Power Air Quality Insights No

Power Air Quality Insights
No. 118 August 1, 2013

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· Cogeneration, Fuel Switching, and Upgrades Are All Choices for U.S. Industrial Boiler Operators

· “Improving Power Plant Efficiency and Power Generation” is the Hot Topic Hour on Thursday, August 8, 2013

Cogeneration, Fuel Switching, and Upgrades Are All Choices for U.S. Industrial Boiler Operators

In the next few months, operators of U.S. industrial boilers will have to decide whether to gamble on low gas prices for the next two decades or add air pollution control equipment to their existing systems. Two other options are switching to biomass and more efficient cogeneration. Some plants will find that a combination of these options is the best fit for them. There are more than 10,000 boilers listed in the McIlvaine Industrial Emitters database and project tracking system. Less than 2,000 will fall under the criteria for action set up by the new Industrial Boiler MACT Rule. Of these 2,000 units, only 500 units will have to make major capital expenditures. These plants will have to decide whether to invest the funds to meet the new regulations or switch to natural gas or even retire the units and buy electricity. The Industrial Emitters program is tracking these decisions as they happen.

More efficient cogeneration is attractive from the standpoint of greenhouse gas reduction. Grays Ferry is one of Veolia Energy's three Philadelphia steam production facilities. Grays Ferry is a 163-megawatt cogeneration facility with a combustion turbine and an extraction/condensing steam turbine. Since the 2012 completion of a $60 million investment to upgrade the natural gas infrastructure and to install two rapid-response boilers, Veolia Energy has increased its production of efficient, cogenerated steam. By producing steam and electricity simultaneously, Veolia Energy avoids the emission of approximately 430,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.

One overlooked potential is the gasification of municipal solid waste (MSW) and use as a reburn fuel in the existing coal-fired boiler. Since, under the new regulations the boilers will be subject to meeting air toxic rules, coal-fired boiler operators will be installing the necessary air pollution control equipment. So gasified municipal waste can be cleaned with the new equipment. When injected above the primary firing zone, the gasified waste acts as a reburn fuel and reduces NO_x.

The industrial boiler operator can charge a tipping fee for the MSW and replace some of the coal which is now burned. Many municipalities are now realizing that landfills are not a good choice for MSW. They can be costly if the distance is substantial. Also the methane released from landfills is twenty-nine to seventy times more potent a greenhouse gas than is CO_2.

The rapid growth of the SCR market for Chinese power plants is resulting in double digit annual increases in the catalyst market. Much of the needed capacity is being added in China. This is the conclusion reached in McIlvaine’s NO_x Control World Markets. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

China has developed a NO_x catalyst manufacturing capability in the last decade and now can produce catalyst with a value of $462 million per year.

No.	Annual Revenues ($ Millions)	Catalytic Agent Type
1	94	Honeycomb
2	83	Honeycomb
3	78	Honeycomb
4	62	Honeycomb
5	52	Flat
6	52	Flat
7	41	Honeycomb
Total	462

Presently, the top supplier can produce catalyst valued at $94 million/yr. Unlike some other products catalyst in China sells at the world prices and in some cases even higher. The third ranked supplier was the first manufacturer and was a result of the relocation of KWH from Germany.

There is substantial import of catalyst as well as some export. There is some difference in performance. In general, plate catalyst designs require more volume to achieve the same efficiency as honeycomb designs. But this is only one parameter.

Originally the only concern was NO_x reduction. However, as DeNO_x systems began to be applied to high sulfur coal burning power plants, it was discovered that conventional catalyst converts 1 percent of the SO₂ to SO₃. The SO₃ is a worse pollutant than the SO₂. To address the problem, catalyst manufacturers developed low conversion catalysts. They achieve the NO_xreduction with less SO₂ conversion to SO₃ but are more expensive.

It was also learned that the NO_x catalyst can have a beneficial effect of converting elemental mercury vapor to mercury chloride or other oxidized forms. The oxidized mercury can then be captured in a downstream scrubber. Catalyst manufacturers have developed a range of catalysts which address NO_x, SO₃ and mercury. In general, the better the catalyst in reducing all three pollutants, the more expensive the product.

Xcel Energy, already the country's top wind energy provider, proposes to significantly expand its wind power production to reduce customer costs, protect against rising and volatile fuel prices, and benefit the environment. The move is made possible by extremely competitive prices and the extended federal Production Tax Credit.

The company has submitted to state regulators throughout its service area proposals to purchase at least 1,500 megawatts of wind resources, a 30 percent increase in overall wind capacity. The wind power expansion, along with previous conservation, renewable energy and power plant improvement projects, also puts Xcel Energy on track to reduce its carbon emissions by 28 million tons, or more than 31 percent by 2020.

If the projects are approved, the company expects that more than 20 percent of its total energy mix will be supplied by wind.

Swedish energy company Vattenfall has announced the construction of two new wind farms in the UK – boosting its renewable energy production. The investment amounts to approximately 460 million pounds, the equivalent of 4.7 billion Swedish crowns.

The largest of the announced wind farm projects is Pen y Cymoedd, located in south Wales, near the Neath Port Talbot and Rhondda Cynon Taf. The 76-turbine wind farm will have a combined capacity of 228 MW, corresponding to the annual electricity need of approximately 140,000 households.

The investment for Vatttenfall amounts to more than 400 million pounds and the construction of Pen y Cymoedd will commence in 2014. The plant is expected to generate first power by the end of 2016.

The construction of the 18-turbine Clashindarroch Wind Farm, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland has just started and will be completed in early 2015. The investment amounts to 60 million pounds with a targeted capacity of 36.9 MW, corresponding to the annual electricity need of 22,000 households.

Solar power shines, setting a new all-time high output of 2,071 megawatts (MW) at 12:59 p.m., June 07, 2013. This amount of energy is enough to power more than 1.5 million homes across sunny California.

This new record is remarkable considering the amount has more than doubled since last September when solar peaked at 1,000 megawatts,” says Steve Berberich, California ISO President and CEO. “We are excited by this trend and expect to hit more record peaks on a regular basis.”

California is the largest producer of solar power in the nation. Today’s peak demand was about 36,000 megawatts and solar power supplied more than five percent of demand for electricity.

Canadian Solar Successfully Completed 30 MW Rooftop PV Installations in Suzhou, China

Canadian Solar Inc., one of the world's largest solar power companies, announced the successful completion of a 30 MW rooftop PV installation in China's City of Suzhou under the country's Golden Sun program. The project was historic in its size, complexity and scale. The project spanned 129 buildings, with a total surface area of approximately 500,000 square meters. The rooftops were mixed surfaces, with 200,000 square meters of steel structured rooftops and 300,000 square meters of concrete rooftops. Canadian Solar's CS6P-245P's modules were used.

Construction on the project was completed in June 2013, with full-grid connectivity taking place through July and August. The project's total capacity is 30.2 MWp. The first year's electricity generation is projected to be about 32.3 million KWh, while the accumulated electricity generation is expected to be approximately 728.9 million KWh over the next 25 years.

On June 13, 2013 Cornell University and Verdant Power Inc., signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the intention of entering into a long-term relationship centered on research and other activities related to Marine & Hydrokinetic (MHK) technologies. Verdant Power's MHK project on Roosevelt Island in New York City is the first commercially licensed tidal energy plant in U.S. It remains the only project in the world where an array of tidal energy turbines has successfully been deployed and operated. Cornell University is building Cornell Tech, its new applied sciences campus on Roosevelt Island. Cornell's researchers and Verdant Power share the vision of an array of underwater turbines in the East River off Roosevelt Island, permitted by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Pilot License (#P-12611).

In addition to commercialization by Verdant Power of the MHK tidal energy technology to provide clean, locally generated, renewable power under its FERC license, this array of turbines will form the core of a collaborative research program. It is anticipated that there will be undergraduate and postgraduate academic programs at Cornell focused on many of the disciplines involved in the MHK and other industries.

§ Idaho Power wants to Pass Cost of Controls at Jim Bridger on to Ratepayers

§ Alstom NO_x Control Equipment for 415 MW Kladno CFB Power Plant in Czech Republic

§ European Investment Bank puts Emissions Performance as Criteria for Loan

§ 2,000 MW Pemalang Power Project in Central Java, Indonesia has Land Acquisition Problems

“Improving Power Plant Efficiency and Power Generation” will be the subject of the Hot Topic Hour on Thursday August 8, 2013

Improving the efficiency of an existing power generation plant is one sure way to reduce the emissions of air and water pollutants per unit of power and it can pay dividends in the form of cost savings for fuel, pollution control chemicals and maintenance. In addition, improving efficiency may allow a power plant to meet the new emission limits posed by the utility MATS, CASPR (when finalized) and the several other air and water rules affecting power plants with minimum investment in new control systems.

There are many ways most existing power plant equipment trains can be improved ranging from better combustion of fuel to simply improving soot blowing to finer control of the entire process with monitoring and automation systems. Each of the potential methods to improve efficiency has unique advantages and come with different payback times. Also one potential method could affect the performance of another so using both together might not achieve the desired effect. And the specific equipment in a power plant train may not be adaptable to every improvement method.

Some of the questions that need answering are “What methods can I use to improve the efficiency of my specific power producing process? What will be the cost and payback time? What will be the effect on air and water pollutant emissions? Has this method been tried and proven elsewhere?”

The following speakers will describe some of the methods available to improve the efficiency of the power generation process and address these questions.

Todd Melick, Vice President of PROMECON USA, Inc, will discuss improving combustion efficiency by properly balancing the air and fuel. PROMECON provides process instrumentation for measuring coal, air, unburned carbon-in-ash, and high temperature gas streams. Balancing the air and fuel will allow a reduction in excess air while monitoring the carbon-in-ash will result in improved boiler efficiency.

Dick Storm, Founder and a Senior Consultant for Storm Technologies, will discuss “Improving Furnace Inputs.” There are both competitive pressures of natural gas fueled power plants combined with ever increasing regulations. An engineer in a coal-fueled utility or large IPP plant might want to take a fresh look at some fairly low cost options to improve emissions, provide fuel flexibility, improve reliability, increase capacity and while at it, make the generating units more responsive to load demand changes. These are difficult challenges. The vastly overlooked opportunities are to first apply the fundamentals. Here are some examples:

· Improve airflow measurement and control accuracy for the Primary Airflow, Secondary Airflow and the Overfire Airflow. Make certain the DCS keeps these in proportion throughout the load range,

· Tune the boiler controls so that the primary airflow is helpful in making load changes,

The path to excellence in applying the above is relatively low cost compared to the large capital costs of major backend equipment. However, those of us that concentrate on the furnace “Inputs” wonder why so much capital is spent on the backend when it is the “Inputs” that can make a dramatic impact for performance improvements.

Scott Affelt, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing for Zolo Technologies, will discuss how real-time, laser-based measurements can be used to create two-dimensional profiles of key combustion constituents (Temperature, O₂ and CO) directly in the furnace. Measurement information from the furnace can allow operators and/or automated control systems to properly balance combustion, thereby, allowing more optimized combustion, improved efficiency and reduced emissions. Examples of how the real-time, in-furnace measurements have improved performance in coal-fired power plants will be discussed.

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 $125.00 for non-subscribers. Market Intelligence webinars are free to McIlvaine market report subscribers and are $400.00 for non-subscribers.

	2013
DATE	SUBJECT
August 8	Improving Power Plant Efficiency and Power Generation	Power
August 15	Control and Treatment Technology for FGD Wastewater	Power
August 22	Pumps for Power Plant Cooling Water and Water Treatment Applications	Power
August 29	Status of Carbon Capture and Storage Programs and Technology	Power
Sept. 5	Fabric Selection for Particulate Control	Power
Sept. 19	Air Pollution Control for Gas Turbines	Power
Sept. 26	Multi-Pollutant Control Technology	Power
Oct. 3	Update on Coal Ash and CCP Issues and Standards	Power