PARTICULATE CONTROL FOR COAL-FUELED DIESEL ENGINE EXHAUST

COAL-FUELED DIESEL ENGINES ARE CURRENTLY UNDER DEVELOPMENT FOR BOTH MOBILE AND STATIONARY APPLICATIONS. COAL IS AN ABUNDANT, LOW COST FUEL THAT HAS BEEN SHOWN TO PERFORM WELL IN MEDIUM SPEED DIESELS. ECONOMIC EMISSION CONTROLS REMAIN THE MOST IMPORTANT TECHNICAL ISSUE IN COAL-FUELED DIESEL DEVELOPMENT. CURRENTLY, NO FULLY DEMONSTRATED DEVICE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE CAN MEET THE 1994 STANDARD FOR PARTICULATE MATTER. THE MOST DESIRABLE CONTROL DEVICE IS ONE THAT CAN SEPARATE MORE THAN 90% OF THE PARTICULATES WHILE PROVIDING RELIABLE AND LOW COST OPERATION. AN ADVANCED PARTICULATE CONTROL DEVICE IS BEING STUDIED AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO CONVENTIONAL DEVICES. THE CORE SEPARATOR IS A RELATIVELY SIMPLE CONCEPT THAT HAS DEMONSTRATED THE ABILITY TO REMOVE FINE PARTICLES FROM FLUE GAS. THE BASIC DESIGN HAS BEEN ENHANCED IN ORDER TO ADDRESS THIS DIFFICULT APPLICATION. IN PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT, LABORATORY TESTINGIS BEING PERFORMED TO VERIFY PROOF-OF-CONCEPT IN REMOVING PARTICLES SIMULATING THOSE EMITTED FROM DIESEL ENGINES. THETESTING INCLUDES THE DETERMINATION OF EFFICIENCY AS A FUNCTION OF PARTICLE SIZE. IN PHASE II, FURTHER TESTING ANDREFINEMENT OF THE DESIGN ARE TO BE COMPLETED; THE END RESULTWILL BE A PROTOTYPE TEST ON AN ACTUAL DIESEL EXHAUST FUELED WITH COAL-WATER SLURRIES (CWS).