A Sensitivity Study of NOx Emission to the Change in the Input Variables of a FGR Industrial Furnace Available to Purchase

Preliminary study has shown that the flue gas recirculation (FGR) is one of the effective ways to reduce the Nitric Oxides (NOx) emission in industrial furnaces. The research reported in this paper concentrates mainly on the development of dynamic models suitable for on-line and real-time feedback control to reduce the NOx emission in industrial furnaces with FGR. To construct an appropriate dynamic model, the relationship between the NOx emission and the furnace input variables, such as the inlet combustion air mass flow rate, inlet combustion air temperature, and the pressure head of the FGR fan, has been investigated. A moment closure method with the assumed β probability density function (PDF) for the mixture fraction is used to model the turbulent non-premixed combustion process in the furnace. The combustion model is derived based on the assumption of instantaneous full chemical equilibrium. The discrete transfer radiation model is chosen as the radiation heat transfer model, and the weighted-sum-of-gray-gases model is used to calculate the absorption coefficient.