BioMatNet Item: JOULE JOR3-CT96-0059 - Reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions from wood chip grate furnaces

[BioMatNet Database - European Commission]

JOULE JOR3-CT96-0059
Reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions from wood chip grate furnaces

To find similar Items, click on a keyword below:
JOULE/THERMIE Programme : Solid Biofuels : Thermochemical Conversion : Wood (Lignocellulose)

	Type of Project	Shared Cost
	Contract No	JOR3-CT96-0059
	EC Contribution	1,405,000 ECU
	Start Date	11/04/1996
	Duration	36 Months

Reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions from wood chip grate furnaces

Objectives

To increase the use of wood fuels, low emission combustion systems have to be available. Research efforts in the past 10 years have produced combustion systems with acceptable emissions of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and particulates. However, emissions of nitrogen compounds generally have yet to be reduced. The project is aimed at the development of wood chip grate furnaces with NO_x emissions that are substantially lower than the emissions of current state-of-the-art designs.

Technical Approach

The three-year work programme contains fundamental research to develop methods to minimise nitrogen oxide emissions, investigations of measures to reduce NO_x emissions by experiments on test furnaces, and prototype experiments to realise and to test the developed methods in practical operation. The project will develop and use mathematical models, supported by appropriate laboratory experiments, to identify influences on NO_x formation mechanisms. Micro-chemical and macro-chemical processes and also the whole furnace will be modelled. The release of nitrogen compounds will be calculated. The models developed will be incorporated into existing models for combustion of biofuel particles. To verify the results and to carry out the experimental investigations, different test furnaces (a moving grate furnace, an understoker furnace, a horizontal stoker furnace, and a fan conveyor fed furnace) will be used. The work is split into activities concerning the development of primary and secondary NO_x-reducing measures. The primary measures aim at minimising the NO_x emissions by fuel and combustion air control. The secondary measures to be investigated are the selective catalytic reduction process (SNCR), and the selective non-catalytic reduction process (SCR). To carry out the prototype experiments, pilot plants of low NO_x furnaces will be realised and tested.

Expected Results

The results of the project will consist of methods and measures to reduce NO_x emission from wood chip grate furnaces, which have been developed and tested in laboratory, and prototype furnaces. The results will be directly applicable to the design of improved wood chip furnaces. The increased competitiveness of low-NO_x furnaces will be a strong incentive for the practical application of the results. The exploitation of the results will be achieved through the involvement of the two industrial Participants AWINA and Kvaerner Generator who will be able to apply the results directly in the design of their furnaces as well as through agreements with other industrial entities and manufacturers.

Contacts

Coordinator

Reinhard PADINGER / Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH / AUSTRIA

EC Scientific Officer

Dr Agis M PAPADOPOULOS / Aristotelian Univ of Thessaloniki School of Technology / GREECE

Participant