March 2015 - Power Air Quality Insights 198

Dry Sorbent Injection Options and Issues Is the “Hot Topic Hour” April 9

Many power plants in the U.S. have opted for dry sorbent injection to meet MATS. The DSI can impact the emission of the following pollutants:

· Injection location (furnace, before air heater, before particulate collector, after particulate collector in dedicated TOXECON, before SDA (Wygen)

The DSI development has been extensive. Many pilot tests and the first commercial installations to meet MATS have been completed. What are the results?

Slides from NatronX which include Trona vs. SBC at Low Temperature by Melissa Patasnick and Joshua Allen, NatronX Technologies - Hot Topic Hour August 14, 2014

We will also be evaluating the discussions on the exhibit floor at EUEC plus the papers such as:

E5.1 THE BENEFITS OF HIGH REACTIVITY HYDRATED LIME IN A CIRCULATING DRY SCRUBBER Curt Biehn, Manager - Marketing & Technical Services, Mississippi Lime Company; Mark DeGenova

E5.2 SUCCESSFUL OPERATION OF FLUE GAS HUMIDIFICATION/COOLING USING SPRAY NOZZLES UPSTREAM OF DRY SORBENT INJECTION (DSI) Robert Van Durme, P.E., Key Account Manager, Lechler Inc.; Ashwin Patni, Lechler Inc.; Leon Lenertz, P.E., Xcel Energy

E5.3 BENEFICIATION OF HIGH SODIUM FLY ASH Michael Atwell, Market Development Manager, Solvay Chemicals

E5.4 SULFUR DIOXIDE MITIGATION USING HYDRATED LIME DSI & HUMIDIFICATION Carl Laird, Sr.Technical Specialist - FGT & Glass Markets, Carmeuse Lime and Stone

E5.5 APPLICATION & BENEFITS OF SO3 REMOVAL UPSTREAM OF THE LJUNGSTROM® AIR PREHEATER Gus Shearer, Product Director, ARVOS Inc. LJUNGSTROM Division; Sterling M. Gray, PE, AECOM Corporation

E5.6 DRY SORBENT INJECTION HISTORY & FUTURE APPLICATION Keith Day, Business Development Manager, Nol-Tec Systems

Major Developments to Be Analyzed in Hot Gas Treatment March 19th Hot Topic Hour

Due to the hydrate conference scheduled on this date, the discussion of dry scrubbing has been moved to April 9. The March 19 session will be split in two segments: Systems and Components

Systems: We are being bombarded with new technologies and approaches which remove particulate and even NO_x and acid gases at 850^oF. If these technologies live up to their claims, they will change the entire back end layout of power plants.

On March 19, we will provide updates on systems previously analyzed and presentations on additional options. Martin Schroter, Senior Manager of Business Development, Dürr Systems, Inc. will describe the ceramic catalytic filter using sub-micron powdered limestone injection in the furnace to provide the acid gas reagent.

Mitchell Krasnopoler, Manager, Air Quality, Kiewit Power Engineers & Construction will provide an analysis of removal options.

Haldor Topsoe and FLS have introduced two products. One is a ceramic catalytic filter element to operate at 850^oF. The other is a three layer synthetic filter bag with tailored catalysts in each layer to oxidize VOCS and reduce NO_x. We hope to obtain greater insights on both of these products.

We will be reviewing options for coal-fired boilers in the U.S., China and elsewhere. We will also be discussing cement and other applications. One major application is coal gasification where Porvair has orders for its metal filters. China plans to convert 1.5 billion tons of coal-to-syngas and coal-to-chemicals. This program would require hundreds of millions of dollars of annual investments in elements to filter more than 1 billion cubic feet of gas per minute

This webinar will build on one conducted on September 4, 2014 and a free website - Hot Gas Filters - Continuous Analyses. This free website also includes the analysis of filter elements which are operating in the 350^oF regime. A webinar on the options and issues for this temperature range was conducted and recorded on January 8, 2015.

Face to face discussions of the options for both temperature regimes will be conducted on April 29 at 10 a.m. in Charlotte, NC at the AFS Power conference. The website will be continually populated with a Decision Tree system with all the options explored. A series of articles in Filtration News will provide summaries of the latest developments.

Stewart McKenzie, Sales Manager, Lechler on humidification (reference EUEC speech).

Blaz Jurko, Gebr. Pfeiffer, Inc., on limestone size reduction. He will be asked to comment on the sub-micron size utilized in the Dürr system and compare it to the size in the conventional dry grinding systems.

SO₃ is a pollutant but it is injected into flue gas to improve particulate control. However, SO₃interferes with mercury capture. It is unintentionally created by SCR catalysts. It is the major component of condensibles in total particulate. SO₃ control is key to a new approach to power plant efficiency improvement.

Power plant decisions need to consider all the economic, operational and environmental impacts for each potential approach involving SO₃. A number of decision trees need to be navigated and then revisited. The best route can be likened to GPS guidance. McIlvaine has created a system for making all power plant air quality decisions: 44I Power Plant Air Quality Decisions. A fast track decision tree on SO₃ has just been posted in the system.

Decades ago sulfur trioxide (SO₃) was of interest to power plants and regulators for only one reason. Injection of small quantities into the gas stream improved precipitator efficiency. In the 1990s the U.S installed many SCR units for NO_x reduction. SO₃ suddenly took center stage among all the pollutants. It was identified as the cause of acidification so severe that a small town in Ohio had to be permanently vacated and the buildings demolished.

In the last decade, the pollutant took center stage again on the basis of its very large contribution to total particulate emissions (discrete particles plus condensibles). SO₃ is back in the news as part of a program to increase boiler efficiency through greater heat extraction. Its role in mercury capture is also now in the spotlight.

The U.S. experience with SO₃ is going to be useful to China which now is in the same position as the U.S. was in the 1990s. China has just installed a large number of SCR systems to reduce NO_x. These systems have the unintended consequence of converting SO₂ to SO₃. The SO₃ converts to H₂SO₄ in the stack and causes a blue plume and potential damage to the surroundings.

Power plants SO₃ decisions affect many others, therefore, it is necessary to consider all the economic, operational and environmental impacts for each potential approach involving SO₃.

Economics: The remaining plant life can determine whether it is worth considering high capital cost approaches for SO₃ and particulate control e.g., wet precipitators The potential to inject sorbents ahead of the air heater and improve the capture of exhaust heat can add one percent to boiler efficiency. The cost of SCR catalyst is a function of the SO₂/SO₃ conversion activity. The amount of activated carbon for mercury control can be affected by SO₃. If the plant must meet total particulate rather than discrete particulate limits, SO₃ is a big consideration.

Operations: Does the plant want to purchase high sulfur coal? SO₃ mitigation choices can determine the maximum coal sulfur content. How often will NO_x catalyst be replaced? Should flue gas conditioning be employed?

Maintenance: Sulfuric acid corrosion can be a problem in the air heater and ductwork. With ammonia injection, ammonium bisulfate builds up on surfaces of the air heater and reduces heat transfer. If you utilize a fabric filter, will there be bag plugging problems?

Air Emissions: Are there limits on total particulate emissions including condensibles? The new federal air toxic rules were revised to eliminate condensibles but states may have or are planning total particulate limits. If so, SO₃ can create 80 percent of the total particulate. Just 10 ppm of SO₃ will cause particulate emissions of 0.03 lbs/MMBtu. A blue plume will also be an opacity problem.

Each pollutant has to be viewed separately and all the ramifications evaluated. It is best to view all the ramifications relative to each pollutant separately and then determine a route which provides the best holistic approach.

Power Plant Air Quality Decisions has an organized approach to making these decisions. McIlvaine has added individual pollutant tracks to simplify the process. The SO₃ fast track GDPS has now been posted. It allows the reader to quickly view all the ramifications of SO₃ decisions.

Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES America) announced commercial operation of the Keechi Wind Project in Jack County, TX.

Construction of the 110 megawatt (MW) Keechi Wind Project commenced in December 2013 and commercial operation began on January 23, 2015. Consisting of 55 Vestas V100-2.0 MW turbines, the project created nearly 250 jobs during the peak of construction and nine permanent operations and maintenance jobs.

Vestas will provide turbine operations and maintenance services for the first five years of the project.

The Keechi Wind Project will deliver electricity into the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) market, under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement with Microsoft Corporation.

ABB Wins $100 million Subsea Cable System Order for Denmark’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm

ABB has won an order worth over $100 million from Energinet.dk, the Danish transmission system operator, to build an alternating current (AC) cable system that will enable the integration and transmission of power from the Kriegers Flak offshore wind farm to the mainland grid.

As Denmark's largest offshore wind farm it will help to increase the country’s wind power capacity to over 40 percent, capable of providing electricity to meet the demand of over 600,000 homes.

ABB’s cable system will connect the offshore wind farm platforms Kriegers Flak A and B to Rødvig, in Denmark. ABB will design, supply and install three high-voltage alternating current 220 kilovolt three-core submarine cables with a total length of about 100 kilometers (km) – 44 km from each of the platforms to shore and 11 km between the two platforms. The project is scheduled to be commissioned in 2018.

Principal Solar, Inc. will build a 72.9 MW AC solar facility in North Carolina, its second major project announced in 2015.

The project will be located in southern Fayetteville, NC, near St. Pauls, NC, and will represent total investment of approximately $154 million. Duke Energy Progress has signed a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to buy energy from the project.

The Fayetteville project is the second major project to be announced by Principal Solar in 2015. On February 4, 2015, the company announced plans to build a 78.5 MW AC facility in Cumberland County, NC. This facility will be the largest solar project east of the Rockies, and combined capacity of the two facilities will be 151.4 MW AC, enough to power an estimated 14,400 homes in North Carolina.

Suniva, Inc., a U.S. manufacturer of high-efficiency crystalline silicon solar cells and modules, announced that it is powering the solar photovoltaic (PV) system on The Millennium Building, located at 1909 K Street NW in Washington, D.C. – the first of its kind inside the District.

The Suniva PV system was designed and installed by Astrum Solar® for The Tower Companies a privately-held and family-owned organization that has both developed and managed The Millennium Building since 1973. The rooftop solar array features Suniva OPTimus® panels and sits atop the LEED® Gold Certified 235,000 SF, multi-tenant, commercial office building. This is the first solar PV installation on a large, commercial, class-A, office building in Washington D.C.

PHG Energy (PHGE) and the city of Lebanon, TN have signed a contract that will provide an environmentally sustainable method of waste disposal and produce green power in the process.

The waste-to-energy technology, which will go on line early next year, is a downdraft gasification plant that will cleanly convert up to 64 tons per day of blended waste wood, scrap tires and sewer sludge into a fuel gas that will generate up to 300 kW of electricity. The generation of this power will provide for the plants internal power needs as well as contribute electricity to the wastewater treatment plant where it will be located.

The Lebanon project will mark the 14th gasifier installation for PHGE. The company’s first municipal installation was commissioned in Covington, TN in 2013. Prior deployments of the thermo chemical process were for industrial brick manufacturing clients to replace natural gas usage by cleanly converting wood waste to what is called producer gas or synthetic gas.

· PRC Hearing over PNM’s Planned Shutdown of Units 2 and 3 at San Juan Station

· Mitsubishi-Larsen & Tubro Joint Venture to deliver Supercritical-pressure Coal-fired Boilers to Tanda Power Plant

· Wärtsilä contracted to supply a 56 MW Smart Power Generation Power Plant to Coffeyville Municipal Light and Power in Kansas

· Basin Electric wants to expand the Capacity of its 135 MW Pioneer Station

· Yokogawa wins DCS Orders for Combined Cycle Power Plants in Saudi Arabia

· TNB’s 1,071 MW Combined Cycle Seberang Perai Power Plant on Track for Operation in Malaysia

· Saudi Arabia and South Korea sign Deal to study the Feasibility of Nuclear Power Plants in Saudi Arabia

· Power Plants need to Think Outside the Box in Dealing with Obsolescence

· “Power Plant Wastewater Treatment Options and Obstacles Expand” - Hot Topic Hour March 12, 2015

· Major Developments to be analyzed in Hot Gas Treatment - March 19 Hot Topic Hour

· NO_x Control Options analyzed by Q & A in March 26, 2015 Hot Topic Hour

On Thursdays at 10:00 a.m. Central time, McIlvaine hosts a 90 minute web meeting on important energy and pollution control subjects. These Webinars are free of charge to owner/operators of the plants. They are also free to McIlvaine Subscribers of Power Plant Air Quality Decisions and Utility Tracking System. The cost for others is $300.00 per webinar.

See below for information on upcoming Hot Topic Hours. We welcome your input relative to suggested additions.

DATE	SUBJECT	DESCRIPTION
March 19, 2015	Dry Scrubbing Systems and Components
March 26, 2015	NO_x(SCR, SNCR)
April 9, 2015	Direct Sorbent Injection (DSI)
April 16, 2015	Air Monitoring
April 23, 2015	No Webinar but on-site interviews at Electric Power in Chicago.
April 30, 2015	MACT Update
May 7, 2015	Wet Calcium FGD
May 14, 2015	Gas Turbine Intake Filters
May 21, 2015	Power Plant Valves
May 28, 2015	No webinar but on-site interviews at Industrial Valve Summit in Bergamo, Italy