An advanced air cooled, cyclone coal combustor will be used to demonstrate its technical and economic feasibility for efficient conversion to slag of fly ash and bottom ash from pulverized coal fired utility boilers. A series of short duration parametric tests will be performed in which fly ash will be injected into a commercial scale combustor installed on a 17,500 lb/hr package boiler, located in Williamsport, PA. The objective of the tests will be to demonstrate that the fly ash can be converted to slag with a minimum of fuel heat input and with a minimum evolution of metal vapors from the fly ash. The output of Phase I will be the experimental demonstration of feasibility of the ash to slag conversion, as well as an initial economic projection of the competitiveness of this process versus other ash to slag conversion approaches. This will be followed by more extensive parametric and long duration tests of fly and bottom ash conversion to slag in Phase II.Anticipated Results/Potential Commercial Applications as described by the awardee: Production of fly ash from coal fired boilers, and ash from municipal waste incinerators and trash-to-steam plants, currently requires costly disposal methods. The successful demonstration of the advanced air-cooled cyclone combustor for the conversion of ash to slag offers the potential of greatly reducing the disposal cost by concentrating the ash and making it essentially inert. This will allow its use in commercial applications and, thereby, reduce the landfill space requirements. Topic 20: Coal Utilation and Conservation
