Mercury
Control Technology | Particle Agglomeration Sensor | Droplet Vaporization Under Asymmetric
Condition | Methane
Gas Powered Fuel Cell | Power MEMS
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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Power MEMS
Research is conducted for the development of millimeter-scale
micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). A micro-scale combustor can
achieve power densities (power per unit volume) of 2000
mega-watts per cubic-meters whereas the best lithium battery technology
only delivers 0.4 mega-watts per cubic-meters. As a result, there
is substantial interest in power MEMS as a replacement in applications
that would ordinarily be battery powered. Military interest derives
from the need to deploy remote sensors and devices, whereas commercial
interest centers on replacement of batteries in a variety of portable
electronics. One of the most pressing hurdles remaining is that
all power MEMS prototypes to date have been demonstrated using gaseous
fuels. However, liquid fuels-and therefore liquid fuel atomization-are
crucial to the future development of power MEMS. Without the energy
density of liquid fuels (500-700 times greater than gaseous fuels like
hydrogen and methane), power MEMS devices will not have long enough
refueling intervals to be of use. A method of liquid fuel delivery and
atomization is being developed at the ATESR Laboratory. Conventional
atomization techniques where liquid fuels are forced at high pressure
through pinhole orifices encounter daunting challenges when shrunk to
the MEMS scale.
