Introduction - High Temperature Air Combustion: From Energy Conservation to Pollution Reduction - page 1

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Introduction

1.1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF HIGH

TEMPERATURE AIR COMBUSTION

gy consumption in recent years has continued to increase not only in
developed countries but also in developing countries, primarily as a result of rapid
industrialization and improvement in the standard of living. This increased energy
consumption has led to increased emissions of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide
into the environment. Because energy and environmental issues have become of
prime concern, it is now a matter of great urgency to deal with environmental
preservation on a global scale and over a longer time duration. Under these circum-
stances, combustion technology utilizing preheated air in excess of 1000˚C has drawn
increased attention in many application areas. This combustion technology enables
one to contribute greatly to the simultaneous reduction of carbon dioxide and oxides
of nitrogen emissions. This high temperature air combustion (HiTAC) has achieved
approximately 30% reduction in energy (and hence also carbon dioxide emission)
and 25% reduction in the physical size of facilities as compared with the traditional
type of furnace. Furthermore, HiTAC technology has demonstrated extremely low
levels of emissions of nitric oxide, which are far below the present regulatory
standards. This topic describes the development of this attractive and innovative
HiTAC technology and its practical applications to different kinds of furnaces for
many industries.

Global ener

1.1.1 E E C

NVIRONMENT AND NERGY ONSERVATION

In 1992, the United Nations Conference on the En vironment and Development (the

so-called Earth Summit) was held in Brazil with the objective of establishing inter-
national initiatives for the preservation of the global environment. In December 1997,
the Kyoto Protocol was held on Global Climate Changes as the Third Conference
of Parties (COP3) to the United Nations Framework Convention. At this conference
it was stipulated that developed countries should reduce their total emissions of
greenhouse gases by at least 5% from the level of 1990 between the years 2008 and
2012. Therefore, the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions became an urgent issue,
particularly from those industries that consume large amounts of fossil fuel.
In many developed countries, including Japan, both energy consumption and
industrial activities are quite vigorous. It has become an important responsibility for
all developed countries, including Japan, to endeavor to achieve both environmental
preservation and industrial growth by developing efficient and environmentally
friendly energy utilization technologies, which harmonize with the conservation of
resources and energy saving. Against this background, the Ministry of International