Incineration is a promising method for converting biomass and human waste into CO2 and H2O during extended planetary exploration. However, incineration produces small amounts of NOX and SO2 in the effluent, which must be removed. TDA Research has developed a safe and effective process to remove NOX and SO2 from waste incinerator product gas streams. In our process, NO is catalytically oxidized to NO2, using a low temperature oxidation catalyst developed at TDA. Wet scrubbers then remove the NO2, with most of the NO2 converted into an aqueous solution that can be used as a plant nutrient. A packed bed containing a basic sorbent, also developed at TDA, removes SO2 from the effluent.
As part of an SBIR Phase II project, TDA designed and constructed a pilot scale effluent cleaning system, which will be used with the incinerator at NASA Ames Research Center. In addition to NOX and SO2, the system is designed to remove other pollutants found in the effluent, including fly ash and unburned hydrocarbons. The apparatus constructed at TDA consists of a cyclone separator and filter for fly ash removal, a solid sorbent bed for SO2 control, two catalyst beds for oxidation of NO, CO, and unburned hydrocarbons, two wet scrubbers to remove NO2, heat exchangers for thermal management, and instrumentation for process control. In this paper, we will present detailed data that was used to design the full scale NO oxidation reactor along with the NO2 scrubbers. Our process for NOX control is simpler than the competing technology and is therefore attractive for NOX control for natural gas fired turbines and other stationary NOX sources.