Emissions Behavior of a High Temperature Industrial Burner in a Controlled Simulation of a Practical Furnace Environment

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.