Abstract: A method for conducting engineering process analysis is a unified part of evaluating buy/sell transactions for non-commodity materials or items and is particularly suited to the matching of buyers and sellers for non-commodity materials or items, defined as materials or items that cannot solely be distinguished by price alone, in that subtle differences in features or chemical/physical characteristics will influence the performance of a particular process or design that utilizes the material or item. In the system, databases describing the materials or items available in a marketplace are linked with an automated methodology to evaluate the performance of a process or design with any one or combination of the materials or items. Accordingly, an “intelligent exchange”, is provided in which key decision support tools enable the procurement of the material or item optimal with respect to the performance of the process.

Abstract: A selective catalytic reduction apparatus has at least first and last catalyst layers in series for reducing nitrogen oxides in a flue gas, at least one interstage heat exchanger located after the first layer and before the last layer, that lowers flue gas temperature, and that acts as a mixing body to lower the standard deviation of the NH3/NO ratio entering catalyst layers after the first catalyst layer, thus providing better consumption of both ammonia and NOx in the reactor than would be achieved in the absence of the at least one interstage heat exchanger.