Plasma Ignition Of Pulverised Coal

A system of plasma assisted, pulverised coal fired ignitors has been developed to light-off the main burners in large coal fired boilers. Electric plasma torches are used to provide a stable source of ignition. A conventional pulverised coal feed to the ignitors provides the majority of the ignition energy. The ignitors have been successfully tested in 60 MW boiler front wall and tangentially fired boilers and installation on a 500 MW tangentially fired boiler is in hand. The system is cleaner, safer, cheaper and more reliable than conventional oil ignitors for the same duty.