Experimental Study Combustion Air Optimization to Increase Efficiency Due to Changes in Coal Quality with Variation of Load in Labuan Steam Power Plant

One of the main components in a steam power plant is a boiler, which has the function to produce steam. Boiler efficiency is defined as the ratio of the amount of heat energy of the fuel to produce steam compared to the amount of fuel input to the boiler. Changes in coal quality influence combustion system settings, boiler efficiency, and impact on the environment. Research with an experimental method is needed to adjust combustion air with a variation of load and O₂ trim values to get a complete combustion and optimum boiler efficiency and to see the effect on temperature and emission of flue gas. This paper has presented the data experiments, analyzing the effect of variations of O₂ trim on the thermal efficiency of the boilers, flue gas temperature, and emission of the flue gas: NO_x, CO, and CO₂. It can be concluded that using the 4100 kcal/kg calorific value of coal, the optimum value of O₂ trim of boiler efficiency at 72, 80, and 88% loads is 2%. Boiler efficiency will increase as the load increases. Boiler loads at 72%, 80%, and 88%, the maximum boiler efficiency is 83.33%, 83.42%, and 83.49%, respectively.