A COAL-FIRED INTEGRATED EMISSIONS CONTROL COMBUSTOR

CURRENT AND ADVANCED COAL COMBUSTORS FOR INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS DO NOT INTEGRATE COMBUSTION AND POLLUTION CONTROL PROCESSES TO THE EXTENT REQUIRED TO MINIMIZE SYSTEM COST AND SPACE REQUIREMENTS. THE NOVEL INTEGRATED EMISSIONS CONTROL COMBUSTOR (IECC) OPTIMIZES COMBUSTION, NITROGEN OXIDES (NOX) AND SULFUR DIOXIDE (SO2) POLLUTION CONTROL AND MINIMIZES ASH CARRYOVER BY CAREFULLY MATCHING COAL AND INEXPENSIVE LIMESTONE SORBENT CHARACTERISTICS TO GAS CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT THE SYSTEM. THIS APPROACH ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR EXPENSIVE ADD-ON NOX AND SO2 POLLUTION CONTROL EQUIPMENT AND MINIMIZES THE ASH BURDEN ON THE HEAT TRANSFER SURFACES AND ON THE DOWNSTREAM PARTICULATE CONTROL DEVICE. PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT USES ANALYSES AND SMALL SCALE TESTS TO ESTABLISH THE FEASIBILITY OF THE IECC CONCEPT TO REDUCE NOX AND SO2 AT GOOD COMBUSTION EFFICIENCY AND AT LOW COST. MODELS ARE BEING USED TO IDENTIFY OPTIMAL DESIGN AND OPERATING PARAMETERS FOR A FULL SCALE APPLICATION OF INTEREST. SMALL SCALE BOILER SIMULATOR TESTS ARE BEING RUN TO PROVE COMBUSTION AND NOX EMISSIONS BENEFITS. THE MODEL AND TEST PERFORMANCE RESULTS WILL BE COMBINED WITH PRELIMINARY ECONOMIC ANALYSIS TO SHOW THE GENERAL BENEFITS OF THE CONCEPT OVER CONVENTIONAL COMBUSTORS.