Prediction of slagging fouling and corrosion potential for coal co-firing with biomass plastics and EFB

The utilization of biomass in power plants as a fuel in cofiring has its challenges because of its characteristics that may affect combustion efficiency caused by slagging, fouling, and corrosion. To minimize risk in the boiler’s combustion process, preliminary studies such as the calculation of potential slagging, fouling, corrosion, and laboratory-scale testing can be carried out. Based on predictions of slagging, fouling, and corrosion, as well as ash analysis, an initial investigation was conducted on the characteristics of coal, a mixture of coal with empty fruit bunch (EFB), coal with a mixture of EFB and plastic crackle (EPL), and coal with a mixture of EFB and plastic bottles (EBT). Ash analysis of each sample reveals the differences in characteristics: C75-EFB25, C75-EPL25, and C75-EBT25 are dominated by SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ in the coal sample, whereas EFB dominated by K₂O and SiO₂ content. The potential for slagging is high, but fouling and corrosion are low, according to the predictions of slagging, fouling, and corrosion on samples C75-EFB25, C75-EPL25, and C75-EBT25. On the other hand, EFB sample has a medium slagging potential, high fouling, and medium corrosion potential.