Future emission limits are already safely undercut today!
( Saterland-Ramsloh, 04.03.19 ) Saterland-RamslohCompliance with the requirements of the BImSchV and also the requirements of market surveillance ensure that furnaces have to be shut down or retrofitted with equipment to reduce emissions.
Catalysts that are integrated directly into the combustion chamber of wood-burning systems are a cost-effective and very effective way of ensuring that emissions remain safely below the emission limits in the future.
The company Blue Fire GmbH has developed a special catalyst for such firings and applications. With the use of these catalysts, even future lower emission limits can be safely undercut.
The Blue Fire catalysts are installed directly in the upper part of the combustion chamber of wood fires. Only in this area are the temperatures sufficiently high for oxidation at the catalyst. Blue Fire catalysts are oxidation catalysts. They therefore require an excess of oxygen in the combustion process in order to bring the exhaust gas components into contact with the excess oxygen. The catalytic reaction takes place on the catalyst surface.
The exhaust gases from combustion flow through the catalyst and come into contact with the special active surface of the Blue Fire catalyst. The catalyst reduces the activation energy of the reaction partners, which is necessary for the reaction of oxidizable exhaust gas components and thus for the absorption of oxygen to obtain CO2.
The reaction at the catalyst surface is an additional reaction step in which the oxidizable exhaust gas components can react with oxygen. In principle, the oxidizable gases of a wood combustion at high temperatures react already in the gas phase, i.e. directly in the flame. This happens directly above the burning logs and below the flame baffle plate in the combustion chamber. The gases then cool down on their way to the flue pipe. This also reduces the reaction speed of the oxidation. However, the gas still contains many oxidizable components such as CO, which must be converted with oxygen to CO2. For this purpose, the activation energy of the reaction partners is reduced by the catalyst and thus the reaction to CO2 is accelerated.
In order to provide the exhaust gas components with the largest possible catalytically effective surface area, Blue Fire uses sponge ceramics as catalyst carriers. However, all other conventional catalyst support systems are also possible for coating with the Blue Fire catalyst.
Blue Fire catalysts do not consume themselves during the process described above. The catalyst is therefore to be regarded as an auxiliary means of producing the activation energy for a reaction of CO and VOC at an already reduced temperature.
If the Blue Fire catalysts are properly dimensioned, it is possible to reduce the CO concentration in the exhaust gas by at least 50 %. As the exhaust gas flows through the catalyst, it becomes turbulent in order to create as much surface contact as possible on the catalyst. Blue-Fire customers report a slight increase in firing efficiency when using Blue Fire catalysts.
The operator should pay attention to the following: The catalytic converter can be damaged by the user if it is permanently exposed to too high a temperature of more than 800 °C or if, for example, logs are knocked against the catalytic converter. When used properly, a Blue Fire catalyst will last for at least three heating periods without any deactivation being detected. Long-term tests were carried out during the development of the catalyst and are still being carried out on an ongoing basis.
Lighting the wood fire does not damage the Blue Fire catalyst, even if the flames briefly strike the catalyst. It is recommended that the catalysts are always installed in such a way that they are protected by a flame baffle. Such a flame baffle plate ensures that the flame tips strike this element and not directly the catalysts.
Dust accumulates on the surface of the Blue Fire catalyst facing the combustion chamber. This dust from wood combustion accumulates on the upstream side of the catalyst. The dust contains soot, which in turn consists of unburnt carbon and other low-volatility CnHm molecules. As the dry dust is deposited on the catalyst surface, the soot is decomposed and reacts with oxygen to form CO2 and residual mineral dust. The Blue Fire catalyst therefore also reduces the soot content of the deposited dust.This in turn reduces the total amount of dust emitted. This effect enables the Blue Fire catalytic converter to reduce the dust content in the exhaust gas by up to 20 %. The residual dust deposited on the catalyst surface must be cleaned at regular intervals and depending on the frequency of use. This is best done with a suitable vacuum cleaner and a brush brush, in boiler systems by means of compressed air cleaning.
Blue Fire GmbH has developed standard catalytic converters which can be installed in many different combustion chamber geometries due to their external dimensions. In this way, manufacturers and operators of wood-burning stoves, fireplace inserts but also log or woodchip boilers can use the same catalyst. With larger quantities, Blue Fire GmbH can reduce the manufacturing costs accordingly, so that the manufacturers and operators profit from the price advantage.
The engineers of Blue Fire GmbH take personal care of each application, since each furnace, each fireplace stove, each fireplace insert and each boiler has different temperatures in the upper combustion chamber area and since the composition of the exhaust gases is also different for each type of furnace. For these reasons, the composition of the catalyst coating is always adapted to the respective application. Because Blue Fire GmbH has its own production facilities, the catalysts can be quickly and flexibly adapted to the customer's wishes and then manufactured. In complex cases, a 3D flow analysis can be carried out to determine on the computer how the catalyst has to be arranged and how it has to be designed in order to ensure that the flow is as complete and turbulent as possible, thus ensuring maximum CO conversion.
If the catalytic converters are equipped with a holding system made of highly heat-resistant steel plate, they can also be retrofitted in existing furnaces. The holding system is exactly adapted to the dimensions of the combustion chamber of the furnace to be retrofitted and the bypass required by the EN standards is also already integrated into the holding system.
In this way, fireplaces can be retrofitted which may no longer be operated.
After the retrofit set has been installed in the furnace, the responsible district chimney sweep master must carry out a renewed type test on site. For this purpose, the retrofitted firing system is subjected to an emission measurement. Blue Fire GmbH strongly recommends to talk to the responsible master chimney sweep before the retrofit, because he has to assess before the retrofit whether the furnace is still technically capable of being operated.
At the world's leading trade fair ISH 2019 in Frankfurt/Main, Blue Fire GmbH will use a cutaway model of the modern Corna Tec stove from Leda to demonstrate how Blue Fire catalysts are integrated into the combustion chamber of small combustion systems. In addition, the optimal operation of the Blue Fire catalysts is ensured by the electronic heating aid developed by Leda. This electronic device supports the user with a visual display and ensures that the Corna Tec is always operated with the correct parameters.
By using the Blue Fire catalysts in combination with Leda's electronic heating aid, it is now possible to provide the market with stoves with a small output that is tailored to the needs of the market. Owners of passive or low-energy houses in particular are looking for such low-emission stoves that produce only as much heat as is necessary for such modern houses.
If you want to be sure that your emissions are below the emission limits of the future today, then please contact us or visit us at the ISH 2019 trade fair. You will find us in Hall 9.2 at Stand A0.2. We look forward to your visit and to exciting discussions with you.