Flue Gas Analysis

Flue gas analysis is used both for efficiency and emissions purposes. Thanks to advances in
electronics, it is now cheaper, easier and therefore more common to monitor flue gases. Due to
tightening environmental regulations, monitoring may be mandatory. The instruments used for
analysis can be  inexpensive small hand-held devices that produce reasonable accuracy, to larger
permanently installed units that are capable of producing lab quality results on a continuous
basis.

The type of flue gas analysis performed and the equipment required will be determined by:

 is the primary need for efficiency, environmental regulation or both

 will analysis be spot-checked on a periodic basis or is continuous monitoring required
 what gases/emissions must be monitored
 what accuracy is required

The combustion process inputs are fuel and air. Therefore, the components of flue gas are
primarily made up of compounds of oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon. The components
that are of interest because they effect efficiency are primarily oxygen (O) and carbon (C). The
components that are of interest from an environmental perspective are nitrous-oxides (NOx),
carbon-dioxide (CO2), carbon-monoxide (CO) and sulfur-dioxide (SO2) – if the fuel source is oil
or coal.

Operation
Flue Gas Analysis is performed by inserting a probe into the flue of the furnace, boiler, etc.,
between the last heat exchanger and draft diverter or any source of make-up air that could enter
the flue that did not pass through the combustion process. This is known as ‘in-situ’ testing. It is
also necessary to take a combustion air temperature measurement, or ambient temperature if that
is the source of combustion air.
Depending on the gas being measured, most probes today are either infra-red or some sort of
electrochemical. Not all gases are directly measured by all meters; some values are calculated
based on gases that are measured and then factored based on input fuel properties.

Impact on Efficiency
The most common measurement for the purposes of efficiency are oxygen (O) or carbon-dioxide
(CO2) and temperature. For a given fuel type, it is possible to calculate the percent O if CO2 is
measured, or to calculate CO2 if O is measured. Another common indicator is CO; if O is high,
there won’t be any significant CO. Measurable CO means the unit is starved for O or there is
something very wrong with the flame. The O and/or CO2 measurement along with the
temperature of the flue gas and the combustion air temperature, are the needed variables to
determine combustion efficiency.
Emission’s Impact on the Environment
The emission of primary concern from the combustion of natural gas is NOx. Typical
uncontrolled NOx from natural gas boilers are 70 to well over 100 ppm. Regulations in
California have tightened substantially over recent years, requiring some boilers to operate at less
than 9 ppm. Several other States and Canada have requirements for under 50 ppm for larger
boilers.

Industrial Wastewater
Wastewater, or sewage, originates from human and home wastewaters, industrial wastes, animal
wastes, rain runoff, and groundwater infiltration. Generally, wastewater is the flow of used water
from a neighborhood. The wastewater consists of 99.9% water by weight, where the remaining
0.1% is suspended or dissolved material. This solid material is a mixture of excrements,
detergents, food leftovers, grease, oils, salts, plastics, heavy metals, sands, and grits

Typical Agricultural Industries Include

 Dairy processing industries
 Meat processing factories
 Juice and beverage industries
  Slaughterhouses
 Vegetable processing facilities
 Rendering plants
 Drainage water of irrigation systems.

Biological Treatment Processes

The secondary treatment can be defined as “treatment of wastewater by a process involving
biological treatment with a secondary sedimentation”. In other words, the secondary treatment is
a biological process. The settled wastewater is introduced into a specially designed bioreactor
where under aerobic or anaerobic conditions the organic matter is utilized by microorganisms
such as bacteria (aerobically or anaerobically), algae, and fungi (aerobically). The bioreactor
affords appropriate bioenvironmental conditions for the microorganisms to reproduce and use the
dissolved organic matter as energy for themselves. Provided that oxygen and food, in the form of
settled wastewater, are supplied to the microorganisms, the biological oxidation process of
dissolved organic matter will be maintained. The biological process is mostly carried out bacteria
that form the basic trophic level (the level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food
chain) of the food chain inside the bioreactor. The bioconversion of dissolved organic matter into
thick bacterial biomass can fundamentally purify the wastewater. Subsequently, it is crucial to
separate the microbial biomass from the treated wastewater though sedimentation. This
secondary sedimentation is basically similar to primary sedimentation except that the sludge
contains bacterial cells rather than fecal solids. The biological removal of organic matter from
settled wastewater is conducted by microorganisms, mainly heterotrophic bacteria but also
occasionally fungi. The microorganisms are able to decompose the organic matter through two
different biological processes: biological oxidation and biosynthesis. The biological oxidation
forms some end-products, such as minerals, that remain in the solution and are discharged with
the effluent. The biosynthesis transforms the colloidal and dissolved organic matter into new
cells that form in turn the dense biomass that can be then removed by sedimentation.
References
  "Technology - Technology and innovation - statoil.com
  "Wastewater Characterization