"AN FT-IR BASED MONITORING DEVISE FOR NOX, SOX, AND PARTICULATES"

THE U.S. DOE IS INTERESTED IN DEVELOPING ADVANCED COAL COMBUSTION SYSTEMS THAT REDUCE THE EMISSION OF HARMFUL SPECIES INTO THE ENVIRONMENT. THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ANY POLLUTION CONTROL STRATEGY IS GREATLY ENHANCED BY THE ABILITY TO HAVE ON-LINE MONITORING OF THE CLEANUP DEVICE. REDUCING COSTS IS A MAJOR CONSIDERATION, AS THE MONITORING SYSTEM FOR A LARGE PLANT CAN EXCEED ONE MILLION DOLLARS. WHAT OFTEN DRIVES UP THE COST IS THE REQUIREMENT FOR SEVERALSEPARATE DEVICES FOR EACH SPECIES BEING MONITORED. THE GOALOF THIS PROPOSED PHASE I AND PHASE II PROJECT IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INSTRUMENT BASED ON FT-IR SPECTROSCOPY FOR MONITORING THE CONCENTRATIONS AND TEMPERATURES OF NITROGEN, SULFUR AND PARTICULATE POLLUTANT SPECIES FOUND IN COMBUSTION FLUE GASES. THE INSTRUMENT COULD ALSO BE USEDTO ISSUE CONTROL COMMANDS. IN THE PHASE I PROGRAM, WE PROPOSE TO MODIFY A RECENTLY DEVELOPED FT-IR, THE MICHELSON 110, MANUFACTURED BY BOMEM. THIS INSTRUMENT IS DESIGNED FORPROCESS MONITORING, IS RUGGED AND PORTABLE, AND SELLS FOR AROUND $30,000. THE PHASE I PROGRAM WILL INVOLVE SEPARATE TASKS TO ENHANCE THE OPTICAL HARDWARE, DATA ANALYSIS SOFTWARE, AND SAMPLING SYSTEM IN ORDER TO OBTAIN ANALYSES OF TRACE QUANTITIES OF THE GASEOUS POLLUTANT SPECIES DESPITEINTERFERENCES FROM THE MAIN COMBUSTION PRODUCTS IN SOME CASES (CO2, CO, H2O). THE INSTRUMENT WOULD BE TESTED IN A LABORATORY SCALE FLUIDIZED BED COMBUSTOR AT AFR. FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS IN THE INSTRUMENT, DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTOTYPE AND FIELD TESTING WOULD OCCUR IN PHASE II. THE PHASE II PROGRAM WOULD ALSO INCLUDE THE USE OF THE FT-IR MONITOR FOR MAKING MEASUREMENTS DIRECTLY IN A STACK OR IN THE FREEBOARD REGION OF A FLUIDIZED BED COMBUSTOR. THIS WOULD ALSO ALLOW AN INVESTIGATION OF THE APPLICATION OF THE INSTRUMENT FOR MEASUREMENT OF PARTICULATE CONCENTRATIONS.