Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association

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Recent Electrostatic Precipitator Experience with

Ammonia Conditioning of Power Boiler Flue Gases

Walter A. Baxter

To cite this article: Walter A. Baxter (1968) Recent Electrostatic Precipitator Experience with
Ammonia Conditioning of Power Boiler Flue Gases, Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association,
18:12, 817-820, DOI: 10.1080/00022470.1968.10469222

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00022470.1968.10469222

Published online: 16 Mar 2012.

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 Recent Electrostatic Precipitator
Walter A. Baxter
Experience with Ammonia
Koppers Company, Inc.
Conditioning of Power Boiler
Flue Gases
Motivated by heightened recent interest, Koppers Co. has been experimenting with ammonia conditioning
Downloaded by [Georgia Southern University] at 20:15 17 September 2017

of power boiler flue gases for the purpose of improving the precipitability of the emitted fly ash. Chemical
reactions resulting from ammonia injection are postulated. Measurements on three pulverized coal and two
cyclone fired boilers, all of which emit acidic ash, are described. In all five cases, considerable but varying,
increase in precipitator power input and collection efficiency resulted when gaseous ammonia in the amount
of 1 5 ppm was injected between the economizer and air preheater. The conditioned fly ash showed de-
creased acidity and inconsistent change in electrical resistivity. Unless air heater temperatures were un-
usually high (>400°F) / tendency of the air heater to plug was an additional, but unwanted, result. At one
station with high air heater outlet temperature ammonia injection has been adopted as a permanent solution
to community pressure for reduction of stack discharge. Ammonia injection downstream of the air heater
produced no effect. Future plans are presented to continue the program beyond results described here.

Electrostatic precipitation is a process of simple re-entrainment by the passing Need

using electric forces to separate sus-
pended particles from gases. Fortu-
nately, precipitation can effectively be
carried on over a wide range of dust and
gas properties and conditions. In cases
where precipitation is difficult, steps can
often be taken to improve the dust or gas
properties and thereby increase the pre-
cipitability of the dust. One such
technique is to add trace amounts of a
"conditioner," which when mixed with
the gas and dust under the right condi-
tions, alters their properties so as to
move them into the range of good pre-
cipitation.
Because this is an electrical process,
the electrical conductivity of the mate-
rial being collected is of paramount im-
portance. Highly conductive dusts
with resistivities of less than 10" ohm-
cm can be charged and collected very
easily. However, because they are so
conductive they bled off their charge to
the grounded collection plate rapidly
and are prone to escape the collection
zone, either because of electrical repul-
sion back into the gas stream, or because
Mr. Baxter is Chief Development
Engineer of the Industrial Gas
Cleaning Department, Metal Prod-
ucts Division of Koppers Co.,
Inc., P.O. Box 298, Baltimore,
Maryland 21203.
gas. Highly resistive dusts with re-
sistivities over 1011 ohm-cm exhibit
opposite phenomena. Once collected on
the dust plate, the corona rain plasters
the dust tightly to the plate, however
because they are so resistive, dust layer
voltage drop can buildup to such levels
as to cause the well known "back-
corona" phenomenon, which in its most
severe form can reduce precipitator
collection efficiency to nearly zero. By
far the largest body of work in the art of
conditioning has been devoted to at-
tempts to lower resistivity of these back-
corona producing dusts into the realm of
acceptable conductivity.
Conditioning is as old as the art of
precipitation itself. As early as 1912 it
was discovered that copper converter
dust precipitation was considerably
enhanced by the presence of sulfur
trioxide or increased moisture in the
gases. Progress in the application of
conditioning agents for the enhancement
of precipitator performance has been
erratic. In the petroleum industry
ammonia conditioning of catalyst
cracker gases has been an accepted part
of the process for many years. Condi-
tioning of power boiler flue gases (the
subject of wide experimentation both in
the laboratory and in the field) has re-
ceived, to date, very limited accep-
tance as a continuing full scale solution
to poor dust precipitability.
Recent air pollution control legisla-
tion coupled with the ever rising curve of
power consumption has somewhat
altered this situation. In order to keep
up with power demands, utilities con-
tinue to operate old plants, that would
ordinarily have been retired and must
project another 5 to 10 years of opera-
tion for these plants. Some of these
older installations and some boilers that
came on stream as recently as 7 to 10
years ago are equipped with electro-
static precipitators that cannot conform
to the maximum dust discharge levels
allowable under 1968 legislation, let
alone proposed regulations. The high
expense of squeezing in additional pre-
cipitation equipment in order to up-
grade collection efficiency plus the cost
of equipment unavailability during an
extensive outage for tie in is in many
cases prohibitive. Some older plants
especially in metropolitan areas just do
not have available space for additional
precipitators no matter what the cost.
For these plants chemical conditioning of
the gases for the purpose of providing the
required collection efficiency for the re-
maining life of the installation can indeed
be an attractive solution.
In addition to the problems facing the
operator of older equipment, the de-
signer of new power boilers finds air
pollution control costs rising because of

December 1968 Volume 18, No. 12 817

Downloaded by [Georgia Southern University] at 20:15 17 September 2017
Figure 1. Ammonia Conditioning after Reese
and Greco.' Left—15 ppm NH' injection, Right
no treatment.
a twofold pressure. Besides the re-
quirement of high collection efficiency to
minimize fly ash discharge to the atmo-
sphere, there is an even greater concern
among health authorities regarding sul-
fur oxides (principally SO2) being
emitted from power boilers. One solu-
tion to the SO2 problem (at least until
SO2 removal equipment is demonstrated
workable under full scale operation) is
to burn coal, where available, with a
lower sulfur content. However, this
solution has a double price. In addition
to the costs of the fuel change, a reduc-
tion in coal sulfur will materially in-
crease the size and cost of the fly ash
precipitator because of the decreased
precipitability of ash from low sulfur
coal. Thus to hold constant collection
efficiency, the size and cost of a pre-
cipitator designed for 2.5% sulfur coal
may easily increase 40% if coal with a
sulfur of less than 1% is substituted.
Chemical conditioning, if available at
reasonable cost, has possibilities as an
alternative to increased precipitator size
as a solution to fly ash collection from
boilers burning lower sulfur fuels.
Experience
Some years ago, prior to our ammonia
experimentation, Koppers investigated
sulfur trioxide gas conditioning as a
possible solution to sub-normal pre-
cipitator performance on boilers burning
low sulfur fuel and emitting high re-
sistivity fly ash. These studies were
started in the laboratory and then ex-
tended to full scale field experimenta-
tion. Results were inconsistent in that
full scale SO3 requirements were widely
818
Figure 2. Station A. Left 15 ppm NH3 injected. Right—no treatment
variable and poorly correlated with
laboratory predictions. In this regard
our findings paralleled that reported on
Australian coals where Kirkwood1 and
Busby and Darby2 reported good but
varying results with SO3 conditioning.
Later Watson and Blecher3 reported an
interesting study at one station where
600% more SO3 was required for per-
formance improvement then had been
expected. Based on the acidic nature of
the ash they shifted to ammonia condi-
tioning, got excellent results, and per-
manently installed NH3 injection equip-
ment as a long term solution to the poor
precipitability of the fly ash.
The general theory4'5 of sulfur trioxide
conditioning is that the SO3 and moisture
are adsorbed on the dust particles in-
creasing the surface conductivity and
thereby lowering the bulk resistivity.
The end result being improved collection
of normally highly resistive, difficult to
precipitate fly ash. Conditioning with
ammonia is somewhat less clearly under-
stood, especially as to the mechanism
involved in improving ash precipitabil-
ity. The chemical reaction postulated
by Rendle and Wilsdon6 requires gas
temperatures typical of air preheater gas
inlet conditions. At 572° to 662°F
ammonia will react with any natural
sulfur trioxide present and moisture to
produce ammonium bisulfate.
SO3 + NH 3 + H2O -> NH4HSO4
At the same temperature in the presence
of excess ammonia this reaction will
slowly continue to produce ammonium
sulfate.
NH4 HSO4 (NH4),SO4 2
Lacking excess ammonia and/or as cool-
ing occurs, either in passing through the
air heater or by impingement on cooler
metal surfaces, the liquid bisulfate will
freeze at temperatures below 297°F into
a sticky solid.
It is this adherent nature of the resul-
tant that has proved a major stumbling
block to date in ammonia flue gas condi-
tioning. Kline7 reports that injection
of ammonia into his boiler resulted in
fouling, and although continued per-
manently, required more frequent clean-
out of downstream equipment. Kline
incidentally was attempting to prevent
acid carryout from the stack and did not
report any change in precipitator per-
formance resulting from NH 3 injection.
Excellent improvement in precipitator
performance was reported by Reese and
Greco8 from ammonia injection. Figure
1 is a long lens photo of their stacks
showing the reduction in discharge
achieved on sister units by the injection
of 15 ppm NH3.
When attempted on a long term basis,
however, air heater pluggage resulted
and the conditioning had to be discon-
tinued.9
For the past year we have been experi-
menting with ammonia flue gas condi-
tioning at several power stations with
interesting results.
1
Station A
This is a small pulverized coal boiler,
located on the edge of an urban area,
faced with community pressure to up-
grade stack appearance. The fuel
Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association
Downloaded by [Georgia Southern University] at 20:15 17 September 2017
Figure 3. Station B. 15 ppm NH3 injected.
burned is a low volatile, low sulfur, high
ash coal with a medium heating value.
Air heater inlet and outlet temperatures
are 675 and 400°F respectively.
Sulfur trioxide was injected into the
gas stream between the air heater and
precipitator with unsatisfactory results.
Performance improvement was attained
but only by the use of excessive condi-
tioning which allowed an objectionable
acid vapor plume to escape the stack.
The presence of this acid plume indicates
that the necessary adsorption on the
dust particles was not occurring.
Where sulfur trioxide conditioning has
been effective, stack measurements show
no increase in effluent SO3 concentra-
tion, rather the injected gas attaches to
and is discharged with the dust col-
lected in the precipitator.5 Both the
amount of SO3 required, and the acid
plume formed, forced rejection of this
technique. Analysis of the collected
ash showed that SO3 conditioning had
reduced laboratory measured resistivity
from 1012 to 1011 ohm-cm and had in-
creased acidity of the dust from a pH of
5.5 to 3.5.
Following the analysis suggested in
the literature3 ammonia conditioning
was tried as a possible solution to this
problem. Fifteen parts per million of
ammonia produced major changes;
precipitator power input increased by
80% and stack discharge was reduced by
85%. Figure 2 compares stack appear-
ance with and without ammonia gas
conditioning at this station.
The conditioner was injected between
the economizer and the air preheater.
Dust analysis showed decrease in re-
December 1968 Volume 18, No. 12
Figure 4. Units Ci (left) and C2 (right) with 15
ppm NH3 injected.
sistivity similar to that mentioned with
sulfur trioxide conditioning, however,
the pH of the ash increased to a neutral
condition. No tendency to plug or
raise pressure drop in the air heaters or
other downstream equipment could be
observed.
Based on this successful experience,
ammonia conditioning equipment was
permanently installed, and has been
providing a satisfactory solution to in-
creased community air pollution control
demands at this plant for the last 11
months.
Station B
Encouraged by the results reported
above the test equipment was moved to
another somewhat larger pulverized
coal boiler used to supply industrial
steam and burning a medium volatile,
medium ash, low sulfur, high Btu coal.
Ash pH and resistivity were measured
at 5 and 1012 respectively. Air heater
temperatures were 700°F inlet and
300°F outlet.
Our test program was short lived.
Almost from the very start air heater
pressure drop started to climb and after
a short period our customer, who was
graciously allowing us to experiment
on his boiler, requested that we call off
our studies. Some results can be re-
ported, however. Dust resistivity drop-
ped slightly to about 5 X 10 u ohm-cm
and the ash became slightly less acidic
(pH = 6). As a measure of precipitator
performance improvement, stack resi-
dual decreased by 40% with the injec-
tion of 15 ppm of ammonia; however,
precipitator power increase was not as
pronounced as at Station A. Figure 3
illustrates stack appearance with condi-
tioning.
Station C
This is a medium sized installation
differing from Stations A and B in that
the boilers are cyclone fired. The coal
burned is high volatile, low ash, has
higher sulfur, and a high heating value.
Air heater temperatures are 700 °F in
and 290 °F out. Testing was carried out
on two identical sister units. The fly
ash is quite fine, averaging 60% less the
10 microns, is acidic and has a resis-
tivity of about 5 X 108 ohm-cm.
The results of ammonia injection here
were, and still are quite mystifying.
Units Ci and C2 reacted in dissimilar
manner. When receiving 15 ppm am-
monia Unit Ci responded excellently
showing good power increase and a 70%
reduction in stack residual. Unit C2
responded with a smaller power increase
and only a 30% reduction in stack dis-
charge. This difference is illustrated in
Figure 4 showing the stack residual from
these sister units when undergoing
ammonia conditioning.
Chemical and physical analysis of the
dust failed to disclose the reason for this
difference. The resistivity of the ash
was carefully measured and actually
increased from 5 X 10s to 1010 ohm-cm.
Dust pH also increased but still stayed
quite acidic. Also air heater pressure
drop began to climb. These tests are
quite recent and are still under analysis
but at this point we don't have an
explanation of the dissimilar reaction of
the two units.
819
 Table I. NH3 conditioning summary. (15 PPM injected at ~700° F)
Station
A.H. outlet temp. °F
Untreated dust resistivity, ohm-cm
Untreated dust, pH
Treated dust resistivity, ohm-cm
Treated dust, pH
Pptr. power increase, %
Pptr. residual decrease, %
A.H. AP increase
As we had at the other stations, we
experimented with other XH3 injection
rates. Below 10 ppm unstable small
reactions were observed. Raising the
injection rate to 75 ppm failed to signifi-
Downloaded by [Georgia Southern University] at 20:15 17 September 2017
cantly increase the improvement mea-
sured at 15 ppm.
One experiment was performed which
supports the temperature dependence of
the reaction as described earlier. On
unit Ci the ammonia injection equip-
ment was moved downstream of the air
heater where gas temperature is 290°F.
Ammonia injection at rates up to 30
ppm produced neither improvement in
precipitator performance or any evi-
dence of pluggage or dust buildup in the
downstream equipment.
Station D
Although we had varying success with
precipitator performance, improvement
has been accompanied by air heater
pluggage at each test location except
Station A. Two major differences be-
tween Station A and the other test sites
were the high air heater outlet tempera-
ture and the fact that Station A is
equipped with a cyclonic precollector
before the precipitator. With this in
mind, this past month we have run
experiments at an older station which
operates at high exit temperatures but
does not have a mechanical collector
before the precipitator.
Station D is a small pulverized coal
boiler burning low volatile, high ash,
medium sulfur fuel. Air heater inlet
temperature is high (about 750 °F) as is
outlet temperature (440°F). The emit-
ted fly ash is coarse (20% less than 10
microns) and acidic (pH = 3) with an
untreated bulk resistivity of about 3 X
1011 ohm-cm.
Ammonia injection (15 ppm) resulted
in reactions similar to Station A. Pre-
cipitator electrical response was very
good and stack residual decreased by
60%. Significantly no increase in air
preheater pressure drop was observed.
These tests are still in progress at this
time, but the above first results still hold
valid.
Summary
Table I is summary of our results from
820
A B Ci
400 300 290
IO12 10' = 5 X 10'
5.5 5 3.5
lO'i 5 X lO'i 10"
7 6 4.5
80 40 70
85 40 70
None Rapid Medium
conditioning of flue gases. The follow-
ing observations can be made from the
test program:
1. Precipitator power input and collec-
tion efficiency always improved but
to varying extent.
2. All untreated dusts were found to be
acidic and the conditioned ash
always become less acidic.
3. No correlation can be established
between effectiveness and initial ash
resistivity, nor between ammonia
injection and treated ash resistivity.
4. Except for boilers with preheater
exit temperatures of 400°F, air
heater pluggage resulted from the
ammonia injection.
5. Increasing ammonia injection rate
above 15 ppm was unrewarding.
Future Program
This has been an interim discussion of
our experience in accumulating a mass of
data on the effects of ammonia condi-
tioning of power boiler flue gases. It
has become obvious that:
1. The reactions and their resultant
effects on downstream equipment
are less than simple and we don't
understand them in sufficient depth.
2. The possible benefits are significant
if the air heater pluggage problem
can be resolved.
3. Much more refined dust and gas
analysis techniques than have been
employed to date are required.
With these thoughts in mind and with
the assistance of our Central Reasearch
Department, we are studying our pres-
ent information in depth and plan
selective additional measurements at the
plants already visited rather than con-
tinuing on to new locations. Our
principal objectives include:
1. Understanding of the mechanism by
which trace amounts of ammonia
improve precipitator performance.
2. Investigating the combustion pro-
cess and its interaction on fly ash
precipitability and SO3 generation.
Journal of the Air Pollution Control Association
C> D
290 400
5 X 10" 3 X 10"
3.5 3
10i° 5 X 10'°
4.5 4
40 150
30 60
Medium None
3. Investigating substitution of amines
for ammonia.
4. Investigating other chemicals for use
with ammonia to reduce pluggage
while retaining precipitator per-
formance improvement.
This program continuation has as its
target the development of an inexpen-
sive technique for the upgrading of
existing electrostatic precipitators to
meet todays and tomorrows higher air
pollution code requirements; plus the
development of smaller size alternatives
to the very large precipitators now being
projected for new installations.
Acknowledgement
Grateful acknowledgment is due to
our customers who allowed us to visit
and experiment on their equipment and
also to Mr. C. O. Humbert who directed
thefieldprogram and provided the anal-
ysis of the data.
References
1. Kirkwood, J. B., "Electrostatic pre-
cipitators for the collection of fly ash
from large pulverized fuel-fired boilers,"
Proc. First Clean Air Conf., Univ of New
S. Wales, Paper No. 14 (Feb. 1962.)
2. Busby, II. G. and Darby, K , "Effi-
ciency of electrostatic precipitators as
affected by the properties and combus-
tion of coal," ./. Inst. Fuel 36, 184-197
(1963).
3. Watson, K. S. and Blecher, K. J.,
"Further investigation of electrostatic
precipitators for large pulverized fuel-
fired boilers," Air & Wat. Polut. Int.
J., 10:573-583 (1966).
4. White, IT. J., "Electrical resistivity of
fly ash," Air Repair (Nov. 1953).
5. Darby, K. and Henrich, D. O., "Condi-
tioning of boiler flue gases for improv-
ing efficiency of electrofilters," Staub,
26, No. 11, 12-17 (Nov. 1966).
6. Rendle, L. K. and Wilsdon, R. D.,
"The prevention of acid condensation
in oil-fired boilers," Combustion Mag.
39-46 (July 1957).
7. Kline, J. H., "Control of acid dewpoint
by the use of anhydroiis ammonia in
industrial boiler plants," 1967 Ind.
Coal Conf., Purdue Univ., Lafayette,
Ind. (Oct. 1967).
8. Reese, J. T. and Greco, J., "Experience
with electrostatic fly-ash collection
equipment serving steam-electric gen-
erating plants," ASME #67-WA/
APC-8 (Nov. 1967).
9. Greco, J. (personal communication),
May 1968.