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COMBUSTION OF OIL SHALE IN FLUIDIZED-BED COMBUSTORS: AN OVERVIEW
Citation:
Roeck, D. COMBUSTION OF OIL SHALE IN FLUIDIZED-BED COMBUSTORS: AN OVERVIEW. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/7-82/045.
Description:
The report gives an overview of the combustion of oil shale in fluidized-bed combustors. Oil shale can be combusted directly, or as a supplement to coal fuel, and can function as an SO2 sorbent in atmospheric fluidized-bed combustion (AFBC). Spent shale from retorting processes may provide for SO2 sorption and add some residual fuel value in AFBC. Commercial applications of direct combustion of oil shale in AFBC are limited, and known to exist only in Estonia (Soviet Union), China, and southern Germany. Pilot- and laboratory-scale combustion of shale and coal/shale mixtures in AFBCs in the U.S. has been investigated. A preliminary economic analysis indicates that substituting oil shale for limestone in an AFBC may have significant cost advantages, especially where shale (or spent shale) is readily available and at low cost.