Abstract |
The report documents the support role of EPA's Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory in the major research effort directed by EPA in the 1970s to understand pollutant formation during pulverized coal combustion (PCC). Understanding the conversion of fuel nitrogen to nitrogen oxides (NOx) is important, since changes in the combustion process designed to control NOx emission may also influence the formation of soot, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), unburned carbon, and the vaporization of inorganic constituents. In addition, reduction of sulfur oxides (SOx) while maintaining low NOx levels is also important. The document is a detailed monograph, written by 19 coauthors, covering such topics as: the high temperature decomposition and combustion of pulverized coal, characterization of coal and coal thermal decomposition, the fate of fuel nitrogen and ash during combustion of pulverized coal particles, kinetic modeling of gas-phase chemistry in coal volatiles combustion, soot and PAH formation in PCC, the combustion rates of pulverized coal char particles, reduction of nitric oxide by solid particles, bench-scale experiments on the formation and control of NOx emissions from PCC, and the optimization of burner/combustion-chamber design to minimize NOx formation during PCC. |