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Show Emissions Behavior of a High-Temperature Industrial Burner in a Controlled Simulation of a Practical Furnace Environment C. K. Weakley and G. S. Samuelsen UCI Combustion Laboratory University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92697-3550 USA The control of NOx emissions from high-temperature industrial heating furnaces has become a particular problem in the South Coast Air Basin of California. Such furnaces, which are used in various material-processing and incineration applications, are prone to excessive amounts of NOx formation as a result of the requirement for high flame temperatures. To address the reduction of NOx formation in these systems, the VCI Combustion Laboratory has designed, fabricated, and installed a research furnace simulator for the testing and development of advanced high-temperature, gas-fired industrial burners. The initial application to be simulated by this flexible system is the thermal oxidation of volatile organic compounds in exhaust fumes. These reactors are characterized not only by high pre-heat and furnace temperatures but by high furnace oxygen levels as well. An evaluation of the bulk emission performance of a 4 MM Btu/hr burner was performed to validate the operation of the furnace simulator, and to establish a foundation for future research. INTRODUCTION The control of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emlsslons from high-temperature industrial furnaces has become a particular problem in the South Coast Air Basin of California. Such furnaces, which are used in various material-processing and incineration applications, have specific attributes which lead to excessive amounts of NOx formation. As regulations emerging from the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act demand ever decreasing levels of NOx emissions from industrial sources, corporations are intensively seeking methods for reducing emissions before they are formed through combustion controls. This is due to the expense involved in post-combustion NOx reduction through selective and non-selective catalytic reduction. Industrial processes demand high temperatures, usually in excess of 10000 F, and demand that these temperatures be maintained for long periods of time. Note that to achieve these temperatures, the maximum furnace temperature will always exceed the demanded process |
