The Influence of Alkali, Chlorine and Sulfur on Aerosol Formation

The use of low-quality fuels in power generation is typically motivated by a potential reduction in fuel costs or CO2 emissions, the latter in case the fuel is based on biomass. These features make low quality fuels attractive at the same time as such fuels are usually problematic to use in power generation due to fuel composition. One of the main issues is deposition of aerosols upon heating surfaces reducing heat transfer and causing high-temperature corrosion (HTC). The later most often related to alkali chlorides, and these are formed from alkali species and chlorine when released during the combustion process. The present work aims to investigate how the gas phase chemistry are connected to the formation aerosols and their characteristics. This is an ongoing work why only part of the preliminary results is presented focusing on the interaction between alkali, sulfur and chlorine in the gas phase. The results presented here indicate a clear correlation between the S/Cl ratio and the formation of alkali sulfates over chlorides. It is also indicated that the local conditions at which the species are released and available in the gas phase is important for the resulting formation of alkali sulfates.