Loss On Ignition Truth

LOI (Loss on Ignition) The Truth
by chargewave
Loss on Ignition
In all FBC, AFBC & CFBC boilers the LOI term can be heard aloud as the Governmental
regulations are increasing their pressure to drive the ash utilization.
My study of LOI has been linked to Boiler Design, Design Injection velocity of Air into the bed
material, Resistance of Air, turbulence created by Air, Design Fuel properties, Fired Fuel properties,
Steam Load %, PA, FD, WBP, SA settings, furnace draft etc. & how parameters are interlinked.
LOI occurs due to 3 phenomenon
1) Increased Air Injection Velocity or Increased Turbulence
2) Decreased Air Injection Velocity
3) Variable Air Injection Velocity
While it may be appreciated that Boiler Performance is directly linked to operating Steam Load &
input Air corresponding settings, it may be borne in the mind that it is difficult to track whether Air
Injection Velocity has been any of the 3 above categories, unless the LOI is known.
LOI is directly proportional to air velocity deviation in the system + 1.5%
Results of Increased Air Injection Velocity :
The above can be caused due to lower WBP operation than required, bed over draining, or higher
PA or higher FD operation than required or lower density of the fuel or due to increased density of
bed material or due to decreased moisture in fuel or significant change in ignition temperature of the
fuel fired & that of the design.
For Coal fired boilers the LOI will be coal, if there is increase in Air Injection Velocity. When Ash
VM% is tested, it will test positive, indicating coal flight.
For Coal fired boilers the LOI will be carbon, if there is decrease in Air Injection Velocity. When
Ash VM% is tested, it will test negative, indicating carbon unburnt & no or negligible VM.
For Coal fired boilers the LOI will be coal & Carbon, if there is variable Air Injection Velocity. This
phenomenon has been observed in Boilers where there us steam load variation & Air settings are
varied as per operational loads.
So, when LOI value is declared, it is important to understand that Air velocity deviations are
causing the phenomenon & not combustion failure.
Lowering LOI in a system
First conduct the test for VM% in the fly ash to know the air velocity deviation either upwards or
downwards.
If VM is positive, then Air Injection velocity is high & vice versa.
LOI reduction cannot be achieved well in variable load boilers.

Identify deviations between design coal & operating coal by density, by moisture.
If FC of the coal is increasing then the time of combustion has to be higher, turbulence has to be
lower & vice versa.
Case Studies
I have made several case studies & tested several ash samples for presence of VM. The deviation of
air velocity has been always right in indicating VM presence or absence in the LOI.
Case 1 : A 70 TPH AFBC boiler was having LOI of 8 to 9%, when tested for VM, the ash tested
positive to 3.5 to 4% VM.
The following were observed in the operations
1) WBP is constant, irrespective of the operating load
2) There is severe fluctuation in operating Load, compartments switched ON & OFF to offset load
3) WBP was higher than necessary
4) The PA was lesser than necessary
5) The FD was OK for higher load, but higher for lesser load than necessary
6) The draft was maintained at -2 mm wc, instead of design draft of -5 mmwc
The above operation indicated Air velocity would increase during switch to Low Load & Velocity
would decrease when switched to higher Load.
The draft, O2 could not be maintained.
The Ash samples also displayed variance in VM as per the operations. Higher VM when operating
at low loads & lower VM when operating higher or medium loads.
The main reason was identified that the boiler was designed for higher ash coal & operating coal
was having lesser ash hence lesser density causing higher air velocity.
VM presence indicated loss of Coal as fired itself to Ash, but reported as LOI.
Case 2 : A 20 TPH AFBC boiler, fly ash was checked for VM presence & it was very low,
indicating loss of FC in Ash
The following were observed in the operations
1) WBP is constant, irrespective of the operating load
2) There is severe fluctuation in operating Load, FD air is decreased or increased as per Load
fluctuation. All compartments are functional
3) WBP was higher than necessary

4) The PA was lesser than necessary
5) The FD was lesser than necessary
6) The draft was maintained at -2 mm wc, instead of design draft of -5 mmwc
The above operation indicated Air velocity already in decreased condition irrespective of the load.
The draft, O2 could not be maintained.
The Ash samples also displayed variance in FC as per operating Load.
The main reason was identified that the air settings indicated insufficient air in the system, causing
LOI as unburnt carbon
Like wise, I had checked & verified over 50 boiler operation datas & in 99% cases my prediction
that VM would be present in Ash or only FC would be present in Ash was correct.
Corrections for lowering the LOI

If air velocity is higher, it has to brought down & vice versa as per the operation load.
In 99% of the cases, the LOI dropped to < 2% once the air velocity was corrected.
Truth about LOI is that it occurs due to deviation in air velocity & not due to improper combustion.
Improper combustion is the result of deviation.

Loss On Ignition Truth

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What are the three causes of increased LOI according to the text?

Describe two case studies mentioned in the text and the corrections made.

LOI (Loss on Ignition) The Truth

LOI reduction cannot be achieved well in variable load boilers.

3) WBP was higher than necessary

Corrections for lowering the LOI

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