The emissions of SO{sub 2}, NO{sub x} and N{sub 2}O during the combustion of coal blends in a fluidized bed reactor

Combustion studies of five coals of different origins around the world (Colombia, Spain, South Africa and the US), were carried out in a laboratory scale fluidized bed combustor. Five blends prepared by mixing two coals, in three varying amounts, based on their petrological characterization, were selected to study the possibility of reduction NO{sub x}, N{sub 2}O and SO{sub 2} emissions. Temperature, fuel ratio and N/C ratio were found to be the most important parameters affecting NO{sub x} and N{sub 2}O emissions among the single coals, while fuel-S content was the major factor in SO{sub 2} emissions. The results showed that some blends had the opposite behavior concerning the release of NO{sub x} and SO{sub 2} in relation to parent coals, and the emissions were higher than expected. The N{sub 2}O amounts observed were however, in almost all blends tested, lower than predicted values. With some blends, the mixing levels intended to reduce SO{sub 2} were not always found to correspond to those for simultaneous decrease of NO{sub x}, raising difficulties in the optimization of both emission levels. Most of the blends studied showed some evidence of interaction between the individual constituent coals. Varying the proportion of the blend components wasmore » observed to alter the temperatures at which interactions were stronger.« less