Patent ID: 8244505

Claim:
A method for predicting a nitrogen oxide (NO x ) emission rate of a non-continuous, natural gas-fired boiler, the method comprising: calculating a plurality of correlations for the NO x emission rate of the non-continuous, natural gas-fired boiler relative to a plurality of measured fuel flow rates and a plurality of oxygen (O 2 ) concentrations using a computing device, wherein the plurality of correlations are based on a plurality of sampled NO x emission concentrations, sampled fuel flow rates, and sampled O 2 concentrations obtained during operation of the non-continuous, natural gas-fired boiler, each sampled fuel flow rate being sampled across a range of O 2 concentrations; calculating a predicted NO x emission rate of the non-continuous, natural gas-fired boiler at a first fuel flow rate and a first O 2 concentration based on the plurality of correlations, wherein the calculating of the predicted NO x emission rate includes comparing the first fuel flow rate to the plurality of measured fuel flow rates and comparing the first O 2 concentration to the plurality of O 2 concentrations to determine a related correlation for the first fuel flow rate and the first O 2 concentration relative to the NO x emission rate; and providing the predicted NO x emission rate for use by a user.