Power Air Quality Insights No

Power Air Quality Insights
No. 74 September 20, 2012

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.

· Coal-fired Boiler Optimization” is “Hot Topic” on Sept. 27, 2012 and Oct. 11, 2012

· Niche Experts and Decisive Classification Will Boost the U.S. and World Economies

“Coal-fired Boiler Optimization” is “Hot Topic” on Sept. 27, 2012 and Oct. 11, 2012

In order to accommodate the number of persons that desired to make a presentation on this subject and keep the Hot Topic Hour within a reasonable time, we split it into two sessions – the first on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012 at 10 a.m. Central time and the second on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012 at 10 a.m. Central time. Persons that register for the first session will automatically be registered for the second session at no additional cost.

Boiler operators have always been interested in improving the efficiency of their operations to reduce cost but today they are looking at efficiency improvements as part of the solution to some of the other concerns they are faced with. Improving efficiency of the combustion process and heat recovery of only a few percent can save hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel and other material costs. Improving boiler efficiency will also reduce the total CO₂ emissions and help to meet the new regulations for GHG reduction being imposed by states and soon the U.S. EPA as well as reduce emissions of other criteria pollutants.

Executives are increasing asking utility engineers questions regarding boiler efficiency improvement such as: What are the available systems, technologies and methods for improving efficiency and who provides them? Have these systems, technology and methods been proven in other plants with the same configuration as mine? What is the impact on maintenance and overall operating cost? Is there a tradeoff between cost and reductions in emissions? What is the best way to improve efficiency or where will we get the best bang for the buck, so to speak? Should we invest in optimization software and/or additional monitoring instrumentation?

The following speakers will help us understand the process of improving boiler efficiency; how to obtain optimum efficiency, availability and performance; describe the technologies available and under development with their applicability, capabilities and limitations; costs involved and the benefits that can be attained and describe their real world experience with improving the operating efficiency of fossil-fueled power plant boilers.

Neil Widmer, Manager of the Boiler Optimization Service group within GE Energy Services and Antonio (Tony) Marquez, Product Manager for GE Boiler Optimization Services, will co-present “Zonal* Combustion Optimization for Coal-Fired Boilers”. GE’s Zonal Combustion Monitoring System provides a new level of insight and reduces the mystery behind combustion performance and day-to-day variability. With continuous information on combustion issues, operators and plant engineers are able to quickly adjust boiler/burner operation to improve and maintain combustion performance and optimize boiler reliability, performance and emissions. They will present an overview of Zonal combustion optimization principles and the Zonal monitoring system and will discuss operating experiences and results achieved on wall and tangential fired boilers in the United States.

Don Labbe, a Consulting Control Engineer for Invensys Operations Management’s “Smart Firing Control System.” When pulverized coal is fed to a utility boiler a phenomenon sometimes referred to as “roping” occurs. Roping impacts the distribution of coal flow to the coal pipes supplying the burners. The roping characteristics are unique mill-to-mill, change with mill wear and are dependent on primary air flow and coal type. Coal maldistribution, in turn, causes some regions of the furnace to have more fuel and some to have less fuel. Typically, the secondary air flow control is configured to be evenly distributed to the burners via the respective registers. Thus, these coal flow imbalances result in O₂ imbalances with regions of high CO and unburned carbon in oxygen depleted areas and high NO_x in regions of higher O₂.

Advanced Process Control (APC) applications such as multivariable model predictive control and neural networks are frequently applied to bias furnace air flow distribution and address O₂ imbalances and regions of high CO. However, coal roping and other phenomena creates a need for a recalibration of air pollution control (APC) models the air register positions related to the higher level variables such as excess O₂, CO, NO_x, and even heat rate.

A novel solution, the Smart Firing Control System, has been developed for periodically testing the APC system online without operator intervention and gradually adapting the models to capture the characteristics of these shifting relationships. This solution has contributed to significant additional boiler efficiency improvements above and beyond the original APC application.

Peter Spinney, Director of Marketing and Technology Assessment at NeuCo Inc., will present “Comprehensive Boiler Optimization for Emissions, Efficiency, and Availability.”

Danny S. Storm, President/COO Storm Technologies, Inc. and Richard (Dick) F. Storm, CEO/Senior Consultant, Storm Technologies, Inc., will discuss a general approach to optimizing combustion. Coal-fired boiler optimization is a broad phrase that includes optimization for boiler efficiency, steam plant heat rate, reduction of emissions, increased reliability, fuel flexibility and maximizing capacity. This presentation will cover the general approach to applying the fundamentals so that a comprehensive optimization plan can be achieved. For example, even steam turbine efficiency is affected by boiler combustion optimization. Why? Three factors are: operation for precise control of steam temperatures, optimization of de-superheating spray water flows to the super-heater and reheater. These are boiler controllable performance factors but impact unit heat rate. There are about 22 controllable boiler heat rate variables. These will be discussed in this webinar.

Ati Manay, PMP, P.E., Product Manager of “SMART Clean” at Clyde Bergemann Power Group Americas, will discuss “On Load Boiler Cleaning Optimization Technologies and its Integration into Boiler Back End Equipment Temperature Control.” His presentation will include:

• Review of best available On Load Cleaning Optimization Technologies, SMART Feedback Devices, and their integration into different optimization goals for the power boilers.

Stephen Storm, Principal and Owner of both Stephen Storm, Inc. and SX Powertech, LLC, will present “Inter-relationships of Combustion, Efficiency, Reliability & Air Pollution Control.” When assessing the inter-relationships of combustion, efficiency, reliability and air pollution, the evaluation must be "holistic" and comprehensive in nature. The control of combustion and heat transfer with large steam generators is contingent upon how well the fuel, air and flue gas is distributed, while also managing the combustion byproducts. Then, the performance and reliability of the air pollution control equipment is subject to the quality and volume of gas being treated. With that being said, the purpose of this presentation is to share experiences, observations and industry challenges.

To register for the Hot Topic on Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 10 a.m. and Oct. 11, 2012 at 10 a.m. Central time, 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 Environmental Upgrade Tracking System. The cost is $125.00 for non-subscribers.

	2012
DATE	SUBJECT
September 27	Coal-fired Boiler Optimization – Part 1	Power
October 11	Coal-fired Boiler Optimization – Part 2	Power
October 18	Air Preheaters & Heat Exchangers	Power
October 25	Instrumentation for air, gas, water, liquids (forecasts, market shares, growth segments).	Market Intelligence
November 1	Cooling Towers and Cooling Water Issues	Power
November 8	FGD Scrubber Components	Power
November 15	Dampers and Expansion Joints for Coal-fired and Gas Turbine Power Plants	Power
November 29	Catalyst Selection for NO_x and Other Gases	Power

December 6	Boiler Feed and Cooling Water Treatment	Power
December 13	Co-firing Sewage Sludge, Biomass and Municipal Waste	Power
	2013
January 10	Update on Oxy-fuel Combustion	Power
January 17	Production of Fertilizer and Sulfuric Acid at Coal-fired Power Plants	Power
January 24	Gypsum Dewatering	Power
January 31	Filter media (forecasts and market drivers for media used in air, gas, liquid, fluid applications, both mobile and stationary).	Market Intelligence
February 7	Valves for Power Plants, Boilers and Water Treatment Facilities	Power

Niche Experts and Decisive Classification Will Boost the U.S. and World Economies

Utilization of newly retired individuals as niche experts in combination with a decisive classification system will boost the world’s economy and effectively utilize the otherwise unemployed. This is the conclusion of the McIlvaine Company based upon several years of experience with the program.

In an increasingly complex world, knowledge resides in more and smaller niches. The world’s progress will be accelerated to the extent that:

Decision making is a series of classifications. A decisive classification system provides the list of choices at each step in the series. Niche experts are identified to help make the right choice at each of these classification steps. The result is much better decision making and effective utilization of the world’s knowledge.

For the first time in history a significant portion of the unemployed are knowledge workers. Due to longer life spans there are large numbers of potentially productive retirees. These individuals can contribute to the development of the decisive classification systems relative to their knowledge niche and can be remunerated for the advice that they can offer.

The system is already being employed for environmental decisions. An example involves reducing nitrogen oxides (NO_x) emissions from the coal-fired boilers. The Chinese are implementing a very ambitious program and need to build on the expertise in the U.S. and Europe. Among the many steps is one to determine how to maintain the catalyst which is integral to the reduction process. There was no decisive classification. So McIlvaine assembled the catalyst manufacturers and experts and joint agreement was obtained that there are only three viable options. The definitions and translations to Chinese were then undertaken.

Parent	Descriptor	Chinese Descriptor	Definition
Catalyst Maintenance	Cleaning Catalyst	催化剂除灰	A dry process that utilizes vacuum and compressed air to mechanically remove as much of the fly ash accumulation as possible.
Catalyst Maintenance	Regeneration Catalyst	催化剂再生	“Catalyst cleaning” followed by a wet chemical process to remove decay compounds plus re-impregnation of the catalytic compound(s).
Catalyst Maintenance	Rejuvenation Catalyst	催化剂复原	“Catalyst cleaning” followed by a wet chemical process to remove some decay compounds with minimum removal of catalytic compound(s). There is no re-impregnation of the catalytic compound(s).

Anyone seeking guidance about cleaning catalyst can quickly find this classification and experts who can advise on each of the options. These appear in the McIlvaine Global Decisions Orchard (GDO).

The experts who have been working in this area include individuals from 25-80 years of age. They include experts on the Chinese problems and experts on the international solutions. So far the most valuable contribution has been by semi-retired individuals working as niche experts.

The market for scrubbers, adsorbers, absorbers and biofilters will reach $6.6 billion next year. Thirty-six percent of this revenue will be East Asia. This is the latest forecast in the McIlvaine Scrubber/Adsorber/Biofilter World Markets. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

World Region	2013
Africa	234
CIS	186
East Asia	2,458
Eastern Europe	226
Middle East	221
NAFTA	1,214
South & Central America	487
West Asia	470
Western Europe	1,106
Total	6,602

In East Asia, mining, chemical, iron and steel, waste incineration, pulp and paper and refining will be the major applications for the technology. Food and beverage, electronics and odor control for municipal wastewater plants will also be substantial applications.

Unlike the United States, countries in East Asia (as well as Europe) believe that burning trash in waste-to-energy plants is greener than burying it in landfills. China is expanding its capacity faster than any other country. Scrubbers are used at all the plants.

Scrubbers are used for both particulate control and gas absorption. Adsorbers are used mainly for gas treatment when the loadings are low. Biofilters are used to capture organic emissions from municipal sewage treatment plants and food processing. Absorbers are used to capture gaseous emissions.

The report does not include absorbers used for process mass transfer in chemicals and refining. It does not include scrubbers used for flue gas desulfurization in power plants. The reason is that this is very large and is covered in a separate McIlvaine report.

The biggest growth market involves purifying the stack gases for ships burning bunker fuels. Wärtsilä Hamworthy, announced an agreement with Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA, the global rolling cargo operator, to retrofit their vessel MV Tamesis with a Krystallon Exhaust Gas Cleaning System (EGCS). Alfa Laval also has some recent contracts and a successful operation on the DFDS’ Ficaria Seaways. This system treats the exhaust gas of a 21-MW MAN main engine and is currently the largest scrubber in operation in the market.

For more information on Scrubber/Adsorber/Biofilter World Markets, click on:

§ STEAG Energy Services surpasses 40,000 m³ of Regenerated Catalyst at the Kings Mountain, NC Facility

§ The Carlyle Group to acquire Cogentrix Energy Assets and Power Project Development and Acquisition Platform

As the following articles illustrate the use of biogas to generate energy is becoming quite popular. McIlvaine tracks these installations in Renewable Energy Projects and Update.

Now Available: Guidance Document for Introducing Renewable Gas from Landfills into Pipelines

Gas Technology Institute (GTI) recently made publicly available a report titled “Guidance Document for the Introduction of Landfill-Derived Renewable Gas into Natural Gas Pipelines.”

The integration of renewable gas from non-traditional sources can provide significant benefits including cost-effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing available resources. An initiative launched by GTI is establishing parameters for evaluating the suitability of biomethane products — derived from dairy waste and landfills — for safe and proper introduction into existing natural gas pipelines and to assure compatibility with existing supplies.

Sponsored by the natural gas industry, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and members of the Solid Waste Association of North America, these projects have been adding to the industry’s understanding of the chemical and biological composition of renewable gas.

The newly-released Landfill Guidance Document provides analytical and other key information to pipeline companies and natural gas local distribution companies (LDCs) so that parameters specific to clean biomethane can be identified to support a productive discussion between these parties and the suppliers for contract development. The document includes a list of constituents and methodology for testing, as well as statistical analysis of the acquired data. It provides information about specific instrumentation for identifying and monitoring trace constituents, and cleanup technologies for removing them.

Previously, under the sponsorship of a consortium of gas companies, including Operations Technology Development (OTD) — and working with a number of universities and dairy farms in the Northwest, Midwest and Western U.S. — GTI scientists developed the first national biogas guidance document for introducing methane from dairy waste into existing pipelines, entitled “Pipeline Quality Biomethane: North American Guidance Document for Interchangeability of Dairy Waste Derived Biomethane.”

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) joined state and local officials at the grand opening of New York State’s largest on-farm, “co-digestion” biogas power project, making an important boost to the state’s renewable energy production and sustainability efforts. The facility is located at Synergy Dairy, a 2,000-head dairy farm in Covington, Wyoming County, southwest of Rochester.

CH4 Biogas LLC built, owns and operates the project under the name Synergy Biogas LLC. The Synergy Biogas LLC plant is also is the state’s first biogas project specifically designed for the co-digestion, or processing, of animal and food wastes. The biogas created in the 120,000-gallon co-digester is fueling a GE ecomagination-qualified, Jenbacher J420 biogas engine to generate 1.4 MW of renewable electricity.

By anaerobically digesting waste from local food processors in addition to the dairy’s cow manure, the 425-ton-per-day, mixed waste facility is more cost effective. The facility has created about a half dozen jobs while enhancing the efficiency of the 30-employee farm’s operations and sustaining area food manufacturers and haulers.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is providing $1 million in incentives for the facility.

GE announced that six of its Jenbacher specialty gas engines will be installed at the Loma Los Colorados Landfill in Chile as part of a major expansion of the site’s existing landfill gas-to-energy (LFGTE) plant. The landfill is located 63 kilometers northwest of Santiago and is the country’s largest municipal solid waste operation, which receives about 60 percent of the solid waste from Santiago.

The 8.4 MW plant expansion known as “Lomas Los Colorados II” features six of GE’s 1.4 MW ecomagination-qualified J420 Jenbacher units. GE will install the units adjacent to seven GE Jenbacher gas engines already at the site.

GE expects the new Jenbacher units to enter commercial service between 2012 and 2014, in line with landfill gas production. Combined, the 13 landfill gas-fueled engines are expected to generate a total of 18 MW of renewable power, enough to support the needs of about 75,000 homes to Chile.

ENER-G Natural Power and its sister company Biogas Technology are generating clean electrical energy from biogas for use by Nissan at its manufacturing site in Aguascalientes. The power generated is being sold over a long-term power purchase agreement with the car maker.

Nissan is the first automotive plant in Mexico to use electricity from biogas, and it is the first project of its kind for any Nissan manufacturing plant in the world. The Nissan production site, which makes March, Versa and Sentra cars, receives 2,475 MW of clean energy — sufficient to produce 37,000 vehicles per year.

The £4.4-million investment by the ENER-G group will reduce carbon dioxide emissions at the landfill site by approximately 90,000 tons per year. This is equivalent to the environmental benefit of 17,409 acres (7,045 hectares) of pine forest.

The 104-acre (42-hectare) landfill site, which is owned by the Municipality of Aquascalientes, receives household, commercial and industrial waste. A total of 3.9 million tons of waste is currently deposited at the site, which has been in operation for ten years.

The two-phase biogas generation project started in 2006 when ENER-G group company Biogas Technology was appointed by the Municipality of Aquascalientes to collect and destroy the biogas emissions by flaring. These emissions are comprised of mainly methane gas, a greenhouse gas which is 21 times more damaging to the environment than carbon dioxide.

The second phase of the project involved ENER-G Natural Power installing two 1.6-MW biogas generators as part of a six-month build program. This has involved arranging the sale of electricity to Nissan Mexicana and arranging transport to the site over a distance of approximately 20 km. The clean electricity is transported via overhead lines through a supply contract with the Federal Commission of Electricity.

Due to the effect of “thin” air at the high altitude of the San Nicholas site, ENER-G Natural Power was required to install an oversized 3.2-MW system to achieve the desired de-rated capacity of 2.5-MW electrical capacity. The biogas supply is expected to last for at least 15 years.

Green energy will soon be helping to power homes, following Waste Management’s announcement on the groundbreaking of a gas-to-electric facility at Mahoning Landfill in New Springfield, OH.

Once construction is completed, Waste Management’s Mahoning Landfill is designed to generate 4.8 MW of electricity, enough to power over 3,500 homes. The plant will be operational by the end of this year. Methane gas, which is produced in the landfill from the decomposition of waste, will be channeled into engines that are used to create electricity.

Waste Management owns or operates over 130 landfill gas-to-energy facilities in North America. Waste Management pioneered landfill gas-to-energy technology over two decades ago and operates more facilities than any other company in the United States.