How CoMate Affects Fluidized Bed Boilers

CoMate works in almost any biomass burning environment. Fluidized Bed boilers are fairly common, and work well with CoMate.

Bubbling Fluidized Bed (BFB)

The Bubbling Fluidized Bed is characterized by a bed that is kept airborne or fluidized by bubbling air through the bed via configured nozzles that prevent the fuel from settling. The ash in the fuel will add sandy material to the bed and surplus sand is removed, usually through an under-fire sifting type of ash extraction. During operation of the boiler, much of this sand will accrete into larger segments of ash deposits, causing clinkering and slag. This is of course the primary problem that CoMate addresses.

Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB)

The Circulating Fluidized Bed contains a high sand inventory that carries over and is re-injected. The inventory will grow due to ash in the fuel and is removed by extracting sand from the collection vessel, controlling its level. Again, as with the BFB, much of this sandy ash will glass up at temperatures of 2,000 °F and up and cause plugging. In the combustion zone, such temperatures are reached, which is why CoMate is normally injected directly into that area in order to inhibit this behavior.

When CoMate is added to these units, it will prevent clinkering by making sticky (melted) ash more friable so it will quickly degrade to the sandy form when it re-cools. This sandy form is what the fluidized bed prefers. So, in effect, CoMate not only prevents slag and clinker from forming, but it also improves the fluidization process by causing the ash to remain in the smaller, more easily managed sandy format. In addition, the pinhole grates located at the bottom of the boiler, which tend to get plugged up over time, will remain unplugged as a result of using CoMate. This means better fluidization as well.