Pollutant Emissions during Oxy-Fuel Combustion of Biomass in a Bench Scale CFB Combustor

Abstract

Nowadays oxy-fuel combustion of coal and biomass is the most promising option for the reduction of CO2 emissions from power plants. In this paper, emissions of NOx (NO, NO2, N2O and their precursors, such as NH3 and HCN), SO2 and CO during conventional and oxy-fuel combustion of three kinds of biomass (agro, woody and energy crop) and a reference coal are presented and discussed. Combustion tests were conducted at 850 °C in the laboratory-scale circulating fluidized bed (CFB) reactor in air and O2/CO2 atmospheres. A FTIR spectrometer was used to measure instantaneous concentrations of all pollutants in the flue gas. Emissions of SO2, N2O and CO for the combustion of biomass in all atmospheres were lower than those for the combustion of reference coal. It was found that oxidation of nitrogen species released with volatile matter was responsible for high emissions of NOx during combustion of biomass fuels in air and mixtures of O2 and CO2. The lowest NO emissions for tested fuels were detected in oxy-21 atmosphere (21% O2/70% CO2). Oxy-combustion of biomass in O2/CO2 mixtures at 30% and 40% O2 caused a decrease in emissions of N2O and CO while NO and SO2 emissions increased. The results of this study show that the tested biomass fuels are ideal renewable energy resources both in conventional and oxy-fuel conditions with a minor potential for environmental pollution.