Technology and Application of Carbon Monoxide Detection in Power Plant Flue Gas

During the operation of gas-fired power generation boilers, the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) in flue gas is a core thermal monitoring indicator for judging furnace combustion conditions and calculating combustion efficiency. Thermal power generation remains the mainstay of China’s power supply. The coal consumption of the thermal power industry accounts for more than half of the national total coal consumption. Pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide emitted during production are major sources affecting regional atmospheric environmental quality and increasing carbon emissions. Guided by the national dual-carbon goals and low-carbon development policies, it has become an inevitable trend for the thermal power industry to implement precise energy conservation, carbon reduction and optimize clean combustion modes.

Mainstream boilers in thermal power plants are divided into coal-fired boilers and gas-fired boilers, with distinct differences in their combustion condition monitoring methods. Coal-fired boilers mostly detect the carbon content of fly ash in flue gas to determine fuel burnout degree and overall combustion efficiency, so as to optimize and adjust parameters such as air distribution and coal feeding. In view of the special combustion characteristics of fuels used in gas-fired boilers, closed-loop combustion optimization based on flue gas CO concentration features higher regulation accuracy and better energy-saving effect compared with the traditional oxygen content-based combustion regulation mode. High-precision carbon monoxide sensors are adopted for real-time online monitoring of CO values in flue gas to directly judge the combustion sufficiency of gas-fired boilers.

For self-owned power plants supporting the iron and steel industry, their boilers are mainly fueled by mixed gas including blast furnace gas, coke oven gas and converter gas generated as by-products in iron and steel smelting. Such gas features complex components and fluctuating calorific value, which easily leads to incomplete combustion. Continuous and accurate detection of carbon monoxide content in flue gas can quickly verify the rationality of furnace air distribution ratio and fuel supply proportion, providing reliable data support for dynamic optimization of boiler combustion systems.

Accurate online monitoring of carbon monoxide in flue gas can effectively improve fuel utilization rate, reduce fuel costs for power generation and increase corporate economic benefits. Meanwhile, it can greatly cut down emissions of harmful waste gas such as carbon monoxide and soot caused by incomplete combustion, realize the dual goals of energy conservation, consumption reduction, pollution and carbon reduction from the source, and facilitate thermal power plants and self-owned power plants to complete environmental protection standard upgrading and green low-carbon transformation.