THE DPE FLUE GAS EMISSION CONTROL SYSTEM

THIS SYSTEM COMBINES THREE TECHNOLOGIES-DIELECTRIC BARRIER DISCHARGE, PHOTOLYSIS, AND ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATION (DPE)-TO PROVIDE FOR SIMULTANEOUS, HIGH EFFICIENCY REMOVAL OF SULFUR OXIDES (SOX), NITROGEN OXIDES (NOX), AND PARTICULATES FROM NORMAL TEMPERATURE COMBUSTION FLUE GASES. THIS SYSTEM DIFFERS FROM CURRENT COMMERCIAL SCRUBBER AND DE-NOX TECHNOLOGIES IN THAT NO CHEMICAL REAGENTS OR ADSORBATES ARE REQUIRED, AND THE PROCESS CAN BE ACCOMMODATEDWITHIN THE CONFINES OF EXISTING PARTICULATE COLLECTION EQUIPMENT. ACIDIC GASES ARE OXIDIZED BY HYDROXYL (OH) RADICALS IN A MANNER SIMILAR TO THAT OCCURING IN SYSTEMS EMPLOYING ELECTRON BEAM TECHNOLOGY. HOWEVER, THE DIELECTRICBARRIER DISCHARGE EMPLOYED RESULTS IN THE GENERATION OF ENERGETIC ELECTRONS THROUGHOUT THE INTERELECTRODE VOLUME ANDDOES NOT REQUIRE AN EXTERNALLY GENERATED ELECTRON BEAM. PHOTOLYSIS IS PROVIDED TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY BY CONVERTING THE GENERATED OZONE INTO ADDITIONAL OH RADICALS. IN THE COMBINED PROCESS, THE BARRIER DISCHARGE PROVIDES CHARGING OFTHE PARTICULATE MATTER FOR COLLECTION BY ELECTROSTATIC FORCES IN A MORE OR LESS CONVENTIONAL MANNER. RECENT RESEARCH HAS SHOWN BOTH ANALYTICALLY AND IN LABORATORY-SCALEEXPERIMENTS ON SIMULATED FLUE GASES THAT THE PROCESSES OF BARRIER DISCHARGE AND PHOTOLYSIS ARE TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE AND ARE CAPABLE OF HIGH SOX AND NOX REMOVAL EFFICIENCIES. THE PHASE I EFFORT IS TO INTEGRATE THESE TWO TECHNOLOGIES INA SYNERGISTIC MANNER WITH PARTICULATE REMOVAL AND TO INCORPORATE ALL THREE PROCESSES WITHIN THE CONFINES OF EXISTING ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR EQUIPMENT. PHASE I ADDRESSES THREE MAIN AREAS: (1) EVALUATION OF THE PARTICULATE REMOVAL STEP USING AN ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATOR, IN WHICH PARTICLE CHARGING IS ACHIEVED BY BARRIER DISCHARGE; (2) IDENTIFICATION OF PRACTICAL CONFIGURATIONS OF THE COMBINED DPE PROCESS; AND (3) PROOF-OF-CONCEPT VERIFICATION OF COMBINED EMISSIONS CONTROL PERFORMANCE AT PILOT SCALE USING REAL COAL COMBUSTION FLUE GASES.