Evaluation of Emissions Performance of Existing Combustion Technologies for Syngas Combustion

Abstract

Syngas is composed of mixtures of H2 and CO and inerts such as N2, steam and CO2. The composition of syngas derived from oxygen and air-blown gasifiers is discussed. The low exhaust gaseous emissions potential of diffusion, lean premixed and rich catalytic combustors with representative oxygen and air-blown syngas fuels are evaluated. The evaluation is performed using network of well-stirred reactor models. The parameters of the reactor models are carefully chosen so as to represent the flow-physics in the combustors. Predictions of NO and CO emissions for the different combustion modes are presented for the representative syngas fuels. The calculations are performed with combustor pressures and inlet temperatures typical of heavy-duty gas turbine power generation plants. The effect of combustor exit temperature, added diluents and the composition of the fuel on NO and CO emissions are evaluated for the different combustion technologies. The sensitivity of the emissions to reactor parameters is also explored.