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Investigation of NO x precursor compounds and other combustion by-products in the primary combustion zone of a waste-incineration plant using on-line, real-time mass spectrometry and Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR)

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Abstract

On-line analysis of trace and bulk gas compounds in the burning chamber of a waste-incineration plant has been performed, with high temporal resolution, by use of a variety of distinctly different measurement techniques. Time-of-flight mass spectrometry was performed with simultaneous use of three ionization techniques—resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI), single-photon ionization (SPI), and electron-impact ionization (EI). Chemical-ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS), Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), and electrochemical methods were also used. Sampling was conducted by means of a newly developed air-cooled stainless steel lance, to cope with the high temperatures and elevated particle concentrations at the sampling location. Nitrogen species were mainly nitrogen monoxide, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide (HCN), with a small amount (approximately 0.3%) of aromatic nitrogen compounds. NO, NH3, and HCN are the main contributors to the NO x -formation process in the postulated fuel–NO reaction scheme dominant at this location. The NO recycling process thereby plays a major role. Changes in plant operating conditions have a noticeable impact only when the air supply is varied. For example, reduction of oxygen leads to an increase in the HCN fraction of the total nitrogen content and a decrease in the NO fraction, and vice versa.

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the HGF strategy funds’ project “Primary reduction of NO x emissions as an example of optimization of combustion processes in waste-incineration plants”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecological Chemistry, GSF—National Research Centre for Environment and Health, 85764, Neuherberg, Germany

    T. Streibel, K. Hafner, F. Mühlberger, T. Adam & R. Zimmermann

  2. Analytical Chemistry, Institute for Physics, University of Augsburg, Universitaetsstrasse 1, 86159, Augsburg, Germany

    T. Streibel, T. Adam & R. Zimmermann

  3. BIfA GmbH, Am Mittleren Moos 46, 86167, Augsburg, Germany

    R. Zimmermann

  4. GKS Gemeinschaftskraftwerk Schweinfurt GmbH, Hafenstrasse 30, 97424, Schweinfurt, Germany

    R. Warnecke

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  1. T. Streibel
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  2. K. Hafner
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  3. F. Mühlberger
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  4. T. Adam
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  5. R. Warnecke
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  6. R. Zimmermann
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Correspondence to R. Zimmermann.

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Streibel, T., Hafner, K., Mühlberger, F. et al. Investigation of NO x precursor compounds and other combustion by-products in the primary combustion zone of a waste-incineration plant using on-line, real-time mass spectrometry and Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR). Anal Bioanal Chem 384, 1096–1106 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-005-3340-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-005-3340-z

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