JV 58-Effects of Biomass Combustion on SCR Catalyst

A portable slipstream selective catalytic reduction (SCR) reactor was installed at a biomass cofired utility boiler to examine the rates and mechanisms of catalyst deactivation when exposed to biomass combustion products. The catalyst was found to deactivate at a much faster rate than typically found in a coal-fired boiler, although this may have been the result of high ash loading rather than a general property of biomass combustion. Deactivation was mainly the result of alkali and alkaline-earth sulfate formation and growth in catalyst pores, apparently caused by alkaline-earth ash deposition on or near the pore sites. The high proportion of biomass in the fuel contributed to elevated levels of alkali and alkaline-earth material in the ash when compared to coal ash, and these higher levels provided more opportunity for sulfate formation. Based on laboratory tests, neither catalyst material nor ammonia contributed measurably to ash mass gains via sulfation. A model constructed using both field and laboratory data was able to predict catalyst deactivation of catalysts under subbituminous coal firing but performed poorly at predicting catalyst deactivation under cofiring conditions. Because of the typically higher-than coal levels of alkali and alkaline-earth elements present in biomass fuels that are available for sulfation at typical SCR temperatures, the use of SCR technology and biomass cofiring needs to be carefully evaluated prior to implementation

JV TASK - PREDICTIVE COAL QUALITY EFFECTS SCREENING TOOL (PCQUEST)

PCQUEST, a package of eight predictive indices, was developed with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) support by the Energy and Environmental Research Center to predict fireside performance in coal-fired utility boilers more reliably than traditional indices. Since the development of PCQUEST, the need has arisen for additional fuel types into the program database. PCQUEST was developed using combustion inorganic transformation theory from previous projects and from empirical data derived from laboratory experiments and coal boiler field observations. The goal of this joint venture project between commercial industry clients and DOE is to further enhance PCQUEST and improve its utility for a variety of new fuels and systems. Specific objectives include initiating joint venture projects with utilities, boiler vendors, and coal companies that involve real-world situations and needs in order to strategically improve algorithms and input-output functions of PCQUEST, as well as to provide technology transfer to the industrial sector. The main body of this report provides a short summary of the projects that were closed from February 1999 through June 2006. All of the reports sent to the commercial clients can be found in the appendix

ADVANCED POWER SYSTEMS ANALYSIS TOOLS

The use of Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) modeling tools and improved analytical methods has provided key information in optimizing advanced power system design and operating conditions for efficiency, producing minimal air pollutant emissions and utilizing a wide range of fossil fuel properties. This project was divided into four tasks: the demonstration of the ash transformation model, upgrading spreadsheet tools, enhancements to analytical capabilities using the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and improvements to the slag viscosity model. The ash transformation model, Atran, was used to predict the size and composition of ash particles, which has a major impact on the fate of the combustion system. To optimize Atran key factors such as mineral fragmentation and coalescence, the heterogeneous and homogeneous interaction of the organically associated elements must be considered as they are applied to the operating conditions. The resulting model's ash composition compares favorably to measured results. Enhancements to existing EERC spreadsheet application included upgrading interactive spreadsheets to calculate the thermodynamic properties for fuels, reactants, products, and steam with Newton Raphson algorithms to perform calculations on mass, energy, and elemental balances, isentropic expansion of steam, and gasifier equilibrium conditions. Derivative calculations can be performed to estimate fuel heating values, adiabatic flame temperatures, emission factors, comparative fuel costs, and per-unit carbon taxes from fuel analyses. Using state-of-the-art computer-controlled scanning electron microscopes and associated microanalysis systems, a method to determine viscosity using the incorporation of grey-scale binning acquired by the SEM image was developed. The image analysis capabilities of a backscattered electron image can be subdivided into various grey-scale ranges that can be analyzed separately. Since the grey scale's intensity is dependent on the chemistry of the particle, it is possible to map chemically similar areas which can also be related to the viscosity of that compound at temperature. A second method was also developed to determine the elements associated with the organic matrix of the coals, which is currently determined by chemical fractionation. Mineral compositions and mineral densities can be determined for both included and excluded minerals, as well as the fraction of the ash that will be represented by that mineral on a frame-by-frame basis. The slag viscosity model was improved to provide improved predictions of slag viscosity and temperature of critical viscosity for representative Powder River Basin subbituminous and lignite coals

COAL SLAGGING AND REACTIVITY TESTING

Union Fenosa's La Robla I Power Station is a 270-MW Foster Wheeler arch-fired system. The unit is located at the mine that provides a portion of the semianthracitic coal. The remaining coals used are from South Africa, Russia, Australia, and China. The challenges at the La Robla I Station stem from the various fuels used, the characteristics of which differ from the design coal. The University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) and the Lehigh University Energy Research Center (LUERC) undertook a program to assess problematic slagging and unburned carbon issues occurring at the plant. Full-scale combustion tests were performed under baseline conditions, with elevated oxygen level and with redistribution of air during a site visit at the plant. During these tests, operating information, observations and temperature measurements, and coal, slag deposit, and fly ash samples were obtained to assess slagging and unburned carbon. The slagging in almost all cases appeared due to elevated temperatures rather than fuel chemistry. The most severe slagging occurred when the temperature at the sampling port was in excess of 1500 C, with problematic slagging where first-observed temperatures exceeded 1350 C. The presence of anorthite crystals in the bulk of the deposits analyzed indicates that the temperatures were in excess of 1350 C, consistent with temperature measurements during the sampling period. Elevated temperatures and ''hot spots'' are probably the result of poor mill performance, and a poor distribution of the coal from the mills to the specific burners causes elevated temperatures in the regions where the slag samples were extracted. A contributing cause appeared to be poor combustion air mixing and heating, resulting in oxygen stratification and increased temperatures in certain areas. Air preheater plugging was observed and reduces the temperature of the air in the windbox, which leads to poor combustion conditions, resulting in unburned carbon as well as slagging. A second phase of the project involved advanced analysis of the baseline coal along with an Australian coal fired at the plant. These analysis results were used in equilibrium thermodynamic modeling along with a coal quality model developed by the EERC to assess slagging, fouling, and opacity for the coals. Bench-scale carbon conversion testing was performed in a drop-tube furnace to assess the reactivity of the coals. The Australian coal had a higher mineral content with significantly more clay minerals present than the baseline coal. The presence of these clay minerals, which tend to melt at relatively low temperatures, indicated a higher potential for problematic slagging than the baseline coal. However, the pyritic minerals, comprising over 25% of the baseline mineral content, may form sticky iron sulfides, leading to severe slagging in the burner region if local areas with reducing conditions exist. Modeling results indicated that neither would present significant fouling problems. The Australian coal was expected to show slagging behavior much more severe than the baseline coal except at very high furnace temperatures. However, the baseline coal was predicted to exhibit opacity problems, as well as have a higher potential for problematic calcium sulfate-based low-temperature fouling. The baseline coal had a somewhat higher reactivity than the Australian coal, which was consistent with both the lower average activation energy for the baseline coal and the greater carbon conversion at a given temperature and residence time. The activation energy of the baseline coal showed some effect of oxygen on the activation energy, with E{sub a} increasing at the lower oxygen concentration, but may be due to the scatter in the baseline coal kinetic values at the higher oxygen level tested

Advanced Heterogeneous Reburn Fuel From Coal and Hog Manure: Final Report

This study was performed to investigate whether the nitrogen content inherent in hog manure and alkali used as a catalyst during processing could be combined with coal to produce a reburn fuel that would result in advanced reburning NO{sub x} control without the addition of either alkali or ammonia/urea. Fresh hog manure was processed in a cold-charge, 1-gal, batch autoclave system at 275 C under a reducing atmosphere in the presence of an alkali catalyst. Instead of the expected organic liquid, the resulting product was a waxy solid material. The waxy nature of the material made size reduction and feeding difficult as the material agglomerated and tended to melt, plugging the feeder. The material was eventually broken up and sized manually and a water-cooled feeder was designed and fabricated. Two reburn tests were performed in a pilot-scale combustor. The first test evaluated a reburn fuel mixture comprising lignite and air-dried, raw hog manure. The second test evaluated a reburn fuel mixture made of lignite and the processed hog manure. Neither reburn fuel reduced NO{sub x} levels in the combustor flue gas. Increased slagging and ash deposition were observed during both reburn tests. The material-handling and ash-fouling issues encountered during this study indicate that the use of waste-based reburn fuels could pose practical difficulties in implementation on a larger scale

MERCURY CONTROL WITH THE ADVANCED HYBRID PARTICULATE COLLECTOR

This project was awarded under U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) Program Solicitation DE-PS26-00NT40769 and specifically addresses Technical Topical Area 4-Testing Novel and Less Mature Control Technologies on Actual Flue Gas at the Pilot Scale. The project team includes the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) as the main contractor; W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc., as a technical and financial partner; and the Big Stone Plant operated by Otter Tail Power Company, host for the field-testing portion of the research. Since 1995, DOE has supported development of a new concept in particulate control called the advanced hybrid particulate collector (AHPC). The AHPC has been licensed to W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc., and is now marketed as the Advanced Hybrid{trademark} filter by Gore. The AHPC combines the best features of electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) and baghouses in a unique configuration, providing major synergism between the two collection methods, both in the particulate collection step and in the transfer of dust to the hopper. The AHPC provides ultrahigh collection efficiency, overcoming the problem of excessive fine-particle emissions with conventional ESPs, and it solves the problem of reentrainment and re-collection of dust in conventional baghouses. The AHPC appears to have unique advantages for mercury control over baghouses or ESPs as an excellent gas-solid contactor. The objective of the original 5-task project is to demonstrate 90% total mercury control in the AHPC at a lower cost than current mercury control estimates. The approach includes bench-scale batch testing that ties the new work to previous results and links results with larger-scale pilot testing with real flue gas on a coal-fired combustion system, pilot-scale testing on a coal-fired combustion system with both a pulse-jet baghouse and an AHPC to prove or disprove the research hypotheses, and field demonstration pilot-scale testing at a utility power plant to prove scale-up and demonstrate longer-term mercury control. This project, if successful, will demonstrate at the pilot-scale level a technology that would provide a cost-effective technique to accomplish control of mercury emissions and, at the same time, greatly enhance fine particulate collection efficiency. The technology can be used to retrofit systems currently employing inefficient ESP technology as well as for new construction, thereby providing a solution to a large segment of the U.S. utility industry as well as other industries requiring mercury control. The scope of work was modified to include an additional sixth task, initiated in April 2003. The objective of this task is to evaluate the mercury capture effectiveness of the AHPC when used with elemental mercury oxidation additives, a spray dryer absorber, and novel baghouse sorbent inserts downstream of the fabric filter

LONG-TERM DEMONSTRATION OF SORBENT ENHANCEMENT ADDITIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR MERCURY CONTROL

Long-term demonstration tests of advanced sorbent enhancement additive (SEA) technologies have been completed at five coal-fired power plants. The targeted removal rate was 90% from baseline conditions at all five stations. The plants included Hawthorn Unit 5, Mill Creek Unit 4, San Miguel Unit 1, Centralia Unit 2, and Hoot Lake Unit 2. The materials tested included powdered activated carbon, treated carbon, scrubber additives, and SEAs. In only one case (San Miguel) was >90% removal not attainable. The reemission of mercury from the scrubber at this facility prevented >90% capture

LONG-TERM DEMONSTRATION OF SORBENT ENHANCEMENT ADDITIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR MERCURY CONTROL

Long-term demonstration tests of advanced sorbent enhancement additive (SEA) technologies have been completed at five coal-fired power plants. The targeted removal rate was 90% from baseline conditions at all five stations. The plants included Hawthorn Unit 5, Mill Creek Unit 4, San Miguel Unit 1, Centralia Unit 2, and Hoot Lake Unit 2. The materials tested included powdered activated carbon, treated carbon, scrubber additives, and SEAs. In only one case (San Miguel) was >90% removal not attainable. The reemission of mercury from the scrubber at this facility prevented >90% capture