Applied Energy 168 (2016) 38–47

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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Influence of multiple air staging and reburning on NOx emissions during

co-firing of low rank brown coal with woody biomass and natural gas
Nihad Hodžić a, Anes Kazagić b,⇑, Izet Smajević a,b
a
University of Sarajevo, Mechanical Engineering Faculty Sarajevo, Vilsonovo šetalište 9, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
b
Public Enterprise Elektroprivreda BiH dd Sarajevo, Vilsonovo šetalište 15, 71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

h i g h l i g h t s

 For the first time different reburning fuels were tested in parallel.
 10%w primary fuel staging during 0.1 co-firing reduced NOx emissions by 37%.
 10%th natural gas reburning during 0.1 co-firing produced 50% of NOx reduction.
 NOx reduction efficiency at 0.1 natural gas reburning can reach 67% if process temperature reduced.
 Guidelines provided for multi fuel power plants designers and operators to reduce NOx.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The paper presents an experimental research on NOx emissions during co-firing of coal with woody bio-
Received 7 October 2015 mass and natural gas. The aim of the research was investigation of synergetic influence of advanced and
Received in revised form 24 December 2015 simultaneously applied different primary reduction measures on NOx emissions in a multifuel combus-
Accepted 22 January 2016
tion system. During the tests run on a 20 kW PC lab-scale furnace equipped with a swirl burner and over
fire air system (OFAS), the process conditions such as fuel composition, combustion temperature, overall
air amount and air distribution (air staging and OFA) and fuel distribution (reburning) have been varied.
Keywords:
Three single low rank brown coals from Middle Bosnia coal basin and their blends have been used in
NOx emissions
Furnace
combination with sawdust and natural gas. Woody biomass fraction was varied between 5 and 20%w
Burner in the fuel blend, while the fraction of natural gas used for reburning was varied between 5 and 10%
Air staging th. Various process temperatures were applied to investigate their influence on the NOx emissions.
Over fire air Besides multiple air staging, effects of the fuel staging in respect to the NOx emissions have been inves-
Reburning tigated, first by staging the basic fuels, that is coal and woody biomass, and then by natural gas reburning.
In a multi-fuel case investigated, it has been demonstrated that over 50% of NOx reduction could be
achieved at 0.1 cofiring at the same process temperature, and 67% if the process temperature is reduced.
It has been shown that the coal blends at process temperatures above 1400 °C, with no fuel staging and
OFA switched off, yield highest NOx emissions (above 1100 mg/m3n at 6% O2 dry). On the other side, NOx
emissions reduced significantly with the increase of the staging air portion and also with an increase in
the distance between the burner and OFA nozzle. Furthermore, if the reburning is performed by natural
gas with OFA switched on, NOx emissions reduce below 500 mg/m3n at 6% O2 dry. If the temperature is
reduced below 1100 °C, NOx emissions decreased to 400 mg/m3n at 6% O2 dry. The results confirmed that
the design and operation of multi-fuel system using coal, biomass and gas could be optimized, such
benefiting further reduction of NOx emissions.
Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction ozone-formation concerns, as well as to meet new limits on emis-

One of the major challenges of power plants in Europe is to
reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) due to health and
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +387 33 751 743.
E-mail addresses: hodzic@mef.unsa.ba (N. Hodžić), a.kazagic@elektroprivreda.ba
(A. Kazagić), i.smajevic@elektroprivreda.ba (I. Smajević).
sions as dictated by EU regulations. Combustion optimization is
one of the primary measures for reducing NOx emissions from
boilers burning coal, oil, or natural gas. The optimization can be
achieved by excess air control, boiler fine tuning and balancing
the fuel and air flow to the various burners in order to reach
minimum NOx formation [1].

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.01.081
0306-2619/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 N. Hodžić et al. / Applied Energy 168 (2016) 38–47 39

Nomenclature

Abbreviations SO2 sulfur dioxide

NOx nitrogen oxides CaO calcium oxide
PC pulverised combustion PLC programmable logic controller
OFAS over fire air system UBC unburned carbon
OFA over fire air KBZ blend of coals Kakanj, Breza and Zenica
EU European Union K Kakanj coal
SCR selective catalytic reaction U coal U
SNCR selective non-catalytic reaction B biomass
LNBs low NOx burners UB coal–biomass blend
LNB low NOx burner P natural gas
O2 oxygen TPP thermal power plant
CO2 carbon dioxide
MEFUS Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of University in Sara- Symbols
jevo R1000 rest on the sieve 1000 lm
PF pulverised fuel R500 rest on the sieve 500 lm
C speed controller of fuel supply R200 rest on the sieve 200 lm
EM&R electric motor and gearbox. R90 rest on the sieve 90 lm
RT reaction tube N nitrogen percentage
Ri flow meters for measuring the flow of air and natural k1 excess air ration in primary combustion zone
gas. k overall excess air ration
EH electric heaters
SiC silicium carbide Subscripts
LDNG laboratory distribution of natural gas w weight
SV safety valve th thermal
M manometer n normal thermodynamic conditions
MP-FGA measuring point of flue gas analysis e electric
CO carbon monoxide i index of flow meter
NO nitrogen oxide 1 primary (first) combustion zone
NO2 nitrogen dioxide
MFS multi fuel system

NOx emissions control technologies that are capable of
achieving NOx emissions reduction from a coal-fired boiler can
be classified as combustion controls and post-combustion flue
gas treatments (SCR and SNCR). Combustion controls reduce the
level of NOx emissions by altering or modifying the firing condi-
tions under which combustion is achieved. These combustion con-
trols include the use of low NOx burners (LNBs), over-fire air (OFA)
and boiler combustion modification including reburning. Thus, low
NOx burners (LNBs), whether a swirl or jet type, are based on air
staging supply to the burner, providing significant NOx reduction
by such a concept of burners in many modern coal-based power
plants around the world. Advanced type of low-NOx coal burners
have been developed to achieve NOx reduction–load extension
concept, as shown in [2], which is necessary for new generation
of ultra-super critical power plants of high load flexibility. In mul-
tiple air staging technology for NOx reduction, the concept include
both air staging on burner and over fire air supply for burnout.
Reburning as a combustion modification is a three-step process
involving combustion of majority of the fuel under normal
fuel-lean conditions, followed by the injection of a reburn fuel to
establish a fuel-rich zone, in which nitrogen oxides formed in the
primary combustion zone are reduced to molecular nitrogen, and
finally injection of over-fire air to oxidize carbon monoxide, hydro-
gen and any remaining hydrocarbons exiting the reburn zone. In
addition to chemical reactions resulting in NOx reduction in reburn
zone, reburning also reduces the formation of the thermal NOx due
to the reduced fuel rate in the primary combustion zone which
results in decreasing the combustion temperature. Theoretically,
the reburn fuel can be any of fuel types: coal, natural gas, oil, or
even biomass. The last is particularly important today when coal-
based power plants meet CO2 cut challenges. Theoretically, natural
gas is the most attractive reburn fuel because it is effectively
nitrogen-free and then provides a greater potential for NOx reduc-
tion than other fuels. In reburning system, the most important
variables are the reburn fuel composition and fineness, the reburn
fuel fraction, the location of reburn nozzles, the air stoichiometry
in primary combustion zone, the air stoichiometry in reburn zone
and the mixture of different streams (reburn fuel and OFA) with
flue gas from primary combustion zone. At the same time, the
application of reburning to utility boiler has many impacts on
furnaces such as carbon burnout or the furnace temperature distri-
bution, [3].
2. State-of-the-art
In the previous period many research studies have been con-
ducted to optimize NOx reduction measures to achieve lower
NOx emissions for coal combustion systems. In [4] the effect of
air staged combustion on NOx emissions during dried lignite com-
bustion was investigated. It was shown that NOx emissions
reduced drastically with the increase of the air that is staged, and
an additional reduction is recorded with the increased distance
between the burner and OFA position. In [5] it was noticed that
though the burner air-staging conditions could reduce NOx emis-
sions by one-fifth, but varying slightly carbon in fly ash, in respect
of the still high NOx production (1036 mg/m3n at 6% O2), adding an
over fire air system was recommended to significantly reduce NOx
emissions for the boiler considered. In the case of 300 MWe utility
boiler retrofitted with air staging considered in [6], NOx emissions
reduction efficiency of 44% was achieved through comprehensive
combustion adjustment including the overall excessive air ratio,
the secondary air distribution pattern and the damper openings
of OFAS. Similar positive influence of OFA to the air staging effect
on NOx emissions reduction has also reported in [7,8] for coal
40 N. Hodžić et al. / Applied Energy 168 (2016) 38–47
combustion, and also for co-firing coal with biomass reported in
previous works of the authors, as shown in [9–13] and works of
others, see [14–17]. Regarding reburning, according to the authors’
best knowledge, mainly experiments with the same reburn fuel as
the basic fuel have been conducted up to now, as coal on-coal
reburning, see [3,18], or gas on-gas reburning, see [19]. Further-
more, most of those previous experiments on reburning were con-
ducted not combining with other NOx controls measures, or run
with only one type of fuel used for reburning tests. In other words,
experiments with use of different reburning fuels to investigate the
influence on NOx emissions in such a multi fuel system, were gen-
erally omitted so far.
On the other hand, some recent reports on biomass co-firing,
issued by Kema and International Energy Agency, suggest that over
250 large power plants in the world today run biomass co-firing on
regular basis, mainly in coal-based power plants in Europe (in Swe-
den, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Poland or in the Netherlands),
but lately also in USA and China. Average biomass percentage for
co-firing with coal is between 10% and 30%. Furthermore, many
large power stations with excellently resolved biomass logistic
use much more biomass percentages or use other fuels to replace
part of coal. The main reasons for such a new concept, so called
multi-fuel power plants concept, is further CO2 emission reduction,
along with improving security of supply and fuel cost optimization.
Good examples of modern multi-fuel power plants are Amer power
station in the Netherlands, Avedore power plant in Denmark and
Vaasa power station in Finland. At the RWE’s Amer power plant,
three main types of fuel used for the two units (8 and 9) are coal,
biomass and wood gas which is obtained by carrying out the
degasification of construction and waste timber. Multi-fuel con-
cept is used in Amer power plant to avoid dependence on one type
of fuel. The Amer unit 8 (645 MWe + 250 MWth) can switch in con-
tinuous operation to natural gas or oil and (partly) biomass. The
Amer unit 9 (600 MWe + 350 MWth), the largest coal-fired CHP
unit in the Netherlands, can also be fired with natural gas and
(partly) biomass. Unit 9 has a wood gasification unit, where
150,000 tons of building timber and salvaged wood can be con-
verted into ‘wood gas’. After thorough cleaning it serves as a sus-
tainable fuel, replacing roughly 70,000 tons of coal. The result is
a reduction of 170,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year. Dong
Energy’s Avedore power station in Denmark is one of the world’s
most efficient multi-fuel power plants, with electricity efficiency
of 49%. Apart from using coal, petroleum (oil) and natural gas,
the plant runs on a wide variety of biomass fuels such as straw
and wood pellets. The plant consists of two units with a total
capacity of 793 MW of electricity and 918 MW of heat. Avedore
unit 2 is able to burn a wide variety of fuels like coal, natural
gas, heavy fuel oil, straw and wood pellets in the same burners.
Vaskiluodon Voima’s Vaasa power station in Finland uses coal, bio-
mass and peat. In late 2012, a 140 MW biomass gasification plant
was built and integrated to exiting 565 MW Vaskiluoto 2 coal-
fired plant. Product gas resulting from the biomass gasification
process is combusted along with coal in the coal boiler, signifi-
cantly reducing consumption of coal. The biogas can also be
co-fired with agro-biomass, peat and other fossil fuels. The boiler
is equipped with 4 coal mills and 16 low NOx swirl burners in
two rows, while 4 product gas burners are set below coal burners.
The plant has low operational costs, as it enables a fuel mix diver-
sity. It can begin producing electricity by shifting to the original
coal capacity in case of price fluctuation or supply disruptions of
feedstock. It can also increase the use of bio fuels when required.
Multi-fuel concept applied helps Vaskiluodon Voima to replace
the use of 25–40% of the coal and reduce power plant’s CO2 emis-
sions by 230,000 tons per year.
The above examples illustrate that the multi-fuel operation of
coal fired power stations is nowadays mainly done to provide fuel
mix diversity in order to reduce CO2 emissions, improve security of
supply and reduce operational costs by fuel cost optimization. Nev-
ertheless, reburning technology, with its benefits of NOx emissions
reduction, can further help cost-effectiveness of multi fuel power
plants. That is why it is important to investigate different reburn-
ing fuels and optimize reburning for multi-fuel systems.
In this work an experimental study has been conducted for the
first time to optimize NOx emissions reduction measures for a
multi-fuel combustion system using three different type of fuels:
coal, woody biomass and natural gas. The paper deals with the
NOx emissions optimization by an experimental study on coal on-
coal, coal/biomass on-coal/biomass and natural gas on-coal/
biomass reburning, along with application of the multiple air staging
and variation of the process temperature in a very wide range. The
tests have been carried out on a 20 kW PC-fired furnace equipped
with a swirl LNB and OFAS encompassing two different positions
of OFA nozzles in height. Several variables associated with the mul-
tiple air staging and reburning have been investigated, including the
air stoichiometry, the air amount and distance of OFA nozzles, fuel
combination and the type and amount of the reburn fuel.
Therefore the multiple NOx primary reduction measures in a
multi-fuel system, based on low rank coal, woody biomass and gas-
eous fuel (natural gas or biogas), and particularly variation of fuel
type for reburning, along with variation of the process temperature
in a very wide range, can be regarded as the main novelty in the pre-
sent work. The main originality is to show the additional merit of
the multi-fuel operation, that is NOx emissions control, contribut-
ing to further optimization of a multi-fuel combustion system.
3. Lab-scale furnace used
As an extension of intensive studies that were previously con-
ducted at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of University in
Sarajevo (MEFUS), related to the investigation of coal combustion
and slagging and fouling of heating surfaces in the boiler, see
[20], lab-scale furnace electrically heated entrained PF flow reactor
was designed and installed in the laboratory for coal and biomass
combustion at MEFUS and used recently in different co-firing
experiments, as reported in [9–13].
Basically, the experimental furnace is comprised of a 3 m length
alumina–silicate ceramic tube, with a diameter of 230/200 mm,
where combustion takes place, surrounded by SiC stick-type elec-
tric heaters and three-layer insulation, Fig. 1. The temperature of
the reaction zone is controlled by a programmable logic controller
(PLC) with thyristor units for each of the four heating zones, allow-
ing the process temperature to be varied at will across the range
from ambient to 1560 °C. The maximum power of the electrical
heaters used to maintain temperature in the reaction tube is
70 kW, while nominal or thermal power of the reactor is 20 kW.
Pulverized fuel is fed into the furnace by means of a volumetric fee-
der, mounted above the reactor. The feeder is equipped with a
speed controller, allowing mass flow in the range of 0.25–5 kg/h.
Air for combustion, coming from the air blower, is divided into car-
rier air (primary air), secondary air, tertiary air, and over fire air
(OFA). The first three air portions are fed into the furnace over
the swirl burner settled on the top of the reactor, so the air–fuel
particle mixture flows downward. For the purpose of this research,
the lab-scale furnace is upgraded with gas installation, as shown in
Fig. 1, to investigate reburning by natural gas.
4. Test methodology and demonstration
Various tests have been run on 20-kW Lab-scale PC furnace
equipped with a swirl burner and OFAS (Over Fire Air System),
under different process temperatures, air distribution and
 N. Hodžić et al. / Applied Energy 168 (2016) 38–47 41

Fuel tank with dozer

C EM&R Basic fuel, zonal supply

Primary (carrier) air
Basic fuel

Secondary air R1

Burner Total air

Tertiary air R2
0,0 m OFA

Reaction tube (RT): R3 LDNG

ZONE 4
D=∅230×15 mm RT
t4 ,
L=2900 mm EH
0,51 m

1,0 m Natural gas

OFA 1
ZONE 3

M
t3,
1,14 m SV
R4
1,3 m
OFA 2
ZONE 2

t2,
1,76 m
Air supply/blower
Electric
supply and
temperature
ZONE 1

control t1,
2,39 m
Ash depozit sampling:
D, Ds
Flue gas outlet Sampling of ash
and slag: S, s, p

PID vacuum control MP-FGA Working platform

at the exit of furnace

Flue gas analysis:

O2, CO, CO2, NO, NO2, NOx, SO2 Water cooled lance

Fig. 1. Principal scheme of the experimental furnace; C – speed controller of fuel supply, EM&R – electric motor and gearbox, RT – reaction tube, Ri – flow meters for
measuring the flow of air and natural gas, EH – SiC electric heaters arranged in four zones/levels, LDNG – laboratory distribution of natural gas, SV – safety valve with
integrated flame arrester, M – manometer, MP-FGA – measuring point/flue gas analysis.

combinations and distribution of fuels. Three single brown coals
from Middle Bosnia coal basin and their blends have been used
in combination with sawdust and natural gas. Thereby, woody bio-
mass fraction was varied between 5 and 20%w in the fuel blend,
while the fraction of natural gas used for reburning was varied
between 5 and 10%th. In addition to the air staging on the burner,
air staging in the furnace has been investigated by over fire air fed
into the furnace at two positions, varying the excess air ratio in the
primary combustion zone between 0.9 and 1.2. Besides multiple air
staging, the effects of the fuel staging to NOx emissions have been
investigated first by staging basic fuels (coal on-coal and coal/
biomass on-coal/biomass reburning) and then by natural gas reburn-
ing (natural gas on-coal and natural gas on-coal/biomass reburning).
The aim of the research was to investigate effects on the
NOx emissions by applying one or more primary measures for
NOx emissions reduction, such as:
– Changes in the composition of the fuel (by blending coals and
woody biomass).
– Changes in the quantity and especially in the way of supply of
combustion air in the furnace (overall amount of air is divided
into primary, secondary, tertiary and over fire air).
– Primary fuel staging (coal on-coal and coal/biomass on-coal/
biomass reburning).
– Use of natural gas as an additional fuel, in gas on-coal and gas
on-coal/biomass reburning mode.
Various process temperatures have been applied, ranging from
950 to 1560 °C, to investigate effects of the temperature on the
NOx emissions, while other process parameters have also been var-
ied. It should be noted that, as a result of combustion, the coal par-
ticle temperature can be higher than that of gas temperature or
reactor wall temperature, with potential implications for the ash
42 N. Hodžić et al. / Applied Energy 168 (2016) 38–47

transformation and emissions, [9,10]. It should be taken into
account in considering the results presented here. Furthermore,
while the heat releasing from fuel combustion would also have
an influence on furnace temperature, PLC with thyristor units is
used to control the operation of the electric heaters in four sepa-
rately heating zones of the furnace, to compensate the heat
received from the fuel or cooling from the environment. The test
have been run for three fuel thermal loads: 5.0 kWth, 3.5 kWth
and 2.5 kWth, by adopting fuel mass flow rate which varied
between 0.65 and 1.53 kg/h depending on fuel composition and
thermal load. For that coal/biomass flow rate, the particle resi-
dence time was estimated to be between 3 and 6 s, depending on
the process temperature and excess air ratio used. Data on UBC
(unburned carbon) indicated that combustion was complete in
all tests. Overall excess air ratio varied between 1.15 and 1.20,
while OFA varied from 0 to 0.30 of the overall amount of combus-
tion air. Depending on the fuel and excess air ratio used, total air-
flow rate was between 4.2 and 4.5 m3n/h, while flue gas flow rate
was between 4.5 and 5.0 m3n/h. Air staging in the primary zone
was optimized for different fuel combinations by varying the ratio
of primary and secondary/tertiary air on the swirl burner. Thus, in
all tests, optimized NOx and CO emissions were obtained if pri-
mary (carrier) air portion was set at 1.50 m3n/h, such providing pri-
mary air ratio between 0.30 and 0.33. The rest of the air in the
primary combustion zone was divided into secondary and tertiary
portions at the ratio of 2.6:1. Air was not specifically heated during
these tests.
Particle size distribution of reference coal U100 was
R1000 = 0.04%, R500 = 0.66%, R200 = 18.5%, R90 = 34.7%, trough
sieve 90 lm = 46.11% and coal/biomass blends were pulverized at
averaged particle size distribution R1000 = 0.37, R500 = 2.15%,
R200 = 18.13%, R90 = 35.17%, trough sieve 90 lm = 44.17%.
During the tests, process temperature, fuel consumption, air
flows (primary, secondary/tertiary and OFA) and flue gas composi-
tion (O2, CO, CO2, NO, NO2, NOx and SO2) were measured continu-
ously. Pulverized fuel, carried by the primary air stream that is
radially-axially fed at the entrance to the burner, is fed into the fur-
nace through the burner central tube. Secondary and tertiary air
streams have a common flow measurement before being divided
into two streams which are then fed at different positions at the
burner – coaxially with the central tube. In addition, the chemical
analyses of the deposits of slag and ash sampled from selected sites
in the furnace, allowed determination of UBC in selected tests.
Based on the measured and analyzed samples of solid and gas
products, characteristics of the combustion process are
determined, including also the correlation between the process
conditions and the reactivity of alkalis from the mineral fraction.
5. Fuel test matrix
Proximate and ultimate analysis of the primary fuels tested are
given in Table 1 for two groups of fuels as follows:
(i) Coal Kakanj (K100) and blends of coals Kakanj, Breza and
Zenica (KBZ – fuels 1–4), whereby, those brown coals have
undergone combustion at the temperatures corresponding
to the technology of PF combustion in a boiler with a dry
bottom furnace: 950–1350 °C.
(ii) Coal blend (U100), woody biomass (B100) and their blends
(UB – fuels 5–9), whereby those fuels have undergone com-
bustion at temperatures corresponding to the technology of
PF combustion in a boiler with a slag tap furnace: 1350–
1560 °C, to insure the comparison of the results with the
large-scale co-firing trial run at the TPP Kakanj unit 5
(118 MWe) reported in [12].
Generally, the tested coals are low-rank brown coals with a low
reactivity, high content of ash, high content of sulfur and strong
propensity to slagging and fouling due to inconvenient ash compo-
sition (high percentage of alkali components in ash, see Table 2)
and consequently low melting temperatures, as reported in detail
in [9–11,13]. Coal blends (KBZ) were formed in the laboratory by
weighing the component coals after their drying and mechanical
preparation (grinding in a laboratory mill). In contrast, the test
fuels 5, 7 and 8 had been taken from a real operation of the TPP
Kakanj unit 5 during the trial run reported in [12], from the pulver-
ized coal channel behind the hammer mill – a blend of coal and
biomass were previously formed at the depot of the power plant.
Furthermore, the results relating to co-firing the fuel mixture
U90B10, formed in the laboratory by mixing the fuels U100 and
B100, are also given in the work. Chemical composition of the fuel
U90B10 is calculated, considering chemical compositions and per-
centages of the fuels U100 and B100 in the fuel blend.
Coal–biomass blends (U95B5, U93B7) were taken from the coal
depot of Kakanj TPP during co-firing operation when the coal blend
U, being mixed with biomass, obviously had a bit higher content of
moisture, nitrogen and impurities tailings (residues) than in case
when the power plant was running with coal blend alone (U100).
That is the reason why the content of moisture in coal–biomass
blends does not strictly follow biomass portion in the fuel, see

Table 1
Proximate and ultimate analysis of the tested fuels.

Fuel K100 K80B15Z5 K70B20Z10 K60B25Z15 U100 B100 U95B5 U93B7 U90B10
No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Proximate analysis, %, as-received
Moisture 10.05 10.50 10.71 10.92 13.90 21.63 19.06 18.09 14.67
Ash 47.20 43.07 40.84 38.61 37.88 0.52 34.33 33.05 34.14
Volatiles 24.95 26.73 27.71 28.69 28.97 64.14 29.32 31.16 32.49
Fixed C 17.79 19.69 20.73 21.78 19.25 13.72 17.28 18.59 18.70
Combustible 42.74 46.42 48.44 50.47 48.22 77.86 46.60 48.86 51.18

Ultimate analysis, %, as-received

Carbon 29.39 32.64 34.48 36.32 32.62 38.92 32.12 33.36 33.25
Hydrogen 2.25 2.29 2.33 2.36 2.60 4.95 2.20 2.52 2.84
Sulfur 2.44 2.38 2.41 2.44 2.06 0.14 1.57 1.59 0.54
Nitrogen 0.71 0.73 0.75 0.76 0.72 0.17 0.81 0.75 0.67
Oxygen 7.94 8.36 8.48 8.59 10.22 33.67 9.91 10.63 12.57

Heating value, kJ/kg, as-received

Gross 12132 13240 13898 14555 13351 15564 12651 13446 13572
Net 11436 12535 13171 13817 12496 14081 11759 12510 12655
 N. Hodžić et al. / Applied Energy 168 (2016) 38–47 43

Table 2
Chemical ash composition of the tested fuels.

Fuel K100 K80B15Z5 K70B20Z10 K60B25Z15 U100 B100 U95B5 U93B7 U90B10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
SiO2 53.82 49.49 46.30 43.81 41.77 25.72 37.54 40.42 40.17
Fe2O3 9.98 9.68 9.86 9.90 9.18 18.00 9.98 9.18 10.06
Al2O3 16.26 15.83 15.48 15.22 16.58 20.03 18.81 17.21 16.93
CaO 5.40 9.73 11.98 13.98 14.40 17.28 16.64 14.76 14.69
MgO 5.40 5.66 5.76 5.86 2.56 6.40 2.88 1.60 2.94
SO3 5.22 5.84 7.04 7.79 9.66 4.02 7.18 7.08 9.10
TiO2 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.39 0.45 <0.01 0.45 0.40 0.41
Na2O 0.388 0.37 0.38 0.38 2.948 3.002 4.012 5.533 2.95
K2O 1.262 1.15 1.07 1.01 1.345 4.016 1.127 2.246 1.61

1500 1500
Temperature: 1350 °C Temperature: 1350 °C
1250 1250

1000 1000
eNOx , eNOx ,
mg/mn3 mg/mn3
750 750

500 500

250 250
K100 K80B15Z5 K70B20Z10 K60B25Z15 U100 U95B5 U93B7 U90B10

NOx: 0,95/1,15 NOx: 1,15/1,15 NOx: 1,20/1,20 NOx: 0,90/1,20 NOx: 0,95/1,20 NOx: 1,20/1,20

Fig. 2. NOx emissions for different ratio k1/k during combustion of different coals (left) and co-combustion of different combinations of coal and biomass (right).

Table 1. The same stands for the share of Na2O and K2O in Table 2.
Such a quality variation of supplied coal is not unusual in operation
of power plants running low-rank coals, particularly when coal
blends are used. Such an occurrence has been accepted and fol-
lowed in these tests to reflect real situation and keep objectivity
of the study. This gives additional merit to this work as contribu-
tion to the low-rank coal applications.
6. Results and discussion
The results are presented focussing on the factors affecting the
NOx emissions, i.e. in relation to applying one or more primary
measures for NOx emissions reduction, namely:
 Composition of the fuel.
 Process temperature.
 Multiple air staging.
 Primary fuel staging (reburning by coal and coal/biomass).
 The use of natural gas as an additional fuel (reburning by natu-
ral gas).
In application the aforementioned primary measures, OFA is
simultaneously being used. The measured emissions of NOx
(ppm) were calculated in mg/m3n and reduced to 6% O2 in dry flue
gases, as displayed in the diagrams.
6.1. Influence of fuel composition on NOx emissions
Blends of coals were burned at temperatures of 950, 1150, 1250
and 1350 °C, with standard air supply and with over fire air
switched on, whereby, the overall excess air ratio was changed
between 1.15 and 1.20. The nitrogen content (N) in the tested fuels
is not significantly changed, ranging from 0.71 to 0.76 – propor-
tional to the increase of the Breza and Zenica coals in the coal blend.
In Fig. 2-left, the results of the test at the process temperature of
1350 °C are given for burning coal of different composition; NOx
emissions are in the range from 710 to 921 mg/m3n. The measured
values of NOx emissions, in addition to the content of nitrogen
(N) in the coal and its particle size distribution, can also be attribu-
ted to the retention time in the reaction zone of particles by milling
fractions, and the tendency of ash to the formation of larger grains
of slag, as reported in [8]. Namely, Breza and Zenica coals have sig-
nificantly higher sieve residue R500: 2.87% and 4.38% respectively,
as compared to 1.13% for the Kakanj coal, and significantly lower
ash melting temperature – to about 100 °C as compared to the
Kakanj coal – as a result of significantly higher content of CaO
and lower contents of quartz. In this test, it was also shown that
generally lowest NOx emissions were produced with over fire air
switched on, at a ratio of primary zone stoichiometry and overall
excess air of k1/k = 0.95/1.15. Conversely, highest NOx emissions
were at a standard air supply with overall excess air ratio of 1.20,
Fig. 2. The co-firing of coal with woody biomass was performed at
process temperatures of 1350, 1400 and 1450 °C with air staging,
varying excess air ration in the first stage from 0.9 to 0.95 and keep-
ing the overall excess air ratio at 1.20. When process temperature
was at 1350 °C, NOx emissions were between 648 and 961 mg/
m3n, see Fig. 2-right. It was found that NOx emissions during the
co-firing tests were comparable to the emissions from the burning
of coal only – no significant impact of the biomass share in the fuel
blend on NOx emissions was registered. It can be explained by the
following: from one side tested fuel coal alone (U100), see Table 1,
has a bit lower nitrogen content as compared to tested coal–
biomass blends (U90B5, U93B7), influencing decreasing NOx, but
from the other side tested fuel coal alone (U100) has lower volatiles
content than tested coal–biomass blends, such influencing the
increase in NOx. The aforementioned two opposite effects are the rea-
son of such specific results and trends in NOx emissions in Fig. 2-right.
6.2. Influence of the process temperature and over fire air on NOx
emissions
The influence of process temperature on NOx emissions during
multiple air staging for firing different coal blends is shown in
Fig. 3 – left.
Lowest NOx emissions were recorded at process temperature of
950 °C (averaged 430 mg/m3n) while highest emissions were
44 N. Hodžić et al. / Applied Energy 168 (2016) 38–47
measured at 1350 °C (averaged 780 mg/m3n), Fig. 3 left. Effects of
over fire air supply on NOx emissions during combustion of the
basic coal blend K70B20Z10 as compared to a standard air supply,
are presented in Fig. 3-right: the emissions with over fire air
switched on are in average 100 mg/m3n lower at overall excess air
ratio of k = 1.15, over the entire temperature range.
Change in NOx emissions during the co-firing of coal with
woody biomass sawdust (U93B7) in a temperature range from
1350 to 1450 °C is shown in Fig. 4-left: NOx emissions, at temper-
ature P1400 °C and with over fire air switched off, reached and
even exceeded 1000 mg/m3n. The rate of change of NOx emissions
is more manifested during the combustion of coal in the tempera-
ture conditions P1350 °C – Fig. 4-right; that is in accordance with
the Zeldovich mechanism of influence of the temperature on the
rate of chemical reactions to generate thermal NO, as reported in
[8,23]. It can be seen that the influence of temperature under
coal–biomass co-firing condition is weaker than during coal com-
bustion, which can be considered as a novelty issue. That phe-
nomenon can be specifically interested for power plants operated
at higher process temperatures, for example boilers with slag-tap
furnaces. It can be explained by the following: in the temperature
range of 1350–1450 °C, the effect of melting of the ash should be
taken into account. Namely, by diffusion of iron carbide, the iron
and silicon form a compound Fe3Si, which melting temperature
is around 1300 °C, and that is at these temperatures transformed
into flowing liquid spheres, allowing oxygen to reach easier to
the burning components, but also to nitrogen. The latter will inten-
sify the chemical reaction of binding N and O. Iron acts here as a
catalyst, as reported by Raask [23]. If one looks at the content of
iron and silicon in the ash in the fuel coal alone U100 and UB co-
firing blends, it is cumulative slightly more in fuel U100. Moreover,
there is much more ash into fuel U100, and thus the aforemen-
tioned effect is stronger in the fuel U100 than in the UB mixtures,
therefore NO formation is consequently enhanced.
Also, a significant difference in emissions is evident considering
the mode of combustion with intensified air distribution in the fur-
nace, while the difference becomes more exhibited with increasing
process temperature. In the most unfavourable conditions, the
emission values exceeded 1100 mg/m3n. By use of OFA, for example
at temperature 1400 °C, NOx emissions decreased from 1088 to
735 mg/m3n, or more than 30%. The air staging results are in accor-
dance with the results of the large-scale co-firing trial run using
those fuels, reported in [12], and also in line with the results
reported in [8,17,21,22].
6.3. Influence of fuel staging on NOx emissions
In the fuel staging modes on the lab-scale furnace (coal on-coal
reburning and coal/biomass on- coal/biomass reburning), a second
1200
1000
800
eNOx ,
mg/mn3 600
400
200
Temperature, °C
0 0
900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400
K80B15Z5: 0,95/1,15 K60B25Z15: 0,95/1,15
Fig. 3. Influence of the process temperature on NOx emissions for different coal blends with use of OFA (left) and for different cases of overall excess air ratio and air
distribution (right).
staged portion of the fuel is fed by the side nozzles, also used for
over fire air supply in multiple air staging. Primary fuel, carried
by the primary air, is divided into two portions immediately before
the burner: (i) on the burner, and (ii) for zonal supply, i.e. on a sec-
ond staged portion of the fuel. The nozzle which is closer to the
burner was used for the second staged fuel supply, while the sec-
ond nozzle, mounted below the first one, i.e. set at a larger distance
from the burner, was used for over fire air, see Fig. 1. Results of NOx
emissions in experiments with primary fuel staging, at a process
temperature of 1350 °C and for two ratios of the second portion
of the basic fuel being fed into the combustion chamber (5 and
10%w) are shown in Fig. 5-left. In general, NOx emissions reduc-
tions have been achieved. When 10%w primary fuel staging (coal
on-coal reburning and coal/biomass on- coal/biomass reburning)
is applied, the NOx emissions reduction is more than 100 mg/m3n,
or over 15%.
Effects of 10%w primary fuel staging as a function of process
temperature, for different fuels, are presented in Fig. 5-right. Thus,
for example at a temperature of 1450 °C for combustion of coal
only (U100), the emissions are reduced from 892 to 694 mg/m3n,
or over 22% as compared to the emissions during combustion of
coal U100 at the same temperature, amount and distribution of
air, and with no fuel staging. It should be noted, however, that in
those tests the significant increase in the content of CO in the flue
gas was taking place, e.g. for U100: 686 mg/m3n at 1350 °C and
140 mg/m3n at 1450 °C – Fig. 6-left. However, the design of the
lab-scale furnace, the location of feeding the second staged portion
of the primary fuel in the fuel staging, and the fineness of particle
size distribution of pulverized fuel should be considered. There-
fore, it is evident that after supplying the zonal portion of the fuel,
the remaining length of the reaction tube is not quite sufficient for
complete combustion, especially of larger milling particles which
are particularly exhibited in fuel U90B10.
6.4. The influence of natural gas reburning on NOx emissions
In some tests of the primary fuel combustion (coal and coal/bio-
mass blends), natural gas is used as an additional fuel in reburning
mode (natural gas on-coal and natural gas-on coal/biomass
reburning, respectively), with 5 and 10%th of the gas energy (heat)
input. Natural gas is supplied into the furnace through the gas
installations equipped with measuring and regulating valves, feed-
ing natural gas into the reaction zone over the side nozzles (also
used for over fire air supply), one or both simultaneously – Fig. 1.
Under such conditions, the primary fuels tested were U100,
U95B5 and K70B20Z10, at two different process temperatures:
1350 and 1450 °C. For the above mentioned primary fuel combina-
tions, effects of natural gas reburning on NOx emissions reduction
at process temperature of 1350 °C can be noticed in Fig. 7-left.
1200
1000
800
eNOx ,
mg/mn3 600
400
200
Temperature, °C
900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400
K70B20Z10: 0,95/1,15 K70B20Z10: 1,15/1,15 K70B20Z10: 1,20/1,20
 N. Hodžić et al. / Applied Energy 168 (2016) 38–47 45

1200 1400

1200
1000
1000
800
eNOx , 800
eNOx ,
mg/mn3 600 mg/mn3 600

400 400

200 200
Temperature, °C
U93B7 Temperature, °C 0
0
1300 1350 1400 1450 1500 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500

U93B7: 0,90/1,20 U93B7: 0,95/1,20 U93B7: 1,20/1,20 K70B20Z10: 0,95/1,15 K70B20Z10: 1,20/1,20 U100: 0,95/1,20 U100: 1,20/1,20

Fig. 4. Influence of the process temperature on NOx emissions during the co-firing of coal with woody biomass (left) and during combustion of a basic coal blend (right).

1250 1000
Temperature: 1350 °C 10%m

900
1000
eNOx ,
mg/mn3 800
750 eNOx ,
mg/mn3
700
500
600

250 Temperature, °C
500
U100 - clasic U100 U95B5 U90B10 K70B20Z10
1300 1350 1400 1450 1500
NOx: 0%m/m NOx: 5%m/m NOx: 10%m/m
U100-clasic U100 U95B5 U90B10 K70B20Z10

Fig. 5. NOx emissions in primary fuel staging (coal on-coal reburning and coal/biomass on- coal/biomass reburning); left: as function of fuel composition; right: as function of
process temperature.

1.000 60
10%m/mSG 10%m/mSG
800 50

40
600
eCO , eCO ,
mg/mn3 30
400 mg/mn3
20
200
10 Temp., °C
Temperature, °C
0
1300 1350 1400 1450 1500 0
1300 1350 1400 1450 1500
CO: U100 CO: U95B5 CO: U90B10 CO: K70B20Z10 CO: UP CO: UB(95)P CO: KBZ(70)P

Fig. 6. CO emissions during the primary fuel staging (left) and during use of natural gas as additional fuel for reburning (right).

Significant NOx emissions reduction was recorded; more than
250 mg/m3n at 10%th natural gas reburning. Thus, for the coal mix
K70B20Z10 at 10%th gas reburning, NOx emissions reduced from
710 to 450 mg/m3n, or approximately by 37%. The efficiency of
10%th natural gas reburning during combustion of primary fuel
in the function of the process temperature is shown in
Fig. 7-right. The diagram shows the NOx emissions in reburning
mode with natural gas as compared to the measured emissions
from the combustion of the coal U100 without reburning. Thus,
for the coal mix K70B20Z10, NOx emissions were 425 mg/m3n at
1350 °C which is less by 36% as compared to the emissions of ref-
erence coal U100 at the same process temperature. Furthermore,
during the co-firing of coal with woody biomass in these condi-
tions (UB(95)P) at a temperature of 1450 °C, the emissions of
602 mg/m3n were measured, which is lower by 30% as compared
to the emissions of coal U100 (866 mg/m3n). Results presented here
confirm that natural gas is one of the most attractive reburn fuel
because it is effectively nitrogen-free, providing a greater potential
for NOx reduction than other tested fuels. What is additionally
important for the tests with natural gas as a reburning fuel, in general
very low CO emissions were measured, especially at higher process
temperatures, averaging at only 3 mg/m3n at 1450 °C, Fig. 6-right.
6.5. Comparative review of the effectiveness of primary measures in
the furnace on NOx emissions
During the combustion tests of the coal blend K70B20Z10, dif-
ferent primary measures have been applied: air staging on the bur-
ner, multiple air staging (with OFA switched on), primary fuel
staging and reburning (use of secondary fuel – in this case natural
gas, for the second stage of the fuel supply – natural gas on-coal/
biomass reburning). Efficiency of the applied primary measures
for NOx emissions reduction is shown in Fig. 8-left. In addition to
those, the results obtained during conventional combustion of
the same fuel (with standard air and fuel supply) are also given,
with the goal of comparability and quantification of efficiency of
the primary measures considered. Comparison of all combinations
of the NOx reduction measures is done for a process temperature of
1350 °C. NOx emissions of 837 mg/m3n, measured during the con-
ventional combustion mode (with OFA switched off and with no
46 N. Hodžić et al. / Applied Energy 168 (2016) 38–47

1250 1250
Temperature: 1350 °C 10%e/m

1000 1000
eNOx ,
mg/mn3
750 eNOx ,
750
mg/mn3

500
500

250 Temperature, °C
U100 - clasic UP UB(95)P KBZ(70)P 250
1300 1350 1400 1450 1500
NOx: 0%e/m NOx: 5%e/m NOx: 10%e/m
U100 - clasic UP UB(95)P KBZ(70)P

Fig. 7. NOx emissions during natural gas reburning; left: as function of the composition of basic fuel; right: as function of the process temperature.

1200 1250
Temperature: 1350 ÷ 1450 °C
K70B20Z10
1000 1450 °C
1000
800
eNOx ,
eNOx , 750
600 mg/mn3 1350 °C
mg/mn3

400 500

200
250
Temperature, °C
0 Clasic Air staging Fuel staging Reburning
900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 U100-UP/1350 U100-UP/1450 U95B5-UB(95)P/1350
Clasic Air staging Fuel staging Reburning U95B5-UB(95)P/1450 K70B20Z10-KBZ(70)P/1350

Fig. 8. Efficiency of primary measures for NOx emissions reduction: for the coal blend K70B20Z10 in a temperature range from 950 to 1350 °C (left), for the coal U100 and the
coal/biomass blend U95B5 in a temperature range from 1350 to 1450 °C (right).

reburning), reduced by over fire air to 710 mg/m3n or by 15%. After-
wards, by 10%w primary fuel staging NOx emissions reduced to
570 mg/m3n or by 32%. Finally, by use of natural gas as a reburning
fuel, NOx emissions reduced down to 450 mg/m3n or by 45% (in 10%
th natural gas reburning), see Fig. 8-left. The results are in line with
those on coal on-coal reburning reported in [18].
The effects of applying the primary measures in the furnace are
also given for the other two fuels tested (U100 and U95B5), over the
range of process temperatures between 1350 and 1450 °C,
Fig. 8-right. A significant reduction in NOx emissions was noted
when applying certain NOx reduction measures as compared to
classic (standard) test mode. Thus, for example for a U95B5 coal/
biomass blend at a temperature of 1350 °C, NOx emissions
decreased from 950 mg/m3n down to 460 mg/m3n, producing at the
same process temperature more than 50% reduction efficiency in
natural gas on-coal/biomass reburning with multiple air staging
applied. If the effects of the process temperature on the NOx emis-
sions are considered afterwards, then NOx emissions reduction effi-
ciency can reach 67% in the demonstrated 0.1 co-firing case with
multiple air staging and natural gas-on coal/biomass reburning.
So, NOx emissions have been reduced in the demonstrated case
by decreasing the process temperature, optimizing primary and
secondary-tertiary air ratio to 0.33:0.67, increasing air portion
for OFA, using maximal tested co-firing ratio (0.1) and applying
coal/biomass on-coal/biomass and natural gas on-coal/biomass
reburning.
The results presented here confirm that design and operation of
multi-fuel system using coal, biomass and gas could be optimized,
resulting in further reduction of NOx emissions. Considering plenty
of influencing factors, the work offers guidelines for designers and
operators of MFS to further reduce NOx emissions. Future investi-
gation will be conducted with higher co-firing rates (at least 0.3),
with bio-gas instead of natural gas. Much deeper investigation in
the range of higher temperatures will be conducted, in order to
support further reduction of NOx emissions in industrial boilers
with slag tap furnaces by adaptation to MFS.
7. Conclusions
In this work the different reburning fuel combinations were
tested in parallel for the first time, applying multiple air staging
and varying the process temperature, to optimize NOx emissions
in a multi-fuel system based on coal, biomass and natural gas.
The main originality is to show the additional merit of the multi-
fuel operation (that is NOx emissions control). In addition to the
air staging and primary fuel staging (coal-on coal and coal/
biomass-on coal/biomass), the effects of natural gas-on coal and
natural gas on coal/biomass reburning on the NOx emissions have
been investigated.
Generally, it was shown that co-firing of coal with woody bio-
mass, at a 0.1 woody biomass cofiring, produced no significant
change in NOx emissions as compared to the combustion of refer-
ence coal. In contrast, multiple air staging, for a 0.30–0.33 ratio
between primary and secondary/tertiary air in the primary com-
bustion zone and with over fire air switched on producing a ratio
between the primary zone and overall excess air of 0.9/1.15,
reduced NOx emissions significantly, achieving the NOx emissions
reduction efficiency of 30%. With 10%w primary fuel staging (coal
on-coal and coal/biomass on-coal/biomass reburning), it is possible
to reduce NOx emissions by 30–37% as compared to the conven-
tional combustion mode, with slight variation of CO emissions.
The influence of natural gas application as an additional fuel on
the NOx emissions is strongest in the demonstrated case of 10%
th natural gas reburning – NOx emissions can be reduced by 50%
for natural gas-on coal reburning, and even more than 50% for nat-
ural gas on-coal/biomass reburning, observing the combustion
process at a same temperature. After taking into account effects
of the changing process temperature on the NOx emissions, the
 N. Hodžić et al. / Applied Energy 168 (2016) 38–47
efficiency of NOx reduction can reach up to 67%, as shown in the
demonstrated case of 0.1 co-firing and multiple air staging, sup-
ported by 10%th gas on-coal/biomass reburning.
Using the aforementioned combination of primary measures for
NOx emissions reduction, the furnace and boiler design of a multi-
fuel system based on low-rank brown coal, waste woody biomass
and gaseous fuel (natural gas or biogas) can further be improved,
and the costs of secondary denitrification (SCR or SNCR) signifi-
cantly reduced or avoided, contributing to better cost effectiveness
and sustainability of such a solution. Generally, by this approach it
is possible to get closer to an optimal fuel combination and fuel
distribution for specific multi-fuel system based on coal, biomass
and gas in respect of lowest NOx emissions. The results presented
in this paper can provide guidance for multi fuel systems based on
biomass/gas co-firing in existing high-capacity pulverized coal-
fired furnaces running on similar low-rank coals.
Acknowledgment
Authors would like to thank the personnel of Faculty of
Mechanical Engineering of University in Sarajevo for generous sup-
port during performing the experiment.
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