Power Air Quality Insights No

Power Air Quality Insights
No. 145 February 20, 2014

WELCOME

The following insights can be sent to you every week. This alert contains the details on the upcoming hot topic hour, breaking news, and the headlines for the Utility E Alert for the previous week. This is one of a number of free services. You can sign up for any of these newsletters and of course request to be removed from the mailing list at any time. See registration following the newsletter.

· “Analysis of Dry Scrubber Options” Will Be the Focus of the “Hot Topic Hour” on March 27, 2014

· Billions of Dollars Will Be Spent For New Fabric Filter Technologies and Applications

· “NO_x Catalyst Performance On Mercury and SO₃” is the “Hot Topic Hour” on February 27, 2014

“Analysis of Dry Scrubber Options” Will Be the Focus of the “Hot Topic Hour” on March 27, 2014

The new format of the Hot Topic Hour will be discussions rather than presentations. These discussions will be at a high level and focused on helping decision makers choose among options. The discussions will be enhanced by previous analysis and access to background documents. Subsequent to the discussions, the analysis summarizing the benefits and disadvantages of each option will be revised to reflect the insights garnered in the hot topic hour.

GOAL. To help purchasers determine the lowest life-cycle cost options to meet process or regulatory goals.

PRELIMINARY PREPARATION. During the next month we will be gathering information. Anyone will be allowed to submit data which, if deemed to be relevant, will be posted to the applicable decisions system. This will give participants the opportunity to be fully prepared for a high level discussion.

We will be reviewing Spray Drier Absorbers (SDA) and several specific types of circulating dry scrubbers (CDS). They include GSA, NID and CFB. We will not be addressing dry injection in this analysis. If these are not the three most logical segments, then we need to discuss and re-label the categories. We will ferret out differences among the technologies which should be considered when selecting one of the dry systems.

Background data on dry scrubbing supplied to participant on month prior to discussion

Here are some samples of materials which will be available for analysis prior to the session:

Shiaw Tseng showed results from some of the existing 24 circulating dry scrubber (CDS) units and covered the design of multiple reactors for some of the larger of the 15 units under construction.

Additional materials are shown in our Power Plant Air Quality Decisions. Here are links to CDS presentations and webinars:

1. Can you use GSA and not have to add fabric filter because a cyclone is included?

Suppliers say it is possible to use with a precipitator. Considerations are gas volume, temperature and moisture as well as particulate impact.

Both options produce the same lime usage rates so either option is available.

2. Conventional CDS systems have a recycle duct from the outlet of the ID fan and back to the inlet of the reactor for low load operation. How does the GSA handle low load operation?

For variable gas flows, GSA uses two approaches: Incorporating a clean gas recycle duct or by going to multiple modules. The turndown in any given reactor is about 2:1. Supplier prefers ---------------

Billions of Dollars Will Be Spent For New Fabric Filter Technologies and Applications

The fabric filter industry is undergoing a radical change which promises to reshape the market. This is the conclusion of the McIlvaine Company in the continually updated, World Fabric Filter and Element Market. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

One new technology is the ceramic filter element with embedded catalyst. Several suppliers have successfully combined NO_xreduction and particulate removal with ceramic fibrous filter media with attached or embedded catalyst. This new media is a big improvement over older monolithic block designs which did not lend themselves to cleaning. Thousands of these elements are now in use on power generation facilities burning biomass and other solid fuels. Others are used in conjunction with driers and kilns.

The combination of membranes and application to pleated media is another step forward. Several developments involve mercury capture. One company just introduced a coating which will absorb mercury. Even though the mercury is not purged, there is enough capability to function at high efficiency through the expected two to three year life of the bag. Another variation uses a membrane module for mercury capture. Successful commercial experience has been obtained in Minnesota at a large coal-fired power plant.

The biggest change to the industry is going to come through the switching of coal-fired boilers to fabric filters and away from electrostatic precipitators. Potential markets in the U.S. and China would equal the entire present industrial fabric filter market. New regulations are making it very difficult to guarantee precipitator performance. Also, precipitator cost rises sharply as efficiency requirements rise. A precipitator achieving 99.8 percent efficiency is likely to be twice as large and expensive as one to meet 99 percent. Fabric filter cost is only slightly impacted by efficiency requirements.

The conventional wisdom, as reflected in U.S. government forecasts, is that the big increase in generating capacity in the U.S. will be for gas turbine and combined cycle plants. This capacity will grow by 185,000 MW requiring an annual investment of over $6.8 billion. These are the latest findings in Gas Turbine and Combined Cycle Supplier Program published by the McIlvaine Company. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

Forecast of Fossil-Fired Generating Capacity
Fuel	2013 GW	2025 GW	2040 GW
Coal	254	254	254
Gas Turbine and Diesel	351	390	536
Fossil Total	605	644	790

The U.S. Energy Information Administration believes that the U.S. coal-fired capacity will remain at 254 GW over the next 27 years, while the gas turbine and diesel capacity will increase from 351 GW to 536 GW by 2040. Most of this capacity will be combined cycle as opposed to simple cycle. Therefore, the investment will be close to $ 1 billion per GW.

Peaking plants traditionally operated a short time per year when demand was at its highest. Today, a gas turbine peaking plant may operate for a substantial portion of the year to offset fluctuations in solar and wind generation. Since the efficiency of combined cycle plants is much higher than simple cycle and the greenhouse gas emissions much lower, regulators are demanding that peaking plants not only incorporate the steam cycle, but that they also have efficient NO_x reduction and CO oxidation systems.

For more information on Gas Turbine and Combined Cycle Supplier Program, click on:

Deepwater Winds and Alstom Sign Major Turbine Agreements for Block Island Wind Farm

Deepwater Wind and Alstom announced the signing of major agreements to supply the Block Island Wind Farm with five of Alstom’s 6-megawatt (MW) Haliade 150 offshore wind turbines.

“This agreement represents a giant leap forward for the Block Island Wind Farm, and the start of turbine construction just last month marked a major project milestone,” said Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski. “We’re thrilled to have a company as renowned as Alstom as our turbine partner.”

Alstom will supply the five 6 MW turbines, including tower sections, for the 30-megawatt Block Island Wind Farm, located about three miles off the coast of Block Island, R.I. In addition, under a separate agreement, Alstom will provide long-term service and maintenance responsibilities for the turbines.

Under the turbine supply contract, Deepwater Wind made an initial multi-million dollar payment to Alstom in December 2013 that allowed Alstom to begin the manufacturing process for the turbines. Specifically, Alstom has begun procurement of all 15 blades for the wind farm, which will be delivered to Deepwater Wind in Europe in April 2014.

Lockheed Martin and Victorian Wave Partners Sign Contract to Start Development of World’s Largest Wave Energy Project

To advance the availability of alternative energy solutions, Lockheed Martin announced that it has signed a contract with Victorian Wave Partners Ltd. to begin developing the world’s largest wave energy project announced to date. This is a significant step toward making ocean energy commercially available.

The 62.5-megawatt peak power wave energy generation project will be build off the coast of Victoria, Australia, using the PowerBuoy® wave energy converter technology of Ocean Power Technologies (OPT). The project is scheduled to be built up in three stages, with the first stage producing approximately 2.5-megawatt peak power. Once completed, the project is expected to produce enough energy to meet the needs of 10,000 homes. As this project also contributes to Australia’s goal of 20 percent renewable energy by 2020, it has received significant grant support form ARENA (Australian Renewable Energy Agency).

In this project, Lockheed Martin will provide overall project management, assist with the design for manufacturing of the PowerBuoy technology, lead the production of selected PowerBuoy components and perform system integration of the wave energy converters.

SunEdison, PIF, Sanabil Investments take Steps to Advance Solar Energy Industry in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

SunEdison Inc., a leading solar technology manufacturer and provider of solar energy services, and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of the Government of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Arabian Investment Company (Sanabil Investments), signed an agreement to jointly fund a feasibility study for the establishment of a vertically integrated solar PV (photovoltaic) manufacturing complex at Wa'ad Al Shammal in Saudi Arabia. This follows a successful preliminary study between the National Industrial Clusters Development Program (NICDP) and SunEdison in 2013.

The proposed project, entailing the production of polysilicon through modules, would support the growth of the solar energy industry in the Kingdom.

The complex would utilize both SunEdison's proprietary high pressure silane fluidized bed reactor (HP-FBR) polysilicon, and continuous Czochralski (CCz) crystal ingot technology and equipment, as well as include solar wafer, cell and module manufacturing, employ attractive debt financing for the approximately $6.4B project, and would begin production in 2017, ramping to 3 GW (gigawatts) annually. A significant percentage of polysilicon and ingot production would support the 3 GW planned module output, with the remaining crystal production addressing the market with a substantial cost advantage. Demonstrating strong support, the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals pointed out it will provide the required quantities of natural gas, and the Saudi Electrical Company (SEC) will provide the needed power requirements for the project.

A123 Energy Solutions Announces New 2.8MWh Grid Storage Solution™ Contract Wind

A123 Energy Solutions, a leading provider of advanced energy storage systems for utility grid and commercial applications, announced that it will supply, install, and commission a 1 MW, 2.8 MWh GSS™ to IHI Corporation. IHI Corporation is one of the largest industrial equipment manufacturers in Japan and makes products for a diverse set of markets including aerospace, energy, social infrastructure, and heavy machinery. The GSS is currently in the process of being installed at an IHI factory located in the Tohoku region of Japan.

Once operational, the GSS will be used to integrate a large PV solar generation array co-located at the facility and help reduce the factory’s overall load, which will in turn help ease the strain on Japan’s grid which has been in rebuilding mode since the 2011 Eastern Japan earthquake.

The Grid Storage Solution™, or GSS, will utilize the company’s Long Duration Grid Battery System (GBS-LD), a standard but flexible grid energy storage unit accommodating configurations that range from as little as 100 kW to 4 MW. The GBS-LD can be packaged in standardized 20-foot, 40-foot, and 53-foot long containers, custom enclosures, or in pre-existing buildings. Utilizing A123 Systems Nanophosphate® prismatic cell technology, up to 100 MW and 100 MWh of energy storage can be deployed onto a single acre of land, providing a superior combination of service life, power output, safety, and reliability.

Far West Industries, PetersenDean and Canadian Solar Offer Solar as Standard in New Palm Springs, CA Home Community

Far West Industries recently opened the new mid-century modern community of Murano in Palm Springs, CA, offering all new homes with solar as standard, in a partnership with PetersenDean Roofing & Solar and Canadian Solar.

The community recently held a grand opening and is now selling Phase 3. While many new home communities offer solar as an option, Murano is one of the few communities that offer solar as a standard feature on all of its homes, which include a variety of other green attributes.

The community has 42 homes with 4.0 kW Canadian Solar Standard on every home powered by what are considered some of the industry’s highest-efficiency solar modules backed by a 25-year linear product warranty and warranty insurance, offered by Canadian Solar.

The estimated annual energy savings for a home with a 4 kW system is about $1,980 a year or $165 a month. Federal tax credits totaling about $2,500 are also available for most homeowners with solar roofing. Additionally, estimated 5 year savings can total up to $10,296.

“NO_x Catalyst Performance on Mercury and SO₃” is the “Hot Topic Hour” on February 27, 2014

The utility and industrial boiler operators are preparing to deal with MATS, the Cross State Air Pollution (transport) Rule (CSAPR) currently being reviewed by the Supreme Court and NAAQS. Gas- and oil-fired turbines will also be impacted. To avoid expensive additions to their APC equipment, operators should first get the best possible performance from existing APC equipment. For those power plants equipped with SCR or SNCR, this is a good place to start.

The NO_x catalyst plays a key role in the emissions of mercury, SO₃and forturbines CO. SCR catalysts that enhance mercury oxidation and minimize SO₃ formation can be a cost-effective solution for power plants with existing control equipment and those power plants considering addition of an SCR or SNCR. Catalyst selection and management can have a substantial affect on the achievable level of mercury oxidation and the resulting mercury capture. With the proper catalyst, SCRs can convert a good amount of elemental mercury to oxidized mercury in the flue gas when sufficient halogens are present. Scrubbers for SO₂ control are also typically very effective at removing the oxidized mercury. This is good news for many power plants equipped with SCRs, because compliance-level mercury removal can often be achieved without adding mercury-specific controls. Catalysts can also minimize the formation of SO₃ allowing other downstream equipment including air heaters to operate more efficiently.

The following speakers will describe the catalyst technologies currently available and under development with a discussion of their applicability to and advantages for various power plant configurations, their NO_xreduction capabilities, their affect on mercury, SO₃ and other pollutants, catalyst management strategies to maximize mercury oxidation at minimum cost, while maintaining DeNO_xand SO₂ conversion performance and the key issues to be considered when selecting a catalyst.

Chris Reeves, Ph.D., Development Project Manager at Cormetech, Inc., will present “SCR catalyst selection and management for improved Hg oxidation performance.” Catalyst selection and management for Hg emission control is analogous to that for DeNO_x except for some key differences due to the nature and complexity of the Hg⁰ oxidation reaction kinetics. Cormetech’s unique capability of testing fresh and field deactivated catalysts has been used to measure the influence of temperature, flue gas composition, catalyst type and catalyst age on Hg oxidation activity, facilitating the development of predictive models and advanced catalysts with significantly improved Hg oxidation performance that maintain high DeNO_x activity and equivalent SO₂ oxidation performance. These tools form the basis of Cormetech’s COMET™ technology that can be applied to characterize and optimize the role of the SCR system in Hg compliance strategies.

Brydger Van Otten, Chemical Engineer in the Engineering Research and Development Department at Reaction Engineering International, will present “Evaluation of Mercury Control Strategies in the Presence of SO₃ Using the MerSim^TM Model.” A modeling study has been performed using REI’s mercury modeling tool MerSim to investigate how mercury control strategies for a utility power plant may perform in the presence of SO₃. Co-benefit strategies as well mercury specific control technologies were investigated for their ability to maintain performance in the presence of increasing SO₃ concentrations.

To register for the February 27, 2014 “Hot Topic Hour” on “NO_x Catalyst Performance on Mercury and SO₃” at 10 a.m. (CST) click on:

On Thursday at 10 a.m. Central time, McIlvaine hosts a 90 minute web meeting on important energy and pollution control subjects. Power webinars are free for subscribers to either Power Plant Air Quality Decisions or Utility Tracking System. The cost is $300.00 for non-subscribers.

See below for information on upcoming Hot Topic Hours. We welcome your input relative to suggested additions.

DATE	Non-Subscribers Cost	SUBJECT
February 27, 2014	$300.00	NO_xCatalyst Performance on Mercury and SO₃ or Catalysts for Gas Turbine Exhausts	More information
March 20, 2014	$300.00	China Air Pollution Control	More information
March 27, 2014	$300.00	Analysis of Dry Scrubber Options
April 3, 2014		None –Electric Power

Presentation:	Circulating Dry Scrubbers for PM2.5 Compliance by Terence Ake, Babcock & Wilcox - Hot Topic Hour - May 12, 2011
Presentation:	Environmental Compliance Solutions in the Age of Air Toxics and CSAP Rules, presented by John Buschmann, Alstom Power. Hot Topic Hour October 27, 2011.
Presentation:	Lime-based Circulation Dry Scrubber for Existing Coal-fired EGUs to Comply with the Proposed Utility MACT by Shiaw Tseng, Graymont. Hot Topic Hour April 7, 2011.
Webinar Recording:	Compliance Strategies for PM2.5 - Hot Topic Hour - May 12, 2011
Webinar Recording:	Multi-Emissions Control - Webinar - Hot Topic Hour October 27, 2011
Webinar Recording:	New FGD & DeNOx Approaches - Webinar April 7, 2011