Effects of potassium sulfide content in marine diesel fuel oil on emission characteristics of marine furnaces under varying humidity of inlet air

Degraded fuel oils are generally used in marine power plants for economic purposes, so as to reduce operating expenses. These marine fuel oils commonly contain various oxides or sulfide compounds of metallic elements in the fuel ash, and affect the combustion and emission characteristics of marine power plants to different extents. Moreover, marine power plants are more often operated in a highly humid environment. As a result the emission and burning process may also be altered by the various humidity level of the inlet air. The effects of potassium sulfide in marine diesel on the combustion and emission characteristics of marine furnaces under varying levels of relative humidity of inlet air were experimentally investigated in this study. A cylindrical industrial furnace made of AISI 316 stainless steel, and an automatic oil-fired burner were used for the emission characteristics measurements and observation. A mechanically homogenizing machine was used to stir potassium sulfide (K₂SO₄) powder and marine diesel with a preset K₂SO₄ concentration. The relative humidity of the inlet air and temperature were adjusted to their assigned values by a large-size air conditioner before being pumped into the burner. The marine diesel oil mixture was atomized by the inlet air consequently ignited by an electrode and then burned within the horizontal furnace. There were eight rectangular slots cut in the upper portion of the furnace wall so that the probes of a gas analyzer and a thermocouple could be inserted into radial positions in the cylindrical furnace. The concentrations of gas emission and burning gas temperature and the combustion efficiency were analyzed. The experimental results show that the burning gas temperature, carbon dioxide emission and combustion efficiency decreased when the concentrations of excess air and oxygen emission increased with the addition of potassium sulfide in the marine diesel fuel. This is primarily attributed to the fact that the sulfide of an alkali compound such as K₂SO₄ may suppress the oxidation reaction process, leading to inferior combustion characteristics.