Webinar on Thursday, June 16^th Expanded From Just the Narrow Scope of FGD Options to also Include Increased Plant Efficiency and Generation of Byproducts

We will be hosting a webinar on Thursday June 16 which has expanded from just the narrow scope of FGD options to also include increased plant efficiency and generation of byproducts.

Fifty years ago my company (Environeering) knew a lot about very little.  Today, my company (McIlvaine) knows very little about a lot.  In 1966, I was in the right place at the right time to make a contribution to the power industry and I would hope the same is true today.

Environeering was working with TVA in 1966 to use our scrubber to covert SO₂ to fertilizer using ammonia, but this was just at a tiny pilot plant in Muscle Shoals.  Our expertise was removing SO₂ from cupolas, incinerators, kilns and furnaces.  I had never been in a coal-fired power plant and did not even know there was a pending Clean Air Act. 

Then I got a call from Jim Jonakin of Combustion Engineering (Alstom, GE) saying he had $25 million to pursue SO₂ for the power industry and he wanted Environeering as a partner.  Shortly thereafter, I received a call from United Engineers saying that our magnesium oxide scrubbing system for pulp mills was just what was needed at Philadelphia Electric.

Over the next few years, the CE/Environeering license resulted in the first limestone scrubber system at Union Electric and then additional units at a number of plants.  The United Engineers support resulted in sulfuric acid production systems first at Eddystone and then a few years later at Cromby.

Forty two years ago the McIlvaine Company was founded and the only product was a multi-thousand page looseleaf scrubber manual.  Today, we have more than 50 publications and services in many industries covering many products.  As a result, I can claim to know a little about a very lot.  This kind of knowledge is dangerous because it is a recipe for displaying ignorance.  However, this is a risk worth taking in the webinar which I will host on Thursday.

The subject of the webinar is acid gas removal. The original scope was to review the free decision system which the McIlvaine Company makes available to power plants to allow them to determine which type of scrubber and which components they should select. The agenda and some novel solutions are included at: Agenda and Innovations.  

On reflection, I realized that given the climate change initiatives and the migration of FGD activity to Asia and developing countries it would be important to consider acid gas removal as a route to improve plant efficiency rather than reduce it.  Injection of SBS or other sorbents ahead of the air heater opens up a large opportunity to improve efficiency.  The catalytic filter promises to produce clean hot 850^oF gas.

Our limited knowledge of heat exchangers led us to believe it would simply be a matter of extending the air heater heat transfer area.  We are now learning that the law of diminishing returns sets in and it is tough to justify gaining efficiency through reductions below 245^oF in the flue gas.  Also we learned that heat recovery in warm climates is much more challenging.

We have added a supplementary analysis to the session on Thursday and encourage you to review it in advance:  Acid gas removal and Heat recovery.

The bulk of the analysis deals with the big potential for enlarging the air preheater but a number of other possibilities are also identified. We happen to be researching Forward Osmosis for zero liquid discharge (ZLD).  It occurs to us that possibly the draw solution could be heated in a direct flue gas –liquid heat exchanger.  The Anqing power plant in China is using waste heat to raise boiler feedwater temperature.  This alone seems to capture 44 MW of power on a 2000 MW power plant which would be a 2 percent efficiency improvement.

Why not use the waste heat for Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS).  Great Rivers Energy has an on-site ethanol plant. Why shouldn’t power plants co-generate?

Why not build the next municipal wastewater plant addition at the power plant.  It makes no sense to ship sludge and treated wastewater from the municipality to the power plant when co-location is more cost effective and also provides a use for waste heat. This co location even has a jazzy name:  Sewer Mining.

Since the biggest challenge will be in warm climates and in countries such as India without infrastructure, could the power plant make ice?  The Indian government was desperately supplying water by truck to reduce the large number of heat related deaths a few months ago.  Why not supply ice in the same manner that it was delivered to most American houses a century ago.

We invite you to participate in webinar on Thursday by registering at:  Click here for more information and to register

NO_x Catalyst and Reagent Market Grows Nicely While Equipment Slumps

The sales of reagent for stationary NO_x control in 2017 will exceed $3 billion.  This does not include sales of AdBlue for mobile NO_x control which are growing rapidly.  The SCR catalyst market will also be down to just under $1.6 billion from a peak two years ago of $1.8 billion.  The reason is that there was a surge of orders for new SCR in China which peaked in 2014.  It is 3-5 years before this catalyst is replaced. However, the good news for catalyst suppliers is that there are a lot more power plants using SCR than there were a few years ago.  The bad news is that with the large number of catalyst manufacturing plants built in China, the world capacity is also way up.

The SCR equipment market will be down by more than 30 percent from its peak a few years ago. A number of Chinese air pollution control companies will be looking to the international markets to fill their order books.  The problem is that India and some other countries with lots of coal-fired capacity are not likely to invest in SCR.

The non-selective catalytic reduction (NSCR) catalyst market will show more than 5 percent growth as will the market for oxi catalysts for gas turbines.

There will be good growth in the SNCR market as cement plants and various industrial NO_x emitters select hybrid systems.

The market for ozone generation will be growing robustly from a small base as it is increasingly utilized for the last incremental reduction.  The cost of this approach is a straight line.  It costs no more to go from 80 to 90 percent than it does from 10 to 20 percent. The cost to increase SCR efficiency from 80 to 90 percent will likely be an additional 50 percent. This is particularly true if one is trying to upgrade an existing unit where room was not provided for an additional catalyst bed.

The potential for catalytic filtration is very large.  In fact, it could be a game changer. Tougher NO_x control laws may come into force due to the potential to remove NO_x and dust in the same device. When this is coupled with direct sorbent injection (DSI), three or even four pollutants can be eliminated in one vessel. There are several hundred installations using this technology.  The entry of FLSmidth and Haldor Topsoe into this market is a positive sign that the largest suppliers believe in its future.

For more information on: N035 NO_x Control World Market, click on:  http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/markets/2-uncategorised/104-n035

Utility E-Alert Tracks Billions of Dollars of New Coal-fired Power Plants on a Weekly Basis – June 10, 2016

Here are some headlines from the Utility E-Alert.

UTILITY E-ALERT

#1276 – June 10, 2016

Table of Contents

COAL – US

·        Jacobs wins Coal Ash consulting Contract for City Utilities of Springfield, MO

·        Talen Energy to Co-fire Montour Power Plant

·        North Carolina Senate ratifies New Coal Ash Bill

·        DTE Energy to retire Eight Coal-fired Generators at Three Plants by 2023

COAL – WORLD

·        Alstom Bharat Forge to supply Steam Generators for NTPC Telangana Power Plant, India

·        Update on Indonesia's Batang Power Plant in Java

·        GE signs Digital Power Plant Agreement with Hubco for Pakistan’s Largest Steam Power Plant

·        Proposed 400 MW Coal-fired Power Plant in Kahramanmaras Province, Turkey

·        OPGC to seek Coal Linkage extension until 2021

The 41F Utility E-Alert is issued weekly and covers the coal-fired projects, regulations and other information important to the suppliers. It is $950/yr. but is included in the $3020 42EI Utility Tracking System which has data on every plant and project plus networking directories and many other features.

 HOT TOPIC HOUR (HTH) SCHEDULE

Click here to Register for the Webinars

FGD and Acid Gas Separation - Issue and options for SO₂ and other acid gas separation from coal fired power, cement, steel, and waste incineration plants.     
Click Here to Register

This free webinar will be held at 10:00 a.m. on June 16.  A collaborative format will be used to discuss decision guides on acid gas removal for coal fired power, cement, steel, waste to energy, and glass plants.  The decision guides already prepared on these subjects will be updated and quickly displayed during the meeting. Discussion will revolve around controversial issues. Subscribers to Power Plant Air Quality Decisions and Industrial Air Plants and Projects can access the guides at any time.  End users also have access upon request. Information on new developments is continually solicited.  For questions contact Bob McIlvaine at rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com 847-784-0012 ext. 112. 

LIFO vs. FIFO filter pulsing to maximize acid gas capture - Last sorbent on the cake is first removed. How do we change that to FIFO?

Direct Sorbent injection is becoming increasingly popular. Much of the acid gas is removed on the cake formed in the pulse jet filter.  It is critical that the unreacted or last in sorbent is not the first out. The LIFO vs FIFO accounting concept may apply.  Input on this subject is solicited from sorbent, dust collector, bag and valve suppliers.  Over the next few months we will assemble an analysis and decision guide on maximizing acid gas capture in the bag filter. A webinar will be scheduled for early Fall to discuss the findings. For more information contact Bob McIlvaine at rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com 847-784-0012 ext. 112.

Molecular Sieve Switching Valves

Molecular sieves are used to dehydrate gas. The valves used in switching from one sieve bed to another are subject to severe service including zeolite particles and corrosive, hot conditions. There is considerable controversy on the best valve designs and materials choices. Over the next few months we will assemble an analysis and decision guide on this subject. The preliminary analysis is provided at Severe Service Valve Technologies and Markets.  A webinar will be scheduled for early Fall to discuss the findings. For more information contact Bob McIlvaine at rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com   847-784-0012 ext. 112. 

Choke Valve Decision Guide and Webinar

Mcilvaine is compiling a continually updated Decision Guide for operators of choke valves used in oil and gas and other industries for fluid control. Contaminants such as sand integrated into varying mixtures of water, oil, methane and other gases provide both operational and maintenance challenges. The guide will identify the major applications and then the performance of various designs and various materials for specific conditions. The Guide will be the basis of a recorded discussion to be conducted in early fall 2016.  The guide will be offered free of cost to any end user.  It will also be published in Industrial Valves: World Markets and Strategies.  The wisdom of the industry is sought in order to make this guide the best it can be.   Input is welcomed from any and all sources. White papers, articles and other data to further the discussion would be most helpful. The background information and part of the analysis has been prepared and is displayed at Choke Valve Decision Guide. For more information contact Bob McIlvaine at rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com  847-784-0012 ext. 112. 

Details on Webinars

McIlvaine conducts periodic webinars which are in a discussion format and are free of charge to all participants. The displayed material and recordings are free to purchasers of the products and services and by subscription to others.

Format:  50-90 minute recorded discussion using McIlvaine display material. The session will be free of charge to all participants but registration is required.

Approach: There are two types of webinars. One is focused on Markets and directed to suppliers. The other is focused on aiding purchasers make the best Decisions relative to purchases of flow control and treatment equipment and services.

Markets HTH
General overviews of the market including size and major variables will be discussed with heavy emphasis on technology and regulatory drivers. The presentation will be based on the latest information appearing in Mcilvaine multi-client reports. Questions and views from both subscribers and non-subscribers are encouraged.

Decisions HTH
Mcilvaine has been publishing information systems on pollution control since 1974. Each subject is organized by the pollutant control technology e.g. fabric filter, scrubber etc. There are search capabilities to retrieve information on any application. The newest addition has been slide deck systems displaying the issues and options relative to a specific applications. Coal-fired power, cement, steel, and waste combustion decision slide decks are continually updated.

The continually updated slide decks are displayed on the applicable Decision System.  It is recommended that participants view the slide deck in advance of the session and be prepared with questions and views.

Value to purchasers and specifiers:  Your questions and interests will be prioritized in the discussion. You will get a monthly newsletter and have continuing access to the system and multiple ways to interface in the future along with a networking directory of suppliers.

Value to Suppliers:  You have the opportunity to provide data to be considered at no charge. If you are also a subscriber you will see the summaries in advance and be able to shed light on issues and options not properly covered in the slide deck.  If you are a subscriber you will receive the monthly newsletter and continuing yearly access to the system including networking directories.

44I Power Plant Air Quality Decisions  includes 1ABC, 3ABC, 4ABC, 9ABC decision services but not 2ABC. So those with multiple technologies and at least partial focus on power will find this combination most cost effective. 

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You can register for our free McIlvaine Newsletters at: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php?option=com_rsform&formId=5.

Bob McIlvaine

President
847-784-0012 ext. 112
rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com
www.mcilvainecompany.com