EXHAUST GAS TREATMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD, AS WELL AS SHIP COMPRISING, AND USE OF, SUCH A SYSTEM

Abstract

A system for treating engine exhaust gas, which engine exhaust gas has a temperature of between T1 and T2, comprises a SCR reactor for converting NOx in a medium containing the engine exhaust gas into N2 and H2O. The SCR reactor has an inlet for receiving the medium and an outlet for outputting the NOx reduced medium. A first boiler unit has an outlet for outputting boiler exhaust gas (temperature greater than T3, T3>T1) from the first boiler unit. A mixing unit mixes the engine exhaust gas with the boiler exhaust gas to produce the medium. The mixing unit has a first inlet communicating with the engine for receiving the engine exhaust gas, a second inlet communicating with the outlet of the first boiler unit for receiving the boiler exhaust gas and an outlet for outputting the medium. The mixing unit outlet communicates with the inlet of the SCR reactor.

Claims

1. System for treatment of engine exhaust gas from an engine, which engine exhaust gas has a temperature of between T1 and T2, the system comprising a SCR reactor for converting NOx contained in a medium containing the engine exhaust gas into N2 and H2O, the SCR reactor having an inlet for receiving the medium and an outlet for outputting the NOx reduced medium, further comprising a mixing unit and a first boiler unit, the first boiler unit having a first outlet for outputting boiler exhaust gas from the first boiler unit, which boiler exhaust gas has a temperature of T3 or more, T3>T1, the mixing unit being arranged to mix the engine exhaust gas with the boiler exhaust gas to produce said medium, the mixing unit having a first inlet communicating with the engine for receiving the engine exhaust gas, a second inlet communicating with the first outlet of the first boiler unit for receiving the boiler exhaust gas and an outlet for outputting said medium, the outlet of the mixing unit communicating with the inlet of the SCR reactor.

2. System according to claim 1, further comprising a second boiler unit for recovering heat from the medium, the second boiler unit having a first inlet communicating with the outlet of the SCR reactor for receiving the NOx reduced medium and a first outlet for outputting the cooled NOx reduced medium.

3. System according to claim 2, wherein a second inlet of the second boiler unit is connected to a second outlet of the first boiler unit, and a second outlet of the second boiler unit is connected to a second inlet of the first boiler unit, to enable circulation of water between the second boiler unit and the first boiler unit.

4. System according to claim 1, wherein the first boiler unit is fired.

5. System according to claim 1, further comprising a temperature sensor for estimating a temperature of the medium before it enters the SCR reactor.

6. System according to claim 5, further comprising a control unit arranged to communicate with the temperature sensor and control the first boiler unit in response to an output of the temperature sensor.

7. System according to claim 1, wherein T3=360° C.

8. Ship comprising a system according to claim 1.

9. Use of a system according to claim 1 onboard a ship.

10. Method of treating engine exhaust gas from an engine, which engine exhaust gas has a temperature of between T1 and T2, the method comprising receiving a medium containing the engine exhaust gas in an SCR reactor (Step O), converting, in the SCR reactor, NOx contained in the medium into N2 and H2O (Step P), outputting, from the SCR reactor, the NOx reduced medium (Step Q), outputting, from the first boiler unit, boiler exhaust gas having a temperature of more than T3, T3>T1 (Step B), receiving, in a mixing unit the engine exhaust gas and the boiler exhaust gas (Steps C and K), mixing, in the mixing unit, the engine exhaust gas and the boiler exhaust gas to produce said medium (Step L), and outputting, from the mixing unit, said medium (Step M).

11. Method according to claim 10, further comprising receiving the NOx reduced medium in a second boiler unit (Step R), recovering, in the second boiler unit, heat from the NOx reduced medium (Step S), and outputting, from the second boiler unit, the cooled NOx reduced medium (Step U).

12. Method according to claim 11, wherein a second inlet of the second boiler unit is connected to a second outlet of the first boiler unit, and a second outlet of the second boiler unit is connected to a second inlet of the first boiler unit, further comprising circulating water between the second boiler unit and the first boiler unit (Step T).

13. Method according to claim 10, further comprising estimating, by a temperature sensor, a temperature of the medium before it enters the SCR reactor (Step D).

14. Method according to claim 13, further comprising controlling the first boiler unit in response to an output of the temperature sensor (Steps E, F, G, H and I).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the appended schematic drawings, in which

[0020] FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a system according to the invention,

[0021] FIGS. 2a, 2b and 2c contain a flow chart illustrating the method according to the invention, and

[0022] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the effect of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0023] With reference to FIG. 1 a system 1 for treatment of engine exhaust gas EEG from an engine 3 is shown, which system is installed onboard a ship (not illustrated). The engine 3 is the main ship diesel engine producing engine exhaust gas EEG containing NO.sub.x and having a temperature of between T.sub.1=200° C. and T.sub.2=340° C. The system 1 comprises a first boiler unit 5, a mixing unit 7, an SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) unit 9, a second boiler unit 11 and a scrubber 17.

[0024] The first boiler unit 5 is oil fired and comprises a smoke-tube boiler of low efficiency type with an efficiency of between 80% and 85%. It produces boiler exhaust gas BEG containing NO.sub.x and having a temperature >330° C., here a temperature between T.sub.3=360° C. and T.sub.4=400° C., which exhaust gas leaves the first boiler unit 5 through a first outlet 19 of the same. The first boiler unit further has a second outlet 21 for outputting liquid water, a third outlet 23 for outputting water steam for use onboard the ship, and a second inlet 25 for receiving liquid water and water steam. Also, the first boiler unit has a first inlet (not illustrated or further discussed) for infeed of fuel, i.e. oil.

[0025] The mixing unit 7 is formed as a pipe extending between the engine 3 and the SCR reactor 9, inside which pipe a static mixing unit, in the form of a number of baffles sized and arranged so as to promote effective gas mixing, is arranged. It has a first inlet 27 communicating with the engine 3 for receiving engine exhaust gas EEG and a second inlet 29 communicating with the first outlet 19 of the first boiler unit 5 for receiving the boiler exhaust gas BEG. The engine exhaust gas EEG and the boiler exhaust gas BEG are mixed into a medium M during their passage through the mixing unit 7. Accordingly, the mixing unit 7 further has an outlet 31 for outputting the medium M.

[0026] The SCR reactor 9 comprises a channel structure with surfaces coated with a catalyst, here vanadium oxides, for converting NO.sub.x into nitrogen N.sub.2 and water H.sub.2O during passage of the medium M through the channels. The SCR reactor 9 is such that the medium M must have a temperature above T.sub.5=330° C. for proper NO.sub.x conversion inside the SCR reactor 9 to be possible. The SCR reactor 9 has an inlet 33 communicating with the outlet 31 of the mixing unit 7 for receiving the medium M. Further, the SCR reactor 9 has an outlet 35 for outputting NO.sub.x reduced medium M-NO.sub.x.

[0027] The second boiler unit 11 is provided for purposes of recovering heat from the medium. It has a first inlet 37 communicating with the outlet 35 of the SCR reactor 9 for receiving the NO.sub.x reduced medium M-NO.sub.x and a first outlet 39 for outputting cooled NO.sub.x reduced medium CM-NO.sub.x. Further, the second boiler unit 11 has a second inlet 41 communicating with the second outlet 21 of the first boiler unit 5 for receiving liquid water, and a second outlet 43 communicating with the second inlet 25 of the first boiler unit 5 for outputting liquid water and water steam. Thus, water is circulating between the first and second boiler units 5 and 11.

[0028] The scrubber 17 is provided for purposes of cleaning the medium, that is not only the engine exhaust gas EEG, but also the boiler exhaust gas BEG, further, especially from sulphur oxides SO.sub.x and particular matter such as soot, oil and heavy metal particles. Scrubbers as such are well known within the art and will not be described in detail herein. As an example, the scrubber 17 may be of the type described in WO 2014/135509. The scrubber 17 has an inlet 45 communicating with the first outlet 39 of the second boiler unit 11 for receiving the cooled NO reduced medium CM-NO.sub.x. Further, the scrubber 17 has an outlet 47 for outputting the further cleaned medium FCM.

[0029] Additionally, the system 1 comprises an injection device 49 for adding urea to the medium when this is fed from the mixing unit 7 to the SCR reactor 9. When added to the relatively hot medium M, the urea is heated whereby ammonia is generated. The ammonia supplements the catalytic reaction that takes place inside the SCR reactor 9. More particularly, the ammonia acts as a “reduction agent” which enables the conversion of NO in the medium to nitrogen and water. It should be stressed that, herein, the expression “medium” is used for the exhaust gas mixture irrespective of whether it contains, or does not contain, urea, ammonia or products thereof.

[0030] Furthermore, the system 1 comprises a temperature sensor 51 and a control unit (CU) 53. The temperature sensor is arranged to measure a temperature of the medium M just before it enters the SCR reactor 9. The control unit 53 is arranged to communicate with the temperature sensor 51 and the first boiler unit 5 and control the operation of the first boiler unit in response to an output, in the form of the measured temperature of the medium M, of the temperature sensor 51.

[0031] Thus, the above system 1 is used onboard a ship. The system 1 is further discussed below together with a method of treating engine exhaust gas EEG from the engine 3, which method is illustrated by the flow chart of FIGS. 2a, 2b and 2c.

[0032] As above described, the first boiler unit 5 outputs water steam (Step A) which may be used in different applications onboard the ship, as well as boiler exhaust gas BEG (Step B) which may be used for heating the engine exhaust gas EEG. The first boiler unit 5 is operated primarily when the ship is in the harbor and the engine is not running (for steam production), and when the engine 3 is running at low load, e.g. close to the coast. When the engine runs at low load, the temperature of the generated engine exhaust gas EEG is relatively low and then heating of the engine exhaust gas by means of the boiler exhaust gas is typically necessary to obtain a medium sufficiently hot for proper NO.sub.x conversion inside the SCR reactor.

[0033] During operation of the engine 3, the engine exhaust gas EEG is fed from the engine 3 to the mixing unit 7 (Step C). A medium M is fed out from the mixing unit 7 (Step M). The content of medium M depends on how hot the engine exhaust gas EEG is. If the engine exhaust gas EEG is relatively hot, the medium M may consist of engine exhaust gas only. However, if the engine exhaust gas EEG is relatively cool, the medium M may be a mixture of engine exhaust gas and boiler exhaust gas BEG.

[0034] The temperature of the medium just before it is fed into the SCR reactor 9 is measured by means of the sensor 51 (Step D). If the medium temperature is below or equal to a certain value T.sub.6 (Step E), it is checked whether the first boiler unit 5 is operated or not (Step H). If not, the first boiler unit 5 is turned on (Step I). On the other hand, if the measured medium temperature is above T.sub.6, it is checked whether the first boiler unit 5 is operated or not (Step F). If so, the first boiler unit 5 is turned off (Step G). Boiler exhaust gas will be present for a while after the first boiler unit 5 has been turned off and is cooling down. It is checked whether boiler exhaust gas BEG is present or not (Step J). If so, it is fed from the first boiler unit 5 to the mixing unit 7 (Step K) wherein it is mixed with engine exhaust gas EEG into the medium (Step L). Here, T.sub.6 is equal to 330° C.

[0035] Before the medium M is received in the SCR reactor 9 from the mixing unit 7 (Step O) urea is added to the medium by means of the injection device 49 (Step N). Inside the SCR reactor 9 NO.sub.x contained in the medium M is converted to nitrogen and water (Step P). The NO.sub.x reduced medium M-NO.sub.x is fed from the SCR reactor 9 (Step Q) to the second boiler unit 11 (Step R) inside which heat from the NO.sub.x reduced medium M-NO.sub.x is transferred to the water inside the second boiler unit 11 (Step S). Thereby, the NO.sub.x reduced medium is cooled, to approximately 180° C. The first and second boiler units 5 and 11 share water system and communicate with each other as above described. Water is continuously circulated between the first and second boiler units 5 and 11 (Step T), liquid water being fed from the first boiler unit 5 to the second boiler unit 11 and liquid water and water steam being fed from the second boiler unit 11 to the first boiler unit 5.

[0036] The cooled NO.sub.x reduced medium CM-NO.sub.x is fed from the second boiler unit 11 (Step U) to the scrubber 17 (Step V) wherein it is further cleaned (Step X) as above described. Finally, the further cleaned medium FCM is output from the scrubber (Step Y) and fed through a chimney (not illustrated) into the atmosphere.

[0037] Although not illustrated in the figures, or described in detail herein, the medium fed out of the SCR reactor is analyzed. If the medium (M-NO.sub.x) contains too much NO.sub.x, more urea is added to the medium (M) before it enters the SCR reactor. For basic operation and until the system is stabilized, the urea feed is made according to predefined curves.

[0038] FIG. 3 contains a diagram illustrating exhaust gas temperature as a function of engine load for a 4-stroke engine having an exhaust gas temperature in the range 200-340° C. The lower graph illustrates the engine exhaust gas temperature while the upper graph illustrates the medium temperature, the medium being a mixture of engine exhaust gas EEG and boiler (first boiler unit) exhaust gas BEG. The maximum boiler exhaust gas temperature is here 390° C. The relative gas mass is 80% engine exhaust gas, EEG, and 20% boiler exhaust gas 20%, BEG. At low engine load the boiler operates at 100%. At high engine load the boiler is turned off. The table below contains the parameter values that form the basis of the diagram in FIG. 3.

TABLE-US-00001 Engine load EEG temp Boiler load BEG temp Medium temp (%) ° C. (%) ° C. ° C.  0 200 100 390 390.0  10 240 100 390 347.1  20 270 95 388 334.1  30 295 85 385 332.3  40 315 75 380 335.7  50 330 60 375 340.4  60 338 45 370 343.1  70 340 25 360 341.6  80 335 0 0 335.0  90 330 0 0 330.0 100 330 0 0 330.0

[0039] From the diagram it is clear that the engine exhaust gas temperature is above 330° C. only at engine loads exceeding 50%. However, thanks to the hot boiler exhaust gas, the medium temperature is 330° C. or more at all times.

[0040] The above values are valid for a certain type of engine, a certain type of first boiler unit and a certain relative gas mass (80−20). Naturally, with alternative types of engines and first boiler units and with other relative gas masses, the above parameters could have other values. As an example, if the relative gas mass instead was 70% EEG and 30% BEG, the boiler load and thus the boiler exhaust gas temperature could be lowered without lowering the medium temperature.

[0041] Thus, in accordance with the present invention the exhaust gas from the ship engine 3 is heated, when necessary, by exhaust gas from the first boiler unit 5. Also, the first boiler unit 5 generates steam that can be used in different applications onboard the ship. The SCR reactor 9 and the scrubber 17 cleans, not only the exhaust gas from the engine 3, but also the exhaust gas from the first boiler unit 5 which is advantageous from an environmental aspect. Further, the second boiler unit 11 recovers heat, not only from the exhaust gas from the engine 3, but also from the exhaust gas from the first boiler unit 5, which is energy efficient and thus advantageous from an economical aspect.

[0042] The above described embodiment of the present invention should only be seen as an example. A person skilled in the art realizes that the embodiment discussed can be varied in a number of ways without deviating from the inventive conception.

[0043] Naturally, the inventive system and method could comprise additional components and steps, respectively, than above described. As an example, an additional mixing unit could be provided in between the injection device 49 and the SCR reactor 9 to ensure proper mixing of the urea/ammonia and the medium.

[0044] Similarly, the inventive system and method could comprise fewer components and steps, respectively, than above described. As an example, the system need not comprise a scrubber or a second boiler unit.

[0045] Above, mainly two different medium contents have been discussed; when the engine exhaust gas is sufficiently hot by itself, the medium M may contain engine exhaust gas only, and when the engine exhaust gas is not sufficiently hot by itself, the medium M may contain a mixture of engine exhaust gas and boiler exhaust gas. Naturally, if the first boiler unit 5 is operated and the engine 3 is not, the medium M may contain boiler exhaust gas only.

[0046] The injection device 49 may be arranged for addition of other substances containing nitrogen, N, and hydrogen, H, than urea, to the medium, e.g. ammonia directly.

[0047] Other substances than vanadium oxides may be used as the active catalytic material inside the SCR reactor 9.

[0048] In the above described system 1 the first boiler unit 5 is operated primarily when the engine 3 is not running, e.g. when the ship is in the harbor, and when the engine 3 is running at low load, e.g. close to the coast. Thereby, the SCR reactor 9 may be kept hot at all times, even when the engine 3 is not operated. Thereby, the time from start of the engine 3 until proper NO.sub.x conversion/reduction can be carried out inside the SCR reactor 9 can be minimized. This is important since said time typically elapses when the ship is close to the coast and the damage resulting from emissions may be the largest.

[0049] Instead of being intermittently operated as in the above described embodiment, the first boiler unit 5 may be operated, fully or partly, at all times.

[0050] The components of the inventive system need not be positioned as specified above and in the drawings. Also, the sensor 51 and the control unit 53 may be differently positioned. For example, the sensor could instead be located inside the SCR reactor or after the SCR reactor.

[0051] The mixing unit need not have the form of a pipe housing baffles but may have another, possibly more “sophisticated”, construction, such as a construction involving movable gas mixing components.

[0052] The first boiler unit need not comprise a smoke-tube boiler but could instead comprise a water-tube boiler.

[0053] The first and second boiler units need not have one common water system but could instead have their own, separate water system.

[0054] The inventive system need not be used in connection with a ship diesel engine generating exhaust gas with a temperature between 200° C. and 340° C. as above, but it can be used in connection with other types of engines. Thus, the first boiler unit may produce exhaust gas having a different temperature range than the above specified one. Also the SCR reactor may be alternatively designed so as to provide a different smallest medium temperature for proper NO.sub.x conversion. The smallest medium temperature for proper NO.sub.x conversion is dependent on an engine fuel sulphur content, more sulphur typically resulting in a higher smallest medium temperature. In other words, T.sub.1, T.sub.2, T.sub.3, T.sub.4, T.sub.5 and T.sub.6 may have other values than the ones given above.

[0055] In the above described embodiment the medium temperature measured by means of the sensor 51 determines whether the first boiler 5 unit should be operated or not. According to an alternative embodiment, the amount of steam produced by the second boiler unit 11 instead determines whether the first boiler unit 5 should be operated or not. If the ship needs more steam than the second boiler unit 11 can supply, which typically occurs when the engine 3 is operated at low load or is completely shut off, then the first boiler unit is operated. Consequently, when the amount of steam produced by the second boiler unit is sufficient, the first boiler unit is not operated.

[0056] It should be stressed that the attributes first, second, third, etc. are used herein just to distinguish between species of the same kind and not to express any kind of mutual order between the species.

[0057] It should be stressed that the letters ‘A’, ‘B’, . . . are used herein just to distinguish between different method steps and not to express any kind of mutual order between the steps.

[0058] It should be stressed that a description of details not relevant to the present invention has been omitted and that the figures are just schematic and not drawn according to scale. It should also be said that some of the figures have been more simplified than others. Therefore, some components may be illustrated in one figure but left out on another figure.