EXHAUST GAS TREATMENT SYSTEM

Abstract

The invention relates to an exhaust system for the treatment of an exhaust gas comprising ammonia in an amount of up to 250 ppm, the system comprising: an exhaust gas inlet; an ammonia storage material arranged to receive an exhaust gas from the exhaust gas inlet; an ammonia oxidation catalyst arranged downstream of a selected portion of the ammonia storage material; and a heating device for heating gas before it passes through the selected portion of the ammonia storage material to release ammonia stored therein for treatment on the ammonia oxidation catalyst, wherein the system is configured so that the selected portion of the ammonia storage material changes over time. The invention further relates to a livestock house comprising the exhaust system and a method of treating an ammonia-containing gas.

Claims

1-19. (canceled)

20. An exhaust system for the treatment of an exhaust gas comprising ammonia in an amount of up to 250 ppm, the system comprising: an exhaust gas inlet; an ammonia storage material arranged to receive an exhaust gas from the exhaust gas inlet; an ammonia oxidation catalyst arranged downstream of a selected portion of the ammonia storage material; and a heating device for heating gas before it passes through the selected portion of the ammonia storage material to release ammonia stored therein for treatment on the ammonia oxidation catalyst, wherein the system is configured so that the selected portion of the ammonia storage material changes over time.

21. An exhaust system according to claim 20, wherein exhaust gas comprises from 1 to 50 ppm ammonia.

22. An exhaust system according to claim 20, wherein exhaust gas comprises from 10 to 25 ppm ammonia.

23. An exhaust system according to claim 20, wherein the heating device is configured to heat the gas before it passes through the selected portion of the ammonia storage material to a temperature of from 50 to 300° C.

24. An exhaust system according to claim 20, wherein the heating device is configured to heat the gas before it passes through the selected portion of the ammonia storage material to a temperature of from 100 to 250° C.

25. An exhaust system according to claim 20, wherein the heating device is configured to heat the gas before it passes through the selected portion of the ammonia storage material to a temperature of from 150 to 200° C.

26. An exhaust system according to claim 20, wherein the system further comprises one or more material filters between the exhaust gas inlet and the ammonia storage material.

27. An exhaust system according to claim 20, wherein the system comprises an H.sub.2S sorbent material and/or an As sorbent material upstream of the ammonia storage material.

28. An exhaust system according to claim 20, the system comprising means for cooling a previously-heated portion of the ammonia storage material with a supply of ambient air.

29. An exhaust system according to claim 20, the system comprising means for ducting gas from a previously-heated portion of the ammonia storage material to pre-heat a soon-to-be heated portion of the ammonia storage material.

30. An exhaust system according to claim 20, wherein the ammonia storage material is provided within a sorbent bed which is arranged to rotate so that, in use, portions of the ammonia storage material are each contacted with a heated gas in turn.

31. An exhaust system according to claim 30, wherein the sorbent bed is configured to rotate continuously at a constant rate.

32. An exhaust system according to claim 30, wherein the sorbent bed is configured to rotate stepwise, preferably at uniform intervals.

33. An exhaust system according to claim 30, wherein the sorbent bed has a diameter of 10 cm to 600 cm.

34. An exhaust system according to claim 30, wherein the sorbent bed has a diameter of 50 to 300 cm.

35. An exhaust system according to claim 30, wherein the sorbent bed has a diameter of 100 to 200 cm.

36. An exhaust system according to claim 30, wherein the sorbent bed has a depth of 5-50 cm

37. An exhaust system according to claim 30, wherein the sorbent bed has a depth of 10-20 cm.

38. An exhaust system according to claim 27, wherein the sorbent bed comprises a plurality of inserts comprising the ammonia storage material.

39. An exhaust system according to claim 20, wherein the heating device is located between the exhaust gas inlet and the ammonia storage material.

40. An exhaust system according to claim 20, wherein the heating device is located between the exhaust gas inlet and the ammonia storage material.

41. An exhaust system according to claim 20, wherein the heating device is located between the ammonia storage material and the ammonia oxidation catalyst and wherein the system further comprises a duct for recycling at least a portion of the gas from the ammonia oxidation catalyst upstream of the selected portion of the ammonia storage material.

42. An exhaust system according to claim 20, wherein the heating device is a heat exchanger arranged to recover heat from gas downstream of the ammonia oxidation catalyst.

43. An exhaust system according to claim 42, further comprising a second heating device located between the ammonia storage material and the ammonia oxidation catalyst and, preferably the second heating device is configured to heat gas passing to the ammonia oxidation catalyst to 200 to 300° C.

44. A livestock house comprising the exhaust system according to claim 20.

45. A method of treating an ammonia-containing exhaust gas, the method comprising passing the ammonia-containing exhaust gas through the exhaust system according to claim 20.

Description

[0074] The invention will now be described in relation to the following non-limiting figures, in which:

[0075] FIG. 1 shows a schematic of an exhaust gas system as described herein.

[0076] FIG. 2 shows a schematic of a sorbent bed wheel as described herein.

[0077] FIG. 1 shows a poultry house 1 provided with an exhaust gas system as described herein. The poultry house 1 provides a source of exhaust gas 5 which will typically contain about 20 ppm of ammonia. The exhaust gas 5 is passed to a material filter 10 to ensure that any undesirable physical contaminants, such as poultry feathers are removed. The exhaust gas 5 then passes to an H.sub.2S sorbent 15 to ensure that H.sub.2S is removed and does not poison the downstream components of the system.

[0078] The exhaust gas 5 then passes to a sorbent wheel 20 which comprises ammonia storage material. The majority of the exhaust gas 5 passes directly out of the sorbent wheel 20 to the atmosphere 25 as an ammonia-depleted exhaust gas 30, with the ammonia having been stored on the ammonia storage material. The ammonia-depleted exhaust gas 30 typically comprises less than 1 ppm ammonia and preferably essentially no ammonia. A minority of the exhaust gas 5 passes through a heater 35, such as a propane burner or a resistive heater coil, to provide a heated exhaust gas 40 (around 150° C.).

[0079] The heated exhaust gas 40 passes through a selected portion 45 of the sorbent wheel 20. Because of the heated exhaust gas 40, ammonia absorbed on the sorbent wheel 20 is desorbed. This forms an ammonia-rich gas 50 containing at least 250 ppm ammonia and preferably at least 1000 ppm ammonia. The ammonia-rich gas 50 leaving the selected portion 45 of the sorbent wheel 20 is directed to a further heater 55 and then to an oxidation catalyst 60 for decomposing the ammonia to nitrogen and water before this is released to the atmosphere 25 with levels of ammonia of less than 1 ppm and preferably essentially no ammonia.

[0080] The gases released to the atmosphere 25 may instead be returned to the poultry house 1, This allows the heat to be retained in the atmosphere when the ambient temperature in the poultry house 1 is below the outside ambient temperature, reducing heating costs.

[0081] Instead or in addition to the heater 35, a heat exchanger 65 can be used to provide the heated exhaust gas 40. Instead or in addition to using a minority of the exhaust gas 5 to desorb the ammonia, a source of fresh gas 70, such as fresh air, can be used.

[0082] Gas recycle routes and some alternatives or optional features/are shown with dashed lines.

[0083] FIG. 2 shows a sorbent wheel 20 and in particular the selected portion 45 which receives the minority of heated exhaust gas 40. As further shown, due to the direction of rotation (R) there will also be a cooling portion 46 and there may be a pre-heating portion 47.

[0084] In order to minimise ammonia slip, the cooling portion 46 is desirably cooled with a source of fresh air 70, optionally flowing in a counter-current direction. After passing through the cooling portion 46 the gas may then be allowed to pass freely through the selected portion 45, the pre-heating portion 47 or the remainder portion 48. Alternatively the gas can be directed specifically to the pre-heating portion 47 for energy efficiency. After passing through the pre-heating portion 47, the gases can be further heated with the heat exchanger 65 to then be ducted upstream of the selected portion 45 to provide hot gas for desorbing ammonia. All of this gas flow can be controlled with suitable ducting and, where necessary with driving fans.

[0085] Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described herein in detail, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that variations may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention or of the appended claims.