NOx Emission Reduction by Oscillating Combustion

High-temperature, natural gas-fired furnaces, especially those fired with preheated air, produce large quantities of NO{sub x} per ton of material processed. Regulations on emissions from industrial furnaces are becoming increasingly more stringent. In addition, competition is forcing operators to make their furnaces more productive and/or efficient. Switching from preheated air to industrial oxygen can increase efficiency and reduce NO{sub x}, but oxygen is significantly more costly than air and may not be compatible with the material being heated. What was needed, and what was developed during this project, is a technology that reduces NO{sub x} emissions while increasing furnace efficiency for both air- and oxy-fired furnaces. Oscillating combustion is a retrofit technology that involves the forced oscillation of the fuel flow rate to a furnace. These oscillations create successive, fuel-rich and fuel-lean zones within the furnace. Heat transfer from the flame to the load increases due to the more luminous fuel-rich zones, a longer overall flame length, and the breakup of the thermal boundary layer. The increased heat transfer shortens heat up times, thereby increasing furnace productivity, and reduces the heat going up the stack, thereby increasing efficiency. The fuel-rich and fuel-lean zones also produce substantially less NO{sub x} than firing at a constant excess air level. The longer flames and higher heat transfer rate reduces overall peak flame temperature and thus reduces additional NO{sub x} formation from the eventual mixing of the zones and burnout of combustibles from the rich zones. This project involved the development of hardware to implement oscillating combustion on an industrial scale, the laboratory testing of oscillating combustion on various types of industrial burners, and the field testing of oscillating combustion on several types of industrial furnace. Before laboratory testing began, a market study was conducted, based on the attributes of oscillating combustion and on the results of an earlier project at GTI and Air Liquide, to determine which applications for oscillating combustion would show the greatest probability for technical success and greatest probability for market acceptability. The market study indicated that furnaces in the steel, glass, and metal melting industries would perform well in both categories. These findings guided the selection of burners for laboratory testing and, with the results of the laboratory testing, guided the selection of field test sites