Analysis of nitric oxide emissions from anode baking furnace through numerical modeling

Industrial emissions are discussed worldwide for their adverse effects on the global climate change. Nitric oxide (NOx) emissions are harmful among the various flue gases emitted in the atmosphere. There are multiple routes of formation of NOx in industry. The formation of NOx due to local overheating in fuel lean conditions is the most common way. The heavy industries such as aluminium consists of various intermediate processes. Anode baking is one such important process. The anode baking process comprises of a combustion chamber in which natural gas is fired for generating heat. The temperature in the furnace due to the combustion process is as high as 2000oC. This leads to formation of NOx in the anode baking furnace. The Aluminium and Chemie B.V. (Aluchemie) operates industrial anode baking furnaces situated in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The problems of NOx formation in anode baking furnace of Aluchemie are discussed in this thesis.