Subject: UFTO Note — Ammonia Monitor for NOxOUT
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 1996 15:16:53 -0800
From: Ed Beardsworth

————————————————————–
| ** UFTO ** Edward Beardsworth ** Consultant
| 951 Lincoln Ave. tel 415-328-5670
| Palo Alto CA 94301-3041 fax 415-328-5675
| NOTE NEW EMAIL ADDRESS: edbeards@ufto.com
————————————————————–

Our colleagues at NEES played a key role in supporting the development of this technology to reduce reagent use in the NOxOUT process by monitoring temperature and ammonia in the stack gas. Rui Afonso, who is quoted below, would be happy to discuss their views of it with you. (Rui can be reached at 508-389-3208.)

The device is commercially available for some applications, and could be used in other applications with some additional development. Note the one-year payback mentioned below. _____________________________________________

Here is a press release from the vendor:

New England Power saves money with SpectraScan Ammonia Monitor

December 3, 1996, Salem, MA – A SpectraScan(R) Ammonia Process Monitor, manufactured by Spectrum Diagnostix of Andover, Mass., has been operating on a New England Power Company (NEPCO) coal-fired boiler. The instrument is being used to monitor a new control logic employed by Nalco Fuel Tech (NFT) of Naperville, Ill. (Spectrum Diagnostix was purchased by BOVAR Inc. of Calgary, Alberta in June 1996.)

The new control logic that NFT provided to NEPCO is designed to reduce the consumption of reagent in the NOxOUT(R) process. The control signal is an accurate temperature measurement supplied by a SpectraTemp(R) temperature monitor, also manufactured by BOVAR.

According to NEPCO, the electric utility company is expecting to recover its investment in the new control system within one year or better. NEPCO is completing a trial period to quantify the benefits of the new control system.

According to Rui Afonso, NEPCO’s Manager of R&D, “At this stage, we are extremely pleased with the results that we have seen at Salem Harbor, unit No. 3. The instruments have been reliable and responsive, and the reagent savings appear to be better than initially expected. Long-term testing, which is currently underway, will further quantify the benefits of the technology.”

According to John O’Leary, Nalco Fuel Tech’s Manager of Technical Services, “The SpectraScan(R) Ammonia Process Monitor offers real-time monitoring of ammonia slip in the high temperature, dusty, and corrosive gas streams that typically exist in coal-fired boilers. Having evaluated every ammonia analyzer we are aware of, we have been very satisfied with the performance of the SpectraScan(R) Ammonia Process Analyzer in this application. Other analyzers have not offered the response, sensitivity, interference-free analysis, and robust design that are all necessary for our use. Along with SpectraTemp(R), we expect that the SpectraScan(R) Ammonia Process Analyzer will be a key component in many of our future NOxOUT(R) systems.”

SpectraScan(R) is a Tunable Diode Laser based instrument manufactured by BOVAR Western Research. SpectraScan(R) is a highly sensitive and interference-free analyzer that has adapted recent advances in diode lasers and optical fibers to the challenge of sensing trace concentrations of gas species in either an open path (perimeter) or close-coupled (in process) configuration.

The open path version of the instrument is accepted by the Petroleum Environmental Research Forum, a consortium of major oil refiners, for monitoring fugitive toxic gases.

By using up to one kilometer of fiber optic and signal conductor to link the System Console (which houses the laser and all electronics) with as many as four measurement locations, SpectraScan(R) offers real-time and continuous, remote sensing of trace gases without the need to transport the sample.

These features also permit remote monitoring of species in hostile environments. SpectraScan(R) is currently available for monitoring HF, NH3, H2S and H2O that may be present in trace quantities in process streams or ambient air. Monitors for other gas species are under development.

SpectraTemp(R) is an optical furnace exit gas temperature monitor manufactured by BOVAR Western Research. It is used at numerous utility boilers to control soot blowers and low NOx burners to improve heat rate and increase fuel flexibility. It is also used as a portable boiler testing instrument.

BOVAR Western Research, an operating division of BOVAR Inc., designs, manufactures, sells and services quality analyzers and systems for process and environmental monitoring and control. BOVAR Inc. is a public company which provides environmental and waste management services internationally. BOVAR Inc. is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the BVR ticker symbol.

CONTACT: Jim Staudt, BOVAR Inc., 508-686-8801, (fax) 508-686-8809