Circulating Fluidized Bed Boiler Market

Circulating Fluidized Bed Boiler Market Outlook - 2030

The global circulating fluidized bed boiler market was valued at $450.4 million in 2020, and is projected to reach $1,042.0 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 8.8% from 2021 to 2030. In this report, the revenue (US$ Mn) and volume (Megawatt) represents total number of installed circulating fluidizing bed boilers and their installed capacities globally.

The circulating fluidized bed boiler market has been negatively impacted due to the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, owing to its dependence on the energy & power and industrial sectors. According to a report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA), lockdown measures have significantly reduced the demand for electricity in industrial and commercial sectors and the global electricity demand has been decreased by nearly 2.5% in the first quarter of 2020.

Circulating fluidized bed (CFB) is a process of providing boilers and power plants maximum flexibility in burning variety of fuels. Circulating fluidized bed boilers are designed to provide high gas velocity in furnace. CFB boilers are capable of combusting different fuel compounds such as bituminous coal, brow coal, wood biomass, and others. 

CFB boilers supports wide variety of fuels as compared to bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) boiler. CFB boilers are well suited to be used with bituminous coal, biomass, anthracite, petroleum coke, paper sludge, RPF (refuse paper & plastic fuel), and waste tires. In addition, these boilers offer high combustion efficiency as compared to BFB boilers. Other factors such as minimal environmental impact associated with use of CFB boilers is another considerable factor that drives growth of the global market. Thermal nitrogen oxide (NOx) is one of the chemical compounds that is considered to impact negatively on the environment. Production of NOx is mainly dependent upon combustion temperature. Combustion temperature inside regular boiler ranges from 1,400–1,500°C, while, combustion temperature in CFB boilers range from 800–900°C. This, in turn, helps to reduce production of thermal nitrogen oxides. All these factors collectively propel demand for circulating fluidized bed boilers, thereby augmenting the global circulating fluidized bed boiler market growth.

However, CFB boilers are vulnerable to wear and tear, which, in turn, increases its maintenance cost and hampers the market growth. Casting materials used in CFB boilers is a major threat, owing to particles that fall with high velocity inside the CFB boilers. In addition, combustion particle trajectory is changed due to platform obstruction inside CFB boilers, which further leads to formation of circulating vortex. Force applied by the air supply that moves upward further increases density of particles, which further increases wearability of the CFB boiler.    

On the contrary, CFB boilers consist high temperature materials, which further leads to heating of fuel rapidly. In addition, fuels are heated easily above ignition temperature after fuel enters CFB boiler chambers. Other boilers that are used for same application has disadvantages such as fire extinguishing and unstable combustion. However, presence of small amount of fuel as compared to amount of high temperature materials present inside CFB boiler chambers helps to overcome these problems. It is a key factor that is anticipated to offer new opportunities in the global circulating fluidized bed boiler market. 

The global circulating fluidized bed boiler market analysis is done on the basis of product, capacity, fuel type, application. and region. Depending on product, the market is divided into subcritical, supercritical, and ultra-supercritical. On the basis of capacity, it is fragmented into less than 100 MW, 100–200 MW, 200–300 MW, and 300 MW & above. By fuel type, the global circulating fluidized bed boiler market is divided into coal, biomass, and others. The applications covered in the study include energy & power, industrial, and others. Region wise, the market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. 

Circulating fluidized bed boiler market, by region

The Asia-Pacific circulating fluidized bed boiler market size is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 9.5% during the forecast period, and accounted for 60.7% of circulating fluidized bed boiler market share in 2020. CFB combustion technology is rapidly developing in China since 1980. In addition, rapid growth in coal fired CFB boilers is mainly attributed to growth in energy & power and industrial sectors in China. Ability of CFB boilers to reduce SOx and NOx emission is another major factor that drives demand for CFB boilers market. 

Circulating fluidized bed boiler market, by product

In 2020, the subcritical segment was the largest revenue generator, and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 8.4% during the forecast period. Subcritical circulating fluidized bed boilers are capable of handling steam pressure up to 2,600 psig and it can handle different fuels such as high ash-content, high sulfur content fuel, and different waste fuels such as petroleum coke and sludge.

Circulating fluidized bed boiler market, by capacity

By capacity, the 100–200 MW segment dominated the global market in 2020, and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 8.4% during the forecast period. Circulating fluidized bed boiler with capacity of 100-200 MW are used majorly in power plants owing as it helps to promote anthracites consumption and reduces the level of Sox, NOx, and dust emission.    

Circulating fluidized bed boiler market, by fuel type

In 2020, the coal fuel type segment was the largest revenue generator, and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 8.7% during the forecast period. Use of coal as primary fuel in circulating fluidized bed boilers offer benefits such as fuel flexibility and CFB boilers can also be fed with wet coal that further leads to reduction in harmful environmental gases.

Circulating fluidized bed boiler market, by application

In 2020, the energy & power application was the largest revenue generator, and is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 9.0% during the forecast period. This is attributed to the fact that circulating fluidized bed boiler offers advantages such as large fuel adaptability, stability, efficient combustion, and enhanced load regulation performance makes it suitable to be used in energy & power sector.

Key benefits for stakeholders

• Porter’s five forces analysis helps analyze the potential of buyers & suppliers and the competitive scenario of the industry for strategy building.
• It outlines the current circulating fluidized bed boiler market trends and future estimations from 2020 to 2030 to understand the prevailing opportunities and potential investment pockets.
• The major countries in the region have been mapped according to their individual revenue contribution to the regional market.
• The key drivers, restraints, and opportunities and their detailed impact analysis are explained in the study.
• The profiles of key players and their key strategic developments are enlisted in the report.

Impact Of Covid-19 On The Global Circulating Fluidized Bed Boiler Market

• The novel coronavirus is an incomparable global pandemic that has spread to over 180 countries and caused huge losses of lives and the economy around the globe. 
• The circulating fluidized bed boiler market has been negatively impacted due to the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, owing to its dependence on the oil & gas, energy and power, and other industrial sectors. 
• According to a report published by the Energy and Economic Growth Survey, the oil & gas sector is among the hardest hit sector with an average contraction of -2.8% in 2020. In addition, more than 100 countries have locked their international borders for transportation and non-essential trade activities, which have led to demand-supply disruptions for the circulating fluidized bed boilers market. 
• Furthermore, temporary shutdown of oil refineries amid the COVID-19 period has reduced consumption of circulating fluidized bed boilers for burning a wide variety of fuels. For instance, according to a report published by the Indian Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, the central public sector enterprise (CPSE) refineries has produced 7,103.76 thousand metric tons (TMT) of crude oil in April 2020 that is 28.91% lower than the target for the month and 36.93% lower than the production achieved in the corresponding month of 2019. This has severely affected the demand for circulating fluidized bed boilers among the oil refineries during the COVID-19 situation. In addition, factors such as financial stress, reduction of demand, and disruptions of the power supply chain have negatively impacted the power sector which in turn has decreased the demand for circulating fluidized bed boilers amid the COVID-19 scenario. 
• However, growth in global energy needs and fuel consumption is anticipated to push growth of the circulating fluidized bed boilers market post COVID-19 scenario. For instance, according to a report published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the organization of petroleum exporting countries (OPEC) crude oil production is expected to rise to an average of 28.7 million barrel per day by 2022. Also, both developed and developing economies such as the U.S., China, India, and others are constantly engaged in maximizing their refining capacities where circulating fluidized bed boilers are widely employed for fuel burning purpose. For instance, in February 2021 Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has increased its refining capacity from 3MMTPA to 9MMTPA (million metric tons per annum). This is expected to enhance the performance of the circulating fluidized bed boilers market post-COVID-19 scenario.

 Circulating Fluidized Bed Boiler Market Report Highlights