Improvement of efficiency of solid fuel use at industrial thermal power plants

Currently, in this country solid fuel at industrial thermal power plants, as a rule, is burned by a layer or flaring method in boilers with generation of steam which is directed to a steam turbine. This technology of generating thermal and electrical energy is characterized by relatively low efficiency and significant emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere. At the same time, the use of solid fuel in industrial energy with its preliminary gasification can significantly increase the efficiency of electricity generation and at the same time reduce the negative impact on the environment. The results of an analytical comparison of two schemes to use solid fuel in industrial energy are used as the material of the research. These two schemes are a traditional scheme and an alternative one based on its preliminary gasification. In this paper, to assess the effectiveness of the schemes under consideration, the scientific methodology of system analysis is applied. It allows us to consider any energy object as a unified system consisting of interrelated elements. The system analysis is carried out based on mathematical modeling of the technological process to obtain thermal and electrical energy. A complex balance mathematical model of an industrial thermal power plant with preliminary coal gasification is developed. The results of calculation using a mathematical model have shown that the construction of industrial combined‒cycle thermal power plants with preliminary coal gasification instead of traditional steam turbine ones will increase the key indicator of the energy efficiency of thermal power plants, coefficient of fuel utilization from 60 to 74 %. Based on the methodology of system analysis, an optimal thermal scheme of an industrial combined-cycle thermal power plant with preliminary coal gasification has been developed. Numerical values of the basic operating conditions of the thermal power plants and energy efficiency indicators have been determined using a mathematical model. The use of solid fuel at industrial thermal power plants with its preliminary gasification is a very promising direction to develop industrial energy in Russia since this method to extract the bound chemical energy of solid fuel can significantly increase the fuel utilization coefficient and the production of electrical energy and at the same time reduce emissions of contamination material into the atmosphere