CFD simulation of MSW combustion and SNCR in a commercial incinerator

• Presented a CFD scheme for modeling MSW incinerator including SNCR process.
• Performed a sensitivity analysis of SNCR operating conditions.
• Non-uniform distributions of gas velocity, temperature and NOx in the incinerator.
• The injection position of reagent was critical for a desirable performance of SNCR.
• A NSR 1.5 was recommended as a compromise of NOx reduction rates and NH3 slip.

A CFD scheme was presented for modeling municipal solid waste (MSW) combustion in a moving-grate incinerator, including the in-bed burning of solid wastes, the out-of-bed burnout of gaseous volatiles, and the selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) process between urea (CO(NH2)2) and NOx. The in-bed calculations provided 2-D profiles of the gas–solid temperatures and the gas species concentrations along the bed length, which were then used as inlet conditions for the out-of-bed computations. The over-bed simulations provided the profiles of incident radiation heat flux on the top of bed. A 3-dimensional benchmark simulation was conducted with a 750 t/day commercial incinerator using the present coupling scheme incorporating with a reduced SNCR reduction mechanism. Numerical tests were performed to investigate the effects of operating parameters such as injection position, injection speed and the normalized stoichiometric ratio (NSR) on the SNCR performance. The simulation results showed that the distributions of gas velocity, temperature and NOx concentration were highly non-uniform, which made the injection position one of the most sensitive operating parameters influencing the SNCR performance of moving grate incinerators. The simulation results also showed that multi-layer injections were needed to meet the EU2000 standard, and a NSR 1.5 was suggested as a compromise of a satisfactory NOx reduction and reasonable NH3 slip rates. This work provided useful guides to the design and operation of SNCR process in moving-grate incinerators.