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ANALYSIS OF THERMAL DECOMPOSITION PRODUCTS OF FLUE GAS CONDITIONING AGENTS
Citation:
Spafford, R., E. Dismukes, AND H. Dillon. ANALYSIS OF THERMAL DECOMPOSITION PRODUCTS OF FLUE GAS CONDITIONING AGENTS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/7-79/179.
Description:
The report gives results of a study of reactions of several flue gas conditioning agents in a laboratory-scale facility simulating conditions in the flue gas train of a coal-burning power plant. Primary purposes of the study were to characterize the chemical species resulting from adding conditioning agents to flue gas and to identify potentially hazardous chemical species originating from the agents that may be emitted into the environment. The compounds investigated were sulfur trioxide, ammonia, triethylamine, sodium carbonate, ammonium sulfate, and diammonium hydrogen phosphate. The predominant types of reactions observed in these experiments were thermal decomposition at high temperatures, recombination of decomposition fragments at lower temperatures, and reactions with normal components of the flue gas. The only significant environmental threat of any product identified during this study was the formation of N-nitrosodiethylamine as the result of injecting triethylamine into the flue gas. This potent carcinogen was found in trace amounts when triethylamine was injected at 160C.