Low NOx burner technology for ethylene cracking furnaces

Regulations that are currently proposed for the South Texas area demand reduction of NOx emissions from combustion processes like refining and petrochemical furnaces to less than 10 ppm for large heat releases. A new generation of Low-NOx burner technology for eductor-style, radiant-wall burners used in the ethylene industry has been developed. These new, revolutionary burners achieve single digit NOx emission levels using an ultra-lean premix technology. This strategy extends the stoichiometry of the fuel and air/flue gas mixture near the point of the lean flammability limit providing NOx levels that were previously unattainable in past burner designs. This paper describes the principles underlying the features of the new technology, technical objectives and strategies used to develop the burner, and test data that clearly demonstrate this technology.