Power Air Quality Insights No

Power Air Quality Insights
No. 80 November 1, 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.

· Strategically Located Energy Complexes are the Greenest Option Affordable

· The World Market for Electrostatic Precipitator Systems, Repair Parts and Service Will Exceed $15 Billion in 2013

“Hot Topic Hour” on November 8 at 10 a.m. (CST) is “FGD Scrubber Components”

The conditions inside an FGD system are, to put it mildly, very nasty. The gases and liquids present are very corrosive and abrasive. It is vital to select the correct materials and design of an FGD system in order to minimize down time and maintenance cost. The following speakers will describe their experience in dealing with the FGD environment and provide recommendations on how to lengthen the life of your system and reduce maintenance costs:

Doug Reinke, Vice-president of Sales & Marketing at Augusta Fiberglass, will discuss FRP fiberglass components for FGDs. The power industry requires very large components for FGD scrubber systems and Augusta Fiberglass pioneered new techniques to deliver these component made out of FRP fiberglass. He will review fabrication and assembly of these large components and other innovative delivery methods to equip the power industry with corrosion resistant FRP and dual laminate equipment.

Chris Pedersen, Chief Executive Officer of Kimre, Inc, will discuss the AEROSEP(R) Sub-Micron-Aerosol Removal technology. This technology uses mechanisms for collection of sub-micron particulates not available from any other technology. Kimre's unique three dimensional structure allows the use of fibers having small diameters to easily collect aerosols of one micron. By combining this functionally with particle growth to one micron; sub-micron aerosols are easily and effectively collected. The technology has been used in European power plants burning municipal waste for decades and is also well proven for other sub-micron aerosols.

Rob Fredell, Vice-president for Business Development at Neumann Systems Group, Inc., will describe an advanced wet flue gas desulfurization technology known as NeuStream®-S. This system offers coal-fired power plant operators a reliable, lower-cost alternative to either conventional wet FGD systems or dry sorbent injection where SO₂ capture rates at or above 80 percent are desired. Using an advanced flat-jet liquid gas contactor and a proven dual-alkali capture system, NeuStream®-S offers high-performance acid gas control in about one-tenth the volume of conventional spray tower or lime spray dryer arrangements, with low parasitic power and low water consumption. For many operators, NeuStream®-S offers the lowest cost of ownership for plants operating five or more years.

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
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

§ Northland Power acquires Rights to develop Two Gas-fired Peaking Plants in Illinois

§ Holland BPW recommends New Site for proposed Natural Gas-fired Power Plant

§ General Electric planning 1,000 MW Power Plant in Kenya

§ Gulf JP has financing for 1,600 MW Rojana Industrial Park Combined Cycle Plant in Thailand

§ E.ON pulls out of Finnish Nuclear Power Plant Project

§ Uzbekistan plans to attract Korean Kepco to construct New Thermal Power Plant at Uchkuduk

§ Santee Cooper to retire Coal, Oil-fired Power Plants at Jefferies and Grainger

§ (Free) “Hot Topic Hour” on November 1^st is on “Cooling Towers and Cooling Tower Water Treatment as well
as Co-generation to Eliminate Cooling”

Energy complexes that burn a combination of coal and biomass, provide waste heat to other manufacturing within the complex, and capture CO₂ to use for enhanced oil recovery are the greenest option. Furthermore, they are affordable and practical. This is the conclusion reached in the McIlvaine report, Fossil & Nuclear Power Generation: World Analysis & Forecast. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

· Coal combustion is the most economical way to provide CO₂ for enhanced oil recovery

· New coal-fired power plants with only a 25 year life can replace old coal-fired power plants economically

· Methane has one hundred times the global warming effect of CO₂ in the first 25 years

Renewables at best are carbon neutral. A holistic concept combining co-generation, enhanced oil recovery, biomass co-combustion and ultrasupercritical boilers can result in a net reduction in greenhouse gases, the avoidance of other pollutants escaping to the atmosphere and a net gain in water.

The world will be spending $300 billion per year to construct new coal-fired power plants. The question is where will they be built? Presently, the U.S. consumption of coal is down, but exports are way up. China has been and will install as much coal-fired capacity as exists in the U.S. every six years. India, Vietnam, Indonesia and other Asian countries are also building many power plants.

Logic and economics may or may not prevail. Global warming is just what the title indicates. It is-- global. If the U.S. solves its CO₂ emission problems by shipping coal to China, it only transfers the emission source. As long as the U.S. keeps buying goods which require energy to manufacture, China will keep building new coal-fired power plants.

At the rate coal is being consumed, it will not be a major source of greenhouse gas emissions seventy-five years from now. Likewise, the supply of other fossil fuels will diminish rapidly over the next seven decades. So we need to look at the allocation of these resources with both a focus on the short-term and long-term impact on the world economy and the environment.

There are some significant inconsistencies in some of the analyses. For example, the short-term warming impact of methane is very high compared to CO₂. However, methane converts to CO₂ over a period of time. Most of the decision models use a one hundred year comparison of the relative harm and conclude that methane is only twenty-nine times more harmful than CO₂. But if the focus is on the short-term rather than long-term impacts, then this ratio needs to be increased.

Global Warming Impact in Tons of CO₂ Equivalent in 25 Year Increments for One Ton of Emissions

Gas	Year 1-25	Year 26-50	Year 51-75	Year 76-100	Total
CO₂	25	25	25	25	100
Methane	2,825	25	25	25	2,900

In the first 25 years, the warming impact of methane is one hundred thirteen times greater than CO₂. The methane losses from unconventional gas exploration, production and transport have not been fully quantified. There is general agreement that they are at least two percent. This still makes gas relatively greener than conventional coal. However, there are some experts who claim that losses are closer to four percent which would make even conventional coal competitive. In any case, there is a big advantage for clean coal over the first 25 years.

Forward looking utility companies such as Great Rivers Energy are building efficient complexes. The Coal Creek power plant not only generates power but all the energy needed for a co-located ethanol plant. The Spiritwood plant which is just being restarted also has a number of efficient ways to utilize excess heat resulting in efficiencies that are nearly double older stand-alone power plants.

New studies show that if coal-fired power plants were built in areas where there is a need for enhanced oil recovery there would be a use for all the CO₂ generated by all the world’s coal-fired power plants. Furthermore, new technology for condensing moisture from the power plant discharge gases would actually create water. Therefore a power plant burning 20 percent biomass and 80 percent coal and also sequestering the CO₂ for enhanced oil recovery, would actually reduce the CO₂ in the atmosphere and emit no pollutants; it would also create, rather than use, water.

Process	Separate and Old Processes	Integrated and New with Carbon Sequestration	Integrated and New Without Carbon Sequestration
Coal-fired Boiler	100	4	30
Steam Assisted Enhanced Oil Recovery	5	1
Co-generation Facility such as Cellulosic Ethanol	10	1	1
Biomass in Normal Cycle	0	-10	0
Total Impact	115	-4	31

1 ton of SO₂ = 100 tons of equivalent CO₂, 1 ton of Mercury = 1 million tons of CO₂

If oxycombustion is used, all the flue gases are CO₂so there are no atmospheric emissions. The CO₂ is used to recover oil. No credit is taken for the fact that additional energy would be required to recover oil from a new source. The Blue Flint ethanol plant of Great Rivers Energy does not have a dedicated boiler, so its emissions are negligible. If it were using the cellulosic rather than the corn based ethanol process, it would also generate waste biomass which could be combusted in the coal-fired boiler.

In general, biomass is neutral. Plants absorb CO₂ as they grow and release it again when they decay. The substitution for coal in the integrated systems causes the biomass carbon to be sequestered.

There are many older coal-fired boilers in the U.S. and other countries which cannot practically produce CO₂ for enhanced oil recovery. However, rather than just operate them as is for the next 25 years before retirement, it will be highly desirable to convert them to energy complexes including district heating. The Martin Drake power plant near downtown Colorado Springs is typical of such plants. It is centrally located where the waste heat can be economically used. The elimination of the cooling tower would also be an aesthetic benefit. It is already investing in very efficient SO₂ scrubber systems provided by Neumann Systems. The conversion of older plants to energy complexes can reduce the total harm in tons of CO₂ equivalent to just 27 percent (31/115) of the present emissions. This is the most cost-effective way to reduce emissions and should be a high priority.

The World Market for Electrostatic Precipitator Systems, Repair Parts and Service Will Exceed

The market for ESP repair and service will be $8 billion in 2013, whereas, the new systems market will exceed $7.5 billion. This is the conclusion in the latest update of Electrostatic Precipitators: World Markets published by the McIlvaine Company. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

2013 Electrostatic Precipitator Sales Revenues ($ Millions)
Segment	New Systems	Repair and Upgrade	Total
World	7,500	8,000	15,500
Africa	200	130	330
America	800	1,200	2,000
Asia	5,600	5,370	10,970
Europe	900	1,300	2,200

East Asia will be the largest market for new systems as well as for repair parts and service. In NAFTA and Western Europe, the new system market will be small compared to repair and service. The reason is that both regions have very large installed bases of precipitators but small markets for new coal-fired generators, steel mills and pulp/paper plants. Furthermore, new power plants in both these regions are more likely to be equipped with fabric filters than electrostatic precipitators.

India is buying large numbers of precipitators for coal-fired power plants. This is creating a much larger market for new systems than for repair and service. However, the ash in Indian coals is abrasive and there is a high ratio of ash to total coal burned. This creates special maintenance problems.

Chinese suppliers dominate the market for new precipitators in Asia. Alstom is the market leader in Europe and North America. Major suppliers are also based in Japan and Korea.

The biggest challenge for precipitator suppliers is the more stringent regulatory environment. Precipitators are sensitive to the type of particulate being captured. So when fuels change the precipitator performance changes. Fabric filters are not sensitive to the dust characteristics and are, therefore, more likely to be selected when the mandated emission limits are low.

Wind Industry Makes Steady Progress

The latest developments in wind energy may be found in McIlvaine’s Renewable Energy Projects and Update.

GE Celebrates 300 Wind Turbines Installed in Brazil

GE, which this year is celebrating its 10th anniversary in the wind industry, announced that it has installed 300 wind turbines in Brazil. Over the next two years, GE will install more than 600 additional units in Brazil as it continues to grow in the region, the company reported at the Brazil Windpower Conference in Rio de Janeiro.

As the GE fleet expands, the company also is announcing its plans to open two local service centers by 2014, representing a $1.5 million investment in Brazil. The service centers will employ more than 100 service technicians and be located in Rio Grande do Norte and Bahia.

Vestas Supplies its First Turbines with Intelligent Aviation Lights, Reducing the Visual Impact of Wind Power Plants

The Obstacle Collision Avoidance System — or OCAS — is an innovative solution that only activates the lights when an aircraft is operating in the immediate vicinity of a wind power plant. This minimizes the visual impact on local environment and opens up new commercial opportunities for sites with regulatory lightning restrictions.

The main feature of OCAS is a powerful radar system. Sited at the wind power plant, radars scan the surrounding area for nearby aircraft. If an aircraft is detected, the radar-system tracks its heading, speed and altitude and gauges whether or not the aviation lights on top of the wind turbines should be turned on. Once the aircraft has safely passed the site, the lights are automatically switched off again, thereby minimizing the visual impact on the surrounding environment.

Vestas acquired the technology from Norwegian radar specialists OCAS AS in October 2011. OCAS is approved by aviation authorities in the U.S., Canada, Norway and Sweden and is already installed at more than 60 sites throughout Europe and North America.

Gamesa G8X-2.0 MW and G9X-2.0 MW Machines Received Certificates in China

Gamesa Wind Turbines including G80, G87, G90, G97 and G87 CS –each of them with 2.0 MW of capacity- have received certificates respectively from China Electricity Power Research Institute (CEPRI).

The testing dates back to April 2011, under the combined efforts of 20 people from the engineering team and their counterparts in Spain, the first G87-2.0 MW was tested in Almendarache in September of 2011 and received certificate in November same year. This successful case set a solid foundation and created a better communication platform between Gamesa engineers and CEPRI, and consequently makes it possible for the other four types of Gamesa machines to get tested and receive certificates within 9 months.

For the advanced G128-4.5 MW wind turbine, Gamesa is scheduled to receive the certificate in China in the coming two months after finishing a series of tests of LVRT in Alaiz, Spain on August 14, 2012. It will definitely help Gamesa to further develop the market for this type of machine in China.

For the time being, Gamesa G58-850 kW has been tested in Liaoning province by Northeast Electricity Power Research Institute (under CEPRI) and received certificate in March of this year. G52-850 kW is on the way of testing and will receive the certificate soon.

Raymond Green, a World War II veteran and retired welder and operating engineer has hired Sigma Design Company located in Middlesex, N.J. to test, analyze, refine, optimize and manufacture his patented invention: Catching Wind Power (CWP) Compressed Air Enclosed Wind Turbine. Once launched, it will bring 25+ new technology jobs to New Jersey.

The blades of traditional wind turbines can kill bats, birds, and other flying wildlife. This was a concern to Green, so he designed a system that eliminates external blades. The patented “Inner Compression Cone Technology” (ICCT) squeezes the incoming air, compressing it as it is drawn through the turbine and multiplies it creating more power. The ICCT technology also creates virtually no noise. The blades are internal, closer together, and smaller therefore eliminating the sound traditional blades make as they spin and swoop past the tower.

The turbine is offered in different sizes ranging from personal portables to massive wind farm units. This versatile product is very cost-efficient for any location and allows the user to take green energy anywhere they go.

JLM Energy Inc. Introduces Zefr, the Arrayed Wind Turbine

JLM Energy Inc., a leading energy technology company, announced the unveiling of Zefr, its unique wind array turbine system. Designed as an urban wind turbine, Zefr is the first of its kind that is engineered to operate in an array.

The breakthrough development of Zefr was initiated when a multidisciplinary team of engineers and technicians were organized at JLM Energy Inc. The goal was to increase wind power adoption with smaller, arrayed wind turbines that are compatible with urban and suburban environments. Zefr broadens the market opportunities to commercial building owners and their tenants that are looking to reduce their environmental footprint. Large wind turbines do not have the same flexibility in urban and suburban environments and are often cost prohibitive for small to medium size business owners.

Zefr has several advantages including ease of installation, quieter operation, safety (humans and birds) and it is architecturally more pleasing. Depending on the configuration of the structure, the turbines can be mounted on rooftops, sidewalls and pole structures.

Mass Megawatts Wind Power, Inc. reported that the company's new wind augmentation system is near completion.

The Mass Megawatts' wind augmentation system utilizes a less complicated and inexpensive wind-focusing technique to increase the wind velocity directed at the turbine by an average of 70 percent. This accelerated wind speed, in turn, results in a significant, three-fold increase in the electrical power generated by the turbine.

The company's augmentation system eliminates the need for turbine structures to exceed a height of 80 feet to realize adequate wind velocity. This reduces material and installation costs while expediting zoning approval in many locations. Additionally, the augmenter technology makes it possible for turbines to operate profitably in lower wind-speed locations.

Using horizontal or propeller type turbine blades, the cost per rated kilowatt is projected to be less than $1000 and anticipated to approach $600 in mass production. This compares very favorably with traditional wind power systems that realize a cost of $1500 to $2000 per rated kilowatt.

§ General Electric planning 1,000 MW Power Plant in Kenya

§ Gulf JP has financing for 1,600 MW Rojana Industrial Park Combined Cycle Plant in Thailand

§ E.ON pulls out of Finnish Nuclear Power Plant Project

Wind Industry Makes Steady Progress

The latest developments in wind energy may be found in McIlvaine’s Renewable Energy Projects and Update.

GE Celebrates 300 Wind Turbines Installed in Brazil

Vestas Supplies its First Turbines with Intelligent Aviation Lights, Reducing the Visual Impact of Wind Power Plants

Gamesa G8X-2.0 MW and G9X-2.0 MW Machines Received Certificates in China

JLM Energy Inc. Introduces Zefr, the Arrayed Wind Turbine