The fate of char-N at pulverized coal conditions

The fate of char-N (nitrogen removed from the coal matrix during char oxidation) has been widely studied at fluidized bed conditions. This work extends the study of char-N to pulverized coal conditions. Coal chars from five parent coals were prepared and burned in a laboratory-scale pulverized coal combustor in experiments designed to identify the parameters controlling the fate of char-N. The chars were burned with natural gas (to simulate volatiles combustion) in both air and in a nitrogen-free oxidant composed of Ar, CO2, and O2. In some experiments, the char flames were doped with various levels of NO or NH3 to simulate formation of NOx from volatile-N (nitrogen removed during coal devolatilization). The conversion of char-N to NOx in chars burned in the nitrogen-free oxidant was 50–60% for lignites and 40–50% for bituminous coals. In char flames doped with NOx, the apparent conversion of char-N to NOx (computed using the NOx measurements made before and after the addition of char to the system) decreased significantly as the level of NOx doping increased. With 900 ppm NOx present before the addition of char, apparent conversion of char-N to NOx was close to 0% for most chars. While there is no clear correlation between nitrogen content of the char and char-N to NOx conversion at any level of NOx in the flame, the degree of char burnout within a given family of chars does play a role. Increasing the concentration of O2 in the system in both air and nitrogen-free oxidant experiments increased the conversion of char-N to NOx. The effects of temperature on NOx emissions were different at low (0 ppm) and high (900 ppm) levels of NOx present in the flame before char addition. © 2003 The Combustion Institute. All rights reserved.