Evaluation of Pilot-Scale Pulse-Corona-Induced Plasma Device to Remove NOx from Combustion Exhausts from a Subscale Combustor and from a Hush House at Nellis AFB, Nevada

Abstract : Jet engine test cells (JETCs) are used to test-fire new, installed, and reworked jet engines. Because JETCs have been classified as stationary sources of pollutant emissions, they are subject to possible regulation under Title I of the Clean Air Act (CAA) as amended in 1990. In Phase I of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, a novel NOx-control approach utilizing pulsed-corona-induced plasma successfully showed 90% removal of NOx in the laboratory. The objective of Phase II was to reproduce the laboratory-scale results in a pilot-scale system. The technology was successfully demonstrated at pilot scale in the field, on a slipstream of JETC flue gas at Nellis Air Force Base. Based on the field data, cost projections were made for a system to treat the full JETC exhaust. The technology efficiently converted NO into ONO, and a wet scrubber was required to achieve the treatment goal of 50-percent removal and destruction of NOx. The plasma simultaneously removes hydrocarbons from the flue gas stream. This project demonstrated that pulse-corona-induced plasma technology is scalable to practical industrial dimensions.