DOE OSTI2012
Catalyzed combustion offers the advantages of increased fuel efficiency, decreased emissions (both NOx and CO), and an expanded operating range. These performance improvements are related to the ability of the catalyst to stabilize a flame at or within the burner media and to combust fuel at much lower temperatures. This technology has a diverse set of applications in industrial and commercial heating, including boilers for the paper, food and chemical industries. However, wide spread adoption of catalyzed combustion has been limited by the high cost of precious metals needed for the catalyst materials. The primary objective of this project was the development of an innovative catalyzed burner media for commercial and small industrial boiler applications that drastically reduce the unit cost of the catalyzed media without sacrificing the benefits associated with catalyzed combustion. The scope of this program was to identify both the optimum substrate material as well as the best performing catalyst construction to meet or exceed industry standards for durability, cost, energy efficiency, and emissions. It was anticipated that commercial implementation of this technology would result in significant energy savings and reduced emissions. Based on demonstrated achievements, there is a potential to reduce NOx emissions by 40,000 TPY and natural gas consumption by 8.9 TBtu in industries that heavily utilize natural gas for process heating. These industries include food manufacturing, polymer processing, and pulp and paper manufacturing. Initial evaluation of commercial solutions and upcoming EPA regulations suggests that small to midsized boilers in industrial and commercial markets could possibly see the greatest benefit from this technology. While out of scope for the current program, an extension of this technology could also be applied to catalytic oxidation for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Considerable progress has been made over the course of the grant period in accomplishing these objectives. Our work in the area of Pd-based, methane oxidation catalysts has led to the development of highly active catalysts with relatively low loadings of Pd metal using proprietary coating methods. The thermal stability of these Pd-based catalysts were characterized using SEM and BET analyses, further demonstrating that certain catalyst supports offer enhanced stability toward both PdO decomposition and/or thermal sintering/growth of Pd particles. When applied to commercially available fiber mesh substrates (both metallic and ceramic) and tested in an open-air burner, these catalyst-support chemistries showed modest improvements in the NOx emissions and radiant output compared to uncatalyzed substrates. More significant, though, was the performance of the catalyst-support chemistries on novel media substrates. These substrates were developed to overcome the limitations that are present with commercially available substrate designs and increase the gas-catalyst contact time. When catalyzed, these substrates demonstrated a 65-75% reduction in NOx emissions across the firing range when tested in an open air burner. In testing in a residential boiler, this translated into NOx emissions of <15 ppm over the 15-150 kBtu/hr firing range.