Hisashi “Sho” Kobayashi
Corporate Fellow
Praxair, Inc., Danbury CT
“Oxy-fuel Combustion for Industrial Furnaces and Boilers”
Tuesday March 16, 2010 at 10:45 am
Warmok Engineering Building (WEB), Room 105
Abstract:
Oxy-coal combustion technology in utility boilers is currently being actively developed as a viable method for CO2 capture and storage (CCS). Several large scale demonstration projects have been announced and are expected to be implemented in several years. For industrial furnaces, oxygen combustion has been applied in over 1000 furnaces in different industries. The history of technology development and the current status of the applications of oxy-fuel combustion are reviewed briefly. Two examples of commercial oxy-fuel combustion technology development will be discussed as applications of unique properties of oxy-fuel combustion. They are;
- Flameless oxy-fuel combustion (“Dilute Oxygen Combustion”) for heat flux control and NOx reduction.
- Oxygen enhanced staged combustion for NOx reduction in coal fired boilers. Technical and economic needs for future broader applications of oxy-fuel combustion will be discussed.
Short Biography:
Dr. Hisashi (Sho) Kobayashi is Corporate Fellow at Praxair, Inc. Most of his 33 year career has been dedicated to developing oxygen combustion applications for industrial furnaces and boilers, focusing on reducing pollutant emissions and increasing energy efficiency. Applications developed and commercialized include a hazardous waste incineration process, oxy-fuel fired glass melting, aluminum melting and steel reheating furnaces, and an oxygen enhanced NOx reduction process for coal fired boilers. These commercialized oxygen combustion processes received several awards including the Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Achievement Award, the National Energy Award and Technology Commercialization Award from the US DOE. Dr. Kobayashi’s efforts have resulted in over 60 US patents. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Tokyo and a M.S. and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of technology.
