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REVIEW OF BENCH-, PILOT-, AND FULL-SCALE ORIMULSION (R) COMBUSTION TESTS
Citation:
Miller*, C A., R K. Srivastava*, AND R E. Hall*. REVIEW OF BENCH-, PILOT-, AND FULL-SCALE ORIMULSION (R) COMBUSTION TESTS. Presented at 24th Int. Technical Conf. on Coal Utilization and Fuel Systems, Clearwater, FL, 3/8-11/99.
Description:
The paper gives results of a review of bench-, pilot-, and full-scale Orimulsion combustion tests. A fossil fuel marketed by its producer, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), since the late 1980s as an alternative to coal and heavy fuel oil, Orimulsion is a bitumen-in-water emulsion, produced from bitumen extracted from the Cerro Negro field of the Orinoco Belt of eastern Venezuela. Economically recoverable Orinoco bitumen reserves are estimated at 267 billion barrels (oil equivalent), representing approximately 26% of the world's recoverable crude oil reserves and 27% of the U.S. recoverable coal reserves. It is produced by Bitumenes Orinoco, S.A. (Bitor), a subsidiary of PdVSA, and derives its name from "Orinoco" and "emulsion." The primary market for Orimulsion to date has been as a fuel for electric utility boilers, with approximately 2000 MWe of generating capacity worldwide using Orimulsion as a primary fuel. Orimulsion-fired plants are currently operating in Canada, Denmark, Italy, Japan, and Lithuania, and two plants have operated in the United Kingdom. Orimulsion has more often replaced heavy fuel oil than pulverized coal, given the wider price difference between Orimulsion and heavy fuel oil and that most plants designed for using heavy fuel oil can be converted to fire Orimulsion without major modification.