CFB (circulating fluidized bed) boiler bottom ash contains large amounts of physical heat. A BAC (bottom ash cooler) is often used to treat high temperature bottom ash to reclaim heat, and to have the ash easily transported. The unit thermal economic indicators of three CFB power plants in China were derived based on heat balance calculation and analysis on the principled thermal system in turbine heat acceptance condition, taking the influence of two different bottom ash heat recovery modes into account. One of the two bottom ash heat recovery modes was the FBAC (fluidized bed ash cooler) mode, and the other was the RAC (rolling-cylinder ash cooler) mode. The results indicated that two modes both improved the thermal economy of units. Compared with the RAC mode, the FBAC mode obtained higher plant thermal efficiency, lower plant heat rate and less standard coal consumption. The standard coal consumption rate of the FBAC mode was less nearly 2 g/(kW h) than the RAC mode in the three CFB power plants, when the net calorific power of standard coal was 29.27 MJ/kg. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.