A novel swirl burner with coal co-firing ammonia: Effect of extension length of the dual-channel ammonia pipe on combustion and NOx formation.

The coal/ammonia co-firing technology for thermal power generation is a feasible method to effectively reduce CO 2 emissions. However, the easy formation of NO x is one of the challenges faced by this technology owing to the high nitrogen content in ammonia. This study proposes a novel swirl burner with a scalable dual-channel ammonia pipe, and evaluates the combustion and NO x formation under different extension lengths of the dual-channel ammonia pipe (i.e., 0 m, 0.4 m, 0.8 m, 1.0 m, 1.2 m). The results show that the extension length of the dual-channel ammonia pipe significantly affects the flow, combustion, and NO x formation. When the extension length of the dual-channel ammonia pipe is above 0.8 m, the ammonia stream can completely penetrate the internal recirculation zone into the high CO environment, which contributes to promoting the ammonia pyrolysis and inhibiting the ammonia oxidation to form NO x. NO x emissions significantly decrease from 846 ppm to 146 ppm as the extension length of the dual-channel ammonia pipe from 0 m to 0.8 m, but change slightly as further increases from 0.8 m to 1.2 m. The carbon content in fly ash decreases from 4.53% to 3.40% as the extension length of the dual-channel ammonia pipe increases from 0 m to 1.0 m. Still, it increases from 3.40% to 3.70% as the extension length of the dual-channel ammonia pipe rises to 1.2 m. Overall, it is reasonable to set the extension length of the dual-channel ammonia pipe at 1.0 m in this studied condition, which can obtain low NO x and low carbon content in fly ash. [Display omitted] • A novel swirl burner with a scalable dual-channel NH 3 pipe is proposed. • Effect of NH 3 pipe extension length on combustion and NO x formation is investigated. • NH 3 pipe extension length significantly affects flow, combustion, and NO x formation. • 1.0 m for NH 3 pipe extension length is reasonable with good performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]