NO<i>_x</i> Emissions and Nitrogen Fate at High Temperatures in Staged Combustion

• Main Authors: Song Wu, Defu Che, Zhiguo Wang, Xiaohui Su
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
• Series: Energies
• Subjects: chemical simulation; NO<i>_x</i> emission; staged combustion; high temperature; strong reducing atmosphere
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/14/3557

Staged combustion is an effective technology to control NO<i>_x</i> emissions for coal-fired boilers. In this paper, the characteristics of NO<i>_x</i> emissions under a high temperature and strong reducing atmosphere conditions in staged air and O₂/CO₂ combustion were investigated by CHEMKIN. A methane flame doped with ammonia and hydrogen cyanide in a tandem-type tube furnace was simulated to detect the effects of combustion temperature and stoichiometric ratio on NO<i>_x</i> emissions. Mechanism analysis was performed to identify the elementary steps for NO<i>_x</i> formation and reduction at high temperatures. The results indicate that in both air and O₂/CO₂ staged combustion, the conversion ratios of fuel-N to NO<i>_x</i> at the main combustion zone exit increase as the stoichiometric ratio rises, and they are slightly affected by the combustion temperature. The conversion ratios at the burnout zone exit decrease with the increasing stoichiometric ratio at low temperatures, and they are much higher than those at the main combustion zone exit. A lot of nitrogen compounds remain in the exhaust of the main combustion zone and are oxidized to NO<i>_x</i> after the injection of a secondary gas. Staged combustion can lower NO<i>_x</i> emissions remarkably, especially under a high temperature (≥1600 °C) and strong reducing atmosphere (SR ≤ 0.8) conditions. Increasing the combustion temperature under strong reducing atmosphere conditions can raise the H atom concentration and change the radical pool composition and size, which facilitate the reduction of NO to N₂. Ultimately, the increased OH/H ratio in staged O₂/CO₂ combustion offsets part of the reducibility, resulting in the final NO<i>_x</i> emissions being higher than those in air combustion under the same conditions.