What Specifications Should You Send to a CFB Boiler Supplier?

To help a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler supplier assess your project, send a complete description of the required steam or heat output, fuel, operating conditions, emissions requirements, site constraints, and project schedule. Include fuel test data and identify which values are confirmed versus preliminary. At Genjux, we use this information to understand the application, identify missing inputs, and prepare a proposal for further technical review—not to treat an incomplete data sheet as a final design basis.

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CFB boilers can be configured for different fuels and operating duties, so a capacity figure alone is not enough for meaningful supplier evaluation. The checklist below gives you a practical starting point for an inquiry, budget proposal, or formal request for quotation. Where you do not yet have a confirmed value, state that clearly and ask the supplier to identify the assumptions used.

Quick Checklist: What to Include in Your Inquiry

Project location, application, required delivery scope, and target schedule.
Steam or hot-water output, operating pressure and temperature, and load profile.
Fuel type, recent laboratory analysis, particle-size information, and expected supply variation.
Applicable emissions limits, environmental requirements, and proposed monitoring arrangements.
Available plot space, site conditions, utility connections, and equipment interfaces.
Preferred scope split, documentation needs, commercial terms, and service expectations.

1. Explain the Project and Required Boiler Duty

Describe the application and output

Start with the project’s purpose: for example, process steam, cogeneration, district heating, or heat for an industrial production line. State the required boiler output and whether you are specifying steam, hot water, or another heat-transfer service. For steam, provide the required flow, pressure, temperature, and whether the figures refer to saturated or superheated steam. For hot-water duty, include the required flow rate and inlet and outlet temperatures.

Make clear whether the stated output is a normal operating requirement, a peak requirement, or a required guaranteed value. Identify any existing boilers that will operate in parallel and describe how the new unit is expected to fit into the plant. If the project includes a turbine, process header, or heat-recovery equipment, provide its relevant interface conditions. These details help a supplier assess the duty rather than simply match a nominal capacity.

Share the operating profile

Describe how demand changes during a typical day, week, or production season. Include minimum, normal, and peak loads where known, as well as expected annual operating hours and planned shutdown periods. Explain whether the boiler will run continuously, follow process demand, or provide backup capacity. If future expansion is planned, distinguish the initial duty from the possible later requirement.

For scale only, an inquiry might state a preliminary duty of 20 MWth, a steam operating pressure of 3.8 MPa, and a target steam temperature of 450°C. These are illustrative values, not a recommended CFB boiler specification or a design guarantee. Your actual values must come from the process requirements, applicable codes, and project engineering.

2. Provide Complete Fuel Information

Fuel properties are central to CFB boiler assessment. Identify every fuel the unit may burn, including the primary fuel, permitted secondary fuels, and any planned fuel blend. For each fuel, provide a recent laboratory analysis and note the sampling date, test method if available, and whether the sample represents normal or worst-case supply. Avoid sending only a trade name or a single heating-value figure.

Useful fuel data may include lower or higher heating value, moisture, ash, volatile matter, fixed carbon, and elemental composition such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, chlorine, and oxygen. Include ash-fusion information where available, plus relevant mineral or contaminant data. Provide the expected particle-size distribution, bulk density if known, and any requirements for fuel preparation or storage. If your supplier’s fuel quality varies, give minimum, typical, and maximum values rather than presenting one sample as a fixed specification.

Also explain how fuel will reach the boiler: truck, rail, conveyor, or another handling route. Describe receiving, storage, reclaim, screening, crushing, and feeding equipment that is already installed or included in your project scope. State whether the supplier should evaluate these systems or whether they are by others. This information can reveal interface questions before equipment boundaries are fixed.

3. State Emissions and Compliance Requirements

Tell the supplier where the boiler will be installed and identify the environmental rules, permits, and emissions limits that apply to the project. Specify the required pollutants and the conditions used to express limits, such as dry or wet basis, reference oxygen, and averaging period, if these are defined by your permit or consultant. Do not assume that a general statement such as “meet local standards” is enough for a firm technical proposal.

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List any required emissions-control equipment or indicate whether the supplier should propose a suitable scope. Depending on fuel and jurisdiction, the review may need to address particulate matter, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and other regulated substances. Provide available stack-height, flue-gas, monitoring, and reporting requirements. Where permitting is still underway, label the requirements as preliminary and identify who will confirm them.

4. Describe the Site and Plant Interfaces

Provide the project location, elevation if known, ambient temperature range, and any relevant site conditions such as corrosive atmosphere, dust, seismic requirements, or access restrictions. Share plot plans, building dimensions, equipment elevations, and lifting or transport constraints when available. Identify limitations on height, footprint, foundation loads, and routes for large components. A supplier can only assess layout compatibility from the site information supplied.

List available utilities and their confirmed conditions, including electrical supply, instrument air, service water, and fuel-handling connections. Describe the required electrical and control-system interfaces, including any plant standards or preferred communication arrangements. Identify connections to steam or hot-water headers, condensate return, feedwater treatment, ash handling, flue-gas systems, and cooling systems as applicable. Mark each interface as included in the supplier’s scope, provided by the buyer, or still to be agreed.

5. Define the Technical and Commercial Scope

State what you want the supplier to provide. The scope may include the boiler pressure parts, combustion and solids-circulation equipment, fuel-feeding equipment, air systems, emissions controls, ash handling, instrumentation, controls, engineering, installation supervision, commissioning, or operator training. Do not assume that two proposals use the same battery limits just because both describe a “complete boiler.” Ask each bidder to list inclusions, exclusions, and required buyer-supplied equipment.

Include the applicable design codes, inspection requirements, documentation language, and any project-specific quality or safety requirements. Provide the required delivery destination, target delivery date, installation window, and expected proposal deadline. If you need budget pricing, say so; if you need a binding quotation, provide a defined scope and sufficient technical data. Specify preferred warranty terms, spare-parts expectations, training, and after-sales support without treating unconfirmed conditions as agreed.

Supplier Evaluation: Check the Assumptions, Not Just the Price

When comparing proposals, check whether each supplier has used the same fuel basis, operating duty, emissions limits, and scope boundary. Review stated assumptions and exclusions, particularly for fuel preparation, emissions equipment, civil works, electrical systems, installation, and commissioning. Ask how the proposal addresses variations in fuel quality and operating load, and which performance values can be guaranteed under the stated conditions.

Confirm that the supplier has understood the interfaces and identified information still needed for design. Request a clear list of buyer responsibilities, deliverables, documentation, and schedule dependencies. If one proposal appears significantly different in price or scope, ask for a line-by-line clarification before treating it as directly comparable. Commercial comparison is more useful when the technical basis is consistent.

Common Specification Mistakes to Avoid

Sending only a capacity target: Output without pressure, temperature, fuel, and load profile leaves major design conditions undefined.
Providing generic fuel descriptions: A fuel name does not communicate heating value, moisture, ash, contaminants, or particle size.
Omitting variability: A single test result may not represent the range the boiler must handle over time.
Leaving scope boundaries unclear: Unspecified interfaces can create gaps, duplicated equipment, or mismatched commercial bids.
Stating emissions goals without a basis: Limits need applicable units, reference conditions, and jurisdictional context.
Presenting estimates as confirmed values: Label preliminary data and identify who will verify it before final design.

How Genjux Can Help With Your CFB Boiler Inquiry

Genjux works with buyers to review project inputs for boiler and related equipment inquiries. If your specification is incomplete, send the information you have and flag open items rather than delaying the conversation until every detail is finalized. We can discuss the duty, fuel data, site conditions, scope boundaries, and technical questions that need clarification before a proposal can be developed. Final equipment configuration and performance commitments depend on the confirmed project basis and technical review.

Conclusion: Send a Clear, Traceable Project Basis

The most useful CFB boiler inquiry combines the required output and operating profile with representative fuel data, emissions and code requirements, site constraints, plant interfaces, scope boundaries, and commercial schedule. Attach drawings and laboratory reports when available, and label each value as confirmed, estimated, or pending. This gives suppliers a clearer basis to identify risks, ask focused questions, and prepare comparable proposals.

As a next step, prepare a one-page project summary, attach your latest fuel analysis and site documents, and list unresolved decisions. Send these materials to Genjux for an initial discussion of your boiler requirements and the information needed to move toward a detailed technical proposal.