An intelligent control of NH3 injection for optimizing the NOx/NH3 ratio in SCR system

Abstract

The distribution of nitrogen oxides (NOx) flux within the cross-section area in front of ammonia injection grid (AIG) under different operating conditions was obtained by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. Weight of NOx flux in the sub-zone corresponding to each of the ammonia (NH3) injection branch-pipes of AIG system was analyzed and the sensitivity of which against the plant power load was figured out. A number of “critical” ammonia injection branch-pipes were determined with regard to the weight sensitivity analysis. The selected “critical” branch-pipes were changed to be controlled by the automatic valves, and an intelligent tuning strategy was proposed. The NOx/NH3 mixing stoichiometry over the cross-section area in front of AIG system was significantly modified for the high utilization ratio of ammonia. A case work was launched on the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system of a 660 MW plant. As a result, the ammonia consumption rate (ACR) was found to be reduced by 6.44% compared to that under previous control system, and was 9.31% lower than that of the unapplied system. The methodology for determining the “critical” branch-pipes and intelligent tuning strategy of ammonia injection notably saved the ammonia consumption of SCR system, and the formation of ammonium bisulfate (ABS) were greatly confined.