Emissions of SO 2, NO and N 2O in a circulating fluidized bed combustor during co-firing coal and biomass

Abstract

This paper presents the experimental investigations of the emissions of SO 2, NO and N 2O in a bench scale circulating fluidized bed combustor for coal combustion and co-firing coal and biomass. The thermal capacity of the combustor is 30 kW. The setup is electrically heated during startup. The influence of the excess air, the degree of the air staging, the biomass share and the feeding position of the fuels on the emissions of SO 2, NO and N 2O were studied. The results showed that an increase in the biomass shares resulted in an increase of the CO concentration in the flue gas, probably due to the high volatile content of the biomass. In co-firing, the emission of SO 2 increased with increasing biomass share slightly, however, non-linear increase relationship between SO 2 emission and fuel sulfur content was observed. Air staging significantly decreased the NO emission without raising the SO 2 level. Although the change of the fuel feeding position from riser to downer resulted in a decrease in the NO emission level, no obvious change was observed for the SO 2 level. Taking the coal feeding position R as a reference, the relative NO emission could significantly decrease during co-firing coal and biomass when feeding fuel at position D and keeping the first stage stoichiometry greater than 0.95. The possible mechanisms of the sulfur and nitrogen chemistry at these conditions were discussed and the ways of simultaneous reduction of SO 2, NO and N 2O were proposed.