Effects of Flue Gas Internal Recirculation on NOx and SOx Emissions in a Co-Firing Boiler

Volumetric combustion has been developed to realize a high substitution ratio of biomass in co-firing boilers, which features an intensive flue gas internal recirculation inside furnace. However, the characteristics of NOx and SOx emissions in large-scale boilers with volumetric combustion were not fully clear. In this paper, an Aspen Plus model of volumetric combustion system was built up based on a co-firing boiler. In order to characterize the reductions of NOx and SOx, three biomass substitution ratios were involved, namely, 100% biomass, 45% biomass with 55% coal, and 100% coal. The effects of flue gas recirculation ratio, air preheating temperature, oxygen concentration, and fuel types on pollutants emission in the volumetric combustion system were investigated. According to the results, it was concluded the higher substitution ratio of biomass in a co-firing boiler, the lower emissions of NOx and SOx. Moreover, flue gas internal recirculation is an effective pathway for NOx reduction and an increased recirculation ratio resulted in a significant decreasing of NOx emission;however, the SOx increased slightly. The influences of air preheating temperature and O2 concentration on NOx emission were getting weak with increasing of recirculation ratio. When 10% or even higher of flue gas was recycled, it was observed that almost no NOx formed thermodynamically under all studied conditions. Finally, to reach a low emission level of NOx, less energy would be consumed during biomass combustion than coal combustion process for internal recirculation of flue gas.

Dynamic simulation of drum level sloshing of heat recovery steam generator

Drum level sloshing is the latest discovery in the application of heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) in combined cycle, and shows certain negative influence on drum level controlling. In order to improve drum level controlling, influence factors on the drum level sloshing were investigated. Firstly, drum sub-modules were developed using the method of modularization modeling, and then the model of drum level sloshing was set up as well. Experiments were carried out on the experimental rig, and the model was validated using the obtained experimental results. Dynamic simulation was made based on the model to get a 3-D graph of drum level sloshing, which shows a vivid procedure of drum level sloshing. The effect of feed-water flow rate, main-steam flow rate and heating quantity on the drum level sloshing was analyzed. The simulation results indicate that the signals with frequency higher than 0.05 Hz are that of drum level sloshing, the signals with frequency of 0.0-0.05 Hz are that of drum level trendy and "false water level", and variation of the feed-water flow rates, main-steam flow rates and heating quantities can change the frequency of drum level sloshing, i.e., the frequency of sloshing increases with the increase of feed-water flow rate, or the decrease of the main-steam flow rate and the heating quantity. This research work is fundamental to improve signal-to-noise ratio of drum level signal and precise controlling of drum level.