Why does industrial by-product gas need purification prior to feeding into internal combustion engines?
Gas quality determines the operating performance and service life of internal combustion engines. Industrial by product gas generally features complex composition. Apart from combustible components, it carries various impurities including dust, tar and sulfides. If fed directly into internal combustion engines without treatment, it will cause severe consequences for equipment operation, environmental compliance and other aspects, mainly reflected in the following points:
01 Reduced Equipment Service Life
Impurities cause continuous abrasion and corrosion to core equipment components, triggering critical failures such as air intake filter clogging, cylinder liner piston ring wear, valve coking and jamming, and turbocharger damage. They also accelerate lubricating oil degradation, which drastically shortens the overall service life of equipment.
02 Deteriorated Operation Stability
Once components are damaged, power generation output gradually declines, thermal efficiency keeps dropping, unplanned shutdowns become more frequent and failure rates rise sharply, which severely disrupts normal production.
03 Failure to Meet Environmental Requirements
Excessive emissions of pollutants such as SOₓ and particulate matter in exhaust gas will result in failed environmental acceptance. Enterprises face risks of administrative penalties and production suspension for rectification during daily operation, and suffer setbacks in corporate environmental credit rating and green factory certification.
To avoid the above mentioned risks, gas purification is mandatory. Unit protection via purification is achieved in two ways:
1. Physical Separation: Particulate Removal
Industrial by product gas contains massive dust that easily clogs filters and leads to insufficient air intake. When dust enters cylinders, it acts as an abrasive and continuously wears cylinder walls, piston rings and valves. Wear debris and dust particles contaminate lubricating oil persistently and further accelerate wear of key parts such as bearings and bearing shells. Therefore, particulates larger than 5 μm shall be almost completely removed, with dust concentration controlled below 10 mg/Nm³ and separation efficiency reaching above 99.99%.
2. Chemical Removal: Elimination of Corrosive and Hazardous Substances
Sulfur, chlorine, ammonia and other substances in by product gas generate acidic compounds after combustion and corrode metal components and spark plugs. Siloxanes produce silica particulates upon combustion, which deposit on pistons and oxygen sensors and poison exhaust catalysts and render them ineffective. Hence, the limits shall be complied with: total sulfur ≤ 30 mg/Nm³; tar content ≤ 30 mg/Nm³; ammonia content ≤ 20 mg/Nm³; benzene content ≤ 20 mg/Nm³; naphthalene content ＜ 20 mg/Nm³.
Combining physical separation and chemical removal forms the industry standard purification process: Industrial by product gas → Dust removal → Liquid removal (dehydration & tar removal) → Desulfurization → Pressure stabilization → Gas fired internal combustion engine
Purification is a critical process. Stable power generation project implementation also requires supporting engineering design and equipment integration capabilities. Jiangsu Kelinyuan has long specialized in industrial by product gas power generation. We deliver one stop services covering purification scheme design, complete set equipment, gas fired internal combustion generator sets, installation & commissioning, as well as operation maintenance trusteeship. Our solutions adapt to various complex gas sources including blast furnace gas, coke oven gas, semi coke tail gas, submerged arc furnace tail gas, carbon black tail gas, rubber plastic pyrolysis gas, etc. With proven and professional purification processes and power generation systems, we realize resource utilization of by product gas and support enterprises in green and low carbon transition.
Kelinyuan appreciates the support and attention from all readers!
