Mercury Measurement and Control is Hot Topic Hour on April 12, 2012
NOTE: Because of the strong interest in mercury control, we scheduled two sessions to discuss this subject – the first on March 15th and the second on April 12, 2012. Any person who registers for the April 12 session will also have access to the earlier recording.
Unless the final versions of the Utility MACT or MATS and the Industrial Boiler MACT are dramatically and unexpectedly revised, the limits for mercury emissions from coal- and oil-fired boilers will be very low. So low that it is questionable whether or not the required reductions can be achieved in all cases given the constraints imposed by reducing other pollutants simultaneously. Many also believe that it may also be very difficult to measure mercury reliably and accurately to determine and prove what removal efficiency is actually being achieved.
Control of mercury emissions from coal-fired boilers is currently achieved via three general broad methods: use of coals with low mercury content along with coal prep or washing, activated carbon injection (ACI), and various multi-pollutant control technologies in which Hg capture is enhanced in existing control devices for SO2, NOx, and particulates. Multi-pollutant methods include capture of Hgp in PM control equipment and soluble oxidized Hg compounds in wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. SCR NOx control systems are also used to enhance oxidation of elemental Hg0 in flue gas to increase the mercury removal in a wet FGD.
The overall scheme of regulations will make it even more difficult to develop a strategy and select the most appropriate method for mercury control. An integrated approach that considers how to capture mercury as well as other pollutants and dispose of them in an environmentally friendly manner will be necessary.
The speakers listed below will help us understand the current situation relative to the monitoring and control of mercury from coal-fired power plants. They will address the impact of the coming MACT on power plant operators; the key issues to be considered when developing a strategy to achieve compliance with the MACT; the current status of and new developments relative to the injection of activated carbon and other materials for mercury removal; the multi-emission control technologies available and under development with their applicability, capabilities and limitations and present other alternatives available to achieve compliance with the expected regulations.
Sharon M. Sjostrom, P.E., Chief Technology Officer at ADA Environmental Solutions (ADA-ES)
Dr. Ronald (Ron) R. Landreth, Manager of Customer Technical Services, Environmental Division of Albemarle Sorbent Technologies Corporation, will discuss “Meeting the Challenge of Utility Mercury Control.”
The Utility MACT has been issued and the clock is ticking. It has been demonstrated that mercury emissions can be effectively controlled but, in many applications, it requires a robust sorbent to provide a cost-effective solution. Bromine compounds have been of value in some applications to oxidize the elemental mercury. However, the mercury still has to be captured and many times a sorbent is required. Gas-phase bromination effectively upgrades not only the Hg removal performance of a plain PAC, but also, it upgrades the thermal stability. Gas-phase bromination provides multiple species on the surface of the PAC, which rapidly oxidize and permanently capture mercury. Thermal stability is important since sorbents are being utilized in hotter locations, such as before the air preheater. Gas-phase brominated PAC is routinely used at temperatures in excess of 700oF.
An unwanted side effect of most mercury sorbents is that they make the fly ash unusable for cement applications. Specially designed concrete-friendly, gas- phase brominated PACs are now routinely used to both provide high levels of Hg capture and allow continued use in cement. The demonstration of these sorbents is ongoing using the Albemarle low capital cost M-PACT injection system. It appears that these systems will also play a role as permanent injection systems in the utility industry, since lower injection rates than originally expected will be required in many applications.
Rob Nebergall, Business Manager, Emissions at Norit Americas, Inc.
Bobby IT. Chen, Client Program Manager, Integrated Emissions Solutions at Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure Group, will describe a two-stage process for controlling the mercury emission from the coal combustion process. The first stage is to promote the mercury oxidization at the combustion chamber outlet. The second stage is to provide a means of absorbent to capture the oxidized mercury. Shaw's EMO™ technology promotes 90 percent mercury oxidization and enables the system existing APC infrastructure to capture mercury emission.
To register for the Hot Topic Hour on April 12, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. (CDT), click on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/hot_topic_hour_registration.htm.
"Status of Gasification and IGCC Technology and Programs" Was the "Hot Topic Hour" on April 5, 2012

Fortunately the McIlvaine’s Hot Topic Hours are recorded. Many of them are important enough for you to view. If you do not get the chance to participate, then you can access the recording later. If you are a subscriber to Power Plant Air Quality Decisions, there is no charge. If not, the cost is only $95.
The following speakers discussed the status of gasification and IGCC technology; described their experience with the permitting, design, construction, operation and maintenance of gasification plants and IGCC power plants and discussed the economic and environmental performance of these plants.
Dr. Anthony (Tony) F. Black, an Energy Engineer in the Gasification and CO2 Technologies Area within Black & Veatch, presented a comparison of the current status of coal based power generation technologies and future improvements to IGCC that would make it competitive with conventional coal in both carbon constrained and unconstrained scenarios. IGCC is a promising technology for coal-fueled power generation, offering the potential for lower emissions and better performance than conventional coal-fueled technologies. Current conventional wisdom is that IGCC performance is comparable to pulverized coal (PC) performance and that PC capital and operating costs are significantly less than IGCC technology. This means that unless there is an impetus for change, PC power plants will continue to dominate the coal-fired electric power industry. Many people see increasingly stringent environmental standards as the impetus for change that will allow IGCC technology to become widely used and supplant the dominance of PC power plants. Many industry experts consider IGCC to offer superior environmental performance at a lower cost.
Steve Jenkins, Vice President Gasification Services CH2M Hill, updated participants on large-scale coal gasification and IGCC projects in construction and development, including the following:
1. Duke Energy Indiana’s Edwardsport IGCC project
2. Mississippi Power Company’s Kemper County IGCC project
3. Summit Power Group’s Texas Clean Energy project (IGCC and urea production)
4. Indiana Gasification (SNG)
5. Hydrogen Energy California (IGCC and urea production)
6. U.S. TransCarbon’s Adams Fork Energy project (gasoline)
7. DKRW’s Medicine Bow Fuel & Power project (gasoline)

He also discussed the new hazardous and air toxics (Utility MACT) limits that apply to IGCC plants.
Keith Moore, President of Phenix limited LLC, discussed how to address the EPA Utility MACT and CSAPR Rule at existing power boilers utilizing an advanced hybrid coal gasification system.

The following Hot Topic Hours have been recorded (both audio and video) and are available for viewing. Each session includes presentations by world experts on the specific title subject. Very current graphs and diagrams are included. There is a good mix between discussions and presentations. The sessions utilize valuable visual branches of the McIlvaine Decision Trees. You will need a password to view.
Click here to order recordings access


March 22, 2012 Industrial Boiler MACT – Impact and Control Options 116 minutes
MORE
March 15, 2012 Mercury Measurement and Control 97 minutes
MORE
March 8, 2012 SO3 Measurement & Control 112 minutes
MORE
March 1, 2012 Ultra Supercritical Coal-fired Boilers 77 minutes
MORE
February 23, 2012 NOx Control – Low NOx Technology Update 144 minutes
MORE
February 16, 2012 Power Plant Cooling Towers and Cooling Water Issues 163 minutes
MORE
February 9, 2012 Implementation of the MACT Rule 120 minutes
MORE
Here are the Headlines for the March 30, 2012 – Utility E-Alert
UTILITY E-ALERT
#1068 – March 30, 2012
Table of Contents
COAL – US
 B&W PGG to supply Reheaters for 3x660 MW Harrison
 Westar Energy Upgrading FGD on Lawrence 4 and 5
 Regulators ask for Plan to continue Ratcliffe Coal-fired Power Plant Construction in Mississippi
 URS to provide SBS Injection System to Merom
COAL – WORLD
 450 MW Haldia in West Bengal, India to be Online in 2013
 Jas Infrastructure & Power has Loan for 1320 MW Power Plant in Bihar State, India
 Zimbabwe to expand Hwange by 600 MW
 Doosan to Improve Performance of Bandel Power Plant in West Bengal, India
 Duro Felguera Commissioning FGD for 350 MW Lada 4 in Spain
 BPDB plans 2,500 MW of BOO Coal-fired Power Plants in Bangladesh
 Hinduja Energy India /STEAG Joint Venture
 Alston/Malakoff Consortia to supply New Supercritical Boiler in Malaysia with Fabric Filter and Seawater Scrubbers
 Indonesia is building 13,000 MW of Coal-fired Power Plants
GAS / OIL – US
 First Energy could add 800 MW of Gas Turbines at Eastlake
 FPL to build 1,277 MW Combined Cycle Power Plant at Port Everglades
 Shaw gets approval to work on Ninemile Point Combined Cycle Plant
 Progress Energy to convert Anclote from Oil- to Natural Gas-firing
GAS / OIL – WORLD
 Karnataka (India) to invite Bids for Four Gas-fired Power Plants of 700 MW Each
 GE wins Combined Cycle Conversion Contract at PP10 in Saudi Arabia
 GE signs Deal with Nigeria for Power Plants
 Uttar Pradesh could set up 500 MW LNG-fired Power Plant
CO2
 EPA Proposes First-Ever GHG Limits for Power Plants--Effectively Banning New Coal-Fired Power Plants
 CO2 Limits for New Plants is a Flawed Strategy
 UK to Propose GHG Limits for Power Plants—Promising to Support New Gas-Fired Plants
 Share of Coal in U.S. Power Mix Drops Below 40 Percent, a 35-Year Low
 Summit Power Consortium to Apply for Funding for New Clean Coal Plant with CCS in UK
 SaskPower and Hitachi to Build Carbon Capture Test Facility at Shand Power Plant
NUCLEAR
 Only One Nuclear Power Plant Online in Japan
 Bidding process begins for Construction of Olkiluoto 4 in Finland
 2,000 MW Kudankulam 1, 2 in Start-up Phase
 Taipower expects Fourth Nuclear Power Plant to enter Operation in 2014
 New Nuclear Power Plants in UK Cancelled
 Belene Cancelled
BUSINESS
 Hitachi signs License Agreement with Solios Environnement
HOT TOPIC HOUR
 “Status of Gasification & IGCC Technology & Programs” is Hot Topic Hour April 5, 2012
 Upcoming Hot Topic Hours
For more information on the Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System, click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/energy.html#42ei.
NOx Control Equipment and Consumables Revenues Will be $6.8 billion This Year
Revenues for suppliers of stationary NOx control systems, catalysts and reagents will exceed $6.8 billion in 2012. The biggest markets for new systems are in Asia whereas the greatest purchases of catalysts and reagents are in the U.S. and Europe. This is the conclusion reached in the McIlvaine report, NOx Control World Markets. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)
Stationary NOx Control Revenues 2012
($ Millions)
SCR systems 4,300
Catalyst new 1,200
Catalyst regenerated 400
Reagents 900
Total 6,800
China has already passed all other countries except the U.S. in terms of investment in selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems. At the rate it is installing additional units it will surpass the U.S. in 2014. However, since catalyst life is more than three years, it will be 2020 before China is also the largest catalyst consumer.
The largest investment in NOx control is for SCR for coal-fired power plants. Gas turbines also utilize SCR but there are fewer MW of capacity equipped with SCR. Also, the cost is lower due to the spacing in the body of the catalyst. Because of the dust in coal-fired power plants, the catalyst has larger openings and is more expensive.
The European and U.S. experience relative to catalyst life is somewhat different. Replacement is more frequent in the U.S. due to poisoning and plugging. However, a substantial industry has been created to renovate or regenerate used catalyst.
There are some surprises relative to reagent choices. The low cost but potentially less safe anhydrous ammonia is the most popular choice in Europe. While it is also popular in the U.S., there have been a number of plants who have opted for aqueous ammonia. Another U.S. development is the purchase of solid urea which is converted to ammonia onsite. China has also favored this more costly but safer approach.
Catalysts are being re-designed to address two pollutants in addition to NOx. The older catalysts convert 1 percent of the SO2 in the flue gas to SO3. This harmful conversion can be reduced by different catalyst formulations. Catalysts also have the potential to oxidize mercury to a soluble form for downstream capture in wet scrubbers. Many purchasers are willing to pay considerably more for their catalysts in order to minimize all three pollutant emissions.
In addition to the power industry there are a number of other smaller applications for stationary NOx control units. Cement plants are major NOx emitters. Many waste-to-energy plants are fitted with either selective catalytic reduction or selective non–catalytic reduction systems.
For more information on NOx Control World Markets, click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/air.html#n035.
Growing Interest in Marine Energy
Marine projects are being developed around the world. Although not as mature as other forms of renewable energy there are many different schemes to harness the energy of the waves and tides. All are covered in McIlvaine’s Renewable Energy Projects and Update.
U.S. Department of Energy Releases New Wave & Tidal Energy Assessment Reports
The U.S. Department of Energy has released two reports detailing the country’s ocean wave and tidal resource energy potential. Mapping and Assessment of the United States Ocean Wave Energy Resource report is a follow-up to the Electric Power Research Institute’s (EPRI) 2004 study, with the most recent evidence suggesting a 26 percent increase in wave energy resources.
The Assessment of Energy Production Potential from Tidal Streams in the United States, led by researchers at Georgia Tech Research Corporation in collaboration with DOE, is the first of its kind in the U.S. and includes a geographic information systems (GIS) tool available for public use. The report data concludes that U.S. water power resources, including ocean wave, tidal and conventional hydropower, have the potential to provide 15 percent of the nation’s electricity by 2030.
The wave energy assessment concludes that the Pacific Ocean off the West Coast (Washington, Oregon and California) and Alaska encompass the greatest available wave energy resources in the U.S. The report also outlines the wave energy potential along the East Coast from Maine through North Carolina, and from South Carolina through Florida as well as in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska’s Bering Sea, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
The tidal energy assessment designates and details data for energy resource “hot spots” across the U.S. including Alaska, Maine, Washington, Oregon, California, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
Alstom and SSE Renewables Create Joint Venture to Co-develop World’s Largest Wave Farm off the Coast of Orkney, Scotland
Alstom and the leading Scottish marine developer SSE Renewables have signed a new joint venture agreement to develop the Costa Head Wave Project, an up to 200 megawatts (MW) wave energy site located north of mainland Orkney, in The Crown Estate’s Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Strategic Area.
Alstom and SSE Renewables will work together to obtain the necessary permits and intend to populate the site with AWS-III wave energy converters, a technology currently under development by AWS Ocean Energy Ltd, in which Alstom acquired a 40 percent equity share in June 2011.
The Costa Head site is located in water depths of 60 - 75m approximately 5km to the north of Orkney Mainland. SSE Renewables and Alstom propose to carry out detailed site surveys and an environmental impact assessment (EIA), to develop the site with an initial phase of around 10MW, before moving on to install the full site capacity.
Established in 2004, AWS Ocean Energy is focused on the development and delivery of its AWS-III wave energy converter, a floating device with a rated power output of 2.5 MW. A 1:9 scale model of the AWS was tested in Loch Ness in 2010. Full scale component testing will commence in 2012 with the support of the Scottish Enterprise-administered WATERS fund (Wave and Tidal Energy: Research, Development and Demonstration Support), with a full-scale prototype planned for deployment at the European Marine Energy Centre in 2014.
The AWS-III technology consists of a multi-cell array of flexible membrane adsorbers which convert wave power to pneumatic power through compression of air within cells that are inter-connected. Turbine-generator sets are provided to convert the pneumatic power to electricity.
A typical AWS-III device will comprise an array of 12 cells, each measuring around 16m wide by 8m deep, arranged around a structure with overall beam of up to 60m. Such a device has a capacity of 2.5 MW while still having a structural steel weight of less than 1300 tons. The AWS-III will be slack moored in water depths of 65 to 150m using standard mooring spreads. Devices will be arranged in arrays or “farms” of up to several hundred MW total rating. Each AWS-III will be connected to a central offshore substation via a high-voltage umbilical link.
FERC Issues License for Verdant Power’s Tidal Energy Project
On January 23, 2012, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a pilot commercial license to construct, operate, and maintain Verdant Power’s Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy (RITE) Project in the east channel of the East River in New York City. The RITE Project will use the natural tidal currents of the East River to generate up to 1 megawatt (MW) of emission-free electricity in a three-staged development approach, beginning in 2013. The RITE pilot project is estimated to have an annual generation of 2.4 gigawatt-hours (GWh) after the completion of Phase 3. Verdant Power will install its 5th Generation Free Flow System, an updated version of the technology previously demonstrated in the East River.
Fortum and Seabased AB to Start Construction of a Wave Power Park in Sweden
Fortum and Seabased AB have signed an agreement on the construction of a joint wave power park in Sotenãs, Sweden. After completion, the wave power park will be the world’s largest, full-scale demonstration project of its kind. The total budget for the project is about €25 million, of which Fortum’s share is about half.
In the first half of 2012, Seabased will start serial production of buoys, generators, substations and converters at a factory to be established in the Lysekil municipality in Sweden.
The goal is for marine installation of the first 42 wave power buoys and related equipment during autumn and winter of 2012. Phase-two installations are planned to taken place after a research period of about one year. When completed, the wave power park will consist of 420 buoys, with a total output of about 10 megawatts, installed in a half a square kilometer area. The plant is scheduled for completion in 2014-2015.
Hammerfest Strom Tidal Turbine Installed in Orkney
A 100 ft. underwater turbine that is destined to be part of the world’s first tidal power array was successfully deployed in the sea around Orkney in late December, signaling a major step forward for the global marine renewable energy industry.
The 1 megawatt (MW) Hammerfest Strom HS1000 device, which can power the annual electricity needs of 500 homes, is the same machine that will be used by Scottish Power Renewables (SPR) as part of the world’s first tidal turbine array in the Sound of Islay. The company’s plans to develop a 10MW tidal array in Islay received planning consent from the Scottish Government in March last year.
The HS1000 tidal turbine has been developed by Hammerfest Strøm, a company partly-owned by Iberdrola (SPR’s parent company), Andritz Hydro and Statoil New Energy. Seen as one of the world’s most advanced tidal turbine designs, a prototype device has been generating electricity in Norway for over 6 years.
For more information on Renewable Energy Projects and Update please visit
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/Renewable_Energy_Projects_Brochure/renewable_energy_projects_brochure.htm
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Bob McIlvaine
President
847-784-0012 ext 112
rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com
www.mcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com
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