Fluidized

bed boilers
A Finnish world success

Folke Engstrm

REVIEW 331/2016 1
Tekes the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation
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development and innovation in Finland. We boost wide-ranging innovation activities in
research communities, industry and service sectors.

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from the materials.

Tekes review 331/2016

ISSN 1797-7347
ISBN 978-952-457-560-7

Cover image: FW Energia Oys 4x550 MWe CFB Boilers Samcheok Green Power Project in South Korea

Original sources of images, figures, tables and other content are based on the archives of the author, exceptions to
originalities are mentioned in the original or text if known.

Layout: Tekes
2
Foreword
Tekes prepares a number of reviews that describe the devel-
opment path to the commercial stage of a specific compe-
tence or scientific observation. In most cases, the competi-
tive factors that bring international success are the result of
a lengthy innovation process and long development path.
Achieving a strong competitive position usually takes from
a few years to several decades. It requires persistence and
strong faith that the targets set will be fulfilled. Chance has
also sometimes played a role in a commercial breakthrough,
but networks have always been a major driving force of suc-
cess.
The first development path reports were published in 2009.
Projects currently under review have already resulted in busi-
ness operations and have significant potential in the inter-
national markets. From the business ecosystem perspective,
these reviews are materially different from the historical re-
views of individual companies. Tekes has played an import-
ant developmental role in the selected fields.
The author of the description of the development path is the
inventor of the CFB boiler technology and has led develop-
ment work in this field for over 30 years. The description of
the development path is based on the hands-on personal
experiences of the persons involved within the industry. The
most relevant observations and milestones are included in
the descriptions.
Innovations have boosted the growth of Finlands exports.
Agility and reinvention have been the driving force in our
programme selection, with the objective being the max-
imisation of global market potential. Certain factors have
boosted the competitiveness of power station boiler man-
ufacture, thereby reshaping the business ecosystem. The
business ecosystem supports SMEs that have chosen to
network with big companies. On a more general level, the
programmes reflect Tekes role as an active game builder in
the selected fields.
This description of the development path for the fluidized
bed boiler ecosystem and key competitive factors is based
on the views of Folke Engstrm.
Tekes extends its warmest thanks to the author.
February 2017
Tekes
3
Success requires competence, courage and cooperation

Fluidized bed combustion and its two basic technologies

bubbling fluidised bed (BFB) and circulating fluidised bed
(CFB) technology are success stories that aptly depict Finn-
ish competence. These technologies are rooted in the sludge
incineration solutions developed in the 1970s and the peat
and biomass incineration solutions of the following decade.
In particular, the CFB technology proved suitable for coal in-
cineration, winning a large share of the market.
Fluidized bed combustion (FBC) has been and continues
to be the backbone of Finnish power plant boiler technolo-
gy. In the last 10 years, CFB boiler technology developed in
Finland has accounted for more than half of the global mar-
ket. FBC provides a solution that is inexpensive and flexible
in terms of fuel choice. This solution has improved the profit-
ability of heat and electricity cogeneration, making it a more
viable option in application areas such as district heating.
This, in turn, has increased the use of biomass, had a positive
impact on the climate, and created jobs in the wood fuel har-
vesting chain.
The CFB boilers used in the Nordic countries are multi-fuel
boilers. From the outset, all CFB boilers were also built to
enable 80-100% coal combustion. In practice, however, coal

4
was only used in CFB boilers as an additional fuel to stabilise
the supply and price fluctuation of peat and wood fuels. In
all except the Nordic countries, CFB boilers delivered to the
wood processing industry after 1982 were mainly coal fired
boilers.
Outside the Nordic countries, the pulverised combustion
(PC) solution is a strong competitor for CFB boilers. Gaining
competitive advantage requires determined development
work, particularly to boost power generation efficiency
based on a sufficient unit size and higher steam generation
values. The main competitive factors of CFB technology over
PC boilers are the ability to combust different types of coal
and tackle environmental challenges without an external
desulphurization plant and separate catalyst for NOx remov-
al.
Considering the decades of dominance of major multina-
tional corporations on the power plant boiler markets, partic-
ularly the markets for large-scale units, the breakthrough by
Finnish technology is quite an achievement.
This publication explains why Finland was the birthplace
of circulating fluidised bed boiler technology. Naturally, there
was a need for a new technology for complex fuels, but an
out-of-the-box approach and willingness to explore new
solutions and combine them with existing know-how were
also required. Other issues, besides fuel complexity, that were
a challenge but turned out to be the key to success included
the cost pressures caused by the oil crisis, ecological pressure
to incinerate waste, quality management issues related to
biofuel and peat incineration without auxiliary fuel, and sul-
phur and nitrogen emissions management in coal combus-
tion. The multi-fuel combustion capacity of fluidised bed boil-
ers was always a major competitive factor, which has become
increasingly emphasised in both process industry and power
plant solutions.
A competitive edge was built through multiple experi-
ments, some of which were successful while others failed.
However, each and every experiment did provide a learning
experience. In addition to persistence, chance played a fairly
important role in the development work. Cooperation and in-
teraction between boiler manufacturers and the paper and
pulp industry opened doors to the global markets. Global
growth also required business and marketing skills, and ef-
forts to continuously improve these. A number of skilled in-
dividuals and leaders contributed materially to this success.
5
AMEC FOSTER WHEELER CFB TECHNOLOGY EVOLUTION
455 UNITS (35 GWe) LOGGING OVER 30 MILLION HOURS OF OPERATION.
DATA SOURCE: GRDS 19MAY 15 CFB SEVERED MARKET/ AMEC FOSTER WHEELER
Opportunities were available for sufficiently extensive, high
quality education required in the field. Long-term strategic
research and development was called for and development
work was accelerated by the modelling of processes and
combustion.
Development work relied heavily on the business sec-
tor, pilot projects, demos and experiments. Higher educa-
tion institutions such as Helsinki University of Technology,
Tampere University of Technology, bo Akademi University
and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland produced the
necessary information on critical development areas such
as materials, combustion and emissions. Public funding
enabled cooperation between the public and the private
sectors, thereby supporting the joint efforts of companies
and research facilities. In addition to individual projects,
two Liekki programmes, each with a term of six years, and
numerous demo projects played a crucial role in the devel-
opment work. Prior to 1995, the key R&D funding partner
in the public sector was the Ministry of Trade and Industry,
and Tekes, after the MTIs energy research operations were
transferred to Tekes.
The turnover generated by the design engineering of flu-
idised bed boilers, project engineering and maintenance to-
tals approximately EUR 500 million in Finland, and the sector
employs about 2,000 people.
Martti ijl
Tekes 6
Abbreviations and terminology
FBC Fluidized Bed Combustion is a combustion technology distinguished by its
two industrial applications, i.e.
BFB Bubbling Fluidized Bed, operating in the superficial velocity range 1-3 m/s and
CFB Circulating Fluidized Bed, operating in the superficial velocity ranges 3-6 m/s.
PYROFLOW Commercial trademark of Ahlstrms Circulating Fluidized Bed boiler.
CYMIC The Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) boiler developed by Tampella Power Oy.
PowerFluid Trademark of Andritz Energy and Environments CFB boiler.
Ahlstrm Ahlstrm Oy started in 1940s its production of industrial and recovery boilers
Boiler
Works in Varkaus based on a licence of Maskinverken/CE. In 1995 Foster Wheeler
acquires Ahlstrom Pyropower Division. Foster Wheeler Energia Oy and
ANDRITZ Oy established Warkaus Works Oy in year 2000 and 13 years later
ANDRITZ Oy acquires the full ownership of Warkaus Works Oy.
Tampella started its production of industrial and recovery boilers in 1940s based
Boiler Works on foreign licences. In the 1960s the kraft recovery boiler became a major
product of Tampella Oy. From the 1970s onwards the changes of the Tampella
Boiler Works are described in Chapter 13 in this report.
Andritz AG and its Finnish subdivision Andritz Oy are described in Chapter 18.
LaMont boiler is a forced circulation water-tube boiler invented by Mark Benson in mid 1850s.
Later, Walter Douglas Lamont brought the idea from papers to existence.
PC boiler is an industrial or utility boiler that generates thermal energy by burning
pulverized coal. This type of boiler has dominated the electric power industry,
providing steam to drive large turbines until recent days, when the once-through
supercritical CFB boiler has challenged PC boilers position as the dominate power
generation boiler technology as described in this report.
Forced A forced circulation boiler is a boiler, where a pump is used to circulate water
circulation circulation inside the boiler tubes.
Once-through is a steam generating unit operated above the critical pressure with no re-
boiler circulation of the water in any part of the boiler.
Critical The critical temperature of a water vapour is the temperature at and above which
temperature the vapour cannot be liquefied, no matter how high pressure is applied. This point
pressure on the steam pressure-enthalpy diagram depicts the critical point. Steam
conditions above this critical point are called supercritical.
SOx refers to various sulfur and oxygen containing compounds such as SO, SO2, SO3,
etc..
NOx is the generic term for the noxious mono-nitrogen oxides NO and NO2.
1 bar is a pressure unit equal 100 kPa in SI units and approximately equal to 0,987 atm.
MWt is the thermal energy that is converted to useful energy in megawatts (MW) from
the total energy input to the boiler.
MWe is the portion of the thermal energy that in the steam turbines is converted to
electricity in the power plant.
7
Contents

CHAPTER PAGE CHAPTER PAGE

Foreword 3 13. Consolidation of boiler companies and

Success requires competence, courage and cooperation 4 Tampella merger with Kvaerner 45
Abbreviations and terminology 7 14. Kvaerners and Metso Powers CFB boiler technology 50
1. Preface 9 15. Globalization of Ahlstrom
2. Introduction The Finnish Engineering Works Pyropower and the successes in early 1990s 52
after the war to the 1970s 10 16. Merger of Ahlstrom Pyropower with Foster Wheeler 59
3. The Heat Engineering group of 17. Foster Wheeler Energy International Inc.
Product Development Laboratory 12 first 10-year of operation 61
4. A BFB incinerator failure innovated a success, the CFB boiler 14 18. Andritz Energy & Environment FBC Boilers 69
5. Development of the invention Ahlstrms 19. Finnish boiler companies
Circulating Fluidized Bed 18 achievements in the last decade 2005-2015. 76
6. Demonstration of Ahlstrms CFB Boiler PYROFLOW 20 20. Future Prospect for the Finnish boiler companies 81
7. PYROFLOW enters global markets and meets 21. Supporting organizations, Institutions, Universities and Tekes 86
BFB boiler competition 26 22. Key success factors behind the Finnish BFB and
8. COLORADO-UTE Utility Boiler CFB boiler successes 89
A breakthrough into the utility business 31 23. Author background - Folke Engstrom 96
9. Restructuring of Ahlstrms
Engineering Works in the late 1980s 33 Appendix: Tekes reviews 97
10. Tampellas BFB development and market penetration 37
11. Ahlstrms BFB development and market penetration 42
12. Finnish Boiler Works
clash in the market and lost opportunity 44

8
1. Preface
The author of this paper is grateful to Tekes for the opportunity
to share his views and experiences on the Finnish FBC boiler
successes, hoping the story will be a challenging learning
experience for young Finnish engineers in their professional
life and that the country will prosper on future Finnish
inventions and superior products in the global market.
Although the FBC information partly has become rusty
and gone up in smoke, the author has tried to do his utmost
to be as accurate as possible. It has been a little unpleasant
to tell about my personal contributions, but the truth has to
come to light and that has been the guideline in telling the
story.
The author is also grateful to all interviewed people at
the Finnish boiler companies Andritz Oy, Foster Wheeler
Energia Oy and Valmet. No one mentioned, no one forgotten.
The PYROFLOW success would have never come to
light without the understanding, love, and support my
wife Solveig showed me during the over 30 years of R&D
assignment at A. Ahlstrm Oy and later at Foster Wheeler
Energy International Inc.. Many times during the long
working days it was felt that the inventor was more married
to Mr. PYROFLOW than to Mrs. Solveig. Nevertheless, we have
two wonderful daughters and the best three grandchildren
in the world. Many thanks to my Dear Ones.
The author is also grateful to all employees at Hans
Ahlstrm Laboratory and to others who have supported
the development of the Circulating Fluidized Bed Boiler
spanning over 30 years of employment.
9
2. Introduction
The Finnish Engineering Works after the war to the 1970s
After the war, the metalworking industries in Finland pro-
duced timely and high quality products as war reparations
to the Soviet Union in the form of electrical engines, loco-
motives, icebreakers, ships, and forestry machinery repre-
senting roughly three-fourths of the total war reparations.
The goods had to be produced regardless of whether the
workshops had the design and technology or not; either by
imitating similar products of others or relying on their own
expertise built up in the interwar period and during the war
through deliveries to the army. The tremendous war effort
created an entrepreneurship and leadership within the Finn-
ish industries that continued beyond the postwar period and
was an important contributor to the successes encountered
in the country by the end of the 20th century.
Gradually the productive capacity in the metalworking
factories in Finland was modernized and the whole industry
was reformed. When the war reparations payment were ful-
filled in 1952, the industries were ready to deliver products
to the Western countries besides continuing to be a reliable
and highly qualified supplier to the Soviet Union through
the bilateral trade agreement between the countries.
At the same time the forest based industries in Finland
started to pick up its export to the Western countries in the
early 1950s after the Korean War and the economic boom
in the West. For Finland the forests have been and still are
an important natural resource for its economic develop-
ment, which affected the major companies based on forest
and engineering works products. Although the major com-
panies in Finland had been diversified already earlier, the
process continued after the mid 1950s by signing license
and cooperation agreements with foreign companies or de-
veloping new technology of their own. The investment rate
climbed to new levels in Finland. The export and growth in
the country were dependable upon highly diversified com-
panies, such as Nokia, Enso-Gutzeit, Rauma-Repola, Valmet,
Wrtsil, Ahlstrm and Tampella that competed domestical-
ly and worldwide in the same markets.
Finland was open for export through the Western Europe-
an trade-liberalization by joining the International Momen-
tary Fund (IMF) and the European Free Trade Area (EFTA). At
the same time the competition in the Western countries in-
creased and it was no longer so easy to sell good products
in competition with multi-national companies worldwide.
10
The products had to be cheaper, better and give the custom-
er more value for the price.
In the end of 1960s, the Board of Ahlstrm Oy made a stra-
tegic decision in concentrating the product development of
the Engineering Works Division under one roof in Karhula,
the Product Development Laboratory (PDL). Bertel Hakulin
was appointed R&D director of the PDL. The Product Devel-
opment Laboratory later Hans Ahlstrm Laboratory (HAL)
was established in 1968 in the shutdown wood grindery fac-
tory mechanical pulp mill in Karhula. Open-minded and en-
thusiastic Bertel Hakulin built up the R&D team of the Prod-
uct Development Laboratory. The following departments
were created and headed by an R&D manager:
Paper machines, pumps and sawmill machinery
Pulp and Paper and waste paper recovery
Process machinery and steam boilers (R&D Heat Engi-
neering group)
Construction and planning department of Ahlstrm
Engineering Works Division
The personnel to the R&D departments were young en-
gineers recruited from the Technical Universities in Finland
among them the author of this paper. The major task of the
new R&D organization was to improve the performance and
reliability of the existing products of the Engineering Works
and to develop new products for the same division. The main
R&D activity in the PDL was based on laboratory, bench and
pilot plant scale trials, in which the processes were simulat-
ed and studied under actual process conditions. The under-
lying thought was that you cant develop new; cost-effec-
tive processes and machinery without understanding how
those processes really work. The PDL provided a unique
place where subtleties of science could be explored, and
where ideas could be born and developed. It served all the
subgroups within the Engineering Works Division and oper-
ated in close cooperation with clients and Universities from
all over the world.
Tampella Oy as the other domestic boiler manufacturer
took another approach in the development of new process-
es and products in relying on their own expertise in the de-
sign and engineering departments. A few engineers within
the technical department were responsible for improving
existing products and developing new products utilizing
demonstration capabilities within Tampellas own factories
and mills. It is evident that with this approach new and rev-
olutionary inventions and ideas could not be explored and
developed because the bench and pilot plant resources
were not available within the company. Also the new ideas
were scrutinized and evaluated against the demonstration
capabilities at the demonstration site.
As a sequence of the strategic decision within the Engi-
neering Works of Ahlstrm and Tampella the development
and improvement of fluidized bed boilers resulted in differ-
ent paths and products as will be seen in the following story.
11
3. The Heat Engineering group of
Product Development Laboratory
The R&D Heat Engineering group in the Karhula PDL was
small in the beginning and consisted of an R&D manager,
which in august 1970 recruited the author as the first R&D
engineer. In 1971 one additional engineer and a third tech-
nician were recruited to the PDL group. The labor workmen
were hired from a common pool within the PDL for erection
and modification of test units as needed and were also uti-
lized in the test runs for the recording of process parameters.
As shown by Fig. 1, the instrumentation, control, and data
logging systems were self-made and primitive compared to
todays instrumentation and control systems.
Significant developments and improvements had been
carried out in the 1970s by the R&D Heat Engineering group
in Karhula to develop and improve Flash and Rotary Dryers,
a Fluid Bed Calciner, Venturi Scrubbers, waste heat boilers,
etc. that served the Process Machinery Department and Boil-
er Works in Varkaus. The main R&D resources were however
focused on the development of a Bubbling Fluid Bed (BFB)
Incinerator for combustion of various industrial and sewage
sludges to fulfill the need in the marketplace. In 1969 a 0,20
MWt Bubbling Fluid Bed incinerator pilot plant was built in
the newly established Product Development Laboratory in
Karhula.
In the early 1970s many trials were carried out in the BFB
incinerator pilot plant in Karhula with potential customers
industrial sludges, mainly from Scandinavian countries to
solve their disposal problems. The sludges that were incin-
erated in the pilot plant consisted of various paper mill and
bleaching sludges, oily sludge from oil refinery in Sweden,
chloride containing industrial sludge from Norway, etc..
Heavy fuel oil was used as the supporting energy source to
maintain the required combustion temperature above 850
C for complete incineration. The trials were conducted by
Folke Engstrm as R&D engineer and gave him a solid in-
sight in the behavior and characteristics of the BFB technol-
ogy, its benefits as well as its limitations.
12
FIG. 1. INSTRUMENT AND CONTROL PANEL OF BFB PILOT PLANT IN THE MID 1970S

13
4. A BFB incinerator failure innovated
a success, the CFB boiler
FIG. 2. SKELLEFTE BFB INCINERATION SEWAGE PLANT

In 1969 an industrial 2.3 MWt BFB incinerator for the de-

struction of oily sludge was built in Kerava by the Process
Machinery Department in Varkaus in cooperation with the
small company Vaho Oy. During the summer of 1970, ex-
tensive sewage sludge incineration testing was carried out
in Kerava BFB incinerator ( 2 x 5 m) for the town of Skel-
lefte in Sweden to solve the disposal problem of sludge
from their wastewater treatment plant. After witnessing the
incineration tests in Kerava, the Skellefte customer was
pleased and bought in 1971 a BFB incinerator ( 5,5 x 8,0
m) for destruction of 5,5 ton/h of sewage sludge with a dry
matter content of 20 %. The incinerator was designed and
delivered by the Process Machinery Department in Varkaus
in 1972. See Fig. 2.
When the Skellefte BFB incinerator in the autumn 1972
was ready for acceptance testing, Folke Engstrm was called
to participate in the testing together with the responsible
project engineer from Varkaus Process Machinery Depart-
ment. The guarantee tests turned out to be a complete fail-
ure. Although the BFB incinerator was pushed above its pro-
cess limitations, the maximum of only 65 % of the

14
 guaranteed capacity was reached. It was evident that the
BFB incinerator was a fiasco and considerable modifications
and development were required to meet guaranteed values.
The first attempt to obtain the guaranteed values in Skel-
lefte was to concentrate on improving the distribution of the
sludge over the bed surface in the incinerator. A new sludge
spreader was developed in the Karhula PDL in 1973. Later
a similar, larger sludge spreader was built and tested at the
Skellefte incineration plant. Although the burning capacity
of the Skellefte BFB incinerator increased, the improvement
was not sufficient to fully solve the capacity problem.
The oil crises that arose in 1973 also put the Skellefte BFB
incinerator under scrutiny and pressure as a considerable
amount of heavy fuel oil was required to maintain the re-
quired destruction temperature of 850 C in the furnace. An-
other reason besides the profitability that cooled down the
interest of the customer in Skellefte was the green political
impact that proclaimed that the sewage sludge should be
brought back to the nature instead of being incinerated. This
new trend, especially in Scandinavia virtually killed the mar-
ket for the BFB incinerators.
Although the R&D Thermal Engineering group in Karhu-
la was not responsible for the failure in Skellefte, it was a
hard blow to its R&D activity and especially for its newly ap-
pointed R&D manager Folke Engstrm. Dismantling of the
Skellefte BFB incinerator was imminent, unless a reliable
solution to overcome the capacity problem soon could be
presented to the customer in Skellefte.
Many ideas were considered. One concept, that the au-
thor presented consisted of circulating hot bed material
850 C for drying of the wet sewage sludge before it was fed
together with the circulated bed material into the bed as
shown in Fig. 3.
The concept was successfully tested in a small pilot plant
( 0,2 x 4 m) in Karhula in 1974. Process and design calcula-
tions showed that the concept worked and could solve the
capacity problem in Skellefte. The concept was present-
ed to Skellefte management, which had already made up
their mind to dismantle the BFB incinerator for the reasons
described earlier.
After the failure at Skellefte, the lesson was learnt and
the Process Machinery Department in Varkaus in cooper-
ation with R&D in Karhula engineered and delivered five
industrial BFB incinerators, which performed well and met
their guarantees.
15
FIG.3. PRE DRYING OF WET SLUDGE BY CIRCULATING HOT BED MATERIAL

16
 The bubbling fluid bed technology has several technical Why not use the whole combustor volume for com-
drawbacks and its applicability in combustion processes is bustion reactions and heat transfer instead of having
limited to a few niche markets, such as the burning of low- an inefficient freeboard volume due to poor mixing
grade high volatile biomass fuels and sludges. The major lim- and a short reaction time in the dense bed of the BFB
itations are the poor mixing and distribution of the solid feed combustor.
materials in the fluid bed, and incomplete burnout of com- Why not use the hot cyclone as an efficient afterburn-
bustible gases in the freeboard zone. In addition, the tech- ing chamber of the unburnt combustible gaseous
nology has limited capacity as the BFB unit has to operate products and char particles leaving the combustor?
between the minimum fluidization velocity and the entrain-
ment velocity of the solid particles from the bubbling bed.
The invention to ultimately solve the capacity problem in Ahlstrms Circulating
Skellefte and to overcome the limitations of the BFB tech-
nique became evident for the author of this paper in early Fluidized Bed was
1975:
Why not overcome the capacity problem in the bub-
bling fluidized bed incinerator by increasing the flu-
invented. Later with the
idization velocity using fine particles as bed material
that could be recovered in a hot cyclone?
trade name PYROFLOW
Why not improve the mixing of solid and gaseous
components by increasing the velocity that in com-
bination with fine particles will result in a leaner bed
density compared to the denser one in the bubbling
bed with poor lateral mixing?
17
5. Development of the invention
Ahlstrms Circulating Fluidized Bed
The invention was first tested in the spring of 1975 in
the small pilot plant ( 0,3 x 4 m) after the test unit had
been equipped with a hot refractory lined cyclone and
recirculation loop with a mechanical valve controlling the
back flow of the hot recirculated fine particles from the hot
cyclone to the lower part of the combustor. The screening
tests were carried out in the fluidized bed regime of 3-4
m/s. Although the combustion of the fuel oil was extremely
good and complete compared to the combustion in a BFB
combustor a major problem remained, i.e. the control of the
flow of hot, recycled particles from the hot cyclone to the
lower combustor was troublesome. From the combustion
tests it was also concluded that the mechanical, metallic
valve never would withstand the high erosion of the 850 C
hot recirculated particles.
In the summer of 1975 the development of recirculation
loops in Plexiglas was carried out under cold conditions with
various models to control the fine particle flow and its sta-
bility. Another requirement was that the recirculation loop
should act as a gas seal between the hot cyclone and the
combustor. Finally after extensive testing and modifications
of various loop seals an advantageous, non-mechanical con-
struction was found that also became the core knowledge in
the design of Ahlstrms Circulation Fluidized bed Systems.
The next step in the development of the invention was
to employ the design of the non-mechanical loop seal to
the small Circulating Fluidized Bed combustor ( 0,2 x 4 m).
The test rig was at the same time equipped with two cool-
ing tubes to enable measurement of the heat transfer in the
combustor. After the rebuilding was accomplished, the ba-
sic concept of the CFB invention was successfully carried out
in the spring 1976.
With the knowledge and design parameters on hand, the
larger BFB pilot plant combustor ( 0,8 x 4 m) was converted
to a CFB combustor during the autumn of 1976 by exten-
sive modifications consisting of increasing the height of the
combustor to 6,0 m: decreasing the internal diameter from
0.8 m to 0,5 m; equipping the combustor with a hot refracto-
ry lined cyclone; recirculation loop seal and six cooling tubes
for heat recovery; inventing a new solid feed system into the
recycling loop seal; dividing the combustion air into three
levels as primary, secondary and tertiary air; and construct-
ing a new innovative air distributor and bed drain system.
By early 1977 the refurbishment of the larger pilot plant
was completed as shown in Fig. 4.
18
FIG. 4. PYROFLOW PILOT PLANT AT HANS AHLSTRM LABORATORY In the spring of 1977, comprehensive testing of various fuels such as heavy fuel
oil, peat, wood wastes, bark, polish bituminous coal and polyethylene granulates was
done to establish the performance of the CFB combustor and to get design values for
scaling up the CFB unit to larger CFB boiler. After some adjustment to the loop seal the
new CFB combustor performed extremely well. The combustion of the solid fuels was
close to complete. Unburned gaseous components in the flue gases were well below
the values measured in the BFB combustor. Also the NOx emission was low and could
be changed by varying the ratios between primary, secondary and tertiary air. At the
conclusion of the extensive test runs, the inventor was convinced that the CFB tech-
nique was superior to BFB technology and would become a winner in the marketplace.
Although the driving force for the CFB development had been to satisfy the domes-
tic market in Nordic countries with a competitive and reliable boiler burning low-grade
fuels, such as various wood wastes and peat, a screening test with bituminous was also
carried out with limestone addition for SO2 control. These tests were also successful and
showed, that 90 % SO2 retention could easily be achieved with much lower Ca/S ratios
than in a BFB combustor.
The world-wide development of BFB boilers with in-bed heat transfer tubes revealed
in 1970s that erosion of tube bundles was a major material problem that could not be
ignored. The same material issue would most likely pertain also to the high velocity
fine particulate systems in the CFB boilers. In 1979 Termorak Oy and Hgans AB were
contacted to assist in tackling the potential material problem by testing various high
erosion resistant refractory castable and brick specimens in the pilot plant under actu-
al conditions both in the lower combustion chamber as well as in the inlet to the hot
cyclone. In addition to the hot testing of refractory specimens the two aforementioned
subcontractors were also asked to deliver high erosion resistant refractory materials
for sandblasting tests in the Engineering Works foundry in Karhula. Based upon these
testing appropriate refractory materials were selected for the demonstration units.

19
6. Demonstration of Ahlstrms CFB
Boiler PYROFLOW
The oil crisis 1973 had generated an intense search for new
methods to replace the heavy oil dependence in the Finnish
industries. Varkaus Boiler Works believed that the solution to
utilization of domestic low-grade biofuels, wood wastes and
peat was a grate-fired boiler. They built a grate-fired pilot
plant in the backyard of the Boiler Works in Varkaus. Outo-
kumpu Oy converted, in 1977, two old fluid bed roasters in
Kokkola to a peat-fired boiler simply by rebuilding the feed
system that introduced the peat with conveying air above
the bubbling bed. Outokumpu, which was a close coopera-
tion partner with Varkaus Boiler Works for the flame melting
process and its waste heat boilers, offered its bubbling fluid
bed technology to Varkaus boiler works.
A schism aroused within the Engineering Works Division
over which boiler concept Ahlstrm should select for its
future? The feasibility study made by Varkaus Boiler Works
showed that the Varkaus grate fired boiler was the cheap-
est, Outokumpus BFB boiler came next and Karhula R&Ds
CFB was clearly the most expensive concept. Varkaus boiler
works opposed a large-scale demonstration of the new CFB
boiler concept and argued that due to the abrasive prop-
erties of the high velocity particles the membrane walls in
the combustion chamber would fail within 8 months and
the hot cyclone within 6 months. The door was closed for a
CFB demonstration and no progress was possible, until Ahl-
strms power boiler managers had a meeting in Karhula in
June 1977. Seppo Lahtinen from Pihlava Board Mill and Jr-
gen Javn from Kauttua Paper and Converting mills visited
the Hans Ahlstrm Laboratory after the meeting.
Both power managers were impressed and enthusiastic
after they had heard the presentation of the new CFB boil-
er concept PYROFLOW and promised to return later to the
matter.
In August 1978, the author was called to Pihlava to evalu-
ate a demonstration of the new CFB boiler (trade name PY-
ROFLOW). One ton/h heavy fuel oil was burnt in the LaMont
boiler to cover the steam demand from the Board Mill, in ad-
dition to the steam generated from bark and wood wastes
fired on the grate at its maximum capacity. The replacement
of one ton/h of heavy oil burning became the design criteria
for the PYROFLOW boiler demonstration burning peat and
wood wastes as the main fuels. PYROFLOW thus became a
retrofit to the existing LaMont boiler as shown in Fig. 5.
20
FIG. 5. FLOW SHEET OF 15 MWt PIHLAVA PYROFLOW BOILER

21
 The inventor was assigned to design the PYROFLOW
demonstration unit, which was 16 times larger than the test
unit in Karhula. It was a formidable task for a young engineer.
No design manuals were available for the design of the new
CFB process. Neither could the theoretical fluid bed books
offer any help. With all of the engineering knowledge, best
judgment and extrapolation of the empirical data from the
pilot plant test runs, the design was made based on the de-
sign criteria: bark, wood wastes and peat as fuels; steam gen-
eration capacity 15 MWt; pressure 82 bar; and superheating
to 520 C in the adjacent LaMont-boiler.
The CFB boiler was drawn, built, delivered and erected
by Varkaus Boiler Works by the end of 1978. The managing
director of Varkaus Boiler Works released himself from any
damages, fines, guarantees or other liabilities of malfunc-
tioning in the PYROFLOW boiler in Pihlava.
The hot commissioning of the PYROFLOW demonstration
started on December 15th, 1978. The inventor, together with
three technicians from HAL was responsible for the commis-
sioning of the boiler and the training of Pihlavas operator
team. Varkaus Boiler Works participated with only one start-
up technician responsible for the steam side of the boiler.
After minor adjustment of the bed lances, the start-up
and testing continued in 1979 after the New Year, with bark,
wood wastes and peat as fuels. The boiler was operated un-
der various process conditions with peat, bark and wood
wastes. The boiler worked extremely well and by the end of
March the commissioning and guarantee tests were com-
pleted and a happy customer at Pihlava took over the PYRO-
FLOW boiler.
Pihlava PYROFLOW became the first CFB boiler
in the world
The rumor of the PYROFLOW success spread fast on the mar-
ket place and Pihlava became a visiting Mecca for power
and heat engineers, users and consultants in the Nordic
countries. Also inquiries started to drop in and Varkaus Boiler
Works became busy in responding to the customers inqui-
ries. During the year 1979 Suonenjoki Lmp Oy and Skel-
lefte Town ordered a 7 MWt PYROFLOW boiler for district
heating with peat and wood waste as fuels and Hyvink
Town ordered a 20 MWt PYROFLOW boiler for district heat-
ing with capability to also burn Polish coal in addition to
peat and wood waste.
22
Kauttua 65 MWt PYROFLOW boiler
The Final Break-through
Kauttuas boiler manager Jrgen Javn followed closely the
progress at Pihlava. When the demonstration turned out to
be a success in March 1979, he received the authority of the
Ahlstrms technical director to negotiate a binding offer
with Varkaus Boiler Works, well aware that its managing di-
rector opposed any offering of the PYROFLOW boiler as be-
ing unproven technology.
In April 1979 Jrgen Javn, Seppo Lahtinen and Folke
Engstrm travelled to Varkaus to discuss the PYROFLOW
technology and the delivery terms with the management
team of the Boiler Works. Prior to the meeting Folke Eng-
strm had received the design criteria, fuels specification,
steam data, etc. for designing of a 65 MWt PYROFLOW boil-
er for Kauttua. After the welcome coffee at Varkaus Boiler
Works Jrgen Javn asked the Boiler Works technical man-
ager to present the design of a 65 MWt PYROFLOW boiler to
Kauttua. Varkaus Boiler Works managing director responded
that they had not received any written design specification
and evidently had nothing to discuss. Jrgen Javn took a
napkin on the table and wrote down the design specifica-
tion, signed it and handled it over to Boiler Works managing
director and asked Folke Engstrm to present the design of
the boiler. This napkin became the only boiler specification
ever written for the Kauttua CFB boiler and was later framed
and hung up on the wall in the conference room of Varkaus
Boiler Works.
The design of the 65 MWt PYROFLOW boiler was based
on previous engineering data and especially the new infor-
mation from the Pihlava PYROFLOW boiler. In addition to
the new boiler concept the balance of the plant equipments
for the Kauttua demonstration were ultramodern starting
from the feeding systems to the instrument and control
system based on the first of its kind microprocessor control
system from Altim Control. The backpressure steam turbine
was delivered by Siemens Turbines and the inverter control
fans (also the first in its kind) by OY Strmberg AB. See Fig. 6.
23
FIG. 6. KAUTTUA 65 MWt PYROFLOW BOILER
(note the size of a man on a street level)

24
 In the summer of 1981 the PYROFLOW boiler was de-
livered and erected by Varkaus Boiler Works and ready for
commissioning. The attitude at Varkaus Boiler Works hadnt
changed. Again it was the Karhula R&D team that trained
the operators in Kauttua and had the process responsibility
for the commissioning and testing of the PYROFLOW boil-
er, while a start-up technician from Varkaus was responsible
only for the steam-side system of the boiler.
As the boiler island, as well as many balance of plant sys-
tems were of newest design it took several months before
the plant was finally trimmed and optimized. By the end of
the year 1981 the plant was extensively tested, optimized
and finally handled over to the customer.
Kauttua PYROFLOW boiler became a world
success
The success drew the attention of customers, consulting
engineers, users etc. in thousands from all over the world.
Kauttua PYROFLOW became the second visiting Mecca to
an extent that it overloaded the people involved.
Krister Ahlstrm, who in 1981 was appointed the new
CEO and President of the A. Ahlstrm Oy Company saw the
potential of PYROFLOW and took an active role in bring-
ing the product to the world market. A reorganization of
Varkaus Boiler Works management was evident. Varkaus
Boiler Works managing director had to leave his position
and was appointed to technical director with the main task
to create with the assistance of Folke Engstrm the design
manuals for the new CFB boiler. Varkaus Boiler Works tech-
nical manager was appointed to the new managing director
of Boiler Works and had to change his position overnight
from earlier eing a hard PYROFLOW opponent to being its
foremost promoter.
25
7. PYROFLOW enters global markets
and meets BFB boiler competition
After the successful demonstration of Pihlava PYROFLOW in
1979, Ahlstrm offered the PYROFLOW technology to Boiler
Works boiler licensor in USA, Combustion Engineering Inc.
(CE). The cooperation discussion continued several months
mainly by correspondence. In January 1980 Ahlstrm was in-
vited to CEs Head Office in Windsor, Connecticut to discuss
the terms and conditions of a cross license between CE and
Ahlstrm. After a warm welcome at CEs head office Bertel
Hakulin asked Folke Engstrm to present PYROFLOW tech-
nique and especially its performance data from Pihlava. Then
CEs R&D manager presented their 23 ton/h saturated steam
generating BFB boiler that had progressed to the demon-
stration stage at Great Lake Naval Station, Illinois.
At the end of the technical discussion CEs licensing direc-
tor informed that CE was not interested in the PYROFLOW
technology and was going to proceed with its DOE funded
BFB technology at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. CEs
negative decision was a blow to Ahlstrm that through a co-
operation agreement would have got access to the big USA
market. In addition, CE possessed the boiler technology up
to big once-through utility boilers with supercritical steam
condition that Varkaus boiler Works was lacking at that time.
The BFB technology had since early 1960s been promot-
ed and developed all over the world as the new combustion
technology with sulfur capture to meet the stringent emis-
sion standards in burning high sulfur bituminous coals for
power generation. The worldwide R&D organizations had
received huge industrial and Governmental funding for the
development of the BFB boiler in countries such as England,
Germany, Japan, China and especially in the USA through
the Department of Energy. By 1980s, thousands of millions
of US dollars had already been spent on R&D, Pilot Plant Fa-
cilities and industrial BFB demonstration projects. In Germa-
ny alone, the governmental funding by 1981 amounted to
more than 150 million US-dollars of a total 400 million spent
on BFB related state supported development projects.
Besides CEs Great Lakes, a 23 ton/h steam generating
BFB unit in Illinois, the DOE sponsored the other American
big boiler manufacturer Babcock-Wilcox (B&W) and Foster
Wheeler (FW) in their effort to bring BFB boiler to the indus-
trial market.
26
FIG 7. FOSTER WHEELERS BFB BOILER, GEORGETOWN, WASHINGTON D.C.

FW was considered the world leader in the development of

BFB boilers and was the first boiler manufacturer to receive sub-
stantial DOE funding for its BFB demonstration unit in George-
town, Washington D.C. See Fig. 7.
By august 1981, the Georgetown 45 ton/h BFB steam generat-
ing unit had been in operation 1400 h, since its start-up in August
1979, with a capacity factor less than 10 % mainly due to poor
combustion, sulfur retention, and severe erosion of the inclined
in-bed heat transfer tubes.
In the USA, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as the biggest
electricity generating company took the lead in bringing the at-
mospheric BFB system to the utility market.
In 1979 the TVA authorized B&W to construct and operate of a
20 MWe BFB pilot plant at Shawnee, Paducah, Kentucky. The big
pilot plant was planned to resolve many of the uncertainties con-
cerning full-scale BFB development. Plant commissioning and
testing started in late 1981 with the involvement of the Electric
Power Research Institute (EPRI). The heat of the generated steam
from the 20 MWe BFB pilot plant was dumped in surface con-
densers.
Largely based on the results from the 20 MWe BFB pilot plant
at Shawnee, Paducah, Kentucky, a consortium Atmospheric Flu-
idized Bed Development Corporation consisting of all major US
utilities, EPRI, DOE and CE as the boiler manufacturer joined to-
gether to fund the design, construction and operation of a 160
MWe BFB demonstration plant at TVAs Shawnee Steam Plant
in Paducah. The 160 MWe BFB demonstration unit was built by
Combustion Engineering Inc. and commissioned in 1988. In spite

27
FIG. 8. CES 160 MWe BFB DEMONSTRATION PLANT AT TVAS SHAWNEE IN
PADUCAH, KENTUCKY

of major improvements during 1991-1992, after having first re-

solved the most serious start-up problems, the demonstration
unit could never live up to expectations resulting in low availabil-
ity and capacity factors. See Fig. 8 . By mid 1990s, the 160 MWe
BFB demonstration plant in Paducah was turned over to TVA to
be operated in dispatch mode, which in practice meant that the
unit was shutdown.
By the end of the 1980s, all BFB demonstration projects in the
world had more or less completely failed due to poor combustion
efficiency, sulfur capture, severe erosion of in-bed heat transfer
tubes, and unfavorable scale-up properties. The BFB technology
for burning high sulfur bituminous coal with sulfur retention was
in limbo and the door stood open for the commercialization of
the PYROFLOW boiler worldwide.
After the successful demonstration of the Pihlava PYROFLOW
boiler in early 1979, the new combustion technology was for the
first time on February 20-23, 1979 presented abroad at the Ener-
gy conference in Birmingham, England by Folke Engstrm and
William Highfield. Shortly afterwards General Atomics Inc. in San
Diego, California contacted Ahlstrm through their agent that
was present at the conference and wanted to discuss coopera-
tion with Ahlstrm for marketing and sale of PYROFLOW boilers
in USA. The discussions with General Atomic continued at the
same time as Ahlstrm negotiated with CE for cooperation. When
the cooperation with CE failed, Ahlstrm established in 1980 a
50/50 % joint venture company Pyropower Corporation with
General Atomic. Eric Oakes was appointed president for the San
Diego based company.

28
 In 1982 Pyropower Corporation sold the first PYROFLOW
boiler in the USA to Gulf oil Exploration in Bakersfield Cal-
ifornia and the following year another 59 MWt PYROFLOW
boiler to California Portland Cement in Colton, California in
competition with Foster Wheeler in its home market. The
CFB boiler technology showed to be superior to the BFB
technique especially concerning meeting the stringent Cal-
ifornian limits for CO, SO2 and NOx emissions. The door to
the US market was open to Pyropower Corporation, which
during the following years sold three more cogeneration PY-
ROFLOW boilers to Central Soya, B.F. Goodrich and General
Motors in competition with US BFB boiler suppliers.
With the successful full-scale demonstration of Kauttua
the 65 MWt PYROFLOW cogeneration boiler the custom-
ers literally overloaded Varkaus Boiler Works with inquiries.
During the next four years, nine PYROFLOW boilers were sold
in Finland and Sweden for district heating or cogeneration,
mainly in the pulp and paper industries.
After the Kauttua break-through in 1981, boiler manufac-
turers started to knock on the door of Varkaus Boiler Works
for PYROFLOW licenses. Ahlstrm did not have the capacity
to handle the whole world market and thus PYROFLOW li-
censes were sold in early 1980s to EVT in Germany, CNIM
in France, and Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea. In
1982 Ahlstrom established a cooperation agreement with
the boiler company Waagner-Biro for delivery of PYROFLOW
boilers in Austria. Soon after signing the license agreement,
the aforementioned boiler manufacturers sold their first PY-
ROFLOW boiler in their respective home country. North and
South America were covered by Pyropower Corporation and
Japan by Shinko Pyropower, a 50/50 % joint venture com-
pany formed with the steel giant Kobe Steel. Varkaus Boiler
Works handled the Nordic countries as its home market and
the rest of the world not covered by the license agreements.
The licensees were supported out of Finland.
The boiler manufacturers that could not get a PYRO-
FLOW license started to develop their own CFB boiler by
copying the operating PYROFLOW design already on the
market place or by utilizing the best available expertise in
Universities and R&D organizations. Thus arose in Sweden
in the mid 1980s a couple of competing CFB boiler designs.
Gtaverken, with governmental subsidies, put on the mar-
ket several 20-40 MWt CFB district heating boilers in the
29
towns Sundsvall, Nykping, Boden, Uddevalla, and Karlsk-
oga. Studsvik AB developed a U-beam collector based CFB
concept, which in 1984 was licensed to B&W in the USA after
B&W had the complete failure of their 20 MWe BFB demon-
stration boiler at Paducah, Tennessee.
Deutsche Babcock developed a semi-CFB boiler, Cir-
co-fluid boiler with a cyclone separator between the con-
vective passes in the temperature range of 300-500 C for
recycling of entrained solids to the combustion chamber.
In 1986, Foster Wheeler built a CFB pilot plant and started
to develop the hot water-cooled hot cyclone as an advanced
CFB concept, after it had experienced the same failure as their
American colleagues with the Rivesville 125 ton/h BFB boiler
and the DOE funded Georgetown BFB boiler demonstration
and had lost the Californian Portland Cement project to Py-
ropower Corporation. Based upon an exclusive cooperation
agreement, Keeler/Dorr-Oliver sold four CFB boilers to Ar-
cher Daniels Midlands Decatur plant in Illinois and three to
Cedar Rapids, Iowa food processing plants in 1984. In order
to verify the basic design, Keeler/Dorr-Oliver designed, built
and commissioned in 1984 a 3 ft. diameter full-scale inter-
nal height CFB pilot plant in its Boiler Works in Williamsport,
Pennsylvania. The Keeler/Dorr-Oliver CFB boiler resembled
Ahlstrms PYROFLOW boiler as the CEO Joseph Yerushalmi,
PAMA Ltd. put it in his plenary session paper at the CFB Tech-
nology Conference in Halifax in 1985.
It was not only the competing boiler manufacturers that
were taken by surprise and consternation, but also Lurgi
Metallgesellschaft AG/ Lothar Reh realized the situation
during Folke Engstrms presentation Development and
Commercial Operation of A CFB Combustion System at the
6th International Fluidized Bed Conference, April 9-11, 1980
in Atlanta, Georgia. Lurgi with CFB experience from the met-
allurgical and process industries soon developed its CFB
boiler technology pretty much based on the concept they
possessed in the CFB calcining process. Lurgis first CFB boil-
er went on stream in July 1982 in Lnen, Germany at Verein-
gte Aluminium Werke. At that time Ahlstrm already had six
PYROFLOW boilers in operation.
30
8. COLORADO-UTE Utility Boiler
A breakthrough into the utility business
The market introduction in the early 1980s was impressive
resulting in 19 PYROFLOW boilers in operation by 1985. The
largest of the delivered boilers was a 100 MWt PYROFLOW
cogeneration unit to Oriental Chemical Industry in South
Korea burning petroleum coke and coal. The scale-up of the
PYROFLOW boiler to larger units was a necessary challenge
to enter the big utility worldwide market. In 1983 Colorado-
Ute Electric Association (CUEA) contacted Pyropower
Corporation to design and build a PYROFLOW utility boiler
to burn Colorado bituminous coal. The CFB boiler would
produce 117 kg/s superheated steam at 105 bar and 540
C for generation of 110 MWe electrical output for CUEAs
Nucla Generating Station in Nucla, Colorado. Pyropower
Corporation, backed up by Varkaus Boiler Works had the
experience, references and boiler knowledge to offer a
110 MWe utility boiler. However no American utility boiler
supplier had adequate CFB knowledge to do so.
To create competition with an American utility supplier,
the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) as Colorado-Utes
consult carried out burn tests with Colorado bituminous coal
in 1982 at Lurgis R&D Center in Frankfurt, Germany. EPRI was
also instrumental in arranging a cooperation agreement be-
tween Combustion Engineering and Lurgi.
A fierce competition arose between the Finnish based
Pyropower Corporation and American Combustion Engi-
neering using the Lurgi CFB license and expertise. In the
end Ahlstrom Pyropower was victorious. Colorado-Ute 110
MWe PYROFLOW utility boiler was a tremendous achieve-
ment and a milestone for Ahlstrom Pyropower Corporation.
A schematic cross-section of the boiler is presented in Fig. 9.
31
FIG. 9. A SCHEMATIC CROSS-SECTION OF COLORADO-UTE 110 MWe
PYROFLOW UTILITY BOILER

In 1982 Lurgi accused Ahlstrm of infringing on their patent

US 4111158. Both key persons Lothar Reh of Lurgi and Folke Eng-
strm of Ahlstrm were called to New York for juridical proceed-
ings to defend their companys position in the patent issue. The
legal process dragged until 1985. CUEA had made up their mind
to award Pyropower Corporation the boiler contract. Although
Ahlstrms legal experts and agents in the USA were convinced
Ahlstrm would to win the legal case in the court, Ahlstrms CEO
and president Krister Ahlstrm considered the liability risks for
the Colorado-Ute boiler deal to be too great and ordered his sub-
ordinates to come to an agreement with Lurgi before signing the
CUEA contract.
By signing the license agreement with Lurgi, Ahlstrm had
to pay a reasonable royalty payment for each PYROFLOW boil-
er sold. To some extent the license agreement was prejudicial to
competitive boiler suppliers in their bidding of CFB boilers. At
least at this stage the lesson was learnt by Ahlstrm on how to
handle patent matters. From the establishment of the central-
ized R&D activity in Karhula in 1969, the patent matters had been
managed by HALs administrative head, who was also the R&D
manager of Pumps, Paper and Saw Machines. It was evident that
the resources and expertise in Karhula were far too limited to ad-
equately cover the ideas and inventions generated by R&D and
to protect the intellectual properties in the severe competition
prevailing worldwide. Many inventions that could have protect-
ed the PYROFLOW boiler technique from the competition were
lost in the early development stage due to inadequate patent
competence and resources in the company.

32
9. Restructuring of Ahlstrms
Engineering Works in the late 1980s
The capture of the world market by PYROFLOW boilers con- FIG. 10. AHLSTROM PYROPOWERS CFB BOILERS SOLD ON
tinued with undiminished power. During the years 1986-89, VARIOUS CONTINENTS OF THE WORLD BY 1989

30 more PYROFLOW boilers were commissioned in the world:

10 in USA, 9 in Europe, 3 in Finland, 1 in Israel and 1 in Taiwan.
One of these boilers was the Colorado-Ute 110 MWe PYRO-
FLOW utility boiler that in 1987 started to generate power
for the grid. This was a break-through that further confirmed
Ahlstrom Pyropowers position as the leading circulating flu-
idized bed supplier in the world with a market share of 70 %.
By 1989 Ahlstrom together with its licensees had sold 77 PY-
ROFLOW boilers that were spread over the globe as shown
by Fig. 10.
In parallel with the marketing success, development and
scale-up of the PYROFLOW boiler was continued in the late
1980s: a once-through 148 MWt PYROFLOW boiler was sup-
plied to KW Wachtberg in Germany; and a large scale-up, the
125 MWe PYROFLOW boiler to the utility company Vaskilu-
odon Voima Oy in Seinjoki. The boiler was designed to fire
100 % peat, 100% coal, or any combination in between and
began its commercial operation in 1990. See Fig. 11.

33
FIG. 11. THE 300 MWt PYROFLOW BOILER TO THE UTILITY
COMPANY VASKILUODON VOIMA OY
(note the size of a human body - left side in middle)

34
With the increasing demand for the PYROFLOW boilers, the
Board of Ahlstrm announced in August 1989 to reorganize
the Engineering Works Division into two divisions, i.e. the
Ahlstrom Pyropower and Ahlstrom Machinery Division. To
Ahlstrom Pyropower Division belonged Pyropower Corpora-
tion, Varkaus Boiler Works, and Termoflow in Kaarina, Shinko
Pyropower and earlier mentioned licensees as well as the
new licensees Snamprogetti S.pA. in Italy, Stork Boilers in the
Netherlands and Yuen Yu Paper Mfg in Taiwan.
A part of the sales success was due to the fact that Ahl-
strom could offer burn testing of potential customers fuels at
the Karhula pilot plant to prove the design and emission per-
formance. In spite of recruiting additional personnel to HAL
in Karhula in the early 1980s, the R&D group could not han-
dle all the burn testing requests that came from all over the
world and especially the USA. To overcome the dilemma, the
Board of Ahlstrm authorized in 1986 building of a new R&D
Center on the American Continent to alleviate the pressure
for burn tests in Karhula. By this decision, the core activity
at HAL could again be directed towards long-term, strategic
development and product improvement of the PYROFLOW
technology, while the new R&D Center in San Diego mainly
would serve the sales of PYROFLOW boilers by offering burn
test for potential customers. Folke Engstrm was appointed
vice president of R&D with the duty to build the new R&D
Center, to recruit its personnel and lead its activity as well as
being still in charge of R&D activity at Hans Ahlstrm Lab-
oratory in Karhula. By this appointment his duty changed
from earlier being an inventor and developer to a mentor in
coaching and leading others to further the CFB technology.
To maintain the leading CFB position in the world, R&D
started at HAL in 1989 to develop the second-generation
CFB boiler characterized by a water-cooled separator with
an integrated heat exchanger for superheating duties. PhD
Timo Hyppnen was appointed R&D manager for the new,
innovative development as well as the mathematical mod-
eling of the PYROFLOW boiler process. For the scale-up of
the PYROFLOW boiler to larger utility units with supercritical
steam values an in-depth understanding of the combustion
process - heat transfer as well as the hydrodynamics - was
mandatory as the semi-empirical studies in test rigs, pilot
plants and field studies of existing PYROFLOW boilers could
provide only partial answers.
35
 In 1989 the Board of Ahlstrom also approved the construc-
tion of a large pressurized CFB pilot plant. This was a strate-
gic decision by Ahlstrm to take a quantum leap over the
competition by better overall boiler efficiency and improved
emission performance. M.Sc. Juhani Isaksson was appointed
R&D manager for the pressurized CFB (PCFB) development
in Karhula. Tekes contributed with significant support and
funding for this more venturesome investment project both
during the construction phase as well as during its operation.
This bold venture by the Ahlstrom Pyropower division
resulted in a significant manpower increase that by 1989
amounted to 66 people in addition to the 20 people at the
R&D Center in San Diego. Also the Head office of Pyropower
Corporation in San Diego grew fast and moved to a larger
Head Office. Recruiting did not cause any problem, as abun-
dant professional boiler expertise was available to move
to San Diego from American Boiler suppliers after the BFB
demonstration boiler failures.
36
10. Tampellas BFB development and
market penetration
In the mid 1970s, the process department of Tampella Oy
delivered to Svetogorsk pulp and paper mills in Russia a
sludge BFB incinerator for destruction of wet sludge that was
75-80 % moisture. The sludge was dried in stage-drier count-
er-currently to the flue gases before it dropped into the com-
bustion chamber. Tampella acted as the main contractor and
supplier for Lurgi, which was responsible for the BFB technol-
ogy and drying process. With this project Tampella acquired
a license from Lurgi to deliver similar sludge BFB incinerators
to Russia.
Tampella acted also as a subcontractor for certain parts of
the BFB incinerator delivered to Svetogorsk pulp and paper
mills and thus became acquainted with the bubbling fluid-
ized bed technology that Tampella later considered could be
utilized in other projects. In the late 1970s, Tampella made
improvements to the Lurgis BFB technique and applied its
knowledge on a small BFB incinerator delivered to Lielahti
pulp mill for destruction of wet sludge from the water treat-
ment plant.
With the lesson learnt from the BFB prototype in Liela-
hti, Tampella delivered their first BFB boiler to Oy Kyro Ab
in Kyrskoski in 1980 for the burning of bark and primary
sludge with a dry matter content of 38 %. The BFB unit was
refractory lined with a forced circulation heat transfer sur-
face in the upper freeboard zone to recover heat from the
flue gases before the gases passed through a refractory
lined duct to the adjacent grate fired boiler.
The next step in Tampellas BFB development was the
delivery in 1982 of an 11 MWt BFB boiler to Tampellas own
paper mill in Anjalankoski for burning sludge, bark and coal.
The BFB boiler was a retrofit to an existing boiler delivering
saturated steam to the main boiler. The BFB unit became
in a way an internal R&D demonstration unit for testing of
various fuels and process development especially to study
of the effect of air distribution on different levels above the
grid. Dedicated engineers from Tampellas boiler depart-
ment conducted the testing and modifications of the BFB
prototype.
The first large, industrial BFB boiler that Tampella deliv-
ered in 1985 was a 107 MWt combined BFB and PC boiler
to their own Fluting mill in Heinola. The boiler was designed
to produce half of the steam generation from the BFB boiler
and the other half of the steam capacity from burning pul-
verized coal (PC) in the upper furnace of the boiler. See Fig.
12 .
37
FIG. 12. THE 107 MWt BFB AND PC BOILER TO TAMPELLAS
FLUTING MILL IN HEINOLA, FINLAND

38
FIG. 13. TAMPELLA HYBEX BFB BOILER IN ANJALANKOSKI The Heinola 107 MWt combined BFB and PC boiler be-
came an important reference for Tampella. At the same time
Tampella sold their first BFB boilers abroad: one 23 MWt unit
to Shotton Paper Company in the U.K., and another a 49
MWt unit to Chapelle Darblay in France. Both boilers gener-
ated steam from the burning of bark and sludge in the bub-
bling bed.
With help of the Heinola BFB reference, Tampella was suc-
cessful in convincing customers in the pulp and paper indus-
tries of the merits of converting existing, outdated boilers to
BFB boilers. In the timeframe of 1985-1996 Tampella Power
sold 21 BFB conversions, of which 14 boilers were in Finland,
2 in Sweden, 1 in Russia, 2 in Spain, 1 in USA and 1 in Brazil.
BFB conversions were a niche market, where Tampella
dominated the marketplace. During the same time period,
1985-1996, Ahlstrm Pyropower delivered 9 BFB conver-
sions, of which 5 boilers in Finland and 4 in Sweden.
A major improvement that Tampella Power made in 1995
was the Hydro Beam grate that enables efficient and reliable
removal of impurities and coarse material from the bottom
of the furnace. The first BFB boiler to be equipped with the
new Hydro Beam design was the conversion of the BFB boil-
er in Tampellas own pulp and paper mill in Anjalankoski,
Finland. After the demonstration of the Hydro Beam grate
at Anjalankoski, all of Tampellas BFB boilers both built and
converted, used the Hydro Beam grate, which contributed
largely to Tampellas BFB success in the market. See Fig.13.

39
FIG. 14. RAUHALAHTI POWER PLANT, A 267 MWt BFB CONVERSION
BY TAMPELLA POWER IN 1993
Tampella Power was also the market leader in the size of
the BFB boilers. The largest BFB boiler built by Tampella Pow-
er was Rauhalahti 267 MWt BFB conversion of a peat burn-
ing power boiler in Jyvskyl, Finland. In the original power
boiler that was built in 1986 the pulverized peat was burnt in
a flame in the furnace. The flame combustion of peat pow-
der was however instable and required continuous heavy oil
support to stabilize the combustion process. Furthermore
the emissions from the boiler were high, as were the mainte-
nance costs. As a part of the boiler modifications, the boiler
output was raised by 10% to justify governmental subsidies
for the refurbishment of the Rauhalahti power boiler to a BFB
boiler, see Fig.14 .
Tampella Oy promoted and developed the Bubbling
Fluidized Bed technique for biomass fuels since late 1970s.
Tampella Oy targeted the Pulp and Paper industries, where
Tampellas BFB prototype could be tested, demonstrated
and further developed in their own mills. In 1985, Tampella
tested also bituminous coal burning in a 37 MWt BFB boiler
in Kirkniemi Paper Mills in Lohja with the same failed results
as all the other BFB suppliers in the world that tried to burn
coal in BFB boilers as described earlier in Chapter 7.
40
 To be able to provide boilers for combustion of various
coals with sulfur capture and better emissions, Tampella
Power needed to establish itself as a credible CFB boiler sup-
plier. To do this, Tampella Power bought the Keeler/Dorr-Ol-
iver boiler company in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1988.
The problem that Tampella Power encountered was that in
the marketplace, Keeler/Dorr-Oliver was considered only as
a CFB supplier for low-grade coal such as anthracite culm
and coal wastes. The only CFB boiler that Tampella delivered
before being bought by Kvaerner A/S in 1996 was a 32 MWt
CYMIC CFB boiler with internal cyclone, sold to Vapo Oy in
Lieksa, Finland. The internal cyclone was later removed and
the boiler was converted to a BFB boiler.
41
11. Ahlstrms BFB development and
market penetration
Although Ahlstrm Oy earlier had their own BFB knowledge
and design from the delivery of seven BFB incinerators in the
1970s in addition to a small 4,7 MWt BFB boiler built in 1977
for Kainuun Prikaati, Kajaani in cooperation with prof. A. Jah-
kola at the Technical University of Helsinki, Ahlstrm bought
Oy Witermo Ab in Kaarina in 1987 to strengthen its capa-
bilities for marketing and delivery of smaller biofuels BFB
boilers. The name of Witermo was changed to Termoflow.
Termoflows product portfolio consisted of BFB boilers, oil
boilers, and Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSG). Larg-
er BFB boilers and conversions were however handled and
marketed by Ahlstrom Boiler in Varkaus to which Termoflow
belonged.
As mentioned in Chapter 6, Outokumpu Oy had convert-
ed two pyrite BFB roasters in Kokkola to peat burning boilers
in 1977 by simply installing peat handling equipments and
overbed peat feed chutes in the lower freeboard area of the
boiler. As the cooperation negotiations with Ahlstrom did
not proceed in the late 1970s, Outokumpu Oy established
a small boiler engineering company of their own, Outokum-
pu EcoEnergy Oy and started to sell their BFB boilers main-
ly in the home market, Finland and Sweden, as well as to
Outokumpu Oys metallurgical customers in other parts of
the world. In 1993, Outokumpu EcoEnergy in Finland was
bought by Ahlstrom and incorporated with Ahlstrom Boilers
in Varkaus.
The technical differences between the BFB boilers offered
by Tampella and Ahlstrm/Termoflow were insignificant as
shown by Fig. 15, which represents a typical BFB boiler of-
fered by Termoflow for district heating and electricity gen-
eration. Especially in the product range 15-60 MWt heat or
steam generation the BFB biofuel fired boilers were profit-
able, proven technology with good availability compared
to grate fired boilers. Small BFB boilers, typically 3-20 MWe
electricity and 6-40 MWt heat were offered to the municipal-
ities and industries and supplied by Termoflow with short
delivery time.
In the end of the 1980s and early 1990s Termoflow was
the market leader for the smaller BFB heat and power plants
and sold 21 BFB units, while Tampella dominated the larg-
er BFB boilers and conversion market, especially in the pulp
and paper industry, selling 26 large BFB boilers and retro-
fit units. Termoflow was a small unit within Ahlstrom Boil-
ers that could operate fast and with a leaner overhead than
42
FIG. 15. A TYPICAL TERMOFLOW BFB BOILER

Tampella, which met the competition from Ahlstrom Boilers

in the larger BFB product range. As the technical differences
and the guarantees offered by the two competing BFB boil-
er companies were small, the commercial terms and price in
the end decided the winning deal.
The year 2000 Foster Wheeler decided to transfer the
business unit Termoflow from Kaarina to FW Energia Oy in
Varkaus, which resulted in most of the employees leaving
the company and moving to competing boiler companies
or establishing engineering offices of their own.

43
12. Finnish Boiler Works
clash in the market and lost opportunity
Ahlstrm and Tampella were similar, diversified multi-branch
Finnish companies with roots in the forest industries and
well known as pulp and paper machinery and Kraft recovery
boiler suppliers to the worldwide pulp and paper industries.
It is therefore not surprising that a fierce and often unhealthy
competition arose between the two companies in the same
marketplace especially during recession times.
The competition between the two companies was espe-
cially fierce in the late 1980s during the collapse of the Sovi-
et trade and in the early 1990s during the Western European
recession, which led the Finnish economy into a depression
that was worse than that of the 1930s. The banking crisis trig-
gered a profound structural change in the Finnish financial
sector that affected especially Tampella and its bank owner
SKOP that went bankrupt. Suomen Pankki (Bank of Finland)
took over SKOP on September 19th, 1991 and became own-
er of Tampella Oy.
Tampella Oy was split up and its divisions were sold one
by one to larger Finnish companies except Tampellas Boiler
Works. Ahlstrm was offered the opportunity to take over
Tampellas Boiler Works, but Solidium and Ahlstrm could
never agree upon the price. Finally Krister Ahlstrm publicly
informed that he would sell the Ahlstrom Pyropower divi-
sion abroad, if not Solidium would not agree to a reasonable
price.
So it happened, Ahlstrm Oy sold Ahlstrom Pyropower
a couple of years later to Foster Wheeler and Solidium (The
Finnish State) had to donate Tampella Boiler Works in 1996
to Kvaerner A/S for a small down payment of approximately
26 million U.S. dollars. At the time of merger negotiations,
Ahlstrm Oy and Tampella Oy were the worlds leading re-
covery boiler suppliers with roughly 50 % market share. Ahl-
strom was the world leader of CFB boilers and the same per-
tains for the combined supply of BFB boilers from Ahlstrm
and Tampella. Furthermore the market demand for recovery
boilers and power boilers complemented each other in the
ups and downs of the business cycles. This evened out the
swings in boiler sale and factory loads. Today we know that
the core business of the two companies are still in Finland,
but the ownership Ahlstrom Pyropower is in foreign hands.
A golden opportunity was lost to establish a strong Finnish
global boiler company by the act of the State of Finland.
44
13. Consolidation of boiler companies
and Tampella merger with Kvaerner
From the 1930s to the 1980s the world boiler market was to
a great extent dominated by the US boiler companies Com-
bustion Engineering Inc. (CE) and Babcock-Wilcox (BW). To-
gether the two US boiler companies had roughly 70 % of the
US market, while Foster Wheeler had a substantial part of the
remaining market. Furthermore CE and BW sold their licens-
es to boiler companies all over the world. In Finland Ahlstrm
was a CEs licensee and Tampella had obtained a BWs license.
In Sweden Gtaverken had BWs and Maskinverken CEs li-
cense and in the same way the domestic boiler companies in
most of the other industrialized countries had obtained a CE
or B&W license. Every country had thus their domestic boiler
suppliers and formed in a way a protected area from outside
competition due to the license agreements with CE and BW.
As described in Chapter 7, the worldwide BFB boiler de-
velopment and demonstration of power production from
bituminous coal with sulfur failed in the 1970-80s and the
boiler companies started their own development of CFB
technology with governmental subsidies and support from
public R&D Centers and Technical Universities. The in-depth
knowledge and capabilities were often not adequate and
many CFB developments and prototypes resulted in unsuc-
cessful demonstrations and unprofitable installations.
The worldwide recession, growing technological compe-
tition and tighter financial markets In 1980-90s led to con-
siderable consolidation of boiler companies in the world
as shown by Fig. 16. The most remarkable acquisition was
ABBs purchase of Combustion Engineering Inc. in Connecti-
cut, USA in early 1990. By mid 1995 half of the boiler compa-
nies had disappeared, gone bankrupt, or merged with other
boiler companies. Twenty years later only 15 major boiler
companies were left in the world.
In China, the Government protected the indigenous
boiler industry by restrictions on the import of boilers and
ownership of Chinese boiler companies. The large Power
equipment companies were State owned and remained in-
dependent. A similar regional protected situation prevailed
also in Japan on the utility market sector until recently, when
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS), a thermal
power generation systems company jointly established by
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and Hitachi, Ltd. launched
their business operations effective February 1, 2014.
45
FIG.16. CONSOLIDATION OF BOILER COMPANIES IN THE WORLD IN TIME PERIOD 1986-2015

46
 The new venture, MHPS combines the global fossil busi-
FIG 17. TAMPELLA POWER OY MERGER WITH KVAERNER A/S AND REBIRTH AS VALMET
ness of both companies.
ON JAN. 1, 2014 (SOURCE: TAMPELLA/VALMET)
Still independent boiler companies with foreign licenses
are IHI in Japan, BHEL in India, B&W in the USA and Ansaldo
in Italy.
In 1996, Tampella Power Company encountered the same
fate as Gtaverken/Generator Boiler Company in Sweden in
1994, i.e. the Norwegian multi-branch company Kvaerner
A/S purchased Tampellas boiler division. See Fig. 17.
Both Gtaverken and Tampella were roughly the same
size with similar boiler products serving the worldwide pow-
er, pulp and paper industries. A restructuring of the boiler
business in Kvaerner took place based on an independent,
economical-technical analysis that resulted in the BFB and
CFB boilers staying in Tampere and the center of Kraft recov-
ery boilers, services and boiler modifications was concentrat-
ed to Gtaverkens boiler Works in Gothenburg.
The acquisition of Gtaverken and Tampella brought new
technology, expertise, references and customers to the new-
ly established company Kvaerner Pulping. With Tampere as
the center for power boilers the BFB boilers and conversions
continued to be the milk cow for Kvaerner Pulpings boiler
business.
47
 The use of biofuels was encouraged in the early 1990s by
FIG. 18. HYBEX 246 MWt BFB BOILER
DELIVERED TO STORA ENSO IN OULU. (SOURCE: TAMPELLA/VALMET)
subsidies or taxation as a measure to counteract the threat-
ening Greenhouse effect and to promote renewable energy
sources in many EU countries as well in Sweden and Finland.
Although Tampella earlier had been one of the foremost BFB
boiler suppliers for biofuels, the new Kvaerner boiler com-
pany was even more successful with more resources and a
larger customer palette on the global market place. During
the time frame 1996-2006 Kvaerner sold roughly 6000 MWt
thermal capacity worldwide in BFB boilers and conversions.
One of the more important deliveries was the HYBEX 246
MWt BFB boiler delivered to Stora Enso in Oulu in 1997. See
Fig.18.
By the end of 2006 Kvaerner A/S made a decision to de-
merger a part of their businesses and sold its Pulping and
Power businesses to Metso Corporation. With this acquisi-
tion, the power and recovery boilers returned to Finland.
The new company, Metso Power, with roots in Tampella
Power continued to sell BFB boilers and conversions at the
same pace as the Kvaerner Pulping boiler company did ear-
lier and was recognized worldwide as the market leader in
BFB applications. This is especially true after the beginning

48
FIG. 19. NACOGDOCHES POWERS 292 MW t BOILER THE LARGEST BFB BUILT BY METSO POWER.
(SOURCE: TAMPELLA/VALMET)
of the new millennium, when Foster Wheeler concentrated
its business activity more on large CFB utility boilers and left
more or less its BFB market share to the newcomer Andritz.
The large 292 MWt BFB boiler delivered to Nacogdoches
Power in Texas, USA as presented in Fig. 19, is an example of
Metso Powers capabilities.
Based upon the success in Texas, Metso Power delivered
one year later in 2013 the same size boiler a 292 MWt unit to
Gainesville Renewable Energy Center in Gainesville, Florida,
USA.
49
14. Kvaerners and Metso Powers
CFB boiler technology
FIG. 20. ALHOLMENS KRAFTS 550 MWt CFB BIO-FUELED BOILER IN PIETARSAARI. Although Kvaerner Power had acquired CFB knowhow and
(SOURCE: VALMET) design from Gtaverken and also from Keeler/Dorr-Oliver
through Tampellas purchase in 1988, the company was not
considered as a strong competitor in the market to Foster
Wheelers CFB technology for burning of bituminous coal
with sulfur removal. With a multi-fuel mix of bark, wood
chips, other bi-products from the wood refining process
and peat as main fuels and coal as a supplementary fuel, the
situation was different. In 2001 Kvaerner gathered all of its
in-house CFB expertise and focused its efforts to win the Al-
holmens Kraft boiler, the largest bio-fuelled power plant in
the world. See Fig. 20. It faced hard competition with Foster
Wheeler, but Kvaerner Power prevailed.
The Alholmens Kraft CFB boiler became a breakthrough
for Kvaerner into the CFB businesses. With Alholmens CFB
boiler in commercial operation, Kvaerner was successful in
selling four additional multi-fuelled CFB boilers before Met-
so Corporation purchased Kvaerners boiler division in 2007.
After Metso Power took over the CFB business activity
continued at roughly the same pace of approximately 240
MWt thermal capacity per year. Of the 20 CFB boilers sold in
the time period 2007-2016, all but 4 were CFB boilers

50
FIG. 21. TURKU 390 MWt CFB MULTI-FUELED BOILER THAT WILL BE COMMISSIONED IN 2017.
(SOURCE: VALMET)
burning mixtures of coal wastes and biomass such as re-
cycled wood, bark, peat, wastes, fiber rejects, sludges, and
RDF.
Metso Powers market segment was the industrial CFB
boiler in the medium steam capacity class below 500 MWt
for challenging fuels and fuel mixtures largely affecting the
design of boiler and the whole power plant from the fuel
handling to the flue gas treatment. The chemical and phys-
ical properties of these fuels pose a variety of challenges to
the design of the heat transfer surfaces in the furnace and
convection section and on the superheaters due to agglom-
eration, corrosion, erosion, fouling, and ash debris in the bot-
tom of the furnace.
In early 2014 Valmet Corporation was reborn after the de-
merger of the Power and Recovery boilers from Metso Cor-
poration. For the company Valmet Corporation, the 390 MWt
CFB multi-fuelled boiler sold to the town of Turku will be a
showcase, when the CFB boiler is commissioned in 2017. The
fuel mixture of the CFB boiler consists of coal, milled peat
and processed wood wastes mixed with minor shares of agri-
cultural biomass and SRF (Specified Recovered Fuel). See Fig.
21.
51
15. Globalization of Ahlstrom
Pyropower and the successes
in early 1990s
In the early 1990s Ahlstrom Pyropower Inc. (API) developed
into a global, well organized and top-level modern enter-
prise with a new Head Office in San Diego with business cen-
ters in many countries around the world. Especially in the Far
East new business offices were established in Singapore and
Bangkok with Country Business Managers for China, India,
Indonesia and Australia. Also the manufacturing process was
restructured into a Global Production and Procurement De-
partment with Varkaus Boiler Works still being the leading
workshop for the manufacture of the key boiler components,
while other boiler components were out-sourced to the own
Boiler Workshop Fakop in Polen, Hyundai Heavy Industries in
South-Korea and other Boiler Works around the world with
cheap labor forces.
The standardization of boiler components and the CAD
design of the boiler were carried out in all Engineering de-
partments of the Ahlstrom Pyropower division. The same
concerned the internal Information Technology systems and
dimensioning of the PYROFLOW boiler that in a short time
could be designed and CAD-drawn based upon the custom-
ers specifications. Also the demonstration and commercial-
ization of new products developed by R&D or purchased
from others were organized in a new department, Global
New Products, with a Vice President responsible for its ac-
tivity.
By the end of 1992 the development of the second gen-
eration PYROFLOW had proceeded to the demonstration
stage. The new CFB technology with the trade name PYRO-
FLOW Compact was demonstrated in 1992 in an 18 MWt
unit sold to Kuhmo Lmp Oy with peat and wood wastes
as the main fuels. The main features of the new design are
presented in Fig. 22.
After some adjustments and start-up problems the PY-
ROFLOW Compact unit in Kuhmo operated successfully as
designed. Ahlstrom Boilers in Varkaus was pleased with the
new development that had eliminated the heavy refractory
lined hot cyclone and took the lead in the commercializing
of the PYROFLOW Compact technique to the market place
by selling the second unit in 1993 to IVO International Oy in
Kokkola. Kokkola PYROFLOW Compact was a 6 times scale-
up of the Kuhmo unit producing 97,5 MWt at 61 bar and 510
C superheating with coal and peat as the main fuels. See fig.
23 on page 54.
52
FIG. 22. THE MAIN FEATURES OF PYROFLOW COMPACT DESIGN

53
FIG. 23. THE 100 MWt PYROFLOW COMPACT IN KOKKOLA COMMISSIONED IN 1994
(note the size of a human body on the street level in the middle)

54
FIG. 24. THE MAIN FEATURES OF THE INTREX HEAT EXCHANGER
After the demonstration of PYROFLOW Compact in Kuhmo,
R&D at Hans Ahlstrom Laboratory started together with
Varkaus boiler works the development of the INTREX heat
exchanger, which was the ultimate step into large once-
through utility boilers with super-critical steam values. The
main features of the INTREX heat exchanger are shortly de-
scribed in Fig. 24.
Due to the high heat transfer coefficient in the INTREX
heat exchanger, the heat transfer surfaces are considerably
smaller than the superheaters or reheaters in conventional
PC boilers. The heat transfer surfaces are also located away
from the highly, corrosive high-temperature flue gases, as
fresh air is used as the fluidizing medium in the INTREX heat
exchanger
The INTREX heat exchanger was first demonstrated in a
86 MWt PYROFLOW Compact unit commissioned at Hor-
nitex Werke Beeskow GmbH in Germany in 1996. The unit
burned wood wastes resulting in a corrosive environment
in the combustion chamber and as such became an ideal
testing unit for studying the corrosion and erosion resistivity
of superheater alloys in the INTREX heat exchanger adjacent
to the lower combustion chamber.
55
FIG. 25. THE 370 MWt BOILER TO NATIONAL POWER SUPPLY CO. IN THATOOM, THAILAND.
(SOURCE: AHLSTROM PYROPOWER / FOSTER WHEELER)
(note the size of a human body on the street level in the middle and the size of a truck on the left)
By the mid 1990s fourteen PYROFLOW Compact boilers
were sold worldwide. PYROFLOW Compact became the
standard design offered by Ahlstrom Pyropower for units up
to 100 MWe.
The next milestone in the scale-up of the PYROFLOW
Compact was taken in 1994 by selling two 370 MWt boil-
ers to National Power Supply Co. (NPS) in ThaToom, Thailand
firing biofuels, bituminous and anthracite coals as the main
fuels. One of the boilers was equipped to use biomass con-
sisting of bark and rice husk up to 50 % by energy content.
The two PYROFLOW Compacts boilers were commissioned
in 1998. Fig. 25 shows the cross-section of the two 370 MWt
boilers to National Power Supply Co, in Thailand.

56
FIG. 26. MAJOR STEPS IN THE SCALE-UP AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF I- AND
II-GENERATION PYROFLOW
(SOURCE: AHLSTROM PYROPOWER / FOSTER WHEELER)

The PYROFLOW Compact was gradually replacing the

first Generation PYROFLOW boiler with the refractory lined
hot cyclone as the experience of the larger PYROFLOW Com-
pact boilers with INTREX heat exchanger rapidly grew.
The major milestones of the well-managed commercial-
ization and development process are shown in Fig 26. The
scale-up of PYROFLOW boilers was based on a thorough
understanding of the underlying circulating fluidized bed
combustion process, experience from smaller CFB boilers
in operation, and advanced mathematical modeling of the
total CFB process.
Ahlstrom Pyropower continued to take the major market
share of CFB boilers in hard competition with ABB, Lurgi/
Lentjes, Foster Wheeler, Riley Stoker and Deutsche Babcock.

57
FIG. 27. CFB MARKET SHARES IN 1979-1994 ACCORDING TO THE ORDERS FROM THE BOILER SUPPLIERS
ON THE MWE BASIS (MCCOY) (AHLSTROM PYROPOWER = FOSTER WHEELER BY THE PURCHASE IN 1995)
(SOURCE: AHLSTROM PYROPOWER / FOSTER WHEELER)
By the mid 1990s Ahlstrom Pyropower had together with its
licensees sold over 170 PYROFLOW boilers with a 47 % share
of the world market as shown by the independent market
analysis made by McCoy in 1995. See Fig. 27.
The scale-up effort of the PYROFLOW boiler continued
with the 410 MWt PYROFLOW utility boiler delivered to Nova
Scotia Power in Canada. The boiler was designed to fire local
high sulfur bituminous coal with high chlorine content. In
March 1994, the plant successfully completed the 120 hours
capacity test.
The Chinese market was opened in the mid 1990s by the
delivery of eleven PYROFLOW boilers, of which the largest
was the 285 MWt utility-scale boiler to Neijiang Power Sta-
tion, Neijang, China. An important feature of the Neijiang
Boiler was the ability to follow the grids power demand, and
to operate at a much lower load than had been achievable
with the traditional pulverized coal-fired boilers.
58
16. Merger of Ahlstrom Pyropower
with Foster Wheeler
On June 21, 1995 a news bomb exploded at all of Ahlstrom battles for the General but the General decided to surrender
Pyropowers offices worldwide. to the enemy for money.
That is exactly in the way the author felt on that day. A
telephone call to Krister Ahlstrm, the CEO and President
FOSTER WHEELER of the Ahlstrom Company, did not relieve his frustration.
According to the CEO the merger was good for the PYRO-
ACQUIRES AHLSTROMS FLOW and its inventor. Krister Ahlstrm was reminded by
the arguments that not a single PYROFLOW boiler had failed
POWER BOILER to meet its guarantees and Varkaus Boiler Works had at all
times been profitable for its owners. Furthermore, Ahlstrom

BUSINESS Pyropower was a high level and growing company with a

very dedicated, innovative staff who put all its strength into
promoting the company. Recently Ahlstrom Pyropower had
The news bomb created huge frustration and depression
opened the last big market, China. In addition, it had also
among the employees at Ahlstrom Pyropowers office in
been victorious in winning the biggest CFB sale project in
San Diego. They had put their hearts and souls in addition
the world the 6x245 MWe CFB utility boilers to Turow Power
to their knowledge and effort to create an ultra-modern and
Company.
prosperous division. It was especially bitter for the inventor
From Foster Wheelers point of view the situation was un-
and developer that had offered his uttermost ability in the
ambiguous if you cannot beat them you have to buy them.
development of the PYROFLOW technology, to have the
Foster Wheeler had delivered only 9 CFB boilers before the
company be sold to a foreign company. As an employee
merger. This can be compared to the 114 PYROFLOW boilers
wrote in an e-mail to him. It hurts when you are loyal to a
delivered and commissioned by Ahlstrom Pyropower. FWs
company. It is like a soldier, who fights very hard and wins
own CFB development with water-cooled cyclone was not
59
a winner in the marketplace as other CFB boiler constructors
had also applied the same concept.
Power Magazine described the alliance between Foster
Wheeler (FWC) and Ahlstrom Pyropower (API) as a Super-
power with all technical knowhow and financial resources
to be the world-leading player on the energy markets. Wall
Street Journal commented on the alliance between FWC
and API that Foster Wheeler Energy International Inc. (FWEI)
could have a brilliant future, if FW understood to properly
accumulate and incorporate all of the knowhow, expertise
and successes of API. If the merger was not done properly
the alliance could be disastrous for FWC. In retrospect we
know that the latter prediction became true. In November
2014, the mother company FWC was taken over by AMEC,
a British multinational consultancy, engineering and project
management company headquartered in London, United
Kingdom.
The new division within FWC was registered as Foster
Wheeler Energy International Inc. with Robert A. Whittaker
as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and Eric Oakes,
the former president of Ahlstrom Pyropower as the Chief
Operating Officer. The nomination indicated how FW was
going to nominate the top chief positions, i.e. a FW employ-
ee stayed in charge with his APs counterpart as second in
command, but easily removable after his knowledge had
been transferred.
In addition to the restructuring, consolidation and orga-
nizational changes that took place in the new division under
the two following years, the top-modern Head Office and
R&D Center in San Diego were shutdown. More than 300
dedicated AP employees left the company and stayed in
San Diego. The upper management employees and techni-
cal specialists that moved to FWs Head Office and R&D Cen-
ter in New Jersey encountered an old fashion conservative
American company with methods and operations roughly
5 years behind Ahlstrom Pyropowers. APs boiler works,
business centers and organizations outside USA, however,
remained intact under conservative and severe American
control and leadership.
60
17. Foster Wheeler Energy
International Inc.
first 10-year of operation
As mentioned above, in 1994 Ahlstrom Pyropower won in
an intense competition with ABB for the largest CFB project
in the world; the rehabilitation of Turow Power Stations ten
ageing PC power boilers in Bogatynia, Poland with six PYRO-
FLOW boilers producing together 1490 MWe. The first three
units producing 235 MWe each were built in 1995-2000 us-
ing the first generation PYROFLOW boiler design with exter-
nal hot cyclone separator; while the next three units were
built in 1999-2004 with the second generation PYROFLOW
Compact design with upgraded subcritical steam parame-
ters to produce 262 MWe each.
Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation North America (FWEC-
NA), the FWEIs largest business unit within FWEI started to
squeak in the organization after having received only a few
boiler contracts during the first 3 years of operation, while
Foster Wheeler Energia Oy (FWEOY) sold more than the busi-
ness unit could deliver. Hank Bartoli, who had been appoint-
ed to CEO for FWEI after Robert A. Whittakers tragic death
decided that the first two Turow 235 MWe utility CFB boilers
should be supplied by FWECNA instead of FWEOY, which had
carried the major workload in winning the order. The Turow
project became, however, an additional burden on FWECNA
that could not profitably deliver the boilers from USA ac-
cording to the specification and terms agreed upon in the
sales contact. The third 235 MWe CFB unit was also delivered
by FWECNA to the Turow Power Plant in Bogatynia, Poland.
In the end of 1990s a considerable lay-off took place with-
in FWEI and FWECNA. The big Boiler Works in Dansville, NY
was shutdown and the machinery moved to the 50 % owned
joint venture Boiler Works in Xinhui, China. On September
16th, 1998 the local newspaper Star-Ledger wrote Foster
Wheeler stock plagued by difficulties. Trio of problems led
to 71 % decline in FW stock price. Turbulence in Asia, an un-
even financial performance and one very expensive mistake
have pounded Foster Wheelers stock price to a 10-year low.
In Europe on the other hand FWEOY was successful in
winning an increasing numbers of CFB boiler contracts. It
was especially the newly developed PYROFLOW Compact,
equipped with INTREX, that together with FW Energia Oys
enthusiasm, knowledge, and courage created a power-
ful business drive in Europe, especially in the biofuel mar-
ket places in Finland, Sweden and Germany. FWEOY had
acquired turnkey capability during Ahlstrom Pyropowers
time. It became, especially in Poland with 75 % market share,
61
FIG. 28. TUROW CFB BOILERS 4-6, 3X262 MWe a preferred CFB supplier for EPC (Engineering, Procurement
(SOURCE: AHLSTROM PYROPOWER / FOSTER WHEELER) and Construction) turnkey deliveries such as the 352 MWt
(note the size of a human body on the street level in the middle and the size of a truck on the left)
CFB boiler to EC Katowice and the two 274 MWt CFB boilers
at Elcho CHP plants in Poland.
The big challenge for FWEOY at the turn of the century
was however the delivery of the three 262 MWe PYROFLOW
Compact boilers to Turow Power Plant with superheating to
565 C in INTREX heat exchanger. See Fig. 28.
Operating experiences firing brown coal in the units 1,
2 and 3 proved the technology to be a mature and an ad-
vanced solution at the utility scale within the requirements
of high reliability, performance and economy. Further im-
provements were achieved in units 4, 5, and 6 by advanced
new features, such as the integrated cooled panel structures
for the furnace, solid separators, and INTREX heat exchang-
er. A particular concern with the boiler design was that the
large furnaces had to fit into the limited space of the existing
plant.
Rehabilitation and repowering using the environmentally
acceptable CFB technology made an attractive combination
for Turow Power Station. On an economic basis, it offered 25
additional years of operation, at a cost per kilowatt that was
only 40 to 60 % of the cost of a new plant.

62
FIG. 29. HALFWAY IN THE REHABILITATION AND REPOWERING PROCESS OF TUROW POWER STATION
(SOURCE: AHLSTROM PYROPOWER / FOSTER WHEELER)
After completion of the Repowering of Turow Power Sta-
tion the emissions represented a 92 % reduction in SO2, a
19 % reduction in NOx, and a 91 % reduction in particulates
relative to the emission from the 10 old PC-boilers burning
Polish lignite.
In 1995, after Foster Wheelers acquisition of Ahlstrom
Pyropower, FW Energia Oy asked about technical assistance
from FWEIs Engineering Department in Perryville for the
design of a supercritical once-through (SCOT) CFB boiler to
Midkraft in Denmark. (FW was a licensee of Siemenss Ben-
son boiler technology). A SCOT design concept was made for
the CFB boiler. The SCOT CFB demo however disappeared as
the Midkraft sales project was cancelled.
FW Energias next opportunity to demonstrate the SCOT
technique emerged as a 250 MWe boiler offered to Alhol-
mens Kraft in Pietarsaari in 1998-99. In this sales project
FW Energia asked Siemens in Erlangen to provide the ther-
mo-hydraulic design of the furnace based upon the outside
tube heat transfer provided by FW Energia. Also this SCOT
demonstration opportunity failed as the boiler concept
during the bidding phase was changed to a drum type CFB
boiler.
63
TABLE 1. MAIN PROCESS PARAMETERS AND FUEL SPECIFICATION
(SOURCE: AHLSTROM PYROPOWER / FOSTER WHEELER)
During 2001-2004 FW Energia Oy continued its effort to
refine the design and knowhow of the SCOT CFB process by
participating in the EU funded HIPE project High Perfor-
mance Multifuel CFB with Advanced Steam Cycle. The other
consortium members in the R&D project were Siemens AG
and EnergoProjekt Katowice (EPK) in Poland with the Tech-
nical Research Center of Finland as participant and coordi-
nator. FW Energia worked closely with Siemens in the area of
simulation and practical trials for testing of different design
and tube alternatives at the water/steam cycle test rig in Er-
langen, Germany. When the Lagisza opportunity appeared
in 2002 FW Energia Oy had together with Siemens resolved
the key design issues.
The offering process for Lagisza in 2002 consisted of both
PC and CFB alternatives with Benson vertical tube technolo-
gy and low mass flux. In December 2002 the utility company
PKE in Poland contracted FW Energia to engineer and build
the worlds first supercritical CFB boiler, a 460 MWe boiler
island for its Lagisza site in southern Poland. The main pro-
cess parameters and the fuel specification are presented in
Table 1.
64
FIG. 30. THE CROSS-SECTIONAL OF LAGISZA ONCE-THROUGH SUPERCRITICAL CFB BOILER
(SOURCE: AHLSTROM PYROPOWER / FOSTER WHEELER)
Lagisza, the worlds first once-through CFB with supercrit-
ical steam parameters marked a major new milestone in the
scale-up and development of CFB boiler technology. Its de-
sign was based on a thorough understanding of the under-
lying CFB combustion process, measurements from existing
CFB boilers, and the development of a three-dimensional
model to simulate the overall CFB combustion process. A
prerequisite for the advancement of FWs CFB boiler in the
SCOT utility boiler range was the successful development
and demonstration of INTREX integrated heat exchanger,
which acts as the final superheater and/or reheater in large-
scale utility boilers. The high heat transfer in the INTREX
translates into smaller superheaters and reheaters than the
same surfaces used in conventional PC boilers. Furthermore,
the final superheater and reheater surfaces are located away
from the flow of highly corrosive, high-temperature flue gas-
es, as fresh air is used for fluidization in the INTREX heat ex-
changer.
The Lagisza 460 MWe CFB boiler incorporated the BEN-
SON Vertical Low Mass Flux Once-through Technology de-
veloped by Siemens Power Generation of Erlangen, Germa-
ny. This technology allows the boiler to operate with reduced
pressure drop, thus minimizing auxiliary power demand and
increasing plant efficiency. In addition, tube flow characteris-
tics are typical of drum-type units, where an increase in heat
flux translates automatically into an increase in tube side
flow rate. The calculated net plant efficiency for Lagisza is
43,3 % and the net electrical power output is 439 MWe. See
Fig. 30.
65
FIG. 31. THE SAMCHEOK 4X550 MWe CFB BOILERS UNDER ERECTION IN OCTOBER 2015.
(SOURCE: AMEC FOSTER WHEELER / FW ENERGIA OY)
Ten years after signing the Lagisza contract Foster Wheel-
er achieved the latest milestone, i.e. notice to proceed was
given in 2011 by Hyundai Engineering and Construction for
the design and supply of four 550 MWe CFB supercritical
steam generators for the Samcheok Green Power Project in
South Korea. The Boiler plant EPC contractor is a consortium
with Hyundai as the consortium leader. The decision to pro-
ceed with the CFB technology over the conventional Pulver-
ized Coal technology was made by the state owned power
company Korean Southern Power Company (KOSPO) after
one year of careful study and evaluation. The result of the
evaluation process was that KOSPO reached the same con-
clusion that the utility company PKE in Poland had made 10
years earlier, they chose the once-through supercritical CFB
technology for the Lagisza power plant.
The Samcheok boiler design is based on the same once-
through supercritical design and basic features used for the
460 MWe Lagisza power plant. The CFB steam generators will
burn cheap, imported sub-bituminous coal mainly from In-
donesia mixed with biomass to meet at the same time strict
environmental requirements. The two train power blocks of
1100 MWe each will be commissioned in 2016 and 2017. See
Fig. 31 the 4x550 MWe CFB at the construction site in South
Korea.
66
FIG. 32. FW ENERGIA OYS 4X550 MWe CFB BOILERS
SAMCHEOK GREEN POWER PROJECT IN SOUTH KOREA

At the time of the publishing of this review the first two

blocks to the left of fig. 31 are in operation and the next two
boilers to the right are in the commissioning stage. AII CFB
boilers have the ability to burn cheap opportunity fuels such
as Indonesian coal as well as biomasses. The state-owned
power company (KOSPO), owing the Samcheok Green
Power Project is committed to bring to the country clean,
economic green energy. In addition to utilizing advanced
ultrasupercritical Circulating Fluidized Bed technology de-
veloped in Finland, the plant will generate wind, solar and
hydro power to conform with its name Green Power Station
to be a world class show case. It is the most unfortunate that
this power station was not built on the West Coast of Finland
as Kauttuan PYROFLOW boiler once in 1981 demonstrated
and brought the CFB boiler technology to the world market.
Figure 32 shows the completed Samcheok Green Power Sta-
tion after the phase 2 expansion to the right in Fig. 32 with
four additional, ultra-modern 550 MWe CFB boilers.

67
FIG. 33. SCALE-UP OF THE CFB BOILER AND MAJOR KEY REFERENCES
DURING THE 30-YEAR SUCCESS STORY

The scale-up of the CFB boiler has during the 40-years of

development been impressive as shown by the major mile-
stones illustrated in Fig. 32 below. The Turow project was
the turning point for switching from the first generation
CFB boilers with refractory lined hot cyclones (Turow boilers
1-3) to the second generation CFB boiler with water/steam
cooled separator and INTREX heat exchanger (Turow 4-6).
In summary from the 0,5 m CFB pilot plant at Hans Ahl-
strom Laboratory in Karhula in 1976, the CFB boiler had
been scaled-up 2200 times to the Samcheok 550 MWe CFB
in 2011. Not a single CFB boiler of the over 460 sold units
had failed to meet their performance and emission guaran-
tees an incredible success story.

68
18. Andritz Energy & Environment
FBC Boilers
FIG. 34. LARGE STRUCTURAL CHANGES AND ACQUISITION WITHIN ANDRITZ AND ITS BOILER The Andritz AGs boiler business started in the year 1900,
BUSINESS SECTOR (SOURCE: ANDRITZ ) when the company bought Brcken- und Kesselwerke Graz
a division that later was renamed to Waagner-Biro. In con-
trast to many Finnish companies, Andritz AG has especially
during the last 30 years strengthened its market position and
growth through organic expansion and numerous, fortunate
acquisitions, such as Kone Wood in 1994 and Ahlstrom Ma-
chinery in 2000/2001 as shown in Fig. 34.
In 1999 the Waagner-Biro boiler company was taken
over by the German Babcock Group that consisted of for-
mer boiler companies Stork, Riley, Lurgi and Lentjes to form
Babcock Borsig PowerAustrian Energy. In 2005, this new
company, in its turn, was taken over by A-Tec Industries
and relaunched as Austrian Energy & Environment. The CFB
boiler technology used by Andritz originates from a coop-
eration agreement for the commercialization of PYROFLOW
boilers in Austria and neighboring Eastern block coun-
tries between Ahlstrom and Waagner-Biro, signed in 1982.

69
Shortly after the agreement was signed Waagner-Biro sold
three PYROFLOW boilers to the pulp and paper companies in
Austria Frantschach Zellstoff- und Papierfabrik AG, Leykam
Mrztalen AG and Lenzing AG. In the beginning of the
1990s, the agreement was dissolved and WaagnerBiro got
the rights to continue using the PYROFLOW CFB technology
acquired to that date. AE&E continued from that base with its
own CFB development and in the turn of the century Andritz
AG acquired several German CFB boiler companies with CFB
knowhow and expertise as shown in Fig. 34.
The acquisition of Ahlstrom Machinery brought a large
portfolio of knowhow and expertise to Andritz AG that wise-
ly was nursed and incorporated into the mother company
under the name of Andritz Oy. Although a turnkey supplier
with financial strength and global experience to deliver fully
integrated systems to the worldwide pulp and paper indus-
tries Andritz AG was lacking BFB boiler technology, know-
how and experience. In the early 2000s Andritz Oy covered
the gap by acquiring former Foster Wheeler Energia Oy em-
ployees. Today Andritz AG is one of the leading suppliers of
BFB boilers to the pulp and paper industry. The CFB boiler
business is managed from Graz and the BFB boilers predom-
inantly from Varkaus.
Andritz with past extensive experience in municipal re-
fuse combustion has developed their BFB boiler design into
an interesting concept depending upon the characteristics
of the fuel mixture. The design of the furnace as well the con-
vective back pass varies considerably, when the fuel mixture
changes from clean biomass fuels to alkaline agricultural
wastes, RDF rejects and sludges. Andritz differentiates be-
tween a conventional, hybrid, and residue fuel concept as
illustrated in Fig. 35.
70
FIG. 35. BFB APPLICATIONS FOR VARIOUS FUEL MIXTURES IN
THE CAPACITY RANGE 20 TO 380 MW T

71
FIG. 36. THE 210 MWfuel ECOFLUID IS THE LARGEST BFB BOILER SOLD BY ANDRITZ

In 2006 Andritz entered the pulp and paper biomass busi-

ness power business market as a BFB boiler supplier. Since
then, Andritz has sold 31 BFB boilers worldwide, of which 17
units have been delivered by Andritz Oy in Varkaus. The larg-
est unit is a 210 MWt BFB boiler burning wood and sludge
supplied to a customer in Virginia, USA. See Fig. 36.

72
FIG. 37. CFB APPLICATIONS FOR VARIOUS FUEL MIXTURES IN THE CAPACITY RANGE 30 TO 450 MWt

For CFB boilers Andritz/AE&E has driven the design of the

Residue concept one step further with the tail end hori-
zontal superheater and evaporator bundles and the final
super-heating of the steam in an external heat exchanger
based on the experiences from the proven design of waste
incineration plants as shown in Fig. 37. Between the Con-
ventional and the Residue Concept Andritz/AE&E has de-
veloped the Hybrid Concept for waste biomass and agri-
cultural residues with a chorine content of max. 0,3 % in dry
substance.

73
FIG. 38. ANDRITZ POWERFLUID BOILER CONCEPT FOR COAL, LIGNITE AND CLEAN BIOMASS FUELS

Between 1980 and 2005, Andritz or more correctly its

boiler predecessors Waagner-Biro, Austrian Energy & Envi-
ronment, Babcock Borsig Power Austrian Energy sold 20
CFB boilers, of which at least the first six CFB boilers were de-
signed, manufactured and delivered based on the coopera-
tion agreement that Waagner-Biro obtained from Ahlstrm
in 1982 with a design as shown in Fig. 38.

74
FIG. 39. FLOW SHEET OF STORA ENSOS 170 MWfuel POWERFLUID BOILER IN MAXAU, KARLSRUHE During the last 10 years AE&E and Andritz have been suc-
cessful in a selling further 31 CFB boilers mainly to the mu-
nicipal, industrial and utility customers. The fuels mixtures
for these PowerFluid boilers consist of wood wastes, paper
mill sludges, agro fuels and RDF. Two of the aforementioned
boilers are pure RDF burning units one ordered by Posco
Engineering & Construction Co. in South Korea in 2010 and
the second by Riikinvoima Oy in Varkaus in 2014
All CFB boilers are sold, designed, manufactured, and de-
livered by Andritz AG in Graz, Austria. As an example of An-
dritzs Hybrid Concept a cross-sectional process flow sheet
of the PowerFluid boiler delivered in 2010 to Stora Ensos
plant in Maxau, Karlsruhe is presented in Fig. 39.
Andritz with past experience from German municipal
waste incinerator boiler manufacturers has driven their of-
fering to the market further than Valmet and Foster Wheeler
towards lower cost opportunity fuels such as refuse derived
fuels, sludges, RDF, TDF, demolition rejects, poultry litter, and
agricultural wastes as illustrated by their tailor designed CFB
product portfolio in Fig. 37. These fuels are associated with
constituents that cause considerable difficulties and chal-
lenges in the combustion systems in the form of lower plant
availability due to high corrosion, erosion, agglomeration,
plugging, and slagging in addition to emissions of heavy
metals and chlorinated gaseous constituents.

75
19. Finnish boiler companies
achievements in the last decade
2005-2015.
Of the so called Finnish FBC boiler companies, Valmet is today the only truly Finnish owned company, while the other two
Andritz and Foster Wheeler are foreign owned with Finnish roots, knowhow, and office in Finland as described in the earlier
chapters.
TABLE 2. BFB BOILER MARKET SHARES OF THE ALLIANCES AHLSTROM/FOSTER WHEELER, TAMPELLA/
KVAERNER/METSO/VALMET, AND WAAGNER-BIRO/BABCOCK BORSIG/AE&E/ANDRITZ AG

BFB-boiler supplier 1970- 1981- 1986- 1991- 1996- 2001- 2006- 2011- Total % of
1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 MWt Total
Ahlstrom Termoflow 49 400 671 1854 1073 2398 236 30 6711 23,6
Foster Wheeler 203 354 438 377 355 35 1762 6,2
USA
Total MWt 252 754 1109 2231 1428 2398 271 30 8473 29,8

Tampella, 1Kvaerner
Metso, Valmet 270 310 2093 2295 3395 2625 2862 2542 16392 57,6

Generator Gtaverken 5 228 233 0,8
Keeler/ 61 61 0,2
Dorr-Oliver
Total MWt 275 599 2093 2295 3395 2625 2862 2542 16686 58,6

Andritz Oy 641 996 1637 5,8
Finland
Waagner-Biro, Babcock Borsig, AE&E, 52 84 106 104 42 393 500 389 1670 5,9
Andritz E&E

Total MWfuel 52 84 106 104 42 393 1141 1385 3307 11,7
1.
Kvaerners FBC operation center was located in Tampere. 76
 To get an understanding of the Finnish boiler companies
role as a worldwide BFB suppliers, the BFB boilers delivered
by former Finnish boiler companies Ahlstrm, Termoflow/
Ahlstrom Pyropower, Tampella, and Metso have together
with FBC boilers supplied by Andritz Oy, Foster Wheeler En-
ergia Oy, and Valmet been broken out from the mother boil-
er companys reference lists. See Table 2 above.
In the time period 1970-2015 altogether 28466 MWt ther-
mal capacity has been installed by the BFB boiler alliances.
The Finnish shares (Ahlstrom/Termoflow+Tampella/Metso/
Valmet-+Andritz Oy) show that 87 % of the BFB boilers have
been delivered by the Finnish companies, while the mother
companies Foster Wheeler and Andritz AG have together de-
livered 13 % of the total installed thermal capacity.
The alliance Tampella/Metso/Valmet has been and is still
the dominating BFB player with a 58 % market share, while
the alliance Ahlstrom/Termoflow/Foster Wheeler and An-
dritz Oy represents 24 % resp. 6 % of the total installed BFB
thermal capacity.
A third conclusion can also be drawn from Table 2, Foster
Wheeler has concentrated its resources on the CFB market
and at least partially left its BFB market position to Andritz
AG that in 2006 became a major BFB supplier especially to
the pulp and paper industries.
Foster Wheelers strategic decision is understandable
as the BFB technology offered today by the three Finnish
boiler companies has become very similar as knowledge has
floated from one company to another as a result of consol-
idations and reorganizations. As distinct technological dif-
ferences dont exist between the BFB suppliers the winning
offering becomes often a price competition. Andritz has
however an advantage as the biofuel boiler often represents
an integral part of the overall machinery supply in the turn-
key deliveries to the pulp and paper market place.
77
TABLE 3. CFB BOILER MARKET SHARES OF THE ALLIANCES AHLSTROM/FOSTER WHEELER, TAMPELLA/
KVAERNER/METSO/VALMET, AND WAAGNER-BIRO/BABCOCK BORSIG/AE&E/ANDRITZ AG

CFB-boiler 1970- 1981- 1986- 1991- 1996- 2001- 2006- 2011- Total % of
supplier 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 MWt Total
Ahlstrom 22 714 5988 6318 7145 5979 8860 17384 52410 51,9
Pyropower
FW Energia Oy
Foster Wheeler 134 873 2151 8332 14936 6710 33136 32,8
USA, Asia
Total MWt 22 714 6122 7191 9296 14311 23796 24094 85546 84,7

Tampella, 1322 1620 1465 1690 2951 1242 10290 10,2
Keeler/D-O
1
Kvaerner
Metso, Valmet
Generator Gtaverken 8 246 522 55 831 0,8
Total MWt 8 246 1844 1675 1465 1690 2951 1242 11121 11

Waagner-Biro, Babcock Borsig AE&E, 296 109 299 493 478 1457 1101 4233 4,2
Andritz

Total MWt All 30 1256 8075 9165 11254 16479 28204 26437 100900
1.
FBC operation center was located in Tampere

78
FIG. 40. INSTALLED CFB AND BFB THERMAL CAPACITY BY THE FINNISH FBC BOILER ALLIANCES IN THE
TIME PERIOD 1975-2015
The CFB market share situation is different as shown in
the Table 3 page 78. In the time period 1970-2015 altogeth-
er 100900 MWt thermal capacity has been installed by the
CFB boiler alliances. The alliance Ahlstrom-Foster Wheeler
has during the years 1980-2015 completely dominated the
marketplace with 85 % of the CFB share compared to the al-
liances Tampella/Metso/-Valmet with 11 % and Andritz 4,2
%. Of all CFB boilers supplied by the alliances, 52 % was been
supplied from Varkaus either as a direct sale or delivered by
its licensees or cooperation partners.
At 100900 MWt, the CFB market is more than 3,5 times
the BFB market. The BFB market seems to have stagnated at
a level of roughly 4000-5000 MWt installed thermal capaci-
ty during consecutive five-year periods or even slightly de-
creasing since the millennium shift as illustrated by Fig. 40.
79
 After the millennium shift Foster Wheelers breakthrough
on the once-through supercritical utility market has creat-
ed a tremendous increase in the installed thermal capacity
through the deliveries of the 3x262 MWe Turow CFB utility
boilers, the Lagisza 460 MWe supercritical once-through
(SCOT) CFB boiler and the 4x550 MWe SCOT CFB boilers to
Korean Southern Power Companys Green Power project in
Samcheok, South Korea.
It is questionable, if this trend continue for Foster Wheeler
as the market for coal burning in large utility CFB boilers has
shifted to the Far East and especially to China with its huge
resources of high ash sulfurous coals as will be described in
the following chapter 20.
80
20. Future Prospect for the
Finnish boiler companies
FIG. 41. CFB BOILER COMPANYS WORLD MARKET SHARES DURING THE DECADE 2005-2014 Today Foster Wheeler is the indisputable market leader of
(SOURCE: AMEC FOSTER WHEELER) the CFB utility market as shown by the world market share in
Fig. 40. The 47 % market share is exactly the same share that
Foster Wheeler had in the time period 1979-1994 according
to McCoys study shown by Fig. 27 in chapter 15.
An interesting matter with this recent market study is that
also Chinese boiler manufactures are included as CFB suppli-
ers. Fig. 41 reveals also that Andritz and Valmet respectively
have a 3 and 5 % share of the total Global Power CFB market.
The big question is can AMEC Foster Wheeler hold its
market position in the future, since the CFB market has shift-
ed from Europe and the USA to the Far East as illustrated
by Fig. 42. To strengthen its market position in the Far East,
AMEC FW has established a Boiler Company in Shanghai and
a large Boiler Works in the Guangdong Province to serve the
Asian market.
By year the 2015, 57 % of AMEC Foster Wheelers 458 CFB
boilers had been sold in the Far East, while the correspond-
ing number in 1989 was 17 %. During the same time period
AMEC FWs market share of sold CFB boilers had dropped
from 35 to 17 % in the Americas as shown in Table 4 on page
83.

81
FIG. 42. DISTRIBUTION OF THE CFB BOILERS SOLD BY AMEC FOSTER WHEELER
WORLDWIDE BY 2015
As mentioned in chapter 15, Ahlstrom Pyropower opened
the China CFB market in 1992 with the sale of the Neijiang
100 MWe PYROFLOW power plant. The Chinese Government
tried to force Ahlstrm to provide the CFB technology with
the Neijiang project. As it would have been difficult to assure
the protection of the intellectual property, Ahlstrm decided
not to sell a CFB license to China. At Foster Wheelers take-
over of Ahlstrom Pyropower (AP) in 1995, AP had as the only
foreign CFB supplier sold 11 CFB units to China. A Joint Ven-
ture (JV) with a Chinese power equipment group for sale of
industrial CFB boilers was also signed. The JV was however
abandoned after Foster Wheelers takeover of AP.
The Chinese boiler manufacturers have a protected home
market and are buying the latest CFB technology from the
West and are then copying and building the rest of the
boilers on their own as had happened in the late 1990s with
the French company Alstom selling their CFB utility license
to the three largest boiler works in China. The licensors were
the State owned Shanghai, Harbin and Dongfang Boiler
Works. After this, the State Planning Commission forbade im-
port of CFB boilers to China. The only exception was special
CFB boilers for petroleum coke firing.
82
TABLE 4. DISTRIBUTION OF THE CFB BOILERS SOLD BY AMEC FOSTER WHEELER WORLDWIDE BY 2015.

Contingents Ahlstrom Pyropower sold CFB boilers by 1989 (%) FW sold CFB units by 2015 (%)

Nordic Countries 26 9
Europe 22 16
Americas 35 17
Middle East 1 1
Far East 17 57

From then on, Foster Wheeler, USA was able to only sell
petroleum coke CFB boilers to China, altogether 26 units to-
day.
Today the Chinese boiler companies are using CFB tech-
nologies developed based on the Alstom license and boil-
ers following the Ahlstrom PYROFLOW design principles.
The first 300 MWe class CFB utility boiler was built at Baima
power plants by Dongfang Boiler Works and commissioned
in April 2006. A demonstration project for a 600 MWe CFB
at Baima is under testing and commissioning. To date, there
are around 100 GWe of CFB boilers installed in China and it is
expected that the Chinese CFB market share in the world will
further escalate due to the extensive air pollution in the Chi-
nese Cities and the political pressure generated to combat
the Greenhouse effect in the world.
For steam and power generation in the process, pulp and
paper industries as well as for heat and power generation in
larger communities and cities, the CFB technology is likely
to take a greater share of the FBC market as the environmen-
tal and efficiency demands continues to tighten. CFB tech-
nology has also other significant advantage over the BFB
technique, i.e. the true multi-fuel capabilities by accepting
up to 100% of any coal or coal waste with efficient in-situ
sulfur capture.
83
FIG. 43. SOLID FUELS UTILIZED IN FWS CFB BOILERS
(SOURCE: AMEC FOSTER WHEELER)
For these medium size industrial CFB boilers up to 500
MWt, Andritz and Valmet will be severe competitors to Fos-
ter Wheeler Energy Oy as the CFB technology has become a
commodity product with few decisive technical differences
between the CFB suppliers. As the technology and the guar-
antees are the same, the winner of a CFB boiler deal will in
the most cases be determined by the price. In the near future
the main market for the CFB in Europe will be the replace-
ment of existing old coal-fired boilers utilizing biomass, vari-
ous wastes and other opportunity fuels.
In the utility market sector Foster Wheelers position
as the market leader is undisputable with superior once-
through supercritical technology that has been successfully
demonstrated at the Lagisza Power plant. In addition FW has
the most extensive CFB experiences with various solid fuels
utilized in the 460 CFB boilers sold during the last 35 years as
illustrated in Fig. 43.
More than 300 of all units are designed for bituminous
coal and coal wastes representing 68 % of the cumulative
steam capacity generated in the time period 1980-2014.
84
 Power generation based on the combustion of solid fuels
is expected to remain as the mainstream technology for the
foreseeable future. However new and replacement capaci-
ty in West Europe and North America will not, with very few
exceptions, be coal power due to the strong environmen-
tal drive to reduce CO2 emissions. The shift of the CFB coal
market will be to Eastern Europe and Far East countries. In
countries where the CO2 reduction is not prioritized, the CFB
technology offers the best solution for using coal.
Solid fuel resources are abundant and widely distributed,
which tends to provide price stability and supply security.
The CFB boiler has proven to be a true multi-fuel combus-
tor accepting in addition to fossil fuels all kind of biomass
wastes and residues producing heat and power in an envi-
ronmentally acceptable manner with low emissions and high
efficiency. Fuel flexibility and the possibility of fuel switching
to use the most cost effective fuel at any time are the most
significant advantage behind the success of the CFB technol-
ogy considering that 70-90 % of the total operating cost of
large power plants is fuel costs. It is expected that the differ-
ence in fuel costs of the high-quality bituminous coal and
low-quality sub-bituminous coal will increase in the future
and further push power operators towards the CFB technol-
ogy.
Efficiency and environmental performance are other key
issues when considering either repowering existing power
plants or constructing new power plants. High efficiency
means a lower fuel requirement, and results in lower ash
discharge and gas emissions, including CO2. After success-
fully demonstrated the 460 MWe once-through supercritical
CFB utility boiler at Lagisza power station in Poland, Foster
Wheeler has continued the scaling-up of CFB super-critical
once-through technology to 800 MWe with net efficiency of
45-50 % needed to meet the future requirement of utility
operators and is today ready to offer a 800 MWe CFB boiler
with full guarantees.
85
21. Supporting organizations,
Institutions, Universities and Tekes
Subcontractors
A boiler project is an outcome of cooperation between many
partners starting with the bidding process followed by en-
gineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of
the boiler and its auxiliary equipments. Especially in todays
competitive environment, the boiler suppliers operate with
a lean organization and are outsourcing a substantial part of
the boiler plant design and engineering works. In this context
the boiler manufacturers as the main contractors are look-
ing for the most competitive subcontractors and advanced
auxiliary equipment supplier and hereby are creating a lot
of opportunities for employment and subcontracting for the
nearby industry and the country as whole.
A long and profitable cooperation has existed between
the Finnish boiler suppliers and the subcontractors of fuel
and ash handling companies, such as Raumaster Oy and
BMH Technology Oy in Rauma. Raumaster and BMH Tech-
nology have developed their own technology and solutions
and are challenged by the boiler manufactures to continu-
ously improve upon their products. Both subcontractors are
turnkey suppliers of material handling systems not only to
the energy business industry, but also to the wood process-
ing and pulp and paper industries. When the Finnish boiler
companies and pulp and paper companies have globally
expanded their business activity, the Finnish subcontractors
Raumaster and BMH Technology have followed and been
the cooperation partner also in many projects abroad.
A similar relation and business approach exists also be-
tween the Finnish boiler manufacturers and fly ash and
limestone handling system supplier Koper Oy in Parkano.
In chapter 6 it was mentioned that Altim control in
Varkaus developed in the early 1980s its microprocessor
control and automation systems for the Kauttua 65 MWt
PYROFLOW demo project. Thanks to the demonstration at
Kauttua, Altim Control became a considerable contender
to Valmets Damatic Automation system for power plant
projects in 1980s, until Honeywell International bought Al-
tim Control in Varkaus in 1992. Suomen Puhallintehdas Oy
developed and delivered its inverter controlled fan applica-
tions for the Kauttua PYROFLOW boiler on the request of the
Kauttua power plant manager. With the reference, experi-
ence and knowhow from Kauttua, Suomen Puhallintehdas
Oy could later sell its inverter controlled fan applications to
other sales projects.
86
 Also as mentioned earlier Termorak developed its refrac-
tory knowhow, experience and expertise in the PYROFLOW
pilot plant in Karhula in 1976. It demonstrated the selected
castable and refractory linings for CFB applications in the
PYROFLOW boilers in Pihlava and Kauttua and became the
foremost refractory supplier for many FBC projects in Finland
and neighboring countries.
Institutions and Universities
Both the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) and
Keskuslaboratorio (KCL) have provided valuable knowledge,
expertise, and chemical analysis services for the develop-
ment of new products at the R&D Center in Karhula and as
such being together with other Finnish institutions import-
ant support organizations.
The Technical Universities in Finland contributed with the
most valuable resources, i.e. talented R&D engineers. The co-
operation with the Technical Universities and Ahlstrm/Fos-
ter Wheeler were maintained on an annual basis mostly in
form of diploma work with R&D funding a couple works per
year to solve key technical issues of the CFB process such as
NOx formation, ash agglomeration, corrosion and slagging
behavior, heat transfer, modeling, etc.. The cooperation was
beneficial for all involved partners the Technical Universities,
the boiler companies and also for the diploma workers as a
gateway for later employment.
Tekes
The research activity of the universities and public research
institutes in the field of combustion technology in Finland
was modest, until the beginning of the 1980s. The first R&D
activity on the FBC technique was undertaken by prof. A.
Jahkola at the Helsinki University of Technology in the late
1970s. The Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) start-
ed in the early 1980s several R&D projects on peat and wood
combustion in their R&D Centers in Jyvskyl and Espoo.
As has been presented in the previous chapters the PYRO-
FLOW boiler was invented, developed, demonstrated, and
commercialized before Tekes was established in 1983. The
funding that Ahlstrm had received earlier from the Finnish
Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) for the development of
PYROFLOW boiler was 120000 FIM = 20000 . According to
87
the interviewed person of Valmet, the governmental fund-
ing was insignificant for Tampellas development of the BFB
boiler in the early 1980s.
The R&D of combustion technology moved considerably
forward by the establishment of the LIEKKI research program
in 1988-1992 initiated by MTI in 1987. The main target of the
Liekki research program was to raise the level of knowledge
in the basics of combustion and combustion technology to
enable the Finnish equipment manufacturers to develop
their own products.
For the already developed product PYROFLOW, Ahlstrm
received in 1989 and 1991 Tekes funding to study, control
and minimize the N2O-emission in CFB boilers. In 1989 Te-
kes contributed with considerable funding for the building
of the 10 MWt pressurized PCFB Test Facility in Karhula. Tekes
also supported during the three years following the commis-
sioning and testing activities in the PCFB pilot plant.
During the same time period 1988-1992 Tekes funded
Tampellas project to investigate experimentally the degree
of NOx formation from the combustion of Low Heating Value
gas containing 300-2000 ppm ammonia in atmospheric pres-
sure and to find out the best commercially available burners
to minimize the NOx formation. Tampella had in the end of
the 1980s selected Pressurized BFB gasification for their de-
velopment of advanced Power generation technology. Tekes
contributed with substantial funding of Tampellas efforts to
remove sulfur constituents from reducing combustible gas-
es in the 10 MWt PBFB gasification pilot plant in Tampere.
The six-year Combustion and Gasification Research Pro-
gram LIEKKI 2 (1993-1998) had as the main target to develop
new, more efficient and environmentally friendly technology
and to maintain and develop the competence and cooper-
ation between the research organizations, universities, and
the industry. The two Finnish boiler companies participate
half of the time in LIEKKI 2 as truly Finnish companies and
the second part as subsidies to Foster Wheeler and Kvaerner.
FW Energia Oy received Tekes funding for testing and
studying the applicability of Biomass Recycled Waste Fuels
in CFB boilers and the prediction of corrosion and ash foul-
ing characteristics in the CFB furnace. For the pressurized
development of PCFB combustion of bituminous coal and
PCFBG gasification of biomass Ahlstrm/FW Energia Oy ob-
tained substantial funding from Tekes. The same pertained
for Tampella/Kvaerner Pulping Oy for their development of
air staging, sludge burning and control of combustion and
emissions in their BFB and CYMIC boilers. On the pressur-
ized side the former Tampella was represented by Carbona
that was funded significantly by Tekes for the NOx reduction
by air staging, study of air toxics emissions, stabilization of
CaS-containing solid wastes, pyrometric temperature mea-
surement, and multifuel gasification tests in their IGCC pilot
plant in Tampere.
88
22. Key success factors behind the
Finnish BFB and CFB boiler successes
Which are then the key factors and competitive edges that
gave the Finnish boiler companies the dominance as BFB
and CFB suppliers on the world market?
Key success factor 1
Tampella was first on the BFB market
Lets first consider Tampella, the early BFB market leader in
the 1980s. Market driven by the pulp and paper industry
with large biomass sources and the need for cheap energy
Tampella filled the vacuum in the market with BFB boilers
that the company had started to develop in the end of 1970s
as a counter measure to Ahlstrms CFB technology. First on
the market in Finland with BFB references, Tampella was suc-
cessful in selling its BFB technology also abroad.
Key success factor 2
Easy demonstration of new technology
Being a part of the mother company Tampella with pulp
and paper plants the Boiler Division could in Tampellas own
plants develop and demonstrate its BFB technology as Ahl-
strm did with its CFB technology.
Key success factor 3
Finnish boiler companys alliance with Finnish
pulp and paper industries
Tampella had a good relationship to the pulp and paper
industry and was the court supplier of boilers to many
Finnish pulp and paper mills. This relation to pulp and pa-
per industries opened the market for BFB conversions and
refurbishments of old boilers and also later on the export
market abroad. This became even more important when the
big Finnish pulp and paper companies in the 1990s started
to expand on the world market and built new plants abroad
with the need for boilers.
Key success factor 4
Product improvement a prerequisite for
maintaining market leadership
In 1995 Tampella Power developed and demonstrated its
Hydro Beam grate. A product improvement that helped
Tampella Power to hold onto the BFB market leadership in
spite of hardening competition from Ahlstrom Pyropower
and other BFB competitors.
89
Key success factor 5
Key people are companys most valuable
resources
At restructuring and sales of companies the human resourc-
es are often lost to competing companies. People and espe-
cially the key persons are the most valuable resources in the
company. Andritz Oy, the BFB boiler division in Finland was
established as a result of the restructuring of the upper man-
agement of FW Energia Oy.
Key factor 6
Leadership
Lets continue with Ahlstrm/Foster Wheeler and try to un-
derstand why its developed CFB boiler has been and still is
the dominant CFB technology in the world.
It was with post war spirit, entrepreneurship, and lead-
ership that R&D director Bertel Hakulin enthusiastically su-
pervised and fostered the young R&D engineers at Hans
Ahlstrm Laboratory in Karhula. The whole R&D team was
devoted and gave back the best of its ability.
Key success factor 7
Long-term strategic investment on R&D
Through the strategic decision to establish a R&D center and
concentrate the Engineering Works product development
under one roof in the late 1960s, Ahlstrm created an envi-
ronment that generated not only PYROFLOW but also other
products, such as FIBERFLOW, FORMFLOW, etc. for the Engi-
neering Works and pulp and paper industry.
Key success factor 8
Excellent education and top-graded Technical
Universities
The education and science taught at the Technical Univer-
sities and ChemicalTechnical Faculty of bo Academy in
1970s were excellent, but far from adequate for young en-
gineers to tackle all problems encountered in the industry.
However the advice given by the legendary prof. Jarl Salin
maybe covers up for most of the gap: It is better to think
than to know.
90
Key success factor 9
Big innovations are crazy ideas that require
human persistency, a companys own R&D,
good luck, rapid development, superior
product, market needs, top management
support, etc.
From the innovation to the final product the development
process is long, problematic and consumes resources, profits
and relations in the company. PYROFLOW development pro-
cess was unique as described below.
Unless the inventor had not been brave, persistent, and
believed in the innovation it would never have been devel-
oped. The idea had in an early stage been killed as a NIH (Not
Invented Here) phenomenon. In the beginning the inventor
stood alone with his crazy invention and had to fight against
the senior boiler management in Varkaus. Without support
from the business unit in Varkaus, the R&D director would
have had to put the newly developed product on the shelf.
He did not do it and had also the wisdom and freedom to do
so. The everlasting question is should the R&D organization
be controlled and administered by the business unit or be an
independent department in the company under the CEOs
strategic upper management.
The FW R&D Center in Karhula was in 2003 subordinat-
ed under the FW Energia Oy in Varkaus. In 2004 FW Energia
Oy made its first year of loss and shutdown the R&D Cen-
ter in Karhula in 2005 with the guidance and blessing from
FW headquarter in Clinton. No unequalled success, as PY-
ROFLOW became, will ever be developed in a tight business
controlled environment especially not under foreign con-
trolled leadership.
The final stage in PYROFLOW development, the demon-
stration was a lucky circumstance as Ahlstrm had within its
own plants the need of refurbishment and replacement of
boilers. In addition, the demonstration sites at Pihlava and
Kauttua had two extraordinary power plant managers with
the vision and experience far beyond that of Varkaus Boiler
Works management and also had the courage to take the
risks of the PYROFLOW demonstration.
The development process from the innovation to full-
scale demonstration and commercialization is long and re-
quires cold modeling, bench-scale testing, pilot plant trials
and finally a full-scale demonstration.
91
 The PYROFLOWs development process was rapid and
took only 5 years as all decision were taken internally and all
investments were done with Ahlstrms own money.
Key success factor 10
Patent protection of innovations and product
improvements
Adequate patent resources and capabilities are required and
crucial to protect innovations and intellectual properties in
a company.
Key success factor 11
Ahlstrm first on the CFB market
Ahlstrm developed and demonstrated in 1979 the first 15
MWt CFB boiler in the world in Pihlava followed by the 65
MWt PYROFLOW Kauttua boiler in 1981. A lead that Ahl-
stroms boiler successors have maintained today.
Key success factor 12
Good top management, marketing and selling
capabilities and resources are required to
compete and penetrate the global markets
The market approach and commercialization of PYROFLOW
boilers as well as the building up of recourses and capabili-
ties in the company was done well during the first ten years
by Finnish/American leadership.
Key failure factor for Ahlstrom and key success factor 13
for Andritz
Know when and which product to sell or buy
Ahlstrms difficulties arose in the early 1990s, when PYRO-
FLOW sales increased dramatically. The Board of Ahlstrm
and Top Management did not know how to handle the sit-
uation and how to lead the company, resulting in the lost
opportunity to acquire Tampella Boiler Works and later to
the sale of Ahlstrom Pyropower. Foster Wheeler Corporation
did not integrate Ahlstrom Pyropower properly as has been
92
described earlier. In contrast, Andritz AG did it through the
buying of Kone Wood and Ahlstrom Machinery and became
a leading global supplier of plants, equipment, and services
to the pulp and paper industry.
Key success factor 14
The product has to be the best and technically
superior
The CFB boiler is a superior product with the main advantag-
es on the multi-fuel capacity, flexibility and environmental
performance that are re-enforced as fuel resources in the fu-
ture are becoming more unsecure and expensive and the en-
vironmental regulations are increasing. The CFB technique is
also scalable to large, supercritical once-through CFB utility
size.
Key success factor 15
Strong R&D required to develop new products
and to keep the present product as milk cow
two steps ahead of the competition
The development of the second generation CFB boiler char-
acterized by water-cooled separator was started at Hans
Ahlstrm Laboratory in 1989 and three years later the IN-
TREX integrated heat exchanger for superheating duties was
developed. Both developments were successful in maintain-
ing the lead Ahlstrom Pyropower had over the competition.
Both product developments were also crucial in scaling up
the PYROFLOW to the utility size CFB boilers.
93
Key success factor 16
Modeling activities were required to develop
tools for understanding of the process and
scale-up of the product to larger units
An important part of the R&D activity was the modeling
of the CFB combustion process. During the years different
models were developed at the Karhula R&D Center and later
used by FW Energia for understanding the CFB process and
the scale-up of the CFB boiler to larger units.
Key factor 17
Buy key technology to keep you own product
competitive and extend its life
Professional Engineering, Procurement and Construction
(EPC) by the Boiler Works together with knowhow, network-
ing, sub suppliers and competent engineering workmanship
is additional cornerstones in the Finnish FBC boiler success-
es. The Engineering department has to be on the top of
computer aided design and CAD tools. Procurement and
Construction must have good project management, man-
ufacturing and erection competences in building turnkey
projects for customers all over the world.
Key success factor 18
Good project management and EPC
capabilities
Professional Engineering, Procurement and Construction
(EPC) by the Boiler Works together with knowhow, network-
ing, sub suppliers and competent engineering workman-
ship is additional cornerstones in the Finnish FBC boiler suc-
cesses. The Engineering department has to be on the top
of computer aided design and CAD tools. Procurement and
Construction must have good project management, man-
ufacturing and erection competences in building turnkey
projects for customers all over the world.
94
Key success factor 19
Governmental support and top-
notchedcompetence on all concerned areas
are required for a small country, such as
Finland to innovate and produce products for
the world market
Globalization during the last two decades has led to an in-
crease in acquisitions and takeovers of Finnish Companies
in all fields. Unfortunately these changes often result in re-
ductions in the Finnish activities and lay-offs. The described
history of the Finnish Boiler Companies shows however a
different picture. All Finnish boiler companies have, in spite
of multiple ownership changes, still maintained successful
operations and the leadership of its products within the In-
ternational Companies they are part of. The explanation to
this is that these Finnish companies operations are based
upon strong technologies and well-educated competent
technical personnel. Their survival will continue as long as
the Finnish boiler companies are producing good profits to
the foreign owners.
The FBC boiler technology cluster in Finland is a good
example of how a Finnish company sold to foreign inves-
tors can keep, grow and develop its operation even under
foreign ownership. Tekes, Technical Universities, and other
Finnish organizations supporting industrial R&D activities
and education have also had an important contribution to
this.
95
23. Author background
Folke Engstrom
The author of this publication is the inventor and developer
of Ahlstrom PYROFLOW Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) tech-
nology. As the acknowledged father of the PYROFLOW, he
had the vision, perseverance, and, some say stubbornness,
to push for the development of the CFB technology. In the
mid 1970s with a new, untested technology, he and his small
team at Hans Ahlstrm Laboratory (HAL) in Karhula strug-
gled to prove its worth.
In 1970 Folke Engstrm received his Master of Science in
Chemical Engineering from bo Academy and was the same
year employed by A. Ahlstrom Corporation as a research
engineer at the recently established Product Development
Laboratory, later Hans Ahlstrm Laboratory (HAL). In 1973-
1986 he acted as research manager at HAL in Karhula for the
Boiler and Process Machinery Works in Varkaus. During this
period the PYROFLOW technology was developed, demon-
strated, and introduced to the World market as the first of
its kind. In 1986 he was appointed to Vice president of R&D
for the Ahlstrom Pyropower Division and continued in 1995
after Foster Wheeler takeover in the same position as VP of
R&D of Foster Wheeler Energy International Inc. until his re-
tirement in 2003.
In recognition of is his pioneering work in the develop-
ment of Worlds First Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) boiler,
PYROFLOW, Folke Engstrm was honored with the following
awards:
1986 A. Ahlstrom Corporation
Engineer of the Year
1987 The Finnish Academy of Technology
Engineer of the Year
1989 American Society of Mechanical Engineers:
For the fundamental research and broad
application of research that have resulted in
significant contributions to Fluidized Bed
Combustion Technology.
Tekes reviews of development pathways Tekes impact
96
Tekes reviews of the development path to
the commercial stage of a specific competence:

on them
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99
 Back cover image:
The Gainesville Renewable Energy Center
(GREC) is a great example of leading the way to
biomass-based energy production in the US, Florida.
It is creating clean and renewable electricity for
approximately 70, 000 homes. (Valmet)

www.tekes.fi
100