Effect of co-combustion of chicken litter and coal on emissions in a laboratory-scale fluidized bed combustor

Co-combustion of chicken litter (CL) with coal was performed in a laboratory-scale fluidized bed combustor to investigate the effect of CL combustion on pollutant emissions. The emissions of major gaseous pollutants including CO, SO2, H2S and NO and temperature distribution along the combustor were measured during the tests. Effects of CL fraction and secondary air on combustion characteristics were studied. The experimental results show that CL introduction increases CO emissions and reduces the levels of SO2. The ratio of H2S/SO2 increases with increasing fraction of CL. NO emissions either increase or decrease depending on the percentage of CL in the mixed fuels. The temperature in the freeboard region increases with increasing the fraction of CL while the reverse is true for the bed temperature.