Unexpectedly high concentrations of N02 have been noted in stack emissions from
industrial gas turbines. N02 formation appears to occur through the so called "H02
mechanism II in which NO combines with H02 to produce N02 and OH. In this study, the
formation of N02 was investigated through computer modeling and experimental testing.
Computer modeling utilized the CHEMKIN chemical kinetics program and a subset of a
previously published C-H-O-N system mechanism. Experimental work was conducted
using a high pressure flow reactor designed and built in the course of the study. The
effects of pressure, temperature, and the presence of a N02 promoting hydrocarbon,
methane, were investigated. It was discovered that as pressure increased from 1 atm. to
8.5 atm., the rate and amount of NO converted to N02 also increased. There also
appeared to be a temperature "window" between approximately 800 and 1000 K in which
NO to N02 conversion readily occurred. The presence of methane was seen to enhance
NO conversion to N02, and a ratio of [CH4]/[NO] was found to be a useful parameter in
predicting N02 formation. Significant NO conversion to N02 was noted for
[CH4]/[NO] > 1 at the hydrocarbon injection point. Experimental results validated those
trends obtained from modeling with a modified C-H-O-N mechanism.
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