Market for Mercury Reduction Expanding beyond the U.S.

There is a multibillion dollar market for the reduction of emissions of mercury to the air on a worldwide basis. The New Zero Emissions limits for some areas of China will substantially increase the opportunities for mercury control suppliers. This is the conclusion of the McIlvaine Company in Mercury Air Reduction Markets.  (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

Significant conclusions are:

·       The U.S. is leading the way, but other countries are close behind.

·       The market is defined by developing technology.

·       Coal-fired power is the largest market.

·       Waste-to-energy and other industrial applications already provide a market.

·       Better sorbents and treatment chemicals are being rapidly developed.

·       The regulations and the market will be technology-driven.

·       China will be the biggest market in the next decade.

There are tough regulations on mercury emissions from power, cement and waste-to-energy plants which were slated for enforcement starting in 2015 in the U.S. This is creating a $1 billion annual market just for adsorbents, catalysts and treatment chemicals..

The options for the purchaser are made more complex because of the inter-relation between mercury and other pollutants. The selection of the SO₂ removal technology can greatly impact the cost of removing mercury. Once captured, mercury can be re-emitted if additional chemicals are not introduced. Fabric filters used for particulate control are more effective in the capture of mercury than are electrostatic precipitators. The purchaser facing a need for better particulate control has to decide whether to upgrade his precipitator or install a fabric filter. The need to remove mercury can influence this decision.

Suppliers of activated carbon are increasing the effectiveness of their product. At the same time, alternatives utilizing kaolin, bentonite and novel compounds are being tested and introduced to the market. There is a $200 million/yr. market to measure mercury emissions. In a surprising turn of events, suppliers of continuous emissions monitoring systems are finding competition from suppliers of sorbent traps.

The largest market potential is for coal-fired power plants. However, the waste-to-energy, mining, chemical and cement sectors also provide substantial opportunities. The size of these markets will be determined by the regulations. The regulations, in turn, will be shaped by the technology. In the U.S., the EPA is required to apply MACT (maximum achievable control technology) to the removal of this pollutant. The present limits require less than 90 percent removal. In the future, this limit is likely to be much tougher.

There is a clear trend for universal adoption of the toughest regulations in any country. The U.S. has taken the lead relative to mercury, but Europe is following suit. China set a relatively high limit in its current five year plan.  However, certain provinces and cities require the New Zero Emissions (NZE) standards.  These require plants to limit mercury emissions to 3 micrograms/NM³.  This is equivalent to the U.S. standards. 

For more information on:  Mercury Air Reduction Markets, click on: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/markets/2-uncategorised/85-n056

How to Make Coal Plants Greener

The common wisdom is that only with CO₂ capture can coal-fired power plants be green.  However, McIlvaine Company concludes that the lowest cost equivalent greenhouse gas reduction will come from coal-fired power plants which do not capture CO₂.  In fact, most of the world’s 2050 greenhouse gas targets can be met without either CO₂ sequestration or massive coal-fired power plant retirements. Here are the key points:

·       CO₂ capture and sequestration is very cost effective when the CO₂ is used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR).

·       There is sufficient demand for utilizing all power plant CO₂ for EOR but the demand is in places such as Saudi Arabia and the CO₂ emissions are in places such as China.

·       Realigning the word coal usage is impractical.  It is economically feasible to ship coal to Saudi Arabia and to build coal-fired power plants there.  Then more oil and gas could be sold rather than used.  But the political reality works against such an initiative.

·       CO₂ sequestration is very expensive if the CO₂ is not sold.

·       Coal-fired power plants without sequestration can be made very efficient.

Here is how huge reductions in CO₂ can be achieved:

·       Advanced ultrasupercritical technology (AUSC) provides a 9 percent increase in efficiency at 700^oC steam cycle over ultrasupercricticals at 600^oC.  There are huge efficiency increases compared to sub-critical steam cycles and to the large number of older coal-fired power plants around the world.

·       Cogeneration of steam for other uses can cut greenhouse gas impacts by 50 percent e.g. Blue Flint Ethanol plant with no CO₂ emissions due to waste steam from Great Rivers Energy.

·       Use of gasified municipal waste as a reburn fuel above the primary firing zone in a coal-fired boiler has very positive economic and environmental benefits.

·       One of the biggest opportunities is to create byproducts with less environmental impact than alternative approaches:

o   Flyash and gypsum are already useful byproducts and environmental credit should be attributed to them.

o   Many other options could be more significant.

o   McIlvaine believes that a system producing hydrochloric acid, rare earths and gypsum would require no more operating expense and capital investment than a conventional plant and would solve strategic resource concerns of the U.S. and European countries.

More information on these opportunities is found in N043 Fossil and Nuclear Power Generation: World Analysis and Forecast

GTCC Valves is the “Hot Topic Hour” on June 4, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. CST

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.

Click here for the Subscriber and Power Plant or Cement Plant Owner/Operator Registration Form

Click here for the Non-Subscribers Registration Form   

Headlines for Utility E-Alert –May 22, 2015

UTILITY E-ALERT

#1224 – May 22, 2015

Table of Contents

 COAL – US

§  Duke Energy to replace Coal with Gas at Power Plant in Asheville, NC

§  Board of Arizona Utility approves purchase of Power Plant Share

§  Environmental Groups, EPA settle Suit over Sherco Emissions

§  Duke Energy Ash Basin closure starts in South Carolina

COAL – WORLD

§  Ducon secures Order for FGD System for Coal-fired Power Plant in India

§  Kenya awards Two Coal Blocks, and plans Coal-fired Power Plant

§  SSE confirms Coal-fired Ferrybridge Power Station Closure in UK

§  Huaneng Power International Luoyang Co-Generation and Photovoltaic Units in Si’an Commence Operation

§  Alcoa to close Anglesea Power Station in Australia

GAS/OIL – US

§  Invenergy announces Nelson Energy Center started Commercial Operations

§  Brockton Power Plant developer moving toward Construction of Gas-fired Power Plant

GAS/OIL – WORLD

§  Egypt opens New 750 MW Power Plant near Cairo as Peak Energy Season approaches

§  Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas receives Order for Three  M501J Gas Turbines

BUSINESS

§  Solvay and Enirgi Chemicals form Joint Venture

§  Electrical Cooperative pulls out of Kemper Power Plant Deal

§  Hundreds of Options facing Power Plants purchasing New or upgrading Wet Calcium FGD Systems

§  Shifting in the Air/Gas/Water/Fluid Market

§  $25 Billion Annual Market for Coal-fired Power Plant Air Pollution Upgrades

HOT TOPIC HOUR

§  Hot Topic Hour May 21 covered GTCC Air Intake Issues and Options

§  “GTCC Valves” is the Hot Topic Hour on June 4, 2015 at 10 a.m. CDT

§  Upcoming Hot Topic Hours

For more information on the Utility Tracking System, click on:  http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/databases/2-uncategorised/89-42ei

McIlvaine Hot Topic Hour Registration

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.

Click here for the Subscriber and Power Plant or Cement Plant Owner/Operator Registration Form

Click here for the Non-Subscribers Registration Form

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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