Deposition loss of particles in the sampling lines of continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS) in coal-fired power plants

Abstract

Due to the severe air pollution situation, more stringent regulations on pollutant emissions are being promulgated in China, necessitating more accurate and reliable monitoring of particulate matter (PM) emission in coal-fired power plants. In this work, we study the sampling loss of continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS) under different conditions by numerically solving the particle transport equation in the sampling line. With a high Reynolds number, the particle deposition loss is higher than in conventional laminar sampling and increases with the Reynolds number when the plant load changes. The temperature difference between the hot sampling gas and the pipe wall has a great effect on the sampling loss of PM10. A small temperature difference of 2 K, which is very likely to exist even with thick thermal insulation, will increase the deposition velocity of PM1-2.5 by ten times. The surface roughness, from either the pipe itself or deposited particles, also enhances the deposition loss by partly shifting the capture boundary to a higher diffusivity region. Combining all the possible factors, the loss ratio of 10-µm particles can reach 69% after 0.2 s and 95% after 0.5 s. The loss ratios of 2.5-and 1-µm particles are much lower but also reach 4.1% and 7.9%, respectively, after 1 s, which cannot be neglected when high accuracy monitoring is needed.