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FIGURE 1. CPI furnaces, available in box or cylindrical designs, can be fitted with a number of coil configurations.
FIGURE 2. Actual measurements (in ppm) of nitrogen oxides in fluegases can be converted to the more common way of representing emissions, in lb NOx (as NO2)/ million Btu of gross heat released
Modifying combustion conditions to inhibit the mechanisms for formation of NOx Lowering NO x generated during combustion by either catalytic or noncatalytic reduction. The NOx-control processes discussed below utilize one or a combination of the above techniques. Flue gas recirculation (FGR) extracts a portion of the flue gas from the stack and returns it to the furnace along with combustion air (Figure 3). This lowers the peak flame temperature, and cuts thermal-NOx formation. The addition of fluegas also reduces the oxygen available to react with the nitrogen. A comparison of the two heat duties for a furnace with and without flue gas recirculation is shown in the table. Increasing the recirculation rate generally corresponds to a decrease in thermal NOx, but flame instability and a decrease in the net thermal output limits the recirculation rate. Recirculation rates for gas-fired units are limited to about 15% to 20%, resulting in maximum thermal-NOx reductions on the order of 50%. It is useful where low nitrogen fuels, such as natural gas, are used. Recirculating flue gas temperature should For quick NOx level estimations, the not be more than 600oF. following DSCF dry volume of flue-gas Flue gas recirculation has been in standard cubic feet/ million Btu at 3% mostly applied to forced-draft burners. O2 concentration values are Installation requires additional duct work, recommended: a flue gas recirculation fan, a flow control damper, special burners and combustion Natural Gas 10,127 control instrumentation (such as Propane 10,127 continuous oxygen and carbon monoxide Butane 10,127 analyzers in the stack). If the heat content Fuel Oil 10,684 of the fuel is highly variable, a flame safeguard system is required to monitor the flames continuously. The technique is Post Combustion NOx Treatment The concentration of NOx in combustion suitable for heaters with a few burners, flue gases can be cut by: such as vertical, cylindrical heaters. Flue gas recirculation does not affect the overall efficiency of fired heaters if the temperature of fluegas leaving the convection zone is the same as that of the flue gas being recirculated. However, the split of radiant heat and convection heat duty will change, since the TABLE. Fluegas recirculation changes the split recirculating flue gas acts as a diluent, reducing the of convection -and radiant - heat duties.
by long residence time at high temperature. Emission limits are usually specified in terms of pounds of NOx per million Btu of gross heat released, or pounds per hour. NOx concentrations, however, are measured in terms of ppm (volume) basis. Since operating conditions vary among various furnaces, the NOx measurements are converted to standard conditions at 3% oxygen. By calculating the dry combustion production per million Btu and the heat release rate, R, it is possible to convert from ppm to lb/million Btu or lb/h. NOx emission calculations are made on the basis of NO2 (molecular weight of 46), although NO2 is only 10-15% of the total NOx. ppm vol. (at 3% O2) = ppm vol. measured x (21-3)/21 - % O2) where, % O2 = vol. % O2, dry basis NOx, in lb/million Btu = (ppm NOx) x (DSCF/ million Btu) x 46/ (1,000,000 x 379.3)
The combustion products and inert gas from the primary zone reduce the peak temperatures and oxygen concentration in the secondary zone, further the inhibiting NOx formation. Some of the NOx formed in the first stage combustion zone is reduced by the hydrogen and carbon monoxide that is formed in staged combustion. Staged fuel burners can reduce NOx emissions by as much as 50-60%. This type of burner can operate with a small
flame length, and at lower excess-air levels than can staged air burners. The flames in staged fuel burners are about one and a half times longer than those in standard burners. Staged fuel burners have been found more effective in reducing NOx in gas-fired heaters and, so, the majority of the applications are gas fired.
Asutosh Garg is Manager of Thermal Engineering at Kinetics Technology International Corp. He has more than 18 years of experience in process design, sales and troubleshooting of all combustion systems. He graduated in Ultra Low NOx Burners, a combination of chemical engineering in 1974 from Indian staged fuel burning and internal flue gas Institute of Technology, Kapur. He is circulation (Figure 5), have recently been registered professional engineer in