Low-carbon fuel reburning for CO2 and NOx reduction in pulverized coal firing system

Abstract

Using low- or zero-carbon fuels is necessary to reduce CO2 emissions. Gas reburning technology can be applied to existing coal boilers to reduce not only CO2 but also NOx emissions. In this study, we confirmed the gas reburning effect using lab-scale equipment based on the consumption coal used in real-scale boilers, with the aim of practical application. Bituminous coal was used as the reference fuel, and sub-bituminous coal was blended to determine whether coal blending has an effect on NOx emissions. This was conducted to optimize the coal blending ratio and gas reburning technology for NOx emission reduction and quantify the NOx reduction by the two methods. Blending sub-bituminous coal reduced the unburned carbon (UBC) content, because of its high volatile matter content. Moreover, NOx emissions decreased as the ratio of sub-bituminous coal increased. In terms of the reburning effect, although UBCs increased with the addition of methane, NOx emission decreased by up to 96.05 %. The conversion ratio, defined as the NOx formation ratio of the total fuel N injection, was used to separate the NOx reduction effects of the two methods. Thus, gas reburning in the ammonia co-firing system of coal-fired power plants can significantly reduce NOx emissions.