Mercury
Control Technology | Particle Agglomeration Sensor | Droplet Vaporization Under Asymmetric
Condition | Methane
Gas Powered Fuel Cell | Optimizing Hydrodynamic Mass Transfer and Mercury Capture within ESPs | Power MEMS |
Short Course in Fluid Mechanics, Mass Transfer and
Chemical Kinetics | Performance Evaluation of
Deagglomerating Sorbent Injector Nozzles | Behavior
of mercury sorbents within ESPs
Mercury Control Technology
ATESR
is currently active in researching and developing Mercury control technologies.
Mercury control technologies that reduce emissions of toxic Mercury
from coal combustion are being investigated at the laboratory. Specifically,
gas-particle suspensions as a mechanism for catalyzing oxidative reactions
or adsorption of the part-per-million to part-per-billion concentrations
of Mercury whose emission is now regulated is being studied. Gas-particle
suspensions offer less flow disruption and are more flexible than traditional
means of exhaust gas treatment such as fabric filters and catalyst honeycombs.
This project funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
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Particle Agglomeration Sensor
Sorbent injection is a mature and cost effective
technology for the control of mercury (Hg)
emissions from coal-fired power plants
(CFPPs). Sorbent particles are injected upstream
of electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) or fabric
filters (FFs) to capture Hg0, and Hg2+. Mercury species are captured through both
chemical and physical adsorption, and Hg removal
efficiency generally increases as sorbent
injection rate increases. However, based on
results from some full-scale sorbent injection
tests, Hg removal efficiency can reach a plateau
as sorbent injection rate exceeds a certain
value. One of the possible explanations for this
phenomenon is that an increased particle
agglomeration rate, driven by the higher particle
mass loadings in the feed lines at higher sorbent
injection rates, shifts the as-delivered particle
size distribution (PSD) to larger particle
sizes. This would reduce the available particle
surface area for Hg adsorption and limit Hg
removal efficiency. The objective of this project is to conduct bench-scale experiments to
examine if sorbent particle agglomeration is the
primary cause of this performance-limiting
phenomenon. A novel agglomeration sensor will be
used to detect the change of PSD along the sorbent supply line. This project is funded by BASF.
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Droplet Vaporization under Asymmetric Condition
This
project is part of the MEMS research at the ATESR lab and entails the
study and development of liquid fueled MEMS which is one of the most
pressing hurdles in the field. In liquid-fueled combustion, miniaturization
reduces characteristic length scales which in turn increase property
gradients. In an attempt to understand how the high gradients affect
the combustion process, this work is focused on investigating microscale
droplet vaporization phenomena under asymmetric conditions. A novel
Circular Couette Flow Reactor (CCFR) is used to impose thermal and convective
asymmetries on vaporizing acetone droplets. Planar laser-induced fluorescence
(PLIF) images of the vaporizing droplets rotating in the CCFR then reveal
asymmetries in the fuel vapor distribution under different conditions.
This project funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
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Methane Gas Powered Fuel Cell
The present investigation addresses the important challenge of protecting environmental resources while expanding the increased quality of life that accompanies access to electric power. Specifically, the proposed investigation seeks to optimize a coupled waste-treatment-to-power system, suitable for use in rural areas, which recovers methane gas produced during a waste digestion process and provides it to a fuel cell that in turn generates electric power. In addition, because both the waste digestion process and the fuel cell are temperature-sensitive, a combined waste-treatment-to-power system provides an opportunity for heat regeneration between the two systems. The advantages of such a coupled system grow increasingly important for rural, poorly electrified regions at mid- to high- latitudes (e.g., central and northern Asia, southern and southwestern Africa) and higher altitudes where seasonal temperature variations can challenge the thermal equilibria of both waste digestion processes and fuel cells.
This investigation involves a vertically integrated team of students comprised of IIT undergraduate and graduate students, as well as local high school students. The project is designed to stimulate interest in research in high school and undergraduate students by fostering relationships and mentoring between participants enrolled at different levels of the educational enterprise. This project funded by a grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA).
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Optimizing Electrohydrodynamics Mass Transfer and Mercury Capture within
ESPs
This project explores the potential impact of a newly discovered, secondary mercury capture mechanism within electrostatic precipitators (ESPs). It uses planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) to image trace acetone concentrations into and out of a lab-scale plate-wire ESP in order to explore mixing, mass transfer, and adsorption of the acetone tracer in the presence of the strong electric field and resulting ionic wind.
Comparisons of PLIF images under different conditions provide insight into the rate of mass transfer and adsorption by both entrained sorbent and that which has been collected on the internal ESP surfaces, with results to be incorporated into a pre-existing numerical model of mercury capture within ESPs. This project is funded by a grant from the Illinois Clean Coal Institute (ICCI).
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Short Course in Fluid Mechanics, Mass Transfer, and Chemical Kinetics
Associated with Gas Cleaning Processes
TThis project involves providing a series of intensive
short courses (each approximately 2 full days) to engineers employed by
Southern Company on the topics of fluid mechanics, turbulence and
mixing; mass transfer and adsorption phenomena; and chemical kinetics
associated with flue gas cleaning processes relevant to coal combustion
in the electric utility industry.
Southern Company is a Fortune 500
(#149) company and a leading electricity generator and provider in the
southern United States, with 4.4 million customers and 26,000 employees.
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Performance Evaluation of Deagglomerating Sorbent Injector Nozzles
TThe objective of this project is to develop and test
lab-scale nozzle designs and nozzle modifications for their
effectiveness in deagglomerating sorbent powders. This involves
designing and fabricating injectors, followed by lab-scale testing using
the existing facilities of the ATESR Lab. The lab has previously
provided insight into gas-particle behaviors during sorbent injection,
in the presence of peripheral electric fields, and mercury capture
within ESPs. The core technology for the present investigation is a
laser-based agglomeration sensor, previously used to establish the
degree of increase in the mean particle size of suspended powdered
sorbents after pneumatic feeding.
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Behavior of Mercury Sorbents Within ESPs
This project involves experimental
testing to better understand the behavior of mercury sorbents within
ESPs during electrostatic precipitation.
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