Control of an Industrial SCR Catalyst Using Ceramic NOx Sensors

Joshua Schmitt, Daniel B. Olsen

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DOI: 10.4236/epe.2011.33039                

Abstract

Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) catalysts respond slowly to transient inputs, which is troublesome when designing ammonia feed controllers. An experimental SCR test apparatus installed on a slipstream of a Coo-per-Bessemer GMV-4, 2-stroke cycle natural gas engine is utilized. Ammonia (NH₃) feed rate control algo-rithm development is carried out. Two control algorithms are evaluated: a feed forward control algorithm, using a pre ammonia injection ceramic NOx sensor and a feed forward plus feedback control algorithm, us-ing a pre ammonia injection ceramic NOx sensor and post catalyst ceramic NOx sensor to generate feedback signals. The feed forward algorithm controls to constant user input NH3/NOx molar ratio. The data show the lack of pressure compensation on the ceramic NOx sensors cause errors in feed forward NOx readings, re-sulting in sub optimal ammonia feed. The feedback system minimizes the post catalyst ceramic NOx sensor signal by adjusting the NH3/NOx molar ratio. The NOx sensors respond to ammonia + NOx; therefore, the feed forward plus feedback algorithm minimizes the sum of NOx emissions and ammonia slip. Successful application of the feedback control minimization technique is demonstrated with feedback periods of 15 and 5 minutes with molar ratio step sizes of 5 and 2.5%, respectively.

Keywords

SCR, Selective Catalytic Reduction, Ammonia Injection, NOx Emissions, NOx Sensor, Minimization Algorithm

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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