The effect of fuel form on trace element emissions in an industrial-scale coal fired boiler
- Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States). Coal Utilization Lab.
Eleven of the fourteen inorganic hazardous air pollutants identified in Title 3 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 are present in the flue gas of pulverized coal-fired boilers. The designated elements include: antimony (Sb), beryllium (Be), chlorine (Cl), cobalt (Co), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se), fluorine (F), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and phosphorus (P). Determining the risk of these elements in the environment is difficult at best. However, regulating their emission into the environment has some scientific basis and merit. Approximately 137.5 tons of mercury were emitted in the US by combustion sources in 1994--1995, with coal-fired utility boilers accounting for 37.4% (or 51.6 tons) of the total. Control of trace element emissions from coal-fired utility boilers requires an understanding of the manner in which they occur in coal, their behavior during and after combustion and their form in the stack gas. The multimedia behavior of trace elements during combustion can be traced to their volatility within the combustion and post-combustion environment. The temperature distribution within the combustion system, the mechanism of char and ash formation (e.g. duration of char burnout and char and cenosphere morphology) and the combustion efficiency determine the partitioning of trace elements during combustion. These factors can be affected by the form in which a fuel is fired, e.g., pulverized coal (PC) versus coal-water slurry fuel (CWSF). This paper presents preliminary results of emissions testing aimed at determining the effect of fuel form on the penetration and partitioning of trace elements in an industrial-scale boiler. The tests were conducted on a 2 MMBtu/hr research boiler, in which Middle Kittanning Seam coal (hvA bituminous) from Jefferson County, Pennsylvania was burned in pulverized form and as a CWSF. The tests were conducted in accordance with the procedure outlined in EPA Methods 5 and 29 to measure trace elements in the gas and particulate phases of the flue gases generated during coal combustion. Further studies will include analysis of droplet and particle size, char morphology, and the size, distribution and composition of the mineral matter in the two fuels.
- OSTI ID:
- 349208
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-980985-; ISBN 1-890977-15-2; TRN: IM9924%%208
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 15. annual international Pittsburgh coal conference, Pittsburgh, PA (United States), 14-18 Sep 1998; Other Information: PBD: 1998; Related Information: Is Part Of Fifteenth annual international Pittsburgh coal conference: Proceedings; PB: [1500] p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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