Is current modelling to reduce NOx emissions?One issue with electro fuels like H2 or plasma torches is that burn at such high temperatures that they create NOx emissions which are an environmental concern and cause acid rain. Most plants have strict NOx emission limits attached to their licences. Back on June 2 I asked Peter about NOx emissions and this was his response:
Thanks for posting.
Without divulging to much: this seems to be well in hand.
Hope that helps,
Peter
I hadn't thought much about it since but then came across an article that spoke about this issue. Here are some quotes and a link.
A new fast sensor for simultaneous high temperature diagnostics (above 800 K) of nitrogen oxide (NO) concentration and gas temperature (T) was developed based on the spectral fitting of low-resolution NO UV absorption near 226 nm. The sensor was intended for process control in future low-carbon footprint heavy process industries using renewable powered electro fuels (e.g. H2, NH3) or plasma torches as heat source.
The necessity to reduce the CO2 emissions, together with the depletion of fossil fuels, has forced the developers of high-temperature energy conversion equipment to look for alternative fuels and new (or moderated) technologies. The replacement of fossil fuels in heavy process industries’ combustion processes with electro fuels (plasma torch, hydrogen) is considered a potentially attractive approach in Sweden due to the large amount of renewable electricity production from hydro and wind power. For example, in the hydrogen break through iron making technology (HYBRIT) initiative (https://www.hybritdevelopment.com/) and the CemZero project (https://energyindustryreview.com/construction/), the focus is to replace fossil fuels with electro fuels in iron, steel, and cement production. An important precondition for the replacement of fossil fuels is that the combustion/heating performance of the sustainable system would be the same and that the release of pollutants, such as NOx, would be kept low. Unfortunately, the electro fuels might be a source of significant NOx emissions. For example, in pilot-scale experiments [1] comparing different renewable alternatives to fossil fuels in straight-grate induration machines, it was found that H2 combustion results in much higher NOx emissions than fossil oil combustion. The plasma discharge can also generate a lot of NOx [2].
Considering the limited experience of the heavy process industry with electro fuels, fast simultaneous in situ monitoring of NO concentration and temperature at different parts of the process would be advantageous. That would allow process control in terms of efficiency and NOx emissions, the latter using primary (e.g., burner optimization) or secondary (e.g., flue gas cleaning) methods. In this work, we report the development of an online in situ UV absorption sensor for simultaneous diagnostics of NO concentration and temperature in hot process gases (T > 800 K).
Just a warning this is a LONG article and contains a lot of technical info that hopefully someone can help interperet!
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00340-020-07451-2
Be patient! There is more then just contract negotiations going on!!
BTW article is date May 6, 2020
I think this just helps to confirm any issues have and are being addressed and perhaps a reasonable explaination as to why the process seems so long.