# US 2020/0400055 A1 · System and Process For Delivering Controlled Quantities of Ammonia to Ammonia-Consuming Devices

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- Number: US 2020/0400055 A1
- Document ID: US20200400055A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/975,367
- Filed: 2019-02-08
- Published: 2020-12-24
- Earliest claimed: 2018-02-27
- Assignees: ExxonMobil Chemical Patents Inc.
- Applicants: ExxonMobil Chemical Patents Inc.
- Inventors: Mark A. Rooney; Venkatesh Subramania; Robert C. Thiets
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200400055A1

## CPC

- B01D 53/8631: {Processes characterised by a specific device}
- F01N 3/208: {Control of selective catalytic reduction [SCR], e.g. by adjusting the dosing of reducing agent}
- B01D 53/8696: {Controlling the catalytic process}
- B01D 53/90: Injecting reactants
- B01D 2251/2062: Ammonia
- B01D 2255/20723: Vanadium
- B01D 2255/20746: Cobalt
- B01D 2255/20776: Tungsten
- B01D 2255/50: Zeolites
- B01D 2258/01: Engine exhaust gases
- B01D 2258/0233: from cement factories
- B01D 2258/0241: from glass manufacture plants
- B01D 2258/0283: Flue gases
- B01D 2258/0291: from waste incineration plants
- F01N 2560/026: for measuring or detecting NOx
- F01N 2610/02: the substance being ammonia or urea
- F01N 2610/06: the substance being in the gaseous form
- F01N 2610/08: with prior mixing of the substances with a gas, e.g. air
- F01N 2610/10: the substance being heated, e.g. by heating tank or supply line of the added substance
- F01N 2610/14: Arrangements for the supply of substances, e.g. conduits
- Y02T 10/12: Improving ICE efficiencies
- B01D: SEPARATION (separating solids from solids by wet methods B03B, B03D; by pneumatic jigs or tables B03B; by other dry methods B07; magnetic or electrostatic separation of solid materials from solid materials or fluids, separation by high-voltage electric fields B03C; centrifuges, vortex apparatus B04; presses per se for squeezing-out liquid from liquid-containing material B30B9/02; treatment of water C02F, e.g. softening by ion-exchange C02F1/42; {arrangements of air intake cleaners in gas turbine plants F02C7/05} ; arrangements or mounting of filters in air-conditioning, air-humidification or ventilation F24F13/28)
- F01N: GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES (arrangements in connection with gas exhaust of propulsion units in vehicles B60K13/00; combustion-air intake silencers specially adapted for, or arranged on, internal-combustion engines F02M35/00; protecting against, or damping, noise in general G10K11/16)
- Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION

## Abstract

Centralizing the handling and manipulating of vaporization medium to a single subsystem that supplies multiple ammonia vaporizers allows for efficient and effective production of a corresponding vaporized ammonia stream containing a controlled quantity of ammonia. These vaporized ammonia streams can then be used in conjunction with ammonia-consuming devices to reduce NOx in NOx-containing exhaust streams from multiple furnaces.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A process for delivering controlled quantities of ammonia to multiple ammonia-consuming devices, the process comprising:
(I) supplying a vaporization medium from a centralized vaporization medium subsystem;
(II) providing a separate ammonia vaporizer for each of the ammonia-consuming devices;
(III) supplying a separate stream of vaporization medium from the centralized vaporization medium subsystem to each of the ammonia vaporizers;
(IV) supplying an ammonia supply stream comprising a controlled quantity of ammonia to each of the ammonia vaporizers;
(V) obtaining a vaporized ammonia stream from each of the ammonia vaporizers; and
(VI) supplying one of the vaporized ammonia stream to one of the ammonia-consuming devices.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1, wherein:
in step (III), the stream of vaporization medium comprises air, steam, or a mixture thereof.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1, wherein the stream of vaporization medium has a temperature in a range from 150 to 400° C. and an absolute pressure in a range from 138 to 1482 kPa.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1, wherein:
the centralized vaporization medium subsystem comprises (i) at least one air blower and/or at least one regulator connected to a compressed air source and (ii) at least one heater, and step (III) comprises:
(III.1) obtaining an air stream from the air blower and/or the regulator;
(III.2) heating the air stream at the heater to obtain a source stream of heated air; and
(III.3) supplying a separate stream of heated air divided from the source stream heated air as the separate stream of vaporization medium to each of the ammonia vaporizers.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The process of claim 4, wherein the centralized vaporization medium subsystem further comprises (i) at least two air blowers in which at least one is a backup air blower and at least two heaters in which at least one is a backup heater; and/or (ii) at least two regulators connected to the compressed air source in which at least one is a backup regulator.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1, wherein:
the vaporization medium comprises steam, and step (III) comprises:
(III.1) supplying a stream of high-pressure steam or super-high-pressure steam; and
(III.2) passing the stream of high-pressure steam or super-high-pressure steam through a regulator to reduce the temperature and/or pressure of the stream of high-pressure steam to obtain a source stream of steam; and
(III.3) supplying a separate stream of steam divided from the source stream of steam as the separate stream of vaporization medium to each ammonia vaporizer.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1, wherein:
in step (IV), the ammonia supply stream comprises liquid pure ammonia or an aqueous ammonia solution, and optionally nitrogen.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The process of claim 7, wherein the ammonia supply stream comprises an aqueous ammonia solution having an ammonia concentration in a range from 10 wt % to 29 wt %, based on the total weight of ammonia and water therein.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The process of claim 7, wherein the ammonia supply stream is supplied into the ammonia vaporizer through an atomizer.

### Claim 10 (depends on 7)

The process of claim 7, wherein step (IV) comprises:
(IV.1) supplying a liquid stream comprising ammonia; and
(IV.2) supplying a nitrogen gas stream into the liquid stream to obtain the ammonia supply stream.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The process of claim 1, wherein:
Each of the ammonia-consuming devices comprises a selective catalytic reduction (“SCR”) catalyst bed for reducing NOx in a NOx-containing gas stream passing through the SCR catalyst bed; and
at least a portion of the vaporized ammonia stream is supplied to the NOx-containing gas stream upstream of the SCR catalyst bed.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The process of claim 11, wherein the NOx-containing gas stream is produced by burning of fuel in a furnace.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The process of claim 12 wherein the furnace is a boiler furnace or a hydrocarbon steam-cracking furnace.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

process of claim 11, further comprising:
providing at least one sensor capable of sensing the concentration of NOx in the NOx-containing gas stream upstream and/or downstream of the SCR catalyst bed; and
controlling the quantity of ammonia in the ammonia supply stream in step (IV) according to the NOx concentration sensed by the at least one sensor.

### Claim 15 (depends on 11)

The process of claim 11, further comprising:
operating at least one of the ammonia-consuming devices in different modes producing the NOx-containing stream with different NOx concentrations; and
supplying different quantities of ammonia to the NOx-containing stream in different modes to abate the NOx to predetermined levels.

### Claim 16

A system comprising:
(A) a centralized vaporization medium subsystem;
(B) multiple ammonia-consuming devices;
(C) a separate ammonia vaporizer for each of the ammonia-consuming devices adapted for (i) receiving a separate stream of the vaporization medium from the centralized vaporization medium subsystem, (ii) receiving an ammonia supply stream from an ammonia source, and (iii) supplying a vaporized ammonia stream to one of the ammonia-consuming device; and
(D) an ammonia-delivery subsystem comprising a pump for delivering a controlled quantity of ammonia from the ammonia supply stream to each ammonia vaporizer.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The system of claim 16, wherein the centralized vaporization medium subsystem comprises at least one air blower and/or a regulator connected to a compressed air source adapted for supplying an air stream and at least one heater adapted for heating the air stream to obtain a source stream of a vaporization medium, and the separate stream of the vaporization medium for each of the ammonia-consuming devices is obtained from the source stream of the vaporization medium.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The system of claim 16, wherein the centralized vaporization medium subsystem comprises (i) at least two air blowers in which at least one is a backup air blower and/or at least two regulator in which at least one is a backup regulator; and (ii) at least two heaters in which at least one is a backup heater.

### Claim 19 (depends on 16)

The system of claim 16, wherein:
the centralized vaporization medium subsystem comprises at least one regulator adapted for reducing the temperature and/or pressure of a stream of high-pressure steam or super-high-pressure steam to obtain a source stream of steam, and the separate stream of the vaporization medium for each of the ammonia-consuming devices is obtained from the source stream of steam.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The system of claim 19, wherein the centralized vaporization medium subsystem comprises at least two regulators in which at least one is a backup regulator.

### Claim 21 (depends on 16)

The system of claim 16, wherein:
the ammonia-delivery system further comprises a conduit for supplying nitrogen gas into the ammonia supply stream and/or an atomizer at the inlet to the ammonia vaporizer.

### Claim 22 (depends on 16)

The system of claim 16, wherein:
each of the ammonia-consuming devices comprises a selective catalytic reduction (“SCR”) catalyst bed for reducing NOx in a NOx-containing gas stream passing through the SCR catalyst bed; and
the fluid communication between the ammonia vaporizer and the ammonia-consuming device is set up in a manner such that at least a portion of the vaporized ammonia stream is supplied to the NOx-containing gas stream upstream of the SCR catalyst bed.

### Claim 23 (depends on 22)

The system of claim 22, wherein each of the ammonia-consuming devices is a furnace producing the NOx-containing gas stream.

### Claim 24 (depends on 23)

The system of claim 23, wherein the furnace is a boiler furnace or a hydrocarbon steam-cracking furnace capable of operating in different modes.

### Claim 25 (depends on 16)

The system of claim 16, further comprising:
at least one sensor capable of sensing the concentration of NOx in the NOx-containing gas stream upstream and/or downstream of the SCR catalyst bed; and
at least one actuator in the ammonia delivery subsystem adapted for controlling the quantity of ammonia supplied to the ammonia vaporizer according to the concentration of NOx sensed by the at least one sensor.