling system for Cyclone furnace boiler.
gas are introduced according to standard arrange-
ments. Secant firing introduces the fuel through dedi-
gas, coke oven gas, or other gaseous fuels) are located cated openings in the Cyclone that are located directly
in the secondary air throat, injecting gas normally beneath the secondary air inlet. This approach maxi-
through three flat nozzles. Although this also injects mizes the retention time and temperature within the
fuel directly into the recirculation zone, the lower ra- Cyclone itself to allow for successful operating char-
diant heating of natural gas produces a lower heat ab- acteristics at higher than typical waste material heat
sorption rate within the Cyclone furnace. Therefore, inputs (greater than 50% heat input on sludge). As with
long term thermal damage has not been observed with any Cyclone-fired application, fuel acceptability criteria
a gas burner. Natural gas assists in deslagging plugged must be closely followed to optimize operation (fuel T250
Cyclones, but its low radiant heat transfer rate to the value, fuel fineness, minimal fuel moisture, etc.).
Cyclone does not heat slag deposits as well as oil firing. Combustion controls
Cyclone units firing coal may switch to oil or gas
for a short period without serious damage. However, The fuel/air ratio at each Cyclone remains the criti-
for long term gas and oil operation, the Cyclone should cal item in the combustion control system. When the
be stripped of all slag and refractory to prevent ero- Cyclone total air flow becomes too low or too high, op-
sive scrubbing of the tubes as previously discussed. erating problems can develop. The balancing of the
fuel/air ratio is relatively easy to accomplish and moni-
Waste burning tor on smaller boilers with only one to five Cyclones.
Due to their high heat release rate, the Cyclone fur- On these units, individual ducts supply the total com-
naces have always been suited for firing a number of bustion air flow to each Cyclone furnace. On larger
waste fuels with coal. A nominal blend ratio tested has
been in the range of 5 to 20% heat input from the co-
fired waste, with a less than 10% level typically be-
ing considered acceptable. However, waste or refuse
fuel should first be thoroughly tested on the prospec-
tive Cyclone equipped boiler to determine these limits.
Refuse-derived fuel (RDF) RDF consists of the lighter,
more easily burned materials from municipal waste.
The ideal point of injection is the secondary air throat
to maximize fuel particle time in the Cyclone. A scaled-
up insulated version of the gas burner nozzle provides
the best injector. However, the resistance welded flat
studs found in original Cyclones may not withstand
the associated particulate erosion, and increased fur-
nace slagging are potential negative consequences.
Tire-derived fuel (TDF) Along with stokers and wet
slagging PC units, Cyclones have been viewed as one
of the best proposed methods for disposing of scrap au-
tomobile tires. Tire rubber provides an excellent low
sulfur fuel, but the material’s elasticity prevents it Fig. 12 Arrangement of gas and oil burners in Cyclone furnace.

Steam 41 / Cyclone Furnaces 15-9

 The Babcock & Wilcox Company

units, multiple Cyclones are housed within common Sectional secondary air control dampers
windboxes for the supply of secondary air. This ar- Cyclone furnaces can be equipped with sectional
rangement inherently makes it more difficult to ac- dampers (2 or 3 blade sections) across the width of the
curately monitor air to individual Cyclone furnaces. secondary air inlet. This arrangement provides an ad-
As a result, larger Cyclone equipped boilers have typi- ditional level of control for the Cyclone furnace com-
cally been operated at higher excess air levels than bustion. Biasing these dampers permits adjustment to
smaller units. Modern measurement and control tech- the Cyclone combustion pattern and increases fuel
niques are improving the accuracy of air flow mea- retention time. The effectiveness of this additional
surement. Although new devices are being designed control technique is greater when difficult to burn fu-
with more repeatable measurements, it is still advis- els are being fired (e.g., high moisture/low sulfur coal,
able to field-verify the equipment by performing air cali- higher ash fusion fuels, etc.).
brations after installation. When retrofitted with accu-
rate gravimetric coal feeders for each Cyclone, such de- Low load operations
vices permit tighter individual Cyclone furnace control.
With the advent of the Cyclone air staging technol- Typically, Cyclone furnaces firing a good Cyclone
ogy to help reduce NOx emission levels, the importance bituminous coal can not operate below half load with-
of maximizing the accuracy of the fuel/air flow mea- out the slag freezing. In addition, the main boiler fur-
surements and controllability has increased. Improv- nace floor typically stops tapping slag below half load.
ing this accuracy not only enhances the NOx reduc- When firing subbituminous type coals, this minimum
tion capability of the system, but also maintains the re- low load level is higher due to the more difficult na-
quired characteristics for acceptable Cyclone operation. ture of firing that fuel in Cyclone boilers. In either
case, the slag taps tend to plug solid. An individual Cy-
clone can continue to operate and should eventually start
Operation retapping. However, a boiler with a solidly plugged floor
tap must be shut down for manual slag removal.
Igniters
Power requirements
Cyclones can be equipped with either No. 2 oil or
natural gas igniters, with oil igniters being the more Cyclone furnace boilers have significantly different
common option. On coal-fired Cyclones, both igniters power requirements than do pulverized coal units.
are located at or near the Cyclone front in the second- Fuel preparation power consumption for Cyclone boil-
ary air throat outlet. The oil igniter is installed exter- ers is very low because the coal is only crushed, not
nal to the Cyclone and is a retractable design to pre- pulverized, and the primary air fan is not used. How-
vent overheating of the igniter and related problems ever, the forced draft fan power usage is substantially
with the oil atomizer. The gas igniter is a fixed design higher due to the relatively high Cyclone windbox to
and installed inside the secondary air duct immedi- furnace pressure drop [typically 25 to 45 in. wg (6.2
ately ahead of the exit into the Cyclone. Original Cy- to 11.2 kPa)]. This is illustrated in Fig. 13. The differ-
clones were equipped with either a 10 × 106 Btu/h (3 ence between Cyclone and PC firing is dependent
MWt) or 17 × 106 Btu/h (5 MWt) oil igniter that em- upon the fuel type and heating value. PC firing has
ployed mechanical atomization, or a 17 × 106 Btu/h (5 an advantage for high heat content and high
MWt) stationary gas igniter. Both fuel igniter designs grindability bituminous coal firing applications. Cy-
made use of high voltage ignition. clone firing has an advantage for low heat content
Demand for increased oil igniter heat release and and lower rank fuels such as subbituminous, lignite and
decreased opacity, especially during cold start opera- brown coals which are also harder to pulverize. In the
tions, led to the development of a larger, air atomized case of the high heat content bituminous coals, the lower
oil igniter with high energy spark ignition system. This operating costs of PC firing must be balanced against
new igniter, the CFS model, is capable of an input rat- the lower capital costs of Cyclone-based firing systems.
ing of 25 x 106 Btu/h (7.3 MWt) under specific condi-
tions. These higher input oil igniters require a slightly
larger tube opening than was supplied on original Cy-
Maintenance
clones and would require some tube modifications if Corrosion and erosion within the Cyclone are the
installed on these older units. two most critical maintenance items. The Cyclone’s wet
Minor design changes and field testing of the stan- slagging environment produces a potentially corrosive
dard stationary gas igniter led to a revised igniter ca- iron sulfide attack on the pressure part tubing.
pacity on natural gas to approximately 30 x 106 Btu/ Erosion is also a problem in an area opposite the
h (8.8 MWt), thereby providing similar capacity on ei- secondary air throat where a protective slag coating
ther gas- or oil-fired Cyclone igniters. can not form. The coal particles wear away the edges
Cyclones firing only oil and natural gas as the main of the protective flat studding and can cut a channel
fuels have additional igniter options with respect to between the studs and potentially damage the tubes.
location. The retractable CFS oil and/or gas igniter can
be located axially down the center of the retired coal Tubing – pin studs and refractory
burner or through the modified burner door. In areas coated by molten slag, the tubes are pro-
For further information on oil and gas igniters, re- tected by a refractory layer held in place by pin studs
fer to the igniter section in Chapter 11. (Fig. 14). In addition to retaining the refractory, the

15-10 Steam 41 / Cyclone Furnaces

 The Babcock & Wilcox Company

resulted in a nickel sulfide attack which consumed the

coating in the same manner as iron sulfide corrodes
studs and tube surfaces. Furthermore, the pin stud-
ding does not lend itself to consistent spray applica-
tions. Some coatings prohibit installing replacement
pin studs unless the coating and any interacting tube
surface have been removed.
Refractory
Field experience has demonstrated that corrosive
slag in any form should be kept away from the tubes
by a refractory coating. Experience on operating units
has proven that the most durable refractories are ram-
type high density formulations. The specific refractory
selection may be contingent upon the specific plant fuel.
Key overall issues to achieve the best potential
chance for increased refractory life include:
1. Ensure proper maintenance/application of studs
(along with maximizing stud density).
2. Choose the proper refractory for the application
(proven positive experience).
3. Use refractory that has not exceeded its shelf life.
4. Follow proper refractory installation and curing
procedures.
5. Follow good Cyclone startup/operation procedures.
Any one of these items done incorrectly can cause
early loss of refractory.

Coal crusher
Fig. 13 Auxiliary power requirements for typical high-capacity,
pressure-fired Cyclone furnace and pulverized coal units.
Cyclone coal crushers have generally remained un-
changed over the years. With the increased use of dif-
ficult to fire subbituminous low sulfur coals and the
need to crush the fuel as fine as possible, a change in
pin studs cool the refractory surface in contact with
maintenance practice is recommended. Cages should
the corrosive slag and retard the corrosive chemical
be adjusted and mills should be reversed more fre-
action. The pin studs protect the refractory and the
quently than with standard Cyclone furnace coals. In
refractory in turn protects the pin studs. Over time,
addition, the hammers should be discarded at their
experience has demonstrated that tighter, or denser,
half life to maintain adequate striking mass. To im-
pin stud spacing improves refractory performance. The
prove fineness to a greater degree, fine grind cages
denser pin stud patterns have provided very good per-
can be installed. This normally reduces the original
formance in their ability to protect refractory and re-
capacity of the crushers and requires a motor upgrade
sist corrosion (Figs. 15a and b).
and/or additional installed crusher capacity to restore
Tubing – flat studs system capacity.
An advanced design has been developed and in-
stalled by B&W to reduce maintenance (Fig. 16). The
newer flat staggered stud design, using a hand ap-
plied fillet weld, offers the following advantages:
1. more precise stud manufacturing and closer spacing,
2. minimum potential for channeling and acceler-
ated wear between studs,
3. excellent heat transfer which reduces metal tem-
perature and erosion rates, and
4. thicker stud sizes to extend life.

Metallization
To enhance tube life, the plasma arc flame spray-
ing of alloy metals onto the tube surface has been used.
Despite a number of experiments with different met-
allization powders, the results generally remain incon-
clusive. Some applications using expensive coatings Fig. 14 Cyclone furnace stud and refractory section.

Steam 41 / Cyclone Furnaces 15-11

 The Babcock & Wilcox Company

Fig. 15a High density Cyclone pin studding. Fig. 16 State-of-the-art flat studs after five years of service.

tion of more slag and less flyash can offer a signifi-

cant disposal benefit. Furnace slag is much easier to
dispose of than flyash in most cases. The constituent
minerals are tightly bound in Cyclone slag, minimiz-
ing any leachate problems if landfilled. Cyclone slag
physical properties have led to its reuse as road bed
fill, shingles in the building industry, and sandblast-
ing material (among other applications).
Sulfur dioxide (SO2) reduction
As with other combustion systems, SO2 emissions
from Cyclone units are a function of the sulfur con-
tent in the fuel. One frequently used method for re-
ducing SO2 emissions is to switch to lower sulfur coal.
Changing fuels typically requires a complete review
of the impacts on boiler operation (e.g. slagging, foul-
ing, sootblower capability, main and reheat steam tem-
Fig. 15b Modern super dense pin stud pattern after five years peratures, economizer outlet gas temperature, flyash
without maintenance. collection, etc.). In the case of Cyclone furnace boil-
ers, additional care is required in such a change be-
Additional advancements cause Cyclone furnaces are more sensitive to the ash
composition, ash quantity, heating value and espe-
Additional retrofit design features continue to be
cially moisture in the fuel. If high moisture subbitu-
developed to improve the performance and reduce
minous or lignite fuels are to be substituted for low
maintenance costs of Cyclone boilers. These features,
moisture bituminous coal, installing the direct-fired
based on site-specific needs, include:
pre-dry system could be considered to optimize perfor-
1. contoured flat studs designed for the tubes that mance. This system has been successfully used for lig-
make up the Cyclone slag tap, nite coal-fired Cyclone furnaces.
2. improved seal welding design, Provided that the fuel selected meets the T250 value
3. tighter gapped and extra reduced size re-entrant discussed earlier, a standard Cyclone equipped boiler
throats, can potentially be modified to handle low sulfur, high
4. continued wear block development, moisture subbituminous or lignite coals through a se-
5. stainless steel cooling water jackets for burners, ries of hardware and operational changes. Key
and changes focus on improving and maintaining overall
6. improved radial and vortex burner design elements. coal fineness, maximizing Cyclone furnace tempera-
tures as high as possible, continuing an aggressive
maintenance program, and making provisions for
Air pollution control rapid deslagging. The actions required are unit spe-
cific and are usually established following an engineer-
Flyash ing study and test fuel burn.
To meet modern particulate emission standards, a Coal washing systems may be installed to remove
Cyclone equipped boiler precipitator must be about the pyritic sulfur. Although washing raises the T250 value
same size as that for a pulverized coal unit. Fabric and makes the coal more difficult to burn, SO2 emis-
filters have also been applied. However, the produc- sions will be reduced.

15-12 Steam 41 / Cyclone Furnaces

 The Babcock & Wilcox Company

Nitrogen oxides (NOX) reduction coals, will help reduce, but not eliminate, corrosion and
Historically, Cyclone equipped boilers have produced iron formation concerns. Additional operational issues
relatively high uncontrolled levels of NOx emissions, may include higher unburned carbon levels, increased
ranging from 0.70 to 2.6 lb of NOx as NO2 per million boiler flyash, increased boiler slagging/fouling, steam
Btu (approximately 1050 to 3900 mg/Nm3 corrected temperature reductions, and higher opacity levels.
to 3% O2). Based on ever increasing needs to reduce Low NOx Cyclone reburn technology has been spe-
NOx emission levels, various commercially available cifically developed to reduce NOx emissions levels from
Cyclone equipped boiler NOx reduction techniques are Cyclone equipped boilers (up to 70% reduction) while
available and include, but are not limited to: permitting successful Cyclone furnace operation. In
this system, the Cyclone furnace can be operated un-
1. fuel switching from a bituminous to a subbitumi- der fully oxidizing conditions, but at a reduced load –
nous type coal, typically 70 to 85% of full load air and fuel flow. The
2. air staging, balance of the fuel is injected directly into the main
3. reburning, boiler furnace with minimum air for fuel transport to
4. selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology, and create a reburning zone. In this zone, the reburn fuel
5. selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) technology. creates an oxygen deficient or reducing zone where
Switching from a standard Cyclone bituminous coal the NOx created in the Cyclone furnace is reduced or
to a subbituminous coal has shown that a nominal 10 decomposed into molecular nitrogen through a series
to 25% NOx reduction can be observed. These reduc- of complex interactions with free hydrocarbon radi-
tion levels are due to two factors: cals. Overfire air ports located above the reburn zone
permit injection of the balance of the air to produce a
1. reduced thermal NOx component with the high final stoichiometry of 1.15 to 1.20 and complete the
moisture content of the fuel (lower Cyclone peak fuel combustion. The use of coal, oil, or gas as the
operating temperatures), and reburn fuel depends upon an economic evaluation bal-
2. lower fuel NOx component due to the inherent con- ancing the higher capital cost of a coal based system
stituents in the coal (lower fixed carbon to vola- against the fuel cost differential for other fuels.
tile ratio, lower nitrogen component, etc.). Post-combustion technologies have also been suc-
The most widely used Cyclone boiler NOx control tech- cessfully applied to Cyclone boilers and offer varying
nique is air staging. The basic theory of air staging is to degrees of NOx control capability (see Chapter 34).
reduce the fuel NOx component within the burner zone
by reducing oxygen availability. Additionally, numeri- Applications
cal modeling activities have shown that due to the unique
combustion characteristics of Cyclone equipped boilers, The Cyclone boilers gained wide acceptance due to
some reburning chemical reactions also help to reduce their ability to burn a substantial reserve of coals
the overall NOx emissions during air staging operation. deemed unsuitable for pulverized coal firing. Also, the
This reburning phenomenon helps to explain the high unique inherent combustion characteristics of Cyclone
percentage NOx reduction that has been identified on furnaces have proven to be an effective means to safely
numerous staged-air applications on Cyclone-fired units fire a variety of waste materials. New Cyclone boiler
(up to 80% reduction). applications co-firing sludge materials have been and
Cyclone air staging employs multiple combustion continue to be developed.
zones within the furnace region (see Fig. 17), defined
as the main combustion zone (Cyclone region) and the
burnout zone (OFA ports to the furnace exit). The
main combustion zone is designed to operate at nomi-
nal substoichiometric conditions. Operating at higher
Cyclone stoichiometries is feasible, but at a cost of mini-
mizing the overall NOx reduction capabilities; actual
operating Cyclone stoichiometries would be optimized
during startup to provide the required NOx reduction
while maintaining optimum boiler operation. The bal-
Burnout Zone
ance of the required combustion air is introduced • Balance of Combustion Air
Burnout
through overfire air (OFA) ports in the burnout zone. Overfire Zone
• Controlled Fuel Burnout
A satisfactory residence time within the burnout zone Air Port
Flow
is required for complete combustion. Measuring
Experience indicates good NOx reduction without Device ~20%
major negative operational impacts while air staging Main Combustion Zone
on Cyclone units. However, there are potential nega- • Lower O
tive issues that must be addressed. Reducing atmo- Air Flow ~80% Sub-
• Lower Fuel/Thermal NO
spheres accelerate corrosion, which can lead to signifi- Control Stoichiometric
cant maintenance problems. Corrosion and iron for- Damper Region

mation concerns are possible while operating under Total

reducing/oxidizing conditions. Utilizing lower sulfur/ Airflow Existing Cyclone
iron fuels, such as lignite or low sulfur subbituminous Fig. 17 Cyclone-equipped boiler air staging NOx control system.

Steam 41 / Cyclone Furnaces 15-13

 The Babcock & Wilcox Company

B&W CycloneTM furnace.

15-14 Steam 41 / Cyclone Furnaces