FURNACE INJECTION OF ALKALINE SORBENTS FOR SULFURIC ACID REMOVAL
The objective of this project has been to demonstrate the use of alkaline reagents injected into the furnace of coal-fired boilers as a means of controlling sulfuric acid emissions. The project was co-funded by the U.S. DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory under Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-99FT40718, along with EPRI, the American Electric Power Company (AEP), FirstEnergy Corporation, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and Carmeuse North America. Sulfuric acid controls are becoming of increased interest for coal-fired power generating units for a number of reasons. In particular, sulfuric acid can cause plant operation problems such as air heater plugging and fouling, back-end corrosion, and plume opacity. These issues will likely be exacerbated with the retrofit of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) for NOX control, as SCR catalysts are known to further oxidize a portion of the flue gas SO{sub 2} to SO{sub 3}. The project tested the effectiveness of furnace injection of four different magnesium-based or dolomitic alkaline sorbents on full-scale utility boilers. These reagents were tested during one- to two-week tests conducted on two FirstEnergy Bruce Mansfield Plant (BMP) units. One of the sorbents tested was a magnesium hydroxide slurry byproduct from a modified Thiosorbic{reg_sign} Lime wet flue gas desulfurization process. The other three sorbents are available commercially and include dolomite, pressure-hydrated dolomitic lime, and commercially available magnesium hydroxide. The dolomite reagent was injected as a dry powder through out-of-service burners. The other three reagents were injected as slurries through air-atomizing nozzles inserted through the front wall of the upper furnace. After completing the four one- to two-week tests, the most promising sorbents were selected for longer-term (approximately 25-day) full-scale tests on two different units. The longer-term tests were conducted to confirm sorbent effectiveness over extended operation on two different boilers, and to determine balance-of-plant impacts. The first long-term test was conducted on FirstEnergy's BMP Unit 3, and the second was conducted on AEP's Gavin Plant, Unit 1. The Gavin Plant test provided an opportunity to evaluate the effects of sorbent injected into the furnace on SO{sub 3} formed across an operating SCR reactor. A final task in the project was to compare projected costs for furnace injection of magnesium hydroxide slurries to estimated costs for other potential sulfuric acid control technologies. Estimates were developed for reagent and utility costs, and capital costs, for furnace injection of magnesium hydroxide slurries and seven other sulfuric acid control technologies. The estimates were based on retrofit application to a model coal-fired plant.
- Research Organization:
- URS Corporation (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC26-99FT40718
- OSTI ID:
- 829942
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 1 Jan 2004
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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FURNACE INJECTION OF ALKALINE SORBENTS FOR SULFURIC ACID CONTROL
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