The report gives results of a study to determine the emissions from 'dirty' low- and medium-Btu gases when combusted on industrial process burners. The fuels tested were blends with compositions typical of Wellman-Galusha oxygen (WGO) and air (WGA) fuel gases. Baseline data were collected for natural gas, ambient WGO and WGA, and hot WGO (700 K) and WGA (616 K). Ammonia, H2S, coal tar, and char were added to the hot fuels to determine their effects on pollutant emissions. Study conclusions include: (1) low-Btu fuels not subjected to post-gasifier cleanup can yield NOx levels greatly above the thermal levels for the clean fuels and for natural gas; (2) in turbulent diffusion flames, fuel-NOx increases with an increase in (a) the amount of fuel-nitrogen, (b) the amount of fuel-sulfur, (c) the level of excess air , and (d) the degree of initial fuel/air mixing; (3) attempts to close the fuel-sulfur balance were unsuccessful (further work should be done in this area); and (4) compared to natural gas, heat transfer to the load is reduced for the low-Btu fuels tested (this heat transfer is not greatly affected by the presence of contaminants--tar and char--at levels characteristic of raw gasifier effluents).

Prepared for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, contract no. 68-02-2643, program element no. EHE624A. Oct. 1978. Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-75).