Effect of CO₂ Gasification on Nitrogen Oxide Emission in Oxy-Fuel Combustion

Due to the cumulative effect of the recycled flue gas in oxy-fuel combustion, the reduction of NO has become the focus of research in which the role of CO₂ gasification has a nonnegligible effect. In this article, the heterogeneous gasification mechanisms of CO₂ on coal char during oxy-fuel combustion were studied by density functional theory and transition-state theory. The zigzag char model and char(N) model were selected to investigate the CO₂ adsorption and gratification reactions at the molecular level. By comparison, the CO₂ gasification reaction is preferred to occur on the zigzag char model with a reduction in the energy barrier and an increase in the reaction rate. When considering char nitrogen conversion, the gasification reaction is more prone to releasing NO first, leading to the contraction of the aromatic ring and the generation of CO at high temperatures. Therefore, the study further highlights the promoting role of CO₂ gasification on the homogeneous and heterogeneous reduction of NO, which is mainly reflected in the reduction effect of CO. Moreover, it also accelerates the consumption of coal char and NO formation, which is favorable for the reduction reactions to a certain extent.