Emissions from refinery process heaters equipped with low-Nox burners. Final report Oct 80-Jan 81

Technical Report · Thu Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1981

OSTI ID:6542764

Todona, R J; Buening, H J; Hart, J R

The report summarizes an investigation of the performance of commercial low-NOx burners in refinery process heaters. Refineries in Southern and Central California were surveyed to determine the number of existing or planned low-NOx burners. Tests on 10 process heaters equipped with low NOx burners measured gaseous emissions, particulates, and efficiencies at normal operating conditions. As-found NOx emissions increased from 58 to 245 ng/J as fuel-bound nitrogen increased from zero to 0.81%. In most cases, NOx concentrations were strongly influenced by excess air levels. Reducing excess air to 3-4% reduced NOx to 34-200 ng/J, depending on fuel nitrogen. Comparisons of present emissions data with past field test data for refinery heaters equipped with standard burners showed that (for mechanical-draft gas-fired heaters) low-NOx burners may reduce the NOx emission factor by 32-77% below the mean emission factor for standard burners. Three heaters (one firing gas; one, distillate oil; and one, residual oil) were selected as the most suitable candidates for 30-day continuous monitoring of gaseous emissions.

• Research Organization: KVB, Inc., Irvine, CA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6542764
• Report Number(s): PB-82-231838
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020800* -- Petroleum-- Waste Management
020900 -- Petroleum-- Environmental Aspects
500200 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
BURNERS
CHALCOGENIDES
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONTROL
GAS BURNERS
GASEOUS WASTES
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN OXIDES
OIL BURNERS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PARTICLES
PARTICULATES
PERFORMANCE
PETROLEUM REFINERIES
POLLUTION CONTROL
WASTES