Effect of Air-Staging on Mercury Speciation in Pulverized Fuel Co-combustion: Part 2

Abstract

The concerns regarding global warming and need for new energy resources brought the concept of biomass and waste as secondary fuels to the power industry. Mercury emissions in cases of cofiring of chicken manure, olive residue, and B-wood with a high volatile bituminous coal blend are studied in the first part of this paper. The use of secondary fuels significantly affects NOx emissions due to different types of nitrogen present in the fuel matrix. Air-staging is a proven in-furnace NOx reduction technology. The present work mainly involves bench scale studies to investigate the effect of air-staging on partitioning of mercury in pulverized fuel co-combustion. The combustion experiments are carried out in an entrained flow reactor at 1300 °C with a 20%th share of secondary fuels. Elemental and total gaseous mercury from the reactor is measured on-line, and ash is analyzed for particulate mercury along with elemental and surface properties. Reducing the air stoichiometry in the primary zone of the combustor increases unburnt carbon which in turn reduces mercury emissions in the gas phase. Ash analysis shows the effect of surface area, particle size, and unburnt carbon on mercury capture. Calcium variation in the ash was observed due to formation of different slag in reducing and oxidizing conditions and might have affected the mercury capture in combination with the above parameters. A low iron concentration of ash does not seem to affect the capture of mercury. The results will help in predicting different forms of mercury emitted from the furnace at desired operating conditions which will eventually form the basis for the design of the control strategies for mercury emissions.