Article pubs.acs.org/EF
Effect of Low-NOx Combustion on PM10 Emissions from PulverizedCoal-Fired Boilers Dunxi Yu,* Chang Wen, and Minghou Xu State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, People’s Republic of China ABSTRACT: The effect of low-NOx combustion technologies on particulate emissions from coal-fired boilers is much less known. It is investigated in this work by experiments on two 200 MW coal-fired boilers, one with low-NOx combustion and the other with conventional combustion. Collection of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of up to 10 μm (PM10) was carried out at the inlet of the electrostatic precipitators of both boilers. The particulates were classified into 13 size fractions by a low-pressure impactor. Their emissions and size distributions were obtained. Particle chemical composition was characterized by an X-ray fluorescence analyzer. The data show that low-NOx combustion results in higher concentrations of total suspended particulate (TSP) and PM10 but lower concentrations of PM2.5 and PM1. The size distribution of PM10 from both boilers shows a trimodal feature that is not significantly affected by low-NOx combustion. However, it is found for the first time that the size distribution of PM10 from low-NOx combustion shifts to a larger size compared to that from conventional combustion. The size distributions of Al, Si, S, and Ca in the
