Combustion

Abstract

Combustion has for centuries been the principal procedure for utilising coal. Under the influence of the industrial revolution, there has been a long history of the development of devices for burning coal and a very high degree of sophistication has been achieved in these methods. By contrast, fluidised combustion has been under study for a mere two or three decades. Only in the last few years has the work been really concentrated and the first commercial installations established. Although the traditional forms of combustion will be described briefly the main emphasis in this chapter will be on fluidised combustion because the authors firmly believe that this emphasis is appropriate in a book which looks towards future utilisation procedures. This priority is, incidentally, reflected also in the main coal research and development programmes throughout the world, as discussed later.