Formation and emission characteristics of VOCs from a coal-fired power plant

doi:10.1016/j.cjche.2021.02.015

Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering ›› 2021, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (7): 256-264.DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2021.02.015

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Formation and emission characteristics of VOCs from a coal-fired power plant

Jingying Xu¹, Yue Lyu², Jiankun Zhuo³, Yishu Xu⁴, Zijian Zhou², Qiang Yao³

1. Department of New Energy Science and Engineering, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China;
2. State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China;
3. Key Laboratory for Thermal Science and Power Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;
4. Department of Power Engineering and Mechanics, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China

Received:2020-11-08 Revised:2021-02-24 Online:2021-09-30 Published:2021-07-28
Contact: Jingying Xu, Qiang Yao
Supported by:
This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52006079), the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (2020CFB247) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFB0605201).

Formation and emission characteristics of VOCs from a coal-fired power plant

Jingying Xu¹, Yue Lyu², Jiankun Zhuo³, Yishu Xu⁴, Zijian Zhou², Qiang Yao³

1. Department of New Energy Science and Engineering, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China;
2. State Key Laboratory of Coal Combustion, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China;
3. Key Laboratory for Thermal Science and Power Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;
4. Department of Power Engineering and Mechanics, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China

通讯作者: Jingying Xu, Qiang Yao
基金资助:
This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52006079), the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (2020CFB247) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFB0605201).

Abstract

Abstract: On-site measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in different streams of flue gas were carried out on a real coal-fired power plant using sampling bags and SUMMA canisters to collect gas samples, filters to collect particle samples. Gas chromatography-flame ionization detector/mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was the offline analysis method. We found that the total mass concentration of the tested 102 VOC species at the outlet of wet flue gas desulfuration device was (13456 ±47) μg·m^-3, which contained aliphatic hydrocarbons (57.9%), aromatic hydrocarbons (26.8%), halogen-containing species (14.5%), and a small amount of oxygen-containing and nitrogen-containing species. The most abundant species were 1-hexene, n-hexane and 2-methylpentane. The top ten species in terms of mass fraction (with a total mass fraction of 75.3%) were mainly hydrocarbons with a carbon number of 6 or higher and halogenated hydrocarbons with a lower carbon number. The mass concentration of VOC species in the particle phase was significantly lower than that in the gas phase. The change of VOC mass concentrations along the air pollution control devices indicates that conventional pollutant control equipment had a limited effect on VOC reduction. Ozone formation potential calculations showed that aromatic hydrocarbons contributed the highest ozone formation (46.4%) due to their relatively high mass concentrations and MIR (maximum increment reactivity) values.

Key words: Volatile organic compounds, Coal combustion, Ozone formation potential, Coal-fired power plant, On-site measurement

摘要： On-site measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in different streams of flue gas were carried out on a real coal-fired power plant using sampling bags and SUMMA canisters to collect gas samples, filters to collect particle samples. Gas chromatography-flame ionization detector/mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was the offline analysis method. We found that the total mass concentration of the tested 102 VOC species at the outlet of wet flue gas desulfuration device was (13456 ±47) μg·m^-3, which contained aliphatic hydrocarbons (57.9%), aromatic hydrocarbons (26.8%), halogen-containing species (14.5%), and a small amount of oxygen-containing and nitrogen-containing species. The most abundant species were 1-hexene, n-hexane and 2-methylpentane. The top ten species in terms of mass fraction (with a total mass fraction of 75.3%) were mainly hydrocarbons with a carbon number of 6 or higher and halogenated hydrocarbons with a lower carbon number. The mass concentration of VOC species in the particle phase was significantly lower than that in the gas phase. The change of VOC mass concentrations along the air pollution control devices indicates that conventional pollutant control equipment had a limited effect on VOC reduction. Ozone formation potential calculations showed that aromatic hydrocarbons contributed the highest ozone formation (46.4%) due to their relatively high mass concentrations and MIR (maximum increment reactivity) values.

关键词: Volatile organic compounds, Coal combustion, Ozone formation potential, Coal-fired power plant, On-site measurement

Jingying Xu, Yue Lyu, Jiankun Zhuo, Yishu Xu, Zijian Zhou, Qiang Yao. Formation and emission characteristics of VOCs from a coal-fired power plant[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2021, 35(7): 256-264.

Jingying Xu, Yue Lyu, Jiankun Zhuo, Yishu Xu, Zijian Zhou, Qiang Yao. Formation and emission characteristics of VOCs from a coal-fired power plant[J]. 中国化学工程学报, 2021, 35(7): 256-264.

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Formation and emission characteristics of VOCs from a coal-fired power plant

Formation and emission characteristics of VOCs from a coal-fired power plant

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