NOx - Emission & Abatement in Thermal Power Plants

C P Tiwari
1.0 Introduction
Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MOEF & CC) issued notification on 07 th
December 2015 in which Environment (Protection) Rule 1986 has been amended. As per
notification, limit of Nitrogen Oxides (NOX) emissions from Thermal Power Plants (TPPs) have
been notified. Due to above notification, NOX emission has become an important consideration
in design and operation of Boilers installed in TPPs.
This paper discusses about basics of NOX, National & International norms for NOX emission from
Thermal Power Plants (TPPs), Type of NOX, Technologies for NOX abatement, effect of NOX on
human health & atmosphere and issues in NOX measurement.
2.0 Nitrogen Oxides (NOX)
Nitrogen Monoxide (NO) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) are byproduct of combustion process of
any fossil fuel collectively referred to as Nitrogen Oxides ( NOX). NOX is formed by the reaction of
atmospheric nitrogen or fuel nitrogen at high temperature. At ambient conditions, nitrogen and
oxygen in air are stable and non-reactive.
3.0 National & International limit for NOx emission from TPPs
As per notification dated 07th Dec 2015, NOx limit for TPPs in India is as under:

TPPs installed before 31st TPPs installed after 1st Jan TPPs installed after 1st Jan
December 2003 - 600 2004 till 31st December 2017 - 100 mg/Nm3
mg/Nm3 2016 - 300 mg/Nm3
International limit for NOX emission is as under:

World Bank: with Volatile Matter > 10%, 750

China: for unit installed before 2004, 200 mg/ mg/ Nm3 and with Volatile Matter <10%, 1500
Nm3 and for unit after 2004, 100 mg/ Nm3. mg/ Nm3

International NOx Standard

European Standard: for 50 - 100 MW Unit -

USA: 117 mg/ Nm3 300-400 mg/ Nm3, for more than 100 MW - 200
mg/ Nm3

4.0 Type of NOX

Depending on origin of formation, NOX can be categorized as Fuel NOX and Thermal NOX.

Fuel NOX Thermal NOX

N2 for NOX formation originates from
originally bound compound of fossil
fuels and account for up to 80% of total
NOX in uncontrolled combustion. Fuel
NOX is high for coal having high reactive
nitrogen generally in proportion to
volatile matter.
N2 for NOX formation originates from
atmospheric air. Thermal NOx is
dependent on combustion
temperature, N2 and O2 concentration
& time and increases with increase of
any of these parameters.
5.0 Factors affecting NOx formation
Factors affecting Fuel and Thermal NOx formation are as under:
 Coal with lowest fuel nitrogen content and lowest fuel oxygen / nitrogen ratio will generally
produce lowest NOX.
 Percentage of fuel nitrogen conversion into NOX decreases with increasing fuel nitrogen.
 Fuel NOX formation depends on availability of oxygen to reach with the fuel nitrogen
compound in gaseous state. The compound that evolves from coal particle like HCN or
NH3 will reduce to N2 in fuel rich atmosphere or NOX in air rich atmosphere.
 Fuel NOX can be minimized by controlling the quantity of air permitted to mix with the fuel
in early stages of combustion. Low NOX burners are designed to minimize volatile Nitrogen
conversion to NOx by establishing early ignition and O2 staging.
 The contribution of Thermal NOX to total NOX can be minimized by operating boilers at
lowest permitted excess air & minimizing gas temperature throughout furnace by using low
turbulence diffusion flame and large water cooled furnaces.
6.0 Technologies for NOx Abatement
Technologies for NOx abatement can be broadly classified into following categories:
 Combustion Control like Combustion Tuning, Low NOx Burners & Air Staging
 Post Combustion Control like Selective Non Catalytic Reduction (SNCR), Selective
Catalytic Reduction (SCR) & Hybrid System

6.1 Combustion Control like Combustion Tuning, Low NOx Burners (LNBs) & Air
Staging
The LNBs regulate the initial fuel-air mixture, velocities, and turbulence to create a fuel-rich
flame core, and control the rate at which additional air required to complete combustion is
mixed. This ensures early de-volatilization of coal & avoids highly oxidized environment
conducive to NOx formation.
Air Staging & Advanced Over fire Air (AOFA) technology involves injection of air above the
primary combustion zone to allow the primary combustion to occur without amount of oxygen
needed for complete combustion. This oxygen deficiency reduces fuel NO x formation. Over fire
air injected at high velocity, creates turbulent mixing to complete the combustion in a gradual
fashion at lower temperatures to mitigate thermal NOx formation. Usually, AOFA is used in
combination with LNBs and can reduce NOx up to 60% when system is supplied and installed in
new Boilers. In retrofit, maximum possible NO x reduction using combustion control techniques
depends of furnace size, furnace height, coal quality etc. In general, in applying combustion
control techniques, unburnt carbon in fly ash increases. Increase in unburnt carbon due to use
of combustion control technologies for NOx control shall be one of the important consideration.
6.2 Selective Non Catalytic Reduction (SNCR), Selective Catalytic Reduction
(SCR) & Hybrid System
The SCR and SNCR technologies can be used alone or in combination with combustion control
technologies or SNCR along with SCR (Hybrid System). These processes use ammonia or urea
in a reducing reaction with NOx to form elemental nitrogen and water.
The SNCR system can only be used at high temperatures (800 ºC –1200 ºC) where a catalyst is
not needed. Generally, SNCR systems alone can achieve NOx emission reductions of 30%–
50% percent. Use of SNCR system was limited to smaller unit size. However with new
technologies of ammonia injection into furnace (like Umbrella SNCR System developed by
Alstom / GE), SNCR System can be used in large unit also.

SNCR System
The SCR system is typically applied at temperatures between 300 ºC – 400 ºC. The SCR
system is located between downstream of the boiler economizer and upstream of the Air
Preheater.
 SCR System
In SCR catalyst is utilized which promotes a chemical reaction between nitrogen oxides (NOx)
and ammonia (NH3) to produce nitrogen (N2) and water vapor (H2O). The NOx reduction
reaction takes places as the flue gas passes through the catalyst in the SCR reactor.
SCR catalyst of varying configurations and formulations are available from a number of
manufacturers worldwide and must be selected to meet the specific performance requirements.
SCR catalyst for Indian coal ash is not yet proven and different type of catalyst are being tested
in one of NTPC project for deciding type of catalyst to be used for Indian Projects

SCR Catalyst
Ammonia storage and injection system is required in both SCR and SNCR System.

SCR System SNCR System

NOx reduction - 80% to 95% NOx reduction - 30% to 50%

Aux Power Increase - upto 0.5%
Reagent - Ammonia or Urea
Reaction Temperature - 300 0C - 1200 0C
Capital Cost - High compared to SNCR
Catalyst - Required, contains heavy metal.
Disposal and recycling of catalyst is required.
Life of Catalyst - 6 to 10 years
Aux Power Increase - upto 01% - 0.3%
Reagent - Ammonia or Urea
Reaction Temperature - 800 0C - 1200 0C
Capital Cost - Low compared to SCR
Catalyst - Not Required

Comparison of SCR and SNCR System

7.0 Effect of Nitrogen Oxides (NOX)
In atmosphere, NOX and volatile organic compound (VOCs) react in presence of sunlight to form
ground level ozone, the major constituent of photochemical smog. Unlike ozone in the
stratosphere, ozone at ground level has strong negative impact on human health and
environment. It impairs lungs function and aggravates heart diseases, respiratory diseases such
as Asthma and Bronchitis. NOX reacts with oxygen and other compound of air to form nitrates
which coalesces into fine particles which is also a main cause for respiratory diseases. NOX also
contributes to acid rains which can destroy fish and other form of fresh and coastal water life
and damage building, material, forest and agricultural crops.
8.0 Issues in NOx Measurement
Units of NOX measurement is mg/ Nm3 or ppm or lb /BTU. It is very important to understand the
methodology to be used for measurement, unit conversion and reporting of NOX emission
values.
IS: 11255 Part - 7: "Method of Measurement of Emission from Stationary Sources" specifies
methodology for sampling, analysis, calculation, correction and reporting of NOX emission. As
per this standard, NOX to be measured and reported as NO 2 and unit shall be mg/ Nm3. Normal
Temperature & Pressure Condition (NTP) is defined as 25 °C (298.15 0K) and 1 atmosphere
pressure (101.325 kPa).
In NOX major constituent is Nitric Oxide (NO) approximately 95% and remaining predominantly
being Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2).
NOX conversion factors from ppm to mg/ Nm3 or vice versa can be calculated using following
formula:
Concentration in mg/ Nm3 OR Sm3 = (molecular weight of substance x concentration in ppm) /
Molar Volume of Ideal Gas
Molecular Weight of NO = 30.01
Molecular Weight of NO2 = 46.01
Molar Volume of Ideal Gas is as under for different condition:
a) Normal Temperature & Pressure Condition (NTP) is defined as 25 °C (298.15 0K) and 1
atmosphere pressure (101.325 kPa) = 24.47
b) Normal Temperature & Pressure Condition (NTP) is defined as 25 °C (293.15 0K) and 1
atmosphere pressure (101.325 kPa) = 24.06
c) Standard Temperature & Pressure Condition (STP) is defined as 0 °C (273.15 0K) and 1
atmosphere pressure (101.325 kPa) = 22.41
Since as per IS Standard, NTP condition is 25 °C (298.15 0K) and 1 atmosphere pressure,
Conversion factor of NO and NO2 from ppm to mg/ Nm3 will be as under:

NO in mg / Nm3 = 1.226 x NO in ppm

NO2 in mg / Nm3 = 1.880 x NO2 in ppm
NOX in mg / Nm3 = NO in mg/ Nm3 + NO2 in mg/Nm3

Measured NOX shall be corrected for standard condition. Generally NOX limit is expressed at 6%
excess air. The formula to be used for correction shall be as under:
 NOX in mg / Nm3 at s% O2 = Cf x measured NOX in mg / Nm3 at m% O2
Cf shall be calculated using following formula:

Where O2 %s is O2 % at standard condition and O2 %m is O2 % during measurement.

9.0 Conclusion
NOX emission in TPPs is becoming an important issue due to focus on reduction of gaseous
emission across globe. It has become an important issue in Indian context due to recent
environmental norms.
NOX generated in TPPs consist of Thermal and Fuel NOX. NOX reduction in TPPs is possible by
using combustion control technologies like Low NOX Burner, air staging etc. or by using post
combustion technologies like SCR and SNCR. SCR technology is widely viewed as most
effective NOx abatement technology with NOx removal efficiency 80% - 95% especially for future
units with NOx limit of 100 mg/Nm3. However for existing units in India for which NO x limit is 300
mg/Nm3, low cost combustion control technologies like LNBs, air staging etc. shall be used for
reducing NOx level to lowest value possible. Incase even after using combustion control
technologies, NOx emission is not reduced to desired limit, other NO x abatement technologies
will be used.

Measurement of NOX is also an important issue. It is very important to use right conversion
factor for converting NOX usually measured in ppm to mg/Nm3.