Glass melter tackles combustion in stages

Journal Article · Fri Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1993 · Pollution Engineering; (United States)

OSTI ID:5981620

Nudo, L

By delaying complete combustion until the exit of the furnace, an air staging process reduced nitrogen oxide (NO[sub x]) emissions by as much as 50% at an Anchor Glass Container Corp. glass melting plant in Huntington Park, California. The natural gas staging process also might be applicable to other high-temperature furnaces such as steel reheat and aluminum melting. The process uses a small amount of oxygen, instead of air, for more complete combustion. The Institute of Gas Technology's (IGT), recent demonstration of the process required less than 5% of stoichiometric. During this demo, hot air was withdrawn from the 165-ton-per-day end-port furnace's regenerator using an aspirator, and reinjected downstream of the flame to complete combustion. Oxygen was added to the transported stream in this second stage. The process reduced NO[sub x] levels below 3 lbs of nitrogen dioxide per ton of glass produced. Retrofit of the furnace required additional duct work, injectors and an oxygen supply system. After just three weeks of testing, IGT reported no increase in carbon monoxide emissions or natural gas consumption, and no change in product quality.

• OSTI ID: 5981620
• Journal Information: Pollution Engineering; (United States), Journal Name: Pollution Engineering; (United States) Vol. 25:15; ISSN PLENBW; ISSN 0032-3640
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
CALIFORNIA
CHALCOGENIDES
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
CONTROL
DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN OXIDES
NORTH AMERICA
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION CONTROL
USA