Power Air Quality Insights No

Power Air Quality Insights
No. 65 July 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.

· “Beneficial Byproducts of Coal Combustion and Gasification” – “Hot Topic Hour” July26, 2012

“Beneficial Byproducts of Coal Combustion and Gasification” is the “Hot Topic Hour” July26, 2012

Because of its abundance and proven effectiveness as an energy source, coal continues to be the fuel source for a significant amount of the electricity produced in the United States. What better way is there for coal to continue or even increase its role in producing power for the country than to go green and reduce the carbon footprint. By fully utilizing all of the materials in the coal and additives used to control pollution (collectively referred to as coal combustion residuals (CCRs)) and also by using more of the energy in the coal, power plants can significant reduce net GHGs and pollutant emissions.

CCRs include bottom and flyash, boiler slag and SO₂ scrubber residues and are often referred to collectively as “coal ash.” More than 130 million tons are generated each year. For many years, power plants have been selling flyash for use in Portland cement, concrete and concrete products as well as gypsum for making wallboard and other products. However, only about one-third or less of the available flyash and a quarter of FGD waste is recycled in commercially beneficial uses, leaving more than 70 million tons a year to be disposed of in impoundments and landfills.

Power plants can use more of the energy in the coal by utilizing the waste heat from the process. By locating near another process that needs large quantities of lower temperature steam, this previously wasted heat can be used. Co-locating an ethanol plant next to a power plant is one such example that has the added benefit of providing a reliable source of biomass to co-fire with coal.

In addition to recycling more of the solid waste products and utilizing the waste heat, power plants could also incorporate proven technologies into their plant operations to produce many important chemicals and materials that would displace other production and result in a significant net decrease in GHGs. Beneficial byproducts can include hydrochloric acid, calcium sulfate, hydrogen sulfide, elemental sulfur, sulfuric acid and nitrogen compounds such as ammonium nitrate for fertilizer or other ammonia based chemicals. Rare earth metals can even be extracted from flyash or FGD waste, potentially at a cost that is only 40 percent of the cost of purchasing these materials from China.

Many experts believe that coal combustion byproducts represent a vastly underused resource and a key contributor to reducing GHGs. The question is why are they not exploited to a greater extent? The speakers listed below will address the issues related to beneficial use of coal combustion byproducts such as economics, regulatory or other impediments, potential GHG reductions, market situation and potential uses for coal plant wastes as well as describe the available technology for production of beneficial byproducts, present case histories of successful operations and discuss ongoing research and development of technology to produce or market byproducts of coal combustion and gasification.

Robert Spoerri, President and CEO of Beneficial Reuse Management LLC, will discuss the “Emerging Agricultural Market for FGD Gypsum.” Byproduct FGD gypsum has now been demonstrated to provide agronomic, economic and environmental benefits to farmers when used as a soil amendment and nutrient source. For those utilities producing FGD gypsum, this emerging market represents a beneficial use opportunity that could reduce disposal costs and generate revenue. While there are significant challenges to developing this new market, interest and demand is growing and now is a good time to assess the opportunity.

Robert Tang, President and CEO of CEFCO Global Clean Energy LLC, will present “High-Value Beneficial By-Products from Coal Combustion and Gasification at Ultra-Low Cost Inputs through Innovative Integrated Technology.” The recently-patented CEFCO process (to be used for MACT and NESHAP compliance) separately captures all emitted pollutants and CO₂ in flue gas into distinct end-product groupings: Metals (including mercury) into neutralized and sellable form; SO_x into potassium sulfate fertilizer; NO_x into potassium nitrate fertilizer, and CO₂ into a bicarbonate solid which can be liberated as "pure" food-grade CO₂ for many practical uses, including making Syngas and Liquid Fuels. Separately, CEFCO's patented supersonic capture and reaction mechanism can be developed and applied to react any carbon feedstock and CO₂ with other reagents producing plastics and other more valuable chemical compounds.

Dr. Robert (Bob) B. Bruce, PhD, President of Innogyps Inc, will present “FGD Gypsum Use, Progress & Opportunities.” FGD scrubbers produce millions of tons of calcium sulfate (gypsum) and sulfite each year. This presentation will describe the overall market for gypsum, global growth potential, and competitive landscape for FGD gypsum. Although it would appear that FGD gypsum usage has plateaued, a simple analysis of the basic economics of the gypsum industry will show how more FGD materials can be sold for better prices, improving both the environmental and financial position of FGD scrubber operators.

Amy Evans, Director of Technology at Marsulex, will discuss a novel and commercially viable process for FGD using ammonia as a reagent and producing commercial grade ammonium sulfate (AS) crop fertilizer. The process was developed by General Electric Environmental Services, Inc. (GEESI) in the early 1990s and subsequently acquired by Marsulex Environmental Technologies (MET). The benefits of the AS-WFGD technology include: operational reliability and SO₂ scrubbing equal to or greater than conventional wet FGD; offsets to a portion of the yearly operating costs derived by the sale of the AS fertilizer by-product; and the CO₂friendly nature of the process as, unlike calcium-based wet FGD, no CO₂is produced in the SO₂ absorption process.

To register for the “Hot Topic Hour” on July 26, 2012 at 10 a.m. Central Time, click here:

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. Market Intelligence webinars are free to McIlvaine market report

DATE	Non-Subscribers Cost	SUBJECT	Webinar Type
July 26, 2012	$125.00	Beneficial Byproducts of Coal Combustion and Gasification	Power
August 2, 2012	$125.00	Mercury Control and Removal Status and Cost	Power
August 9, 2012	$400.00	Filter Media (forecasts and market drivers for media used in air, gas, liquid, fluid applications both mobile and stationary)	Market Intelligence
August 16, 2012	$125.00	Report from Coal-gen (highlights of speeches and exhibitions)	Power
August 23, 2012	$125.00	Report from Mega Symposium (highlights of speeches and exhibitions at this important air pollution conference)	Power
August 30, 2012	$400.00	Instrumentation for Air, Gas, Water, Liquids (forecasts , market shares, growth segments)	Market Intelligence
September 6, 2012	$125.00	Production of Fertilizer and Sulfuric Acid at Coal-fired Power Plants	Power

Operators of coal-fired power plants around the world will spend $479 billion to upgrade 2.2 million MW of existing facilities and build 128,000 MW of new generators in 2013. This compares to just $152 billion for nuclear generation and $105 billion for gas turbines. This is the latest forecast in Fossil and Nuclear Power Generation: World Analysis and Forecast published by the McIlvaine Company.

The U.S. will be making large investments in its coal-fired power plants, but unless policies change, these investments will not be wise. Despite the prejudice against coal, it will be as important to U.S. energy needs in 2035 as it is now. The policy to upgrade old power plants while prohibiting new power plants makes no sense. Replacing these old inefficient power plants with ultra-supercriticals is the best way to achieve environmental goals while minimizing energy costs.

The most recent EIA forecast shows as much coal being utilized in 2035 as in 2010.

Excerpts from June 2012 EIA Forecast for Fuel Consumption in the U.S. (Quadrillion BTU)
Fuel type	2010	2015	2035
Natural gas	23	25	27
Coal	21	18	21
Nuclear	8	8	9
Fuel Cost ($/MMBtu)
Natural gas	4	4	7
Coal	2	2	3

The use of coal will be reduced by some 15 percent in the short term according to the EIA base forecast and then recover to the 2010 levels.

The high short run cost of renewables will ensure the continuing use of coal for the next twenty-five years. The twenty-one quads of coal presently fired emit pollutants with the equivalent harm of five billion tons of CO_2. (McIlvaine has a common metric to rate the harm for each pollutant.)

If the U.S. were to follow the lead of Europe and replace all its old coal-fired power plants with new supercritical plants with the latest emission control equipment, the total harm could be reduced by 3.5 billion tons. This is twice all the CO₂ emitted by the coal burning power plants. In other words, the reduction of SO₂, NO_x, mercury, particulate and CO₂with new power plants will do much more than just upgrading old power plants. So the agreement should be along the lines of reducing total harm without regard for the mix between pollutants or the age of the plant. A new coal-fired power plant program would be a cost free stimulus of $600 billion. The efficient new plants burning 30 percent less coal for the same output would generate electricity even with the depreciation at the same cost as upgraded old power plants but with much better environmental performance.

§ Illinois EPA to reconsider Permit for Taylorville Energy Center

§ Coal-fired Power Plant in Cadiz City gets Philippines Governor’s Backing

§ Alstom will supply Components for 660 MW Units at Mouda, Maharashtra, India

§ First 640 MW Banka District Power Plant in Bihar, India to online by 2014

§ Las Brisas Energy Center Could be banned by EPA’s New GHG Emission Limits

§ Codexis Reports Positive Results from Enzyme-Based Carbon Capture Process

§ “New Developments could improve Cost /Efficiency Ratio for Power Plant Air Pollution Control” - Hot Topic on July 12

§ “Forecasts and Drivers for Coal, Nuclear, Gas and Renewables” – Hot Topic Hour July 19, 2012

McIlvaine’s Renewable Energy Update and Projects tracks the research work which allows for increased performance in the generation of wind power.

The initial phase of Sandia National Laboratories’ Scaled Wind Farm Technology facility (SWIFT), currently being constructed in partnership with Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX, will be a little bigger than originally planned. Leading wind turbine manufacturer Vestas will add its own 300-kilowatt, V27 research turbine to the two Sandia V27 research turbines.

The Labs worked with Vestas to develop the new three-turbine site plan, uniquely tailored to study turbine-to-turbine interactions. Sandia and Vestas will conduct collaborative research with all three turbines, although each turbine can also be used separately with minimal interaction.

“The Lubbock site benefits from high wind resource and low turbulence, which is ideal for research,” said Jon White, project manager and researcher in Sandia’s Wind Energy Technologies group. “Wind at the site comes predominately from the south, making it easy to set up the turbine array for research on turbine-to-turbine interactions.

Creating a new facility from the ground up also allows detailed characterization of the site and the turbine components before installation and testing. This gives researchers higher confidence in the accuracy of the wind turbine models they create based on research at the site.

Studies at the site will focus on turbine-to-turbine interactions and innovative rotor technologies. Other areas for investigation include aero-acoustics and structural health monitoring of turbines using embedded sensor systems. Researchers will also continue work on Sandia’s structural mechanical adaptive rotor technology (SMART) program.

“Most wind turbine rotors today are passive structures. Sandia’s SMART rotors have active surfaces similar to airplane wings, with actuators that change their shape, allowing for greater control and flexibility,” White said.

The site eventually might expand to include nine or more wind turbines, which would allow researchers to further examine how individual turbines and entire wind farms can become better “citizens of the grid” and how to be more productive and collaborative.

White said the team hopes to have the SWIFT facility operational by October 2012.

Clemson University’s Wind Turbine Drivetrain Testing Facility reached a milestone recently when the foundation for the smaller test rig was poured.

The pour marks a milestone for the massive construction project. After breaking ground in October 2010, construction began the following year. The project involves completely redeveloping an 82,000-square-foot warehouse on the former Navy base. Engineering design was performed by AEC Engineering in Minneapolis.

In November 2009, Clemson and its partners were awarded a $45 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, which was combined with $53 million of matching funds, to build and operate the large-scale testing facility for next-generation wind turbine drivetrains.

When complete at the beginning of next year, the facility at the Clemson University Restoration Institute will have the capability for full-scale highly accelerated testing of advanced drivetrain systems for wind turbines in the 5-megawatt to 15-megawatt range.

It also will have 50 hertz and 60 hertz testing capability, which means it can accommodate test specimens destined for anywhere in the world.

Western Area Power Administration recently participated in a study to limit any potential impact wind farms may have on radar systems run by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.

On May 2 and 3, Western’s Huron-based Bell 407 helicopter in South Dakota flew numerous test patterns over three wind farms in Minnesota to test technology designed to “clear up” the radar signal in and around wind farms.

“In certain areas like Montana, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, there are several wind farms up and running, and more projects in the making. The FAA and military radar facilities are concerned about electromagnetic interference from the wind farms on radar, which is generated by the running turbines. They also worry about the physical interference,” said Aviation Manager Bruce Hunt.

About a year ago, Federal agencies, headed by the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program, teamed up with DOD’s Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Lab and Department of Energy’s Sandia National Lab, to test how well commercial, off the shelf, radar vendors’ technology can identify aircraft near wind farms.

“Sometimes, you lose coverage directly over a wind farm,” admitted EERE Wind and Water Power Program Brian Connor, who led the project. “We were testing to see if these technologies would restore lost radar coverage and mitigate other impacts.”

Planes both contracted and government-owned flew several assigned flight patterns a day around the Minnesota wind farms. They carried Global Positioning System equipment to see how well certain radar technologies could track the aircraft with minimum disruption. Western boasted the only helicopter in the test mix.

“We had 1-5 aircraft in the air at one time, weather permitting,” said Connor. “The wind industry wants this just as much as the government agencies. Three wind farm owners volunteered to be test subjects and provided data on hundreds of wind turbines so we will have a good sense of the magnitude and types of the electromagnetic interference.”

Snap-shot test results will be reported for each radar vendor’s technology in about 30 days from MIT Lincoln Lab. More detailed results will be released in about 90 days for internal use by radar agencies. These results will determine if the technology meets the technical and operational requirements.

Before technology can be incorporated into the National Airspace System, it has to go through time-consuming and thorough FAA certification process, which can take a year or longer. It must be tested in all weather conditions. This two-week test is designed to filter technologies so there will be only a few to go through the full certification process.

“If we can certify some of these technologies, more land will be made available for wind development,” said Connor.

Vestas’ investigation into the V112-3.0 MW turbine fire in Germany on March 30 has reached a final conclusion on the root cause.

The fire started in the Harmonic Filter Cabinet as a result of a loose connection in the electrical system that created an arc flash.

The solution to this problem has been confirmed by specialists; it involves using a different type of washer on the electrical connections in the Harmonic Filter Cabinet.

The solution is in the process of being implemented in the affected turbines, and customers are being informed.

§ Illinois EPA to reconsider Permit for Taylorville Energy Center

§ Coal-fired Power Plant in Cadiz City gets Philippines Governor’s Backing