Effect of heterogeneous mechanisms during reburning of nitrogen oxide

NO reduction through heterogeneous mechanisms is a major concern when coal or lignite is used as reburning fuel. Reburning was simulated in an alumina flow reactor operated with a synthetic flue gas at a stoichiometric ratio of 1.1, at 1,100 degrees C and with a residence time of approximately 0.2 s. Reburning fuels used include methane, one bituminous coal, two lignites, chars derived from the bituminous coal and two lignites, and the bituminous coal char impregnated with CaO. Reburning with chars indicates that heterogeneous mechanisms are more important than homogeneous mechanisms when lignites are used This high reactivity renders lignite char an even more effective reburning fuel than the parent lignite, while char from the bituminous coal produces little activities at stoichiometric ratios above 0.75. Bituminous coal char impregnated with CaO demonstrates higher NO reduction efficiency than the original char. Effects of SR on NO reductions imply that oxygen atoms, required for the NO and HCN conversions in homogeneous mechanisms, are not required in heterogeneous mechanisms. In fact, they inhibit the surface NO reduction. The first-level kinetic analysis indicates that the surface area is not the only contributor to a remarkable increase in NO reduction of lignite char, and chars of different origins seem to follow different mechanisms or to have different controlling steps in the overall reaction scheme.