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Show INTRODUCTION The second Supplementary Volume of "The Chemistry of Coal Utilization" (-) published in 1981 states that - " Despite this recent history of abandonment of stokers it is conceivable that they can now make a come back, particularly in the larger sizes, under present and projected conditions of energy supply and demand ". The principal factors contributing to the formation of this view were the increased cost and uncertain future availability of oil and gas. The statement referred to the U.S. market and was largely based on the findings of the 1975 Batelle Energy Report Program. ^ ' The recent history of abandonment, to which reference was made, occurred in the early - to mid 1950*s when pulverized coal, cyclone, oil and gas firing virtually took over the utility and industrial boiler markets. Prior to that time the trend in the stoker market was towards spreader firing but, even without the competition from oil and gas the maximum practicable size of stoker was failing to keep pace with the ever increasing size of utility boiler plant. The situation in the U.K. and in the rest of the world largely followed the U.S. pattern. t - f e _ ^" In Appendix B of the Batelle Report which deals with Stoker Research it is said that " Essentially no research and development has been conducted on stokers for many years The last industrial stoker research was in 1948 - 1951 ". As far as my company, Babcock Power Ltd. in Britain, is concerned the last statement is not wholly true - our research and development activities which had started in the latter years of the Second World War continued until the mid. _950Ts. These activities covered both full-size plant investigations, for which we had, at our disposal, travelling grate and spreader fired coal burning boiler plant in our Renfrew Works, and a pilot scale development facility using a pot-type furnace. It is these latter activities which are the subject of the present paper and, to bring the story up-to-date we have, in the Research and Development Division of BPL, recently re-built and re-commissioned a replacement pot furnace test facility. (Pig. 1). 24-2 |