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Title: COST-EFFECTIVE CONTROL OF NOx WITH INTEGRATED ULTRA LOW-NOx BURNERS AND SNCR

Abstract

Under sponsorship of the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), McDermott Technology, Inc. (MTI), the Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W), and Fuel Tech teamed together to investigate an integrated solution for NOx control. The system was comprised of B&W's DRB-4Z{trademark} low-NO{sub x} pulverized coal (PC) burner technology and Fuel Tech's NO{sub x}OUT{reg_sign}, a urea-based selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) technology. The technology's emission target is achieving 0.15 lb NO{sub x}/10{sup 6} Btu for full-scale boilers. Development of the low-NOx burner technology has been a focus in B&W's combustion program. The DRB-4Z{trademark} burner (see Figure 1.1) is B&W's newest low-NO{sub x} burner capable of achieving very low NO{sub x}. The burner is designed to reduce NO{sub x} by diverting air away from the core of the flame, which reduces local stoichiometry during coal devolatilization and, thereby, reduces initial NO{sub x} formation. Figure 1.2 shows the historical NO{sub x} emission levels from different B&W burners. Figure 1.2 shows that based on three large-scale commercial installations of the DRB-4Z{trademark} burners in combination with OFA ports, using Western subbituminous coal, the NO{sub x} emissions ranged from 0.16 to 0.18 lb/10{sup 6} Btu. It appears that with continuing research and development the Ozone Transportmore » Rule (OTR) emission level of 0.15 lb NO{sub x}/10{sup 6} Btu is within the reach of combustion modification techniques for boilers using western U.S. subbituminous coals. Although NO{sub x} emissions from the DRB-4Z{trademark} burner are nearing OTR emission level with subbituminous coals, the utility boiler owners that use bituminous coals can still benefit from the addition of an SNCR and/or SCR system in order to comply with the stringent NO{sub x} emission levels facing them.« less

Authors:
; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
McDermott Technology Inc. (US)
Sponsoring Org.:
(US)
OSTI Identifier:
823170
DOE Contract Number:
FC26-99FT40717
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: 1 Jul 2003
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT; AIR; BITUMINOUS COAL; BOILERS; BURNERS; COAL; COMBUSTION; DEVOLATILIZATION; MODIFICATIONS; OZONE; STOICHIOMETRY; SUBBITUMINOUS COAL; TARGETS; TRANSPORT

Citation Formats

Hamid Farzan, Jennifer Sivy, Alan Sayre, and John Boyle. COST-EFFECTIVE CONTROL OF NOx WITH INTEGRATED ULTRA LOW-NOx BURNERS AND SNCR. United States: N. p., 2003. Web. doi:10.2172/823170.
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Hamid Farzan, Jennifer Sivy, Alan Sayre, & John Boyle. COST-EFFECTIVE CONTROL OF NOx WITH INTEGRATED ULTRA LOW-NOx BURNERS AND SNCR. United States. doi:10.2172/823170.
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Hamid Farzan, Jennifer Sivy, Alan Sayre, and John Boyle. Tue . "COST-EFFECTIVE CONTROL OF NOx WITH INTEGRATED ULTRA LOW-NOx BURNERS AND SNCR". United States. doi:10.2172/823170. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/823170.
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@article{osti_823170,
title = {COST-EFFECTIVE CONTROL OF NOx WITH INTEGRATED ULTRA LOW-NOx BURNERS AND SNCR},
author = {Hamid Farzan and Jennifer Sivy and Alan Sayre and John Boyle},
abstractNote = {Under sponsorship of the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), McDermott Technology, Inc. (MTI), the Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W), and Fuel Tech teamed together to investigate an integrated solution for NOx control. The system was comprised of B&W's DRB-4Z{trademark} low-NO{sub x} pulverized coal (PC) burner technology and Fuel Tech's NO{sub x}OUT{reg_sign}, a urea-based selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) technology. The technology's emission target is achieving 0.15 lb NO{sub x}/10{sup 6} Btu for full-scale boilers. Development of the low-NOx burner technology has been a focus in B&W's combustion program. The DRB-4Z{trademark} burner (see Figure 1.1) is B&W's newest low-NO{sub x} burner capable of achieving very low NO{sub x}. The burner is designed to reduce NO{sub x} by diverting air away from the core of the flame, which reduces local stoichiometry during coal devolatilization and, thereby, reduces initial NO{sub x} formation. Figure 1.2 shows the historical NO{sub x} emission levels from different B&W burners. Figure 1.2 shows that based on three large-scale commercial installations of the DRB-4Z{trademark} burners in combination with OFA ports, using Western subbituminous coal, the NO{sub x} emissions ranged from 0.16 to 0.18 lb/10{sup 6} Btu. It appears that with continuing research and development the Ozone Transport Rule (OTR) emission level of 0.15 lb NO{sub x}/10{sup 6} Btu is within the reach of combustion modification techniques for boilers using western U.S. subbituminous coals. Although NO{sub x} emissions from the DRB-4Z{trademark} burner are nearing OTR emission level with subbituminous coals, the utility boiler owners that use bituminous coals can still benefit from the addition of an SNCR and/or SCR system in order to comply with the stringent NO{sub x} emission levels facing them.},
doi = {10.2172/823170},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2003},
month = {Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2003}
}
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Technical Report:
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DOI:  10.2172/823170
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  • Coal-fired electric utilities are facing a serious challenge with regards to curbing their NO{sub x} emissions. At issue are the NO{sub x} contributions to the acid rain, ground level ozone, and particulate matter formation. Substantial NO{sub x} control requirements could be imposed under the proposed Ozone Transport Rule, National Ambient Air Quality Standards, and New Source Performance Standards. McDermott Technology, Inc. (MTI), Babcock and Wilcox (B and W), and Fuel Tech are teaming to provide an integrated solution for NO{sub x} control. The system will be comprised of an ultra low-NO{sub x} pulverized coal (PC) burner technology plus a urea-based,more » selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) system. This system will be capable of meeting a target emission limit of 0.15 lb NO{sub x}/10{sup 6} Btu and target ammonia (NH3) slip level targeted below 5 ppmV for commercial units. Our approach combines the best available combustion and post-combustion NO{sub x} control technologies. More specifically, B and W's DRB-4Z TM ultra low-NO{sub x} PC burner technology will be combined with Fuel Tech's NO{sub x}OUT (SNCR) and NO{sub x}OUT Cascade (SNCR/SCR hybrid) systems and jointly evaluated and optimized in a state-of-the-art test facility at MTI. Although the NO{sub x}OUT Cascade (SNCR/SCR hybrid) system will not be tested directly in this program, its potential application for situations that require greater NO{sub x} reductions will be inferred from other measurements (i.e., SNCR NO{sub x} removal efficiency plus projected NO{sub x} reduction by the catalyst based on controlled ammonia slip). Our analysis shows that the integrated ultra low-NO{sub x} burner and SNCR system has the lowest cost when the burner emissions are 0.25 lb NO{sub x}/10{sup 6} Btu or less. At burner NO{sub x} emission level of 0.20 lb NO{sub x}/10{sup 6} Btu, the levelized cost per ton of NO{sub x} removed is 52% lower than the SCR cost.« less

  • The objective of this project is to develop an environmentally acceptable and cost-effective NO{sub x} control system that can achieve less than 0.15 lb NO{sub x}/10{sup 6} Btu for a wide range of coal-burning commercial boilers. The system will be comprised of an ultra low-NO{sub x} PC burner technology plus a urea-based, selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) system. In addition to the above stated NO{sub x} limit of 0.15 lb NO{sub x}/10{sup 6} Btu, ammonia (NH{sub 3}) slip levels will be targeted below 5 ppmV for commercial units. Testing will be performed in the 100 million Btu/hr Clean Environment Development Facilitymore » (CEDF) in Alliance, Ohio. Finally, by amendment action, a limited mercury measurement campaign was conducted to determine if the partitioning and speciation of mercury in the flue gas from a Powder River Basin coal is affected by the addition of Chlorides to the combustion zone.« less

  • ; ; ; ...
    ALSTOM Power Inc.'s Power Plant Laboratories, working in concert with ALSTOM Power's Performance Projects Group, has teamed with the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE NETL) to conduct a comprehensive study to develop/evaluate low-cost, efficient NOx control technologies for retrofit to pulverized coal fired utility boilers. The objective of this project was to develop retrofit NOx control technology to achieve less than 0.15 lb/MMBtu NOx (for bituminous coals) and 0.10 lb/MMBtu NOx (for subbituminous coals) from existing pulverized coal fired utility boilers at a cost which is at least 25% less than SCR technology. Efficient control ofmore » NOx is seen as an important, enabling step in keeping coal as a viable part of the national energy mix in this century, and beyond. Presently 57% of U.S. electrical generation is coal based, and the Energy Information Agency projects that coal will maintain a lead in U.S. power generation over all other fuel sources for decades (EIA 1998 Energy Forecast). Yet, coal-based power is being strongly challenged by society's ever-increasing desire for an improved environment and the resultant improvement in health and safety. The needs of the electric-utility industry are to improve environmental performance, while simultaneously improving overall plant economics. This means that emissions control technology is needed with very low capital and operating costs. This project has responded to the industry's need for low NOx emissions by evaluating ideas that can be adapted to present pulverized coal fired systems, be they conventional or low NOx firing systems. The TFS 2000{trademark} firing system has been the ALSTOM Power Inc. commercial offering producing the lowest NOx emission levels. In this project, the TFS 2000{trademark} firing system served as a basis for comparison to other low NOx systems evaluated and was the foundation upon which refinements were made to further improve NOx emissions and related combustion performance. Three coals were evaluated during the bench-scale and large pilot-scale testing tasks. The three coals ranged from a very reactive Powder River Basin coal (PRB) to a moderately reactive Midwestern bituminous coal (HVB) to a less reactive medium volatile Eastern bituminous coal (MVB). Bench-scale testing was comprised of standard ASTM properties evaluation, plus more detailed characterization of fuel properties through drop tube furnace testing and thermogravimetric analysis.« less

  • ; ; ; ...
    ALSTOM Power Inc.'s Power Plant Laboratories, working in concert with ALSTOM Power's Performance Projects Group, has teamed with the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE NETL) to conduct a comprehensive study to develop/evaluate low-cost, efficient NOx control technologies for retrofit to pulverized coal fired utility boilers. The objective of this project was to develop retrofit NOx control technology to achieve less than 0.15 lb/MMBtu NOx (for bituminous coals) and 0.10 lb/MMBtu NOx (for subbituminous coals) from existing pulverized coal fired utility boilers at a cost which is at least 25% less than SCR technology. Efficient control ofmore » NOx is seen as an important, enabling step in keeping coal as a viable part of the national energy mix in this century, and beyond. Presently 57% of U.S. electrical generation is coal based, and the Energy Information Agency projects that coal will maintain a lead in U.S. power generation over all other fuel sources for decades (EIA 1998 Energy Forecast). Yet, coal-based power is being strongly challenged by society's ever-increasing desire for an improved environment and the resultant improvement in health and safety. The needs of the electric-utility industry are to improve environmental performance, while simultaneously improving overall plant economics. This means that emissions control technology is needed with very low capital and operating costs. This project has responded to the industry's need for low NOx emissions by evaluating ideas that can be adapted to present pulverized coal fired systems, be they conventional or low NOx firing systems. The TFS 2000{trademark} firing system has been the ALSTOM Power Inc. commercial offering producing the lowest NOx emission levels. In this project, the TFS 2000{trademark} firing system served as a basis for comparison to other low NOx systems evaluated and was the foundation upon which refinements were made to further improve NOx emissions and related combustion performance. Three coals were evaluated during the bench-scale and large pilot-scale testing tasks. The three coals ranged from a very reactive Powder River Basin coal (PRB) to a moderately reactive Midwestern bituminous coal (HVB) to a less reactive medium volatile Eastern bituminous coal (MVB). Bench-scale testing was comprised of standard ASTM properties evaluation, plus more detailed characterization of fuel properties through drop tube furnace testing and thermogravimetric analysis.« less

  • ; ;
    The DOE sponsored Integrated Dry NO{sub x}/SO{sub 2}, Emissions Control System program, which is a Clean Coal Technology III demonstration, is being conducted by Public Service Company of Colorado. The test site is Arapahoe Generating Station Unit 4, which is a 100 MWe, down-fired utility boiler burning a low-sulfur western coal. The project goal is to demonstrate up to 70 percent reductions in NO{sub x} and SO{sub 2} emissions through the integration of: (1) down-fired low-NO{sub x} burners with overfire air; (2) Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) for additional NO{sub x} removal; and (3) dry sorbent injection and duct humidification formore » SO{sub 2} removal. The effectiveness of the integrated system on a high-sulfur coal will also be tested. This report documents the fourth phase of the test program, where the performance of the SNCR system, after the low-NO{sub x} combustion system retrofit, was assessed. Previous to this phase of testing, a subsystem was added to the existing SNCR system which allowed on-line conversion of a urea solution to aqueous ammonium compounds. Both convened and unconverted urea were investigated as SNCR chemicals.« less