The paper, High-performance Centrally-fuel-rich Swirl Pulverized Coal Combustion Technology claimed the second prize of the 2015 National Technology Invention for Professor Li Zhengqi’s team in our school’s Combustion and Engineering Research Institute.

The research team is funded by the National 863 Program and the National Science and Technology Support Program. Through production-education-research cooperation, the team conducts an in-depth research into the combustion principle of swirl pulverized coal combustion and subsequently puts forward the combustion method to send high concentration pulverized coal to the central circulation zone by inventing centrally-fuel-rich swirl pulverized coal combustion technology and equipment, which has overcome the technical difficulty of pulverized coal combustion to achieve low NO_x emissions, high coal combustion efficiency, good combustion performance, anti-slag and high temperature corrosion resistance. The highlights of this invention is listed as follows: Firstly, a new combustion method is proposed that directly sends high concentration pulverized coal into the center of the high temperature recirculation zone and a new coal burner structure is invented which subsequently changes the distribution of primary air-powder mixture in a traditional swirl burner; Secondly, an improved design, inner cyclone and double outer winding, is formulated and a new burner structure with secondary air outlet in cascade is invented; Thirdly, central powder burning technology and supporting equipment is invented to improve the adaptability for different coals, and sharply reduce NO_x emissions by 42%~65%.

The research team has also obtained authorization of one American patent and twelve Chinese patents. It has successfully completed the research and development of key equipment and system design. Other achievements include: One monograph in English has been published; Fifty-six academic papers (including 40 in SCI and 47 in EI) have been published, with being cited 138 times in SCI. Since the first inventor has published the most journal articles cited in SCI, he has ranked the top in the world over the past six years; one member of the team has won the Nomination Awards of National 100 Excellent Dissertations.The comments from the assessment committee are: The invention has achieved both theoretical and technological breakthroughs, level with the internationally advanced standards in burning anthracite and meager coal.

Compared with similar technologies at home and abroad, the invention has not only reduced the NO_x emissions by 42%~65%, but also has made the boiler efficiency unchanged or slightly improved. The problems of slag and high temperature corrosion affecting the safe operation of boilers have been fundamentally improved. The technology has been fully applied in 32 600MW, 500MW and 300MW boilers (the total installed capacity: 16200MW) manufactured by introducing technologies of foreign countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan, or manufactured by foreign countries, such as Japan Having met the critical needs of production, the invention has brought about significant social and economic benefits. Shanghai Boiler Factory is also promoting this application.