Performance Optimization of High-pressure SCR System in a Marine Diesel. Part II: Catalytic Reduction and Process

The working process of high-pressure SCR (HP-SCR) system is a kind of catalytic reaction process in the high-pressure exhaust flow, which involves urea decomposition reaction, catalytic reduction reaction of NOx and oxidizing reaction of NH₃. Based on existing exhaust conditions of marine low-speed diesel engines, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) coupled with the chemical reaction kinetics, the catalytic process, and the working performance of the HP-SCR system were correspondingly studied in this paper. With the optimized scheme of the HP-SCR system, concentration uniformity, linear velocity, and total pressure loss were determined. Likewise, the concentration distribution of NH₃, NO, and NO₂ were obtained, and the catalytic kinetics of the NOx reduction reaction was analyzed. For the optimized scheme, the concentration of NH₃ and the flow uniformity of the catalyst upwind section was met with the design requirements of the HP-SCR system, and the pressure loss of the SCR catalyst layer occupied about 40% of the total pressure loss. With NO, NO₂, and NH₃ existing together in the exhaust, both the standard SCR reaction and fast SCR reaction are competitive, and they mostly react along the first layer of catalyst. Finally, the weighted average value of the NOx emission behind the HP-SCR system was determined using the ISO8717 test cycle E3, and the value was 2.67 g/kWh, which met with the NOx limited requirement of the IMO Tier III.