POWER CONDITIONING FOR EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE REMOVAL OF NITROGEN AND SULFUR OXIDES AND TOXIC MATERIALS FROM EFFLUENT GASES

PULSED CORONA DISCHARGE TREATMENT OF FLUE GASES FOR EFFLUENT CONTROL HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR EFFECTIVE REMOVAL OF SULFUR OXIDES (SOX), NITROGEN OXIDES (NOX), AND VARIOUS OTHER TOXIC MATERIALS. PULSED PLASMA PROCESSING HAS BEEN SHOWN TO BE AN EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR REMOVING NOX, SOX AND SOOT FROM POWER PLANT EFFLUENT GASES AND DIESEL ENGINE EXHAUST. THIS METHOD REQUIRES REPETITIVE PULSED POWER SYSTEMS THAT HAVE BEEN DIFFICULT OR EXPENSIVE TO OPERATE, INEFFICIENT, AND CARRY ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS. A ROBUST, ECONOMIC, EFFICIENT PULSED POWER METHOD IS PLANNED. THIS RESEARCH IS DEVELOPING NOVEL PULSE MODULATOR CONCEPTS WITH HIGHER EFFICIENCY AND MORE RELIABLE CONSTRUCTION THAN CURRENT METHODS. THE APPROACH IS BASED ON AN INNOVATION IN REPETITIVE SWITCHING, THE SUPER-EMISSIVE CATHODE SWITCH (SEC). THE SEC SWITCH HAS SEVERAL VERSIONS, INCLUDING THE PSEUDOSPARK AND THE BACK-LIGHTED THRATRON (BLT). IT HAS DEMONSTRATED HIGH VOLTAGE, HIGH REPETITION RATE, AND LONG LIFETIME CHARACTERISTICS OF THYRATRON SWITCHES, WHILE OPERATING WITH HIGHER CURRENTS, LOWER INDUCTANCE, AND SIMPLER STRUCTURES THAT ARE ROBUST AND MORE SUITABLE FOR HIGH VOLTAGE OPERATION (WHICH IS REQUIRED BY THESE SYSTEMS). THE SEC SWITCH-BASED MODULATORS WILL BE MORE ECONOMIC AND ROBUST THAN THOSE PRESENTLY AVAILABLE AND WILL REQUIRE CONSIDERABLY LESS PERIPHERAL CIRCUITRY. THE PHASE I WORK WILL ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY AND ADVANTAGES OF THIS MODULATOR AND WILL ADDRESS MEETING THE OPERATING REQUIREMENTS SPECIFIED BY ENGINEERS IMPLEMENTING THE PULSED CORONA DISCHARGE METHOD. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT WILL RESULT IN AN ADVANCEMENT IN PULSE MODULATOR TECHNOLOGY FOR A FLUE GAS TREATMENT SYSTEM THAT IS ECONOMIC, EFFICIENT, AND RELIABLE. THIS BREAKTHROUGH IN PULSE MODULATOR TECHNOLOGY WILL ALLOW THESE SYSTEMS TO BE IMPLEMENTED ON AN INDUSTRIAL SCALE.