Emissions of Organic Hazardous Air Pollutants from the Combustion of Pulverized Coal in a Small-Scale Combustor

Abstract

The article gives results of a characterization of emissions of 76 organic hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) in flue gases from the combustion of pulverized coal in a small-scale down-fired combustor. The combustor was operated under different conditions to simulate baseline, high excess air firing, and nitrogen oxide (NOx) controls by combustion modifications. Samples were extracted near the combustor exit, upstream of any pollution control equipment. Data collected indicate that relatively low levels of organic HAPs are present in the flue gases for any of the combustion conditions; however, several compounds were present that have not been reported in previous studies. To the extent that these small-scale tests accurately simulate full-scale units, estimates based on these experiments indicate that the total HAP emissions from a large utility power plant are not likely to increase significantly due to installation of combustion modification techniques for NOx control.