A Study on Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions Characteristics from Anthracite Circulating Fluidized Bed Power Plant in Korea

In order to tackle climate change effectively, the greenhouse gas emissions produced in Korea should be assessed precisely. To do so, the nation needs to accumulate country-specific data reflecting the specific circumstances surrounding Korea's emissions. This paper analyzed element contents of domestic anthracite, calorific value, and concentration of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) in the exhaust gases from circulating fluidized bed plant. The findings showed the concentration of CH4 and N2O in the flue gas to be 1.85 and 3.25 ppm, respectively, and emission factors were 0.486 and 2.198 kg/TJ, respectively. The CH4 emission factor in this paper was 52% lower than default emission factor presented by the IPCC. The N2O emission factor was estimated to be 46% higher than default emission factor presented by the IPCC. This discrepancy can be attributable to the different methods and conditions of combustion because the default emission factors suggested by IPCC take only fuel characteristics into consideration without combustion technologies. Therefore, Korea needs to facilitate research on a legion of fuel and energy consumption facilities to develop country-specific emission factors so that the nation can have a competitive edge in the international climate change convention in the years to come

A Study of the Bituminous Coal Oxidation Factor in Large Scale Boilers for Estimating GHG Emissions

Korea-specific GHG emissions should be estimated correctly in order to ensure effective measurement of climate change variables. The use of country-specific data that reflects fuel and technology characteristics is needed for accurate GHG emissions estimation. Oxidation factors are used to convert existing data into equivalent GHG emissions, and changes in these oxidation factors are directly related to changes in emissions. As such, the oxidation factor is one of the most important variables in using country-specific data to determine GHG emissions. In this study, the oxidation factor of bituminous coal in large scale boilers was estimated using 4,527 data points sampled from eight large-scale boilers that had been using bituminous coal for two years. The average oxidation factor was determined to be 0.997, which is lower than the oxidation factor of 1 that is recommended by the IPCC G/L for large scale boilers when estimating national GHG emissions. However, an oxidation factor less than 1 is assumed for fluidized bed boilers, internal combustion engines, and other small-scale boilers. Accordingly, studies on oxidation factor estimation should be continued to allow for accurate estimation of GHG emissions