IMPROVED HOT STREAM CLEANUP USING AN IN-SITU MULTI-GAS MONITOR

REMOVAL OF CONTAMINANTS FROM HOT GAS STREAMS FED TO DOWNSTREAM EQUIPMENT IF ESSENTIAL TO SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED COAL UTILIZATION AND CONVERSION PROCESSES. THE OPERATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF SUCH REMOVAL PROCESS OFTEN REQUIRES DIAGNOSTIC INSTRUMENTATION TO MEASURE CONCENTRATIONS AND TEMPERATURES OF CONTAMINANT SPECIES. ONE OBJECTIVE IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN IN-SITU METHODS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY MEASURING NO, N2O, NO2, NH3, CO, SO2, CO3, HCL, AND AIR TOXICS. THE IN-SITU SENSOR WILL EMPLOY A STATE-OF-THE-ART FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED (FT-IR) PROCESS SPECTROMETER. ROBUST SOFTWARE IS BEING DEVELOPED FOR THIS SYSTEM FOR GAS QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS, EVEN IN THE PRESENCE OF HIGH H2O CONCENTRATIONS. TO CREATE AN IN-SITU PROBE, THE FT-IR SENSOR WILL BE COUPLED TO A POROUS CERAMIC DIFFUSION CELL. THIS CELL IS INSERTED INTO THE HOT GAS STREAM AND BECAUSE OF THE DIFFUSION THROUGH THE POROUS WALL DRIVEN BY THE GAS VELOCITY, THE CELL MAINTAINS A GAS CONCENTRATION EQUAL TO THAT IN THE OUTER STREAM WITHOUT PARTICULATES. THE APPLICATION OF THIS TECHNOLOGY WILL BE DEVELOPED AND DEMONSTRATED BY CONTROLLING A SELECTIVE NON-CATALYTIC REDUCTION (SNCR) FOR THE CONTROL OF NOX AND NH3 (WHICH IS AN UNWANTED BY-PRODUCT). THE OBJECTIVE OF PHASE I IS TO DESIGN, BUILD, AND TEST A PROTOTYPE SYSTEM WHICH COUPLES TH FT-IR SENSOR WITH THE POROUS IN-SITU DIFFUSION CELL TO PROVIDE INPUTS TO A COMMERCIAL PROCESS. AFTER LABORATORY TESTING AND CALIBRATION OF THE SENSOR, A FIELD TEST WILL BE PERFORMED IN A PILOT PLANT WHICH HAS EXTENSIVE MONITORING FACILITIES.