A Computational Investigation of Industrial Selective Catalytic Reduction Systems for NOx Control

Abstract

The selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is a promising NOx (a mixture of NO and NO2) reduction technology for various applications. The SCR process entails the conversion of NOx by the use of a reducing agent such as ammonia and a suitable catalyst. Due to increasingly stricter NOx emission regulations, the SCR technology for NOx control needs continuous improvement. The improvement requires better understanding of complex processes occurring in the SCR system. The current study employs a mathematical model to elucidate the effect of key operating and geometric parameters on the performance of SCR systems. The model considers both standard and fast SCR reaction processes. The model was used to investigate the effects of NH3/NOx and NO2/NOx ratios in the exhaust on the SCR performance and the effect of using a dual layer SCR system. Furthermore, the effect of different operating parameters and the interdependence of parameters is analyzed by using a factorial approach. The results show that the SCR performance is very sensitive to NH3/NOx ratio. The SCR performance is also affected by the NO2/NOx ratio particularly at low temperatures. The optimal NOx conversion performance requires a combination of NH3/NOx ratio of 1.0, NO2/NOx ratio of 0.5, low space velocities, and high inlet temperature. The results depict that adding a second catalyzed layer results in increased reaction activity especially when the concentration is still high after the first layer.