DOE/NETL-2001/1143

Evaluation of Gas Reburning and Low-NOx

Burners on a Wall-Fired Boiler

A DOE Assessment

February 2001

U.S. Department of Energy

National Energy Technology Laboratory

P.O. Box 880, 3610 Collins Ferry Road

Morgantown, WV 26507-0880

and

P.O. Box 10940, 626 Cochrans Mill Road

Pittsburgh, PA 15236-0940

website: www.netl.doe.gov
Disclaimer

This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an

agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States

Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes

any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or

responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any

information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents

that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference

therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade

name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily

constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by

the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and

opinions of authors expressed therein do not necessarily state or reflect

those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This document serves as a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) post-project assessment of a project

in its Clean Coal Technology (CCT) Program, Round 3, "Evaluation of Gas Reburning and Low-NOx

Burners on a Wall-Fired Boiler," conducted by Energy and Environmental Research Corporation

(EER). In October 1990, EER entered into a cooperative agreement with DOE to conduct this study,

with the Gas Research Institute (GRI), the Electric Power Research Institute, Public Service

Company of Colorado (PSCo), and Colorado Interstate Gas Company as the other project

participants. The demonstration was conducted between October 1992 and January 1995 on PSCo's

158-MWe (net) wall-fired Cherokee Station Unit 3 located in Denver, Colorado. Unit 3 is a 172-

MWe wall-fired boiler that uses Colorado bituminous, low-sulfur coal. Over 4,000 hours of

operation were achieved. Low-NOx burners achieved a NOx reduction of 65% at an average gas heat

input of 18% compared to the performance goal of 70%. The performance goal of 70% reduction

was met on many runs, but at higher gas heat inputs. DOE provided 50% of the total project funding

of $17.8 million.

Gas reburning (GR) involves firing natural gas (up to 25% of total heat input) above the primary

combustion zone in utility boilers and industrial furnaces. This upper-level firing creates a slightly

fuel-rich zone. NOx produced in the primary zone of the boiler is "reburned" in this zone and

converted to molecular nitrogen and other reduced nitrogenous species. Overfire air is injected

downstream of the reburn zone to burn out the remaining combustibles and convert the reduced

nitrogenous species to molecular nitrogen. Low-NOx burners (LNBs) positioned in the coal

combustion zone retard the production of NOx by staging the burning process so that the coal-air

mixture can be carefully controlled at each stage. The combination of these two technologies is

referred to as GR-LNB. The combined effect of adding a reburning stage to wall-fired boilers

equipped with LNBs was intended to lower NOx emissions by up to 70%. In this project, GR was

operated with and without the use of flue gas recirculation.
2

The objectives for this project were:

• To attain up to 70% reduction in NOx emissions from an existing wall-fired utility boiler firing

low-sulfur coal

• To assess the impact of GR-LNB on boiler performance

The project could not meet these objectives except for short-term tests, in which very high reburn gas

heat input was used. Boiler operability was found acceptable in long-term testing. No significant

adverse boiler impacts were observed, such as large decreases in thermal performance or electrostatic

precipitator collection efficiency. Other emissions impacts on air, water, and land remained within

acceptable limits.

Economics of the GR-LNB process have been estimated for a hypothetical 300-MWe cyclone boiler

fired with 3% sulfur coal, and assuming a $1/106 Btu price differential between gas and coal fuels.

The capital cost is estimated at $26/kWe and the 15-year levelized cost is estimated at $1,027/ton of

NOx removed (current dollar basis).
3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction...................................................................................................................4

II. Technical and Environmental Assessment ...................................................................6

A. Process Description....................................................................................................6

Gas Reburning (GR).............................................................................................6

Low-NOx Burners (LNBs) ...................................................................................8

B. Project Description.....................................................................................................8

C. Project Results .........................................................................................................10

D. Boiler Impacts..........................................................................................................12

Award................................................................................................................13

E. Commercialization of the Technology.......................................................................13

Size Considerations............................................................................................15

III. Market Analysis...........................................................................................................16

A. Potential Markets ....................................................................................................16

B. Economic Assessment of Utility Boiler Applications.................................................17

GR-LNB Costs ..................................................................................................17

Comparison with Other Technologies.................................................................17

IV. Conclusions..................................................................................................................19

V. References....................................................................................................................20
4

I. INTRODUCTION

The goal of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Clean Coal Technology (CCT) program is to

furnish the energy marketplace with a number of advanced, more efficient, and environmentally

responsible coal-utilization technologies through demonstration projects. These projects seek to

establish the commercial feasibility of the most promising advanced coal technologies that have

developed beyond the proof-of-concept stage.

This document is a DOE post-project assessment of a project selected in CCT Round 3, "Evaluation

of Gas Reburning and Low-NOx Burners on a Wall-Fired Boiler," as described in a Report to

Congress [1] dated September 1990. In October 1990, Energy and Environmental Research

Corporation (EER) entered into a cooperative agreement to conduct this study. Other project

participants were the Gas Research Institute (GRI), the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI),

Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo), and Colorado Interstate Gas Company. The host site

was PSCo’s 158-MWe (net) wall-fired Cherokee Station Unit 3, located in Denver, Colorado. DOE

provided 50% of the total project cost of $17.8 million. Baseline testing was started in October 1992,

and field testing was completed in January 1995.

Gas reburning (GR) involves firing natural gas (up to 25% of the total heat input) above the primary

combustion zone in a coal-fired boiler. This upper-level firing creates a slightly fuel-rich zone. NOx

produced in the lower region of the boiler is reduced in this “reburn” zone and converted to molecular

nitrogen (N2). Low-NOx burners (LNBs) positioned in the primary combustion zone reduce the

production of NOx by staging the burning process to lower the temperature and oxygen/fuel ratio

during primary combustion. The combination of these two technologies is referred to as GR-LNB.

 The expected effect of adding a reburning stage to a wall-fired boiler equipped with LNBs was to

lower NOx emissions by up to 70%. In this project, GR was demonstrated with and without the use

of flue gas recirculation (FGR).

The Clean Air Act, initially promulgated in 1970 and amended in 1977, established New Source

Performance Standards (NSPS) for emissions of SO2, NOx, and particulates, among other pollutants,
5

from stationary coal-fired power plants. These regulations were made more stringent in the Clean

Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990. The GR-LNB process offers a potential means of meeting

NOx emissions requirements of the CAAA as administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA).

The objectives for this project were:

• To attain up to 70% reduction in NOx emissions from an existing wall-fired utility boiler firing

low-sulfur coal

• To assess the impact of GR-LNB on boiler performance

The independent evaluation contained herein is based primarily on information from EER’s Final

Report dated July 1998 [11], as well as the other sources cited. In fulfillment of the cooperative

agreement, EER also prepared a Guideline Manual [12] which provides an overview of the

technology requirements for GR-LNB.
6

II. TECHNICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

This project evaluates the technical and economic feasibility of controlling NOx emissions from a wallfired utility boiler by using GR in combination with LNBs. LNBs usually achieve 30-50% NOx

reduction, while GR usually achieves 50-60% NOx reduction. Adding GR to a wall-fired boiler

equipped with LNBs was expected to lower NOx emissions by up to 70%. The benefits anticipated

from the combined GR-LNB technology were low capital costs relative to other NOx-reduction

processes coupled with no adverse effects on boiler thermal performance. Although there have been

several demonstrations of the separate GR and LNB technologies prior to this project, this CCT

project was the first full-scale demonstration of the combined technologies.

A. Process Description

A schematic flow diagram of the GR-LNB process is shown in Figure 1. GR is a combustion

modification process that reduces the amount of NOx formed in the boiler by creating a reducing zone

(the reburn zone) above the primary combustion zone. LNBs are air-staged burners that reduce

temperature and oxygen concentration during the combustion process and, thus, reduce the amount

of NOx produced in the primary combustion zone. LNBs have become the technology of choice for

meeting the mandates of the CAAA for Phase I, Group 1 boilers, i.e., dry-bottom wall-fired boilers

and tangentially fired (T-fired) boilers.

Gas Reburning (GR)

For coal-fired boilers, GR involves injecting natural gas downstream of the existing burners to create

a reducing or reburn zone to destroy NOx. High furnace temperatures (2,600(F) and adequate

residence times are needed for efficient NOx reduction. Reburning is followed by the injection of

burnout or overfire air (OFA) to complete the combustion of the reducing gases, mainly carbon

monoxide (CO). The process is shown schematically in Figure 2.
7

Reburn technology involves three zones in the furnace: (1) a primary combustion zone where coal

is fired; (2) a reburn zone where additional fuel is added to create reducing conditions to convert the

NOx produced in the primary zone to molecular nitrogen (N2) and other reduced nitrogen species;

and (3) a burnout zone to complete the combustion of the reducing gases produced in the reburn

zone.

Each zone has a unique stoichiometric air ratio (ratio of air used to that theoretically required for

complete combustion) as determined by the flow of primary fuel, burner air, natural gas, and OFA.

FGR can be used to increase the momentum of the injected natural gas to improve furnace

penetration and mixing; but because recirculated flue gas has a low oxygen content, FGR has only

a minor impact on the reburn zone fuel requirement and the burnout zone air rate.

• Primary Combustion Zone--Coal is fired at a rate corresponding to 75-90% of the total heat

input, under normal to low excess air conditions. The rate of NOx formation in this zone is

reduced by about 10% because less fuel is fired (lower production of fuel NOx), the heat

release rate is lower (lower production of thermal NOx), and, generally, the excess air level

to the burners is reduced to lower the oxygen concentration (lower fuel and thermal NOx

production).

• Reburn Zone--Reburn fuel (natural gas in this case, but coal and oil can also be used)

injection creates a reducing (fuel-rich) region within which natural gas (mostly methane, CH4)

breaks down to form hydrocarbon fragments (CH, CH2, etc.) that react with NOx, producing

reduced-nitrogen species (mainly N2). The optimum reburn zone stoichiometric ratio is

around 0.90. This is achieved by injecting natural gas at a rate corresponding to 10-25% of

the total heat input, depending on the primary combustion zone excess air level. The lower

this excess air, the lower the reburn fuel requirement. FGR is sometimes used as a carrier for

the reburn fuel and/or to increase momentum and penetration into the furnace.

• Burnout Zone--OFA is injected downstream of the reburn zone to complete combustion of

the reburn zone fuel gases. OFA is typically 20% of the total air flow. An overall excess air
8

level of 15-25%, depending on the primary fuel type, is normally maintained. The OFA

injection rate is optimized for each specific application to minimize CO emissions and

unburned carbon in the fly ash.

Low-NOx Burners (LNBs)

LNBs reduce emissions of NOx by staging the mixing of coal and air. This results in a fuel-rich region

for char combustion, longer flames, and lower peak flame temperatures. LNBs generally use dual

air registers in parallel to delay the mixing of air with coal injected through a coal nozzle in the center

of the burner. While LNBs reduce NOx, they may result in higher levels of unburned carbon and

higher emissions of CO. These result from incomplete combustion which may occur from the staging

of coal/air mixing. OFA is sometimes used to decrease unburned carbon and CO. LNBs do not

affect the emissions of other species such as CO2, SO2, or particulates.

B. Project Description

The demonstration site was PSCo’s Cherokee Station, located in Denver, CO. The Cherokee Station

is PSCo’s largest electric power generating station, comprised of four boilers that generate a total of

about 775 MWe. GR-LNB was installed on Cherokee Unit 3, which was built by Babcock and

Wilcox (B&W) in 1962 and, therefore, did not have to meet NSPS as required under the CAAA for

units constructed after 1971. Unit 3 is a 172-MWe gross (158 MWe net) balanced-draft, wall-fired

boiler, originally equipped with conventional B&W flare-type pulverized coal (PC) burners. The unit

has 16 burners (four rows of four burners) located on the front wall of the furnace.

Coal is pulverized with four Riley Stoker No. 556 duplex drum pulverizers to a specified fineness of

70% passing 200 mesh and 50% passing 50 mesh. Pulverized coal is conveyed by 160o

F primary air

to the burners and combusted with 600o

F secondary air. After leaving the main furnace, flue gas

passes over a secondary superheater, reheat superheater, primary superheater, economizer, and two

rotary air preheaters. Particulate collection is achieved via a baghouse using fabric filters.
9

The CCT demonstration project included replacing the existing burners with Foster Wheeler

Controlled Flow/Split Flame LNBs and installing injection ports to accommodate GR. Natural gas

reburn fuel was injected through a total of 16 injectors, eight on the front wall and eight on the rear

wall. Ambient air was used to cool the gas injection nozzles when the GR system was not in

operation. OFA at a temperature of approximately 600oF was withdrawn from two secondary air

ducts and boosted from 2 in. of water to 12 in. of water by an OFA booster fan. The OFA was

routed to six ports located on the front wall of the furnace. The OFA injectors were tilted down at

an angle of 10o

 to provide better penetration of the air into the furnace combustion gases and to

increase residence time in the burnout zone to lower CO emissions.

For this project, the GR-LNB equipment was controlled by a Westinghouse Distributed Process

Family system (WDPF). The WDPF provided integrated modulating control, sequential control, and

data acquisition for a wide variety of system applications.

FGR was used initially to increase the momentum of the natural gas in an effort to achieve optimum

penetration into the furnace cross section. However, during the course of the project (see Figure 3),

it was found that FGR had a minimal effect on NOx emissions. Cherokee Unit 3 has a reburn zone

residence time of half a second, which is sufficient to achieve NOx reduction without the need for

FGR. Therefore, part way through the project the unit was modified as follows:

• The FGR system was removed.

• The natural gas injectors were redesigned to operate at higher pressures. This took advantage

of the higher pressure at which the natural gas was available and increased the velocity of gas

injection.

• The OFA ports were modified to provide higher jet momentum, air swirl, and velocity control.

 These modifications were designed to improve furnace lateral coverage and turbulence for

air mixing with unburned fuel in the upper furnace. 
10

This modified configuration is referred to by EER as Second-Generation GR, and it provided CO

control within acceptable limits at a lower natural gas usage level. Elimination of FGR benefitted the

process by (1) reducing natural gas usage and (2) reducing capital cost. The reduction in natural gas

usage reduced operating costs because of the natural gas/coal price differential. The reduced gas

usage also reduced superheater attemperation water spray rates due to the decreased heat release in

the upper part of the furnace.

The coal burned during this project was a low-sulfur (0.45 wt%) Colorado bituminous coal. 

Properties of this coal are given in Table 1.

C. Project Results

Field testing included parametric optimization studies, followed by one year of long-term testing.

Baseline, uncontrolled NOx emissions at Cherokee Unit 3 were 0.73 lb/106 Btu. Replacement of the

original burners with low-NOx burners reduced NOx emissions to 0.46 lb/106 Btu, a 37% reduction.

While significant, this performance fell short of the target value of 45% reduction. The use of GR

in combination with LNBs resulted in a further lowering of NOx emissions to an average of 0.25

lb/106 Btu, an overall reduction of 66%. This level of reduction was achieved at a natural gas usage

of 18% of the total heat input. At these conditions, GR achieved only a 45% reduction of the NOx

reaching the reburn zone, which is on the low side of what is normally achieved with GR.

Following installation of the Second-Generation GR equipment and tune-up of the LNBs, the system

achieved a NOx emissions rate of 0.26 lb/106

 Btu, a 64% overall reduction from baseline, at a natural

gas reburn heat input of only 12.5%. This version of GR-LNB offers improved economics, since the

same degree of NOx emissions reduction is achieved with a significantly smaller consumption of

natural gas, which is more expensive than coal on a Btu basis.

Figure 4 shows NOx emissions reduction during the test period. In both the first- and secondgeneration tests, the target level of 70% overall NOx reduction was reached, but only for short

periods and with significantly higher gas heat inputs than required for the results discussed above.
11

Thus, it is somewhat questionable to say that the performance objectives of the CCT project were

achieved, as claimed in the EER Final Report and its companion Guideline Manual.

The variables studied in the demonstration of GR-LNB were: (a) primary combustion zone excess

air level; (b) natural gas heat input as a fraction of the total heat input; (c) reburn zone air/fuel

stoichiometric ratio; (d) FGR rate; (e) and OFA rate.

The importance of the primary zone stoichiometric ratio (SR) is shown by Figure 5. As the primary

zone SR increases, so do NOx emissions. Another effect of higher primary zone SR is to increase the

reburn fuel requirement. Since the reburn zone needs to be in a fuel rich situation, the more oxygen

reaching the reburn zone, the more fuel that needs to be added to achieve fuel rich conditions. On

the other hand if the primary SR is too low, the loss on injection (LOI) can be high and reduced sulfur

compounds produced at these conditions can cause erosion of the boiler tubes. For this work, a SR

in the range of 1.08-1.10 gave satisfactory results.

Figure 6 (First Generation GR) and Figure 7 (Second Generation GR) show the effect on NOx

emissions of the percentage of the total heat input provided by natural gas. Better results were

obtained as the natural gas rate increased, but benefits appear to level out somewhere in the range

of 10-15% natural gas heat input. Figure 8 shows that good NOx-reduction results can be achieved

over a load factor range of 70-100%.

Figure 9 (First Generation GR) and Figure 10 (Second Generation GR) show that the effect of total

excess air, as indicated by the oxygen in the flue gas, is relatively small. This is not unexpected

because total excess air tends to be set by the amount of overfire air, which should have relatively

little effect on NOx emissions. The slight increase in NOx levels with increased excess air is probably

attributed to some secondary NOx formation in the burnout zone. An important function of the

burnout zone is to decrease CO concentration, so OFA rate needs to be high enough to achieve an

acceptable CO emissions level. The effect of excess air on NOx reduction, unburned carbon, and CO

emissions is shown in Table 2. As this table shows, both CO emissions and carbon-in-ash values are

acceptable with furnace exit O2 levels of 4% or higher.
12

The most important findings were:

• Increasing the fractional heat input in the reburn zone up to about 20% and decreasing the

reburn zone stoichiometric ratio to about 0.9 have the strongest impact on NOx emissions.

• The NOx emissions reduction target level can be approached by operating with reburn gas heat

input levels of only 10-13%, using the Second Generation GR system (elimination of FGR

and redesigned OFA injection).

D. Boiler Impacts

In the test program, GR-LNB operation was shown to have only minor impacts on boiler

performance. The thermal performance parameters monitored were the flow rate, temperature and

pressure of the steam, steam attemperation flow rate, total heat transferred to water/steam, gas side

temperatures, thermal efficiency, and heat rate. The most significant impacts were observed in the

boiler temperature profile, which changed because of the increased heat release in the upper furnace.

Operational changes, such as increasing the steam attemperation flow rate, were required to maintain

the thermal performance of the unit. Thermal efficiency was reduced slightly; thus heat rate was

increased to a minor extent (about 0.8%), as a result of two factors: (a) increased dry gas heat loss

caused by higher economizer inlet temperatures, and (b) increased moisture in the flue gas caused by

combusting natural gas, which has a higher hydrogen content than coal. Another boiler impact was

a small amount of furnace slagging.

Regarding parasitic power requirements, there are offsetting effects. Increased power is required for

the OFA fans. On the other hand, because of the decreased coal consumption, pulverizer power is

reduced. The result is a slight decrease in auxiliary power requirements for GR-LNB. There was no

measurable tube wear or reduction of baghouse efficiency.
13

The GR-LNB project also produced some environmental effects. The use of lower carbon content

natural gas to replace part of the coal feed provided a modest reduction (about 5% at 13% gas input)

in emissions of CO2, a major greenhouse gas. As anticipated, SO2 and particulate emissions were

reduced in proportion to the amount of coal feed replaced with natural gas.

Award

EPA, GRI, and DOE were the recipients of the Air & Waste Management Association's 1997 J. Dean

Sensenbaugh Award for their collaborative work in developing GR into a viable and commercial

emissions-control option for utility and industrial power-generation boilers.

E. Commercialization of the Technology

Although this CCT project included both LNBs and GR, GR is the more novel of the two

technologies because LNBs have been used extensively to meet CAAA NOx emissions limits. 

Therefore, the following discussion primarily concerns the commercialization of gas reburning. The

progress in commercializing GR is evidenced by the installations discussed below.

In a separate Round 1 CCT project, GR was successfully demonstrated, along with sorbent injection

(SI) for SO2 control, at City Water, Light and Power’s (CWLP) Lakeside Unit 7 located at

Springfield, Illinois, a 33-MWe (net) cyclone boiler, and at Illinois Power’s Hennepin Unit 7 located

at Hennepin, Illinois, a 71 MWe (net) T-fired boiler [8]. These demonstrations achieved about 60%

NOx reduction with 18-23% gas heat input. Thus, the GR-SI CCT project successfully demonstrated

NOx reduction on two types of boilers other than the wall-fired boiler tested at Cherokee. Hennepin

Unit 1 is typical of T-fired boilers, which are also fired with PC but produce relatively low levels of

NOx (on the order of 0.6-0.7 lb/106

 Btu). Lakeside Unit 7 is typical of cyclone firing systems, which

burn crushed coal and generate high levels of NOx (typically 1.0-2.0 lb/106 Btu). The success of

controlling NOx emissions on three different boiler firing systems is a promising indication of the

broad applicability of GR, although site-specific conditions must be taken into account when

considering the applicability of GR-LNB.
14

In addition, GR has been successfully applied on a 300-MWe T-fired boiler in Ukraine [6]. 

Reburning has also been used on a number of utility boilers ranging up to 800 MWe in Italy [9], and

testing a GR installation on a 700-MWe wall-fired boiler of Scottish Power [7] is in progress. Japan

had the earliest installations, but these are now idle because the stringent Japanese NOx emissions

regulations can be satisfied only by post-combustion processes such as selective catalytic reduction

(SCR).

Since conclusion of the Cherokee demonstration project, the GR-LNB system has been retained and

operated by the host site. During the course of this project, a database was developed for future

application of GR-LNB technology to control NOx emissions from wall-fired boilers. The technology

is being commercialized by EER. EER has installed and started up GR systems on a glass furnace

at an Anchor Glass factory, and on a 100-MWe (net) T-fired utility boiler at the Greenidge Station

of New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG). In addition, EER has recently been awarded

contracts for GR retrofit installations on up to five large coal-fired cyclone boilers. These include the

330-MWe Unit 1 (startup in progress) of the Allen Fossil Station of TVA with options for Units 2

and 3 (330 MWe each), and the 200-MWe Unit 2 of the C.P. Crane Station of Baltimore Gas and

Electric with an option for Unit 1 (also 200 MWe). These new projects would increase EER’s U.S.

reburning installations to 11 with a total capacity of 1700 MWe. Ultimately, NOx emissions

regulations will be the driving force for GR commercialization.

B&W has installed GR for NOx control on an electric utility-size coal-fired industrial cyclone boiler

(40 MWe equivalent) at Kodak Park, Rochester NY. This commercial installation was also supported

by GRI as part of its "Validation and Deployment of Gas Injection Technologies" project. Fifty

percent NOx reduction was achieved.

ABB Combustion Engineering has installed and tested a commercial “close-coupled” gas reburn

retrofit on a 200-MWe gas- and oil-fired boiler at Long Island Electric Company’s E.G. Barrett

Station. This work was also supported by Empire State Electric Energy Research Corporation
15

(ESEERCO), EPRI, and GRI. A reduction in NOx emissions of 50% was achieved with either gas

reburning or staged air combustion.

Size Considerations

Since GR is an injection technology, the issue of scale-up for adequate gas jet penetration, coverage,

and mixing with the bulk flue gases still needs to be evaluated on larger-scale applications. Based on

experience in other countries and ongoing U.S. projects using GR for NOx-emissions control, the

feasibility of applying GR technology to larger units appears to be promising, and, so far, no upper

size limitations for GR applications have been encountered. The minimum size is probably close to

that of CWLP’s Lakeside Unit 7, based on requirements of sufficient residence time at the appropriate

temperatures in the reburn zone. There are no minimum or maximum capacity limitations on LNB

installations.
16

III. MARKET ANALYSIS

A. Potential Markets

The driving force for the use of GR-LNB to control NOx emissions from coal-fired utility boilers

stems from Titles I and IV of the CAAA. Title IV (acid rain) regulations for Phase I, Group 1 boilers

(dry-bottom wall-fired and T-fired) became effective January 1, 1996, followed by regulations for

Phase II, Group 1 and Phase II, Group 2 boilers (cyclone, cell burner, wet bottom, dry bottom

vertical, stoker, and fluidized bed firing systems), which will become effective January 1, 2000. The

Title IV regulations for utility boiler NOx emissions are shown in Table 3. 

Title I ozone nonattainment regulations are also expected to become a significant driving force for

utility boiler NOx control. EPA has recently promulgated a rule that would apply stringent NOx

controls to 22 states and the District of Columbia. This could result in a large number of coal-fired

utility boilers having to meet NOx emissions limits as low as 0.15 lb/106 Btu.

From the perspective of the potential market for GR applications, the cyclone boilers in Group 2

represent the best opportunity (in addition to the existing potential for Group 1 boilers), because the

less expensive LNB and staged fuel-firing options seem to provide an appropriate solution for cell

burner and other wet-bottom boilers, respectively. There are about 75 cyclone boilers in the United

States, having a total capacity of about 20,000 MWe; these boilers exceed the NOx emissions

standard of 0.86 lb/106

 Btu under Title IV, Phase II. It should be noted that virtually any fossil fuel

can be used for reburning, so GR would not have all of the reburning market to itself. For example,

coal reburning, which is a demonstrated technology, has higher capital and lower operating costs than

GR, so the choice is site-specific.

The most significant market factors affecting the application of GR are the availability and price of

natural gas. Availability impacts the capital cost, while the price of natural gas (or the gas/coal price

differential) is of critical importance to the operating cost.
17

B. Economic Assessment of Utility Boiler Applications

GR-LNB Costs

The EER Final Report [11] includes preliminary economics (-10%/ +15% accuracy) for the GR-LNB

technology. The economics assume a hypothetical 300-MWe (net) wall-fired boiler retrofit burning

3 wt% sulfur coal, with a 10,000 Btu/kWh heat rate, a capacity factor of 65%, and 12.5% gas heat

input. It is assumed that access to a natural gas pipeline is available onsite, thereby eliminating the

need to bring gas to the power plant. Providing a pipeline could add significantly to the cost of a GR

project, depending on the distance involved.

The economics for GR-LNB are presented in Table 4. The estimated capital cost is $26/kWe, of

which GR contributes $12/kWe and LNB contributes $14/kWe. Natural gas is priced at $2.47/106

Btu and coal at $1.47/106 Btu, i.e., a cost differential between gas and coal of $1.00/106 Btu. To

account for the slight loss in overall boiler efficiency, the amount of fuel fired is increased by 0.8%

compared with baseline operation. This incremental fuel is priced at $1.60/106 Btu, which is the

weighted price of coal and gas in the proportions used. The economics include an allowance for

reduced SO2 emissions resulting from the substitution of natural gas (containing no sulfur) for a

portion of the coal feed. EER credits this reduction in SO2 at $95/ton in the emissions trading

market. Based on these assumptions, the levelized cost of the GR-LNB process is $1,027/ton NOx

removed (current dollar basis) or $786/ton (constant dollar basis). Figure 11 shows the effect of

several operating variables on the cost of NOx reduction.

Comparison with Other Technologies

The EER Final Report includes an economic comparison of GR-LNB with other technologies, using

information from a separate study supported by the EPA. Table 5 compares capital and levelized

costs for GR-LNB with those for coal reburning, selective noncatalytic reduction (SNCR) and SCR

at a power plant capacity of 400 MWe, again assuming a $1/106 Btu gas/coal price differential. GRLNB appears to be the most expensive of the technologies considered, but the comparison is limited
18

to processes offering modest levels of NOx removal, i.e., 35-65%. The economics of SCR would be

significantly different at its maximum NOx-reduction capability of 80-90%.
19

IV. CONCLUSIONS

The results from the GR-LNB technology demonstrated by EER at Cherokee Station approached,

but did not meet, the CCT project's performance objectives. Acceptable unit operability was achieved

with both the GR and the LNB components.

The gas reburning component of the process appears to be broadly applicable for retrofit NOx control

to most utility boilers and, in particular, to wet-bottom cyclone boilers, which are high NOx emitters

and are difficult to control (LNB technology is not applicable to cyclone boilers). GR-LNB can

reduce NOx to mandated emissions levels under Title IV of the CAAA without significant, adverse

boiler impacts. The GR-LNB process may be applicable to boilers significantly larger than the

demonstration unit, provided there is adequate dispersion and mixing of injected natural gas.

Major results of the demonstration project are summarized as follows:

• NOx-emissions reductions averaging 64% were achieved with 12.5% gas heat input in longterm tests on a 158-MWe (net) wall-fired unit. The target reduction level of 70% was

achieved only on a short-term basis with higher gas consumption.

• The thermal performance of coal-fired boilers is not significantly affected by GR-LNB. 

Convective section steam temperatures can be controlled within acceptable limits. Thermal

efficiency is decreased by a small amount (about 0.8%), because of increased dry gas loss and

higher moisture in the flue gas as a result of the GR process.

• Furnace slagging and convective section fouling can be adequately controlled.

• Because of the higher hydrogen/carbon (H/C) ratio of natural gas compared with coal, use

of the GR process results in a modest reduction in CO2 emissions. SO2 and particulate

emissions are reduced in direct proportion to the fraction of heat supplied by natural gas.
20

V. REFERENCES

1. "Evaluation of Gas Reburning and Low-NOx Burners on a Wall-Fired Boiler," Comprehensive

Report to Congress, Clean Coal Technology Demonstration Program, a project proposed by

Energy and Environmental Research Corporation to the U.S. Department of Energy, Office

of Fossil Energy, September 1990.

2. T.M. Sommer, C.C. Hong, and H.M. Moser (EER) and H.J. Ritz (DOE), "Integrating Gas

Reburning with Low NOx Burners," First Annual Clean Coal Technology Conference,

Cleveland, OH, September 1992.

3. C.C. Hong et al. (EER) and H.J. Ritz (DOE), "Gas Reburning and Low-NOx Burners on a

Wall-Fired Boiler," Second Annual Clean Coal Technology Conference, Atlanta, GA,

September 1993.

4. A. Sanyal et al. (EER) and H.J. Ritz (DOE), "Advanced NOx Control Technologies," Tenth

Annual International Pittsburgh Coal Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, September 1993.

5. R.T. Keen et al. (EER), H.J. Ritz (DOE), J.M. Pratapas (GRI), and E.G. Rindahl (PSCo),

"Gas Reburning in Tangentially, Wall-, and Cyclone-Fired Boilers  An Introduction to

Second-Generation Gas Reburning," Third Annual Clean Coal Technology Conference,

Chicago, IL, September 1994.

6. A. Tumanovsky, "Reduction of NOx Emissions by Reburning Process of Gas/Oil and Coal

Boilers," Proceedings of the International Gas Reburn Technology Workshop, Appendix D,

Gas Research Institute, Malmo, Sweden, February 1995.

7. J. Rhine, "The Demonstration of Gas Reburning at Longannet," Proceedings of the

International Gas Reburn Technology Workshop, Appendix D, Gas Research Institute,

Malmo, Sweden, February 1995.
21

8. B. Folsom et al., "Three Gas Reburning Field Evaluations: Final Results and Long-term

Performance," EPRI/EPA 1995 Joint Symposium on Stationary Combustion NOx Control,

Book 4, Kansas City, MO, May 1995.

9. G. De Michele et al., "Development and Industrial Application of Oil Reburning for NOx

Emission Control in Utility Boilers," EPRI/EPA 1995 Joint Symposium on Stationary

Combustion NOx Control, Book 4, Kansas City MO, May 1995.

10. B. Folsom et al. (EER) and H.J. Ritz (DOE), "Demonstration of Gas Reburning-Low NOx

Burner Technology for Cost Effective NOx Emission Control," Fourth Annual Clean Coal

Technology Conference, Denver, CO, September 1995.

11. Energy and Environmental Research Corporation, "Evaluation of Gas Reburning and LowNOx Burners on a Wall-Fired Boiler," Final Report, July 1998.

12. Energy and Environmental Research Corporation, “Evaluation of Gas Reburning and LowNOx Burners on a Wall-Fired Boiler,” Guideline Manual, July 1998. 
22

Table 1. Properties of Coal Used in GR-LNB Tests

Coal Source: Colorado Bituminous

Proximate Analysis, wt%

Fixed Carbon 45.34

Volatile Matter 34.80

Moisture 10.32

Ash 9.54

Total 100.00

Ultimate Analysis, wt%

Carbon 64.23

Hydrogen 4.46

Nitrogen 1.51

Sulfur 0.45

Oxygen 9.54

Moisture 10.19

Ash 9.62

Total 100.00

Higher Heating Value, Btu/lb 11,268
23

Table 2. Effect of Excess Air on NOx Reduction, Unburned Carbon, and CO Emissions

Furnace exit O2, % 3 4 5

NOx, lb/106 Btu

 Baseline 0.68 0.77 0.86

 LNB 0.42 0.49 0.54

 Reduction, % 38 36 37

Carbon-in-ash, %

 Baseline 5 5 4

 LNB 8 5 2

CO, ppm

 Baseline <300 <50 <50

 LNB <1000 <500 <100
24

Table 3. Title IV NOx Emissions Limits

lb/106

 Btu

Phase I II

Compliance Date January 1, 1996 January 1, 2000

Group 1 Boilers

 Dry Bottom Wall-Fired 0.50 0.46

 T-fired 0.45 0.40

Group 2 Boilers

 Wet Bottom Wall-Fired

 > 65 MWe

NA 0.84

 Cyclone-Fired

 > 155 MWe

NA 0.86

 Vertically Fired NA 0.80

 Cell Burner NA 0.68

 Fluidized Bed NA Exempt

 Stoker NA Exempt

----

NA = Not applicable
25

Table 4. Summary of Performance and Cost Data

1996 Dollars

Coal Properties Units Value

Higher heating value (HHV) Btu/lb 12,000

Power Plant Attributes With Controls

Plant capacity, net MWe 300

Power produced, net 109

 kWh/yr 1.71

Capacity factor % 65

Coal feed 106

 tons/yr 0.68

NOx-Emissions-Control Data

Removal efficiency % 64.0

Emissions standard (Title IV) lb/106 Btu 0.46

Emissions without GR-LNB lb/106 Btu 0.73 

Emissions with GR-LNB lb/106

 Btu 0.26

NOx removed tons/yr 3990

Total Capital Requirement $/kW 26

Levelization $/ton

 Factor [a] mills/kWh NOx removed

Levelized Cost, Current $

Capital charge 0.160 0.73 313

Fixed O&M 1.314 0.25 107

Variable O&M 1.314 1.79 767

Total 2.77 1187

SO2 credits, $95/ton 1.314 (0.37) (160)

Total with SO2 credits 2.40 1027

Levelized Cost, Constant $

Capital charge 0.124 0.57 244

Fixed O&M 1.000 0.19 81

Variable O&M 1.000 1.36 583

Total 2.12 908

SO2 credits, $95/ton 1.000 (0.28) (122)

Total with SO2 credits 1.84 786

____

a Levelization based on 15-year project life, 38% tax rate, 4% inflation, and the following capital structure:

 50% debt @ 8.5% return, 15% preferred stock @ 7.0% return, and 35% common stock @ 7.5% return.
26

Table 5. Comparison of Economics

Constant 1996 Dollars

300-MWe Plant Capacity

Technology NOx Reduction, % Capital Cost, $/kWe

Levelized Cost,

$/ton of NOx

Removed

GR Only 60 12 527

LNB Only 45 14 227

GR-LNB (Second

Generation)

64 26 786

Coal Reburning 50 28 592

SNCR 35 9 700

SCR 50 44 575
27

Figure 1. Schematic Flowsheet of GR-LNB Process

Air

Preheater

Baghouse

Econom izer

Boiler

O verfire Air

Natural G as

Recirculated

F lue G as

W indbox

Coal

Air

Low NO

 Burners

Ash

Stack

To D isposal

Reburn

Zone

x
28

Figure 2. Schematic Flowsheet of Gas Reburning System
29

Figure 3. Effect of FGR Flow Rate on NOx Emissions,

First-Generation GR-LNB
30

Figure 4. NOx-Reduction Performance

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

1st Generation GR

O 3.57%

Gas 13.9%

Test Date

NO Reduction, % x

11/17/9211/20/92

12/16/92

1/19/93

2/2/93

4/27/936/22/937/19/93

8/5/93

9/25/93

10/14/93

11/10/93

12/9/93

1/8/94

10/4/94

10/21/94

2

2nd

G eneration

G R

O 3.16%

G as 10.5%

2
31

Figure 5. Effect of Primary Zone Stoichiometric Ratio on NOx Emissions,

First-Generation GR

0.50

0.60

0.40

0.30

0.20

0.10

0.00

1.00 1.05 1.10 1.15 1.20 1.25

140 - 160 MWe (net)

 0% Gas

Prim ary Zone Stoichiom etric Ratio

NO (lb/10 Btu) x 6
32

Figure 6. Effect of Gas Heat Input on NOx Emissions,

First-Generation GR

0.50

0.40

0.45

0.30

0.35

0.20

0.25

0.10

0.15

0.00

0.05

0 18 2 20 4 6 8 1 0 1 2 1 4 1 6

140 - 160 Mwe (net)

SR 1: 1.08 - 1.10 with OFA

Gas Heat Input (%)

NO (lb/10 Btu) x 6

LNB Baseline
33

Figure 7. Effect of Gas Heat Input on NOx Reduction,

Second-Generation GR

0.6

0.7

0.4

0.5

0.2

0.3

0.1

0.0

0 18 2 20 4 6 8 1 0 1 2 1 4 1 6

140 - 160 Mwe (net)

Gas Heat Input (%)

NO (lb/10 Btu) x 6

LNB Baseline
34

Figure 8. Effect of Load on NOx Reduction,

First-Generation GR
35

Figure 9. Effect of Exit Flue Gas O2 Concentration on NOx Emissions,

First-Generation GR
36

Figure 10. Effect of Exit Flue Gas O2 Concentration on NOx Emissions,

Second-Generation GR
37

Figure 11. Effect of Operating Variables on Economics of GR-LNB Process
38

ABBREVIATIONS

CCT Clean Coal Technology

EER Energy and Environmental Research Corporation

PSCo Public Service Company (of Colorado)

NOx Nitrogen oxides

GR Gas Reburning

LNB Low-NOx Burners

GR-LNB Gas Reburning used in conjunction with Low-NOx Burners

OFA Overfire Air

NSPS New Source Performance Standards

CAAA Clean Air Act Amendments

CH4 Methane

FGR Flue Gas Recirculation