Power Air Quality Insights No

Power Air Quality Insights
No. 146 February 27, 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.

We are now providing free participation to utilities in our “Hot Topic Hours.” Some 30 utility personnel attended our Ambient Air Quality Standards webinar last week. We believe this greater visibility will be quite attractive to suppliers.

We are also expanding the scope to include not only coal-fired power plants but every aspect of gas turbine and combined cycle operations. In fact, we have a whole free program on gas turbines for owner/operators and a companion service for suppliers.

Starting with our March 27 webinar on dry scrubbing the new format will be to post comprehensive information ahead of time and then discuss the issues at a high level.

On March 27^th we will be comparing SDA, CFB and other CDS designs including NID and GSA. We will be reviewing every aspect in which the designs differ and discuss the merits of these differences. Our March FGD & DeNO_x newsletter provides much of the comparative information. As a utility employee, you can have this issue free of charge by just registering for the webinar. You can do this by just returning this e-mail and instruct us to register you for the 27^th.

The format will be a series of questions which are first addressed by the panelists and then the other participants. We have panelists who are third party experts on dry scrubbers. They are:

Mitchell Krasnopoler, Manager, Air Quality, Kiewit Power Engineers & Construction

We also will be encouraging the suppliers to participate. Michael (Mike) Widico, Vice-President, Business Development, KC Cottrell, Inc. / Lodge Cottrell-Regional Office will be one of the participants.

As a result of the discussions, McIlvaine will write an analysis of dry scrubbers and make it available free of charge to the utilities.

We encourage you to send us recommendations for subjects that you believe lend themselves to this analytical format. Here are the ones we have tentatively scheduled:

DATE	SUBJECT
February 13, 2014	Impact of Ambient Air Quality Rules on Fossil-fueled Boilers and Gas Turbines	Recording and power points available
February 27, 2014	NO_xCatalyst Performance on Mercury and SO₃ or Catalysts for Gas Turbine Exhausts	Sign up any time before 9 a.m.
March 20, 2014	China Air Pollution Control	World’s Largest Market
March 27, 2014	Analysis Of Dry Scrubber Options	Top notch third party expert panelists and lots of background info
April 10, 2014	Mercury Chemicals In Fuel, Flue Gas and Scrubbing Liquor	Important alternative to sorbents
April 17, 2014	Measurement Of Gas Turbine Emissions Including NH₃	Six different options
May 1, 2014	850^oF Particulate Removal With Ceramic Filter Media	Could change the whole back end
May 8, 2014	Sorbent Traps vs. Mercury CEMS	Sorbent traps are competitive
May 15, 2014	Gas Intake Filters: HEPA or Medium Efficiency	More information
May 29, 2014	Stellite Delamination in Power Plant Steam Valves	More information
June 5, 2014	Dry vs. Wet Cooling	Surprising number of ACC’S. Why?
June 12, 2014	HRSG Issues (Fast Start, Tube Failures)	Lots of challenges to cycle 200 X/yr
June 26, 2014	CCR	$ billions Needed
July/August 2014	Boiler Feedwater Treatment Condensate Polishing for Peaking Turbines 316 B Water Issues Gas Turbine Permitting Issues *Give us your opinion about topics we should consider*

In the past, the companies making air filter media were distinct from those making dust collector filter media. But this is all changing thanks to acquisitions. This consolidation is being tracked in both the Air Filtration & Purification World Market and World Fabric Filter and Element Market reports published by the McIlvaine Company. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

The combined market for air filtration and dust collector media next year will be $4.1 billion.

World RegionTop of Form Bottom of Form	Air Filter	Dust Collector	Total
Africa	63	41	103
CIS	98	55	153
East Asia	747	799	1,546
Eastern Europe	48	36	85
Middle East	93	52	145
NAFTA	795	279	1,074
South & Central America	103	106	209
West Asia	101	113	214
Western Europe	471	198	669
Total	2,519	1,679	4,198

East Asia will be the largest market followed by NAFTA. The indoor air filtration market is larger than the dust collector media market, but much of the same media is used in the lower temperature applications. The difference is that there are a number of high priced media constructions used for high temperature dust collection. This is where a double-digit growth rate is likely. Thus, the dust collector media companies have become attractive acquisitions for air filter media companies.

There has been considerable consolidation with air media companies buying dust collector media companies, filter suppliers buying media companies and media companies buying other media companies. Lydall has just acquired Andrew. This will add revenues close to $100 million just in dust collector media and finished bags. In North America, Andrew has been primarily a media supplier, but in the rest of the world, it furnished finished bags. Clarcor has purchased BHA from GE, thus adding dust collector bag and media revenues. Nederman purchased Menardi and Filtration Group purchased Clear Edge.

New technology will drive the industry. 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.

World’s Largest Solar Thermal Power Project at Ivanpah Achieves Commercial Operation

NRG Energy, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary NRG Solar, LLC, announced that the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is now operational and delivering solar electricity to California customers. At full capacity, the facility’s trio of 450-foot high towers produces a gross total of 392 megawatts (MW) of solar power, enough electricity to provide 140,000 California homes with clean energy.

Ivanpah is a joint effort between NRG, Google, and BrightSource Energy. Bechtel is the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor on the project. The project received a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office. The facility achieved commercial operation on December 31, 2013. NRG will be the plant’s operator.

Ivanpah, which accounts for nearly 30 percent of all solar thermal energy currently operational in the U.S., is the largest solar project of its kind in the world. The project is the first to use BrightSource’s innovative solar power tower technology to produce electricity, which includes 173,500 heliostats that follow the sun’s trajectory, solar field integration software and a solar receiver steam generator. Since breaking ground in October 2010, the project has created thousands of jobs and, at the peak of construction, employed nearly 3,000 site workers who completed more than 8.35 million man-hours. A total of approximately $650 million in salaries for construction and operations is expected to be paid over the next 30 years.

The solar energy harnessed from Ivanpah’s Units 1 and 3 are being sold to Pacific Gas & Electric under two long-term power purchase agreements, while the electricity from Unit 2 is being sold to Southern California Edison under a similar contract.

Dominion filed with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to be among the bidders seeking to develop wind turbines to generate electricity on nearly 80,000 acres off the coast of Maryland.

The area will be auctioned in two separate leases. The North Lease area totals 32,737 acres and the South Lease Area consists of 46,970 acres.

Dominion was the successful bidder in the bureau's auction in September 2013 for 112,799 acres, 24 miles off the coast of Virginia.

"Offshore wind shows the most promise for building utility-sized renewable energy projects in the Mid-Atlantic region," said Mary Doswell, senior vice president for Dominion's Alternative Energy Solutions unit. "The bureau's Wind Energy Areas offer both the consistent winds and the acreage to develop these large-scale projects. Given the proximity to our leased area off of Virginia and the excellent port in Hampton Roads, there should be economies of scale that could benefit both regions."

Ferrostaal Industrial Projects GmbH, a project developer facilitating worldwide investments, is taking a majority stake in the 'Sainshand' wind farm project in Mongolia. With 190 GWh of electricity every year, 'Sainshand' will be the largest wind park in Mongolia. The investment in the project amounts to approximately $120 million and is intended to connect to the grid as early as the end of 2015.

Harvest Power Unveils Cutting Edge Central Florida Organics to Energy Facility

Harvest Power has unveiled the Central Florida Energy Garden, an organics management and renewable energy facility that is the first of its kind in the U.S., converting organic waste into renewable biogas and natural fertilizers. The anaerobic digester combines a unique set of proven technologies and will divert hundreds of thousands of tons of waste from Central Florida landfills.

Located within the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID), the Energy Garden uses anaerobic digestion – a biological process that relies on trillions of naturally occurring bacteria – to produce renewable biogas. When operating at full capacity, the facility will process more than 120,000 tons of organic materials annually while producing 5.4 megawatts of combined heat and power.

Duke Energy has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for 300 megawatts (MW) of new solar energy capacity in its Duke Energy Carolinas and Duke Energy Progress territories. The new capacity would be in service by the end of 2015.

The RFP gives bidders the flexibility to offer power and associated renewable energy certificates, and/or to provide a turnkey solution in which Duke Energy takes ownership of the new facility.

The company's RFP is targeting solar facilities greater than 5 MW. It is limited to projects that are in the company's current transmission and distribution queue, as those have a realistic chance to be completed by the end of 2015. Duke Energy affiliates will not be allowed to participate in the RFP.

For more information on Renewable Energy Projects and Update please visit:

§ US Attorney in Raleigh, NC expanding investigation of Dan River’s Coal Ash Spill

§ AMEC to Decommission Consumer Energy’s Oldest Coal-fired Power Plants in Michigan

§ Duke Energy’s Exit Strategy for Midwest Commercial Generation Business

§ PSC approves modifications at EKPC Cooper Power Plant

§ Yokogawa to provide Control System for 520 MW Combined Cycle Power Plant in Uruguay

§ Samsung C&T wins $1.37 Billion Power Plant Contract in Algeria

§ DOE finalizes $6.5 Billion Loan Guarantee for New Plant Vogtle Nuclear Reactors

§ PSC approves modifications at EKPC Cooper Power Plant

§ Samsung C&T wins $1.37 Billion Power Plant Contract in Algeria