Kinetics and Mechanisms of NO(x) - Char Reduction

Abstract

The emission of nitrogen oxides from combustion of coal remains a problem of considerable interest, whether the concern is with acid rain, stratospheric ozone chemistry, or greenhouse gases. Whereas earlier the concern was focused mainly on NO (as a primary combustion product) and to a lesser extent N0{sub 2} (since it is mainly a secondary product of combustion, e.g. see ref. 1), in recent years the emissions of N{sub 2}0 have also captured considerable attention, particularly in the context of fluidized bed combustion, in which the problem appears to be most acute. The research community has only recently begun to take solid hold on the N{sub 2}0 problem. This is in part because earlier estimates of the importance of N{sub 2}0 in combustion processes were clouded by artifacts in sampling which have now been resolved. This project is concerned with the mechanism of reduction of both NO and N{sub 2}0 by carbons. It was recognized some years ago that NO formed during fluidized bed coal combustion can be heterogeneously reduced in-situ by the carbonaceous solid intermediates of combustion. This has been recently supplemented by the knowledge that heterogeneous reaction with carbon can also play an important role in reducing emissions of N{sub 2}0{sub 2}, but that the NO-carbon reactions might also contribute to formation of N{sub 2}0{sub 2}. The precise role of carbon in N{sub 2}0 reduction and formation has yet to be established, since in one case the authors of a recent study were compelled to comment that the basic knowledge of N{sub 2}0 formation and reduction still has to be improved. The same can be said of the NO-carbon system. Interest in the NO- and N{sub 2}0-char reactions has been significant in connection with both combustor modeling, as well as in design of post-combustion NO{sub x} control strategies.