Design and Construction of a Pilot Scale System to Remove Pollutants from an Incinerator Effluent 2001-01-2249

Incineration is a promising method for converting biomass and human waste into CO₂ and H₂O during extended planetary exploration. However, incineration produces small amounts of NO_X and SO₂ in the effluent, which must be removed. TDA Research has developed a safe and effective process to remove NO_X and SO₂ from waste incinerator product gas streams. In our process, NO is catalytically oxidized to NO₂, using a low temperature oxidation catalyst developed at TDA. Wet scrubbers then remove the NO₂, with most of the NO₂ converted into an aqueous solution that can be used as a plant nutrient. A packed bed containing a basic sorbent, also developed at TDA, removes SO₂ from the effluent.

As part of an SBIR Phase II project, TDA designed and constructed a pilot scale effluent cleaning system, which will be used with the incinerator at NASA Ames Research Center. In addition to NO_X and SO₂, the system is designed to remove other pollutants found in the effluent, including fly ash and unburned hydrocarbons. The apparatus constructed at TDA consists of a cyclone separator and filter for fly ash removal, a solid sorbent bed for SO₂ control, two catalyst beds for oxidation of NO, CO, and unburned hydrocarbons, two wet scrubbers to remove NO₂, heat exchangers for thermal management, and instrumentation for process control. In this paper, we will present detailed data that was used to design the full scale NO oxidation reactor along with the NO₂ scrubbers. Our process for NO_X control is simpler than the competing technology and is therefore attractive for NO_X control for natural gas fired turbines and other stationary NO_X sources.