Successful Design and Application of SNCR Parallel to Combustion Modification

Various De-NOx methods have been recently adopted in China to control NOx emissions including Selective Non-Catalytic Reaction (SNCR) technology. Usually, the design of SNCR system is carried out after the combustion modification technologies, such as low NOx burner (LNB) and over fire air (OFA), have already been installed and in operation. This article discusses how to design the SNCR system parallel to the combustion modification. The SNCR process design consists of three steps: (1) boiler baseline test, (2) computational fluid dynamics simulation (CFD) facilitated design and (3) SNCR system performance predictions and optimizations. The first step is to conduct boiler baseline test to characterize the boiler operating conditions at a load range. The test data can also be used to calibrate the CFD model. The second step is to develop a three-dimensional boiler coal combustion CFD model to simulate the operation of the boilers at both baseline and post combustion modification conditions. The simulation reveals velocity, temperature and combustible distributions in the furnace. The last step is to determine the position and numbers of the injectors for SNCR reagent. The final field tests upon the project completion have shown that the average SNCR De-NOx efficiency has reached 35.1% with the maximum removal efficiency of 45% on full load. The project also couples the SNCR and SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) technologies. The combined removal efficiency of combustion modifications, SNCR and SCR is higher than 82%. This paper shows a successful example for retrofitting aged power-generating units with limited space.