May 2015 - Power Air Quality Insights 208

This webinar will be a discussion of the options and issues involving gas turbine and combined cycle valves. It will be based on a continually evolving GTCC Route Map and Summary. We are requesting input from the industry to expand this route map prior to the meeting and then to discuss and debate the alternatives during the webinar. Another purpose of the webinar will be to integrate this route map with the entire program.

The GTCC Route Map is going to be displayed in Power Plant Valves Decision Guide. This decision guide provides direct links to detailed articles, white papers, recordings and other material needed for decision making. This intelligence is contained in two complete decision programs 44I Power Plant Air Quality Decisions (Power Plant Decisions Orchard) and Gas Turbine and Combined Cycle Decisions.

The whole concept of the decision programs in power and the role of route maps, decision guides and decision orchards is explained at Power Plant Decisions.

Hundreds of Options Facing Power Plants Purchasing New or Upgrading Wet Calcium FGD Systems

The wet calcium (lime and limestone) process is only one option for removing SO₂. Dry systems, ammonium sulfate, seawater, amine and other processes are also alternatives. Assuming that the purchaser has decided to purchase a new or upgrade an existing wet calcium FGD system, he must then make hundreds of decisions about processes and components. These systems represent up to 15 percent of the entire power plant investment. So it is important that all options be considered and the best selected. Power Plant Air Quality Decisions is a program providing utilities with a continuing and thorough analysis of issues and options.

The first set of options involves system design. If you select the less expensive limestone process, you have low operating but high capital cost. If you opt for lime, the reverse is true. If you need to elevate the discharge gas temperature to meet local regulations, then you need to consider gas-to-gas heat exchangers before and after the scrubber. But you should avoid this expensive and maintenance prone process if you can.

There are a variety of scrubber designs falling into four main categories: spray tower, tray tower, sump and hybrid. Spray towers require large quantities of slurry. Tray towers use much smaller pumps but the fan horsepower is greater. Sump scrubbers are compact but also require more fan horsepower. A hybrid version is the rod or pipe scrubber which is being touted by at least one major supplier. A double contact scrubber is offered by another. The conventional wisdom has been that laminar flow and optimum droplet dispersion causes the best results. The purchaser should be cautioned to consider that turbulence rather than laminar flow may provide the best results.

When spray towers are used, the performance of the nozzles is critical. Hollow cone or full cone, downflow vs. upflow and other arrangements need to be analyzed. Mist eliminators are also critical. Escaping mist adds to emissions and can cause maintenance problems. Design considerations include:

The selection of materials is critical due to the abrasive and corrosive environments. The inlet to the scrubber and the scrubber walls has proved most challenging to materials suppliers. Stainless, alloys, titanium, FRP, plastic and rubber lining, and non-metallic mineral linings are all being utilized. One problem is that the corrosive impact is controlled by the operator. If he recirculates more slurry and bleeds less, the chloride level can rise to levels which eliminate most material choices. The temperature is also controlled by the operator. If the pumps fail, the scrubber can quickly exceed temperatures beyond the FRP limit.

Big recirculating slurry pumps may be required to move hundreds of thousands of gallons per minute. Many improvements have recently been made to reduce maintenance and improve efficiency. The purchaser needs to determine which vendors have made these improvements.

Slurry valves are equally important. Two options are knife gate and butterfly valves. Both are being used with butterfly valves showing more use in Europe.

The power plant has to decide whether to make wallboard quality gypsum or just a material for disposal. The gypsum quality is influenced by the oxidation blower. Both single-stage and multi-stage blowers are available. Cost, energy consumption and other factors differ.

Recent component improvements are important enough that the purchaser of a new system should make sure that the system he purchases incorporates them. Operators who are upgrading systems should also make sure they are aware of these advances.

The Danaher acquisition of Pall, the acquisition of Howden by Colfax, and the Nalco acquisition by Ecolab are all product expansions in the air/gas/water/fluid treatment and control market. This was a $323 billion market in 2012 and is now well above $350 billion. This market is continually analyzed in McIlvaine’s Air/Gas/Water/Fluid Treatment and Control: World Market. (www.mcilvainecompany.com) Despite the acquisitions none of the companies commands a significant share of the total market.

Danaher, Teledyne, Xylem and B&W are all in the air and water monitoring market. B&W and Teledyne are in the air segment. Danaher, Teledyne and Xylem are in the water monitoring segment. However, these three companies do not compete in most of the other segments. So despite the acquisitions, no company covers all the major segments.

Product	Power	Fluid	Municipal	Industrial and Other	Residential/ Commercial	Total
Flow (Water)
Pumps	3	8	14	20	8	53
Valves	7	13	7	39	20	86
Subtotal	10	21	21	59	28	139
Liquid Treatment
Cartridge	0	7	1	6	7	21
Sedimentation/Centrifugation	1	0	2	5	0	8
Cross-flow Membranes	2	0	4	3	1	10

Macrofiltration	1	0	2	4	0	7
Subtotal	4	7	9	18	8	46
Oxidation and Destruction (Water)
Biological/Oxidation/Destruction	1	0	8	4	2	15

Water/Wastewater Chemicals	5	0	9	10	0	24
Subtotal	6	0	17	14	2	39
Indoor Air Treatment
Filtration/Purification	1	2	0	3	5*	11
Stack Gas Treatment and Flow
Fabric Filter	1	0	0	5	0	6
Scrubber	0	0	1	5	0	6
Precipitator	7	0	0	1	0	8
FGD	7	0	0	0	0	7
DeNOx	6	2	0	1	0	9
Thermal/Catalytic	0	10	0	2	0	12
Fans and Compressors	4	2	2	12	5	25
Subtotal	25	14	3	26	5	73
Monitoring
Air	1	1	1	1	3	7
Air
Water	1	1	3	2	1	8


Subtotal	2	2	4	3	4	15
Total						323

With the acquisition of Pall, Danaher is now in five segments, Xylem is in four segments, B&W is in seven sub-segments but they are involved with stack gas. Teledyne is in just two of the segments. Danaher has now increased its market share to over one percent. The three others have shares below one percent.

Thousands of coal-fired power plants around the world will need to upgrade or replace air pollution control equipment in the coming years. This will result in an annual expenditure of over $25 billion. This does not include consumables such as dust bags or reagents (lime, ammonia, etc.). This conclusion was reached by aggregating information contained in a number of McIlvaine Company reports. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

Major markets will be the U.S., Europe and China. However, there will be significant expenditures in Russia, Chile, South Africa, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Australia. The drivers will be:

China will be the largest market due to its extensive fleet of coal-fired boilers, new tough regulations, and corrosion issues at existing power plants. Over 100,000 MW of FGD systems will be upgraded. Many of the existing precipitators will be upgraded or replaced with fabric filters. In some cases, wet electrostatic precipitators will be placed downstream of existing scrubbers.

The U.S. has just implemented new air toxic rules. The enforcement of ambient air quality rules in the individual states may result in the Los Angeles level of stringency. Because it is impossible to site a new power plant, owners are upgrading old power plants. The cost of an upgrade is likely to be more than the air pollution control investment at a new power plant.

Europe is maintaining a base fleet of coal-fired power plants. It continues to tighten emission limits. So upgrades are periodically required. Russia, Chile and South Africa are among the countries which are tightening particulate limits and forcing power plants to install fabric filters. Removal of the precipitator internals and their replacement with bags is becoming increasingly common.

There are NO_xupgrades and replacements taking place in the U.S., China, Taiwan, Japan and Europe. These are forecast in: N035 NOx Control World Market

FGD upgrades and retrofits are also being undertaken in the same countries plus a few others. The revenues for these upgrades are forecasted in: N027 FGD Market and Strategies

The U.S. and China are leading the way in mercury control for coal-fired power plants. Many countries require mercury control at waste incinerators. This market is analyzed in: N056 Mercury Air Reduction Market

New continuous emissions monitoring and process control systems are replacing older ones at coal-fired power plants around the world. Many countries now require mass particulate monitoring to replace the older opacity measurement systems. This opportunity is analyzed in: N031 Air and Water Monitoring: World Market

Acciona Windpower will Install More than 800 MW of Wind Power in North America in 2015

Acciona Windpower (AWP), a subsidiary of the Acciona Group that designs, manufactures and markets wind turbines, plans to install 805.5 MW in North America in 2015. 94 percent of this capacity will be with 3 MW wind turbines. All these facilities are owned by third-party customers.

By the end of this year, the Green Pastures I and II wind farms (300 MW) and the Cameron Wind Farm (165 MW), will be grid connected. These projects are located in Texas and the first phase of the Green Pastures Wind Farm is already operational.

In Canada, the South Canoe wind farm in Nova Scotia (102 MW) is now being prepared for service. It will be fully operational in June.

In Mexico, the Ventika I (126 MW) wind farm and about half of Ventika II (63 MW of the 126 MW that make up the facility) will enter service in the second half of the year, both of them in the state of Nuevo León, together with Ingenio (49.5 MW) in Oaxaca.

This capacity represents 59.5 percent of the total that AWP will put into service worldwide in 2015 (1,353 MW). Brazil, another major market for AWP, accounts for 21.5 percent; South Africa - 10.2 percent; Turkey – 4.3 percent; Poland – 4 percent; and other countries - 0.5 percent.

90 MW of Solar Generation to be Installed at Forts Benning, Gordon and Stewart

Georgia Power recently started construction on new solar projects at Georgia Army bases Fort Gordon near Augusta and Fort Stewart near Savannah. At groundbreaking events at the bases leadership from the company, the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC), the U.S. Army, the U.S. Army Office of Energy Initiatives (OEI) and the General Services Administration (GSA) gathered with community leaders and others to tour the site and mark the beginning of development.

Georgia Power and the U.S. Army first announced the Georgia 3x30 solar project in 2014. The project consists of the development of three 30 megawatt (MW) solar generation facilities at three separate Army bases throughout the state. The projects, each of which may cover more than 200 acres, are scheduled to be completed and begin delivering power to the state's electric grid by the end of 2016.

Azure Power Commissions 100 MW Solar Power Plant Under India’s National Solar Mission

Azure Power, pioneering independent power producer in the Indian solar power sector, has announced the commissioning of its largest (100 MW) solar plant under India's National Solar Mission (NSM) policy in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Azure Power had won this project under the NSM Phase-2 Batch I to supply power to Solar Energy Corporation of India, for 25 years.

With the commissioning of this project, Azure Power is now the single largest owner and operator of solar PV projects under the NSM with a cumulative operational capacity of 142 MWs under this policy. The government of India announced the JNNSM in 2010 and has allocated solar PV projects totaling 1250 MW over three tranches of 150 MW, 350 MW and 750 MWs since. Azure Power has successfully won in all the three tranches, where 5 MW, 35 MW and the maximum permissible capacity of 100 MW has been won and commissioned respectively under each of the three tranches. With the completion of these projects Azure Power also becomes the largest investor of solar power in the state of Rajasthan.

In a continued demonstration of its strong engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) track record, the company commissioned the plant in less than 8 months.

Alterra Power Corp. and the Klahoose First Nation are pleased to announce they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) under which Alterra and the Klahoose will work together to develop the 15 MW Tahumming River hydroelectric project, which is located near the Toba Montrose and Jimmie Creek projects in the traditional territory of the Klahoose.

The parties plan to submit the project into BC Hydro and Power Authority's Standing Offer Program upon completion of the project's environmental assessment certificate.

Invenergy Announces Start of Commercial Operation of 31.5 MW Grand Ridge Energy Storage Project in Illinois

Invenergy LLC announced the start of commercial operations of its 31.5 MW Grand Ridge Energy Storage project in La Salle County, Illinois.

The project is located about 80 miles southwest of Chicago at Invenergy's Grand Ridge Energy Center, which is comprised of a 210 MW wind farm; a 20 MW solar project; and an existing 1.5 MW energy storage unit.

Grand Ridge Energy Storage provides fast-response regulation service to the PJM market.

· WV PSC staff requests Appalachian Power to justify planned Power Plant closures

· Oak Creek Power Plant gets State OK for changes enabling burning of Wyoming Coal

· Wisconsin Energy finalizes Deal to sell Wauwatosa Coal-fired Power Plant

· Milhouse Engineering & Construction signs MOU with Federal Republic of Nigeria for Mini Coal-fired Power Plants

· AES achieves Commercial Operation of 1,240 MW Coal-fired Mong Duong 2 Power Plant in Vietnam

· Black & Veatch partners for Power Project expansion of Duyen Hai 3 in Vietnam

· CPV receives approval from Connecticut Siting Council to construct Towantic Energy Center in Oxford

· MHPS receives Order for Combined Heat and Power Supply Plant from Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative in India

· Alfa Laval wins $13 Million Order to supply Air-cooler Systems in the Middle East

· Samsung interested in setting up a Gas-fired Combined Cycle Power Plant at Moheshkhali in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

· Jacobs awarded Contract by EDF Energy to provide Project Management Resources to Eight Nuclear Power Stations and Two Technical Centers

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
May 21, 2015	Gas Turbine Intake Filters	More Information
May 28, 2015	No webinar but on-site interviews at Industrial Valve Summit in Bergamo, Italy
June 4, 2015	Power Plant Valves	More Information
June 11, 2015	SO3 Removal Options	More Information
June 18, 2015	Hot Gas Filtration	More Information
June 25, 2015	Mercury Removal Options	More Information