by Joellie Belle Badon | November 6, 2021
The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Scholars’ Association (SA) in Silliman University (SU), along with DOST SA in Negros Oriental State University (NORSU), co-hosted a webinar on boiler operations and clean coal technology with the DOST Negros Oriental S&T Center and Global Business Power (GBP) Cebu.
Engineering students and instructors from SU, NORSU, and Cebu Technological University were among those that participated in the webinar.
Engr. Lhoven D. Larrobis of GBP, the resource speaker, discussed the basic components of the circulating fluidized bed (CFB), its working principles, characteristics, and benefits, as well as its application in environmental management.
A CFB boiler is a form of fluidized bed combustion that uses a recirculating loop to increase combustion efficiency. According to reports, CFB boilers may collect up to 95 percent of pollutants before emitting them into the atmosphere.
According to Engr. Larrobis, the CFB boiler has more versatility than conventional boilers because it can use a broader spectrum of fuels. It also has a greater combustion efficiency and releases less sulfur oxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) when compared to pulverized coal-fired and bubbling fluidized bed boilers.
In an article posted on the DOST SA SU Facebook page, Aiken Labnao, President of DOST SA SU, said: “This free webinar provides an avenue for ongoing mechanical engineering students to gain knowledge about CFB system operations and its advantages. While it is true that using coal generates harmful emissions to the environment, this type of technology tackles this by applying practical techniques for lesser SOx and NOx emissions which are much lower than the parameters allowed by the government.”
Regardless of some technical challenges during the virtual event, the participants learned valuable information about power plant operations and the importance of advocating the use of “clean coal” technology as the world struggles to deal with the repercussions of coal and global warming.
