Here are the Headlines for the November 4, 2011 – Utility E Alert

 UTILITY E-ALERT

#1049 – November 4, 2011

Table of Contents

COAL – US

COAL – WORLD

GAS / OIL – US

GAS / OIL – WORLD

BIOMASS 

CO2

NUCLEAR

BUSINESS

HOT TOPIC HOUR

For more information on the Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System, click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/energy.html#42ei.

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$5.6 Billion for Chemicals for Air Pollution Control in 2012

Sales of chemicals to reduce air pollution from stationary sources will exceed $5.6 billion in 2012 and represent an 8 percent increase from 2011. This is the latest forecast in Air Pollution Management, a continually updated report by the McIlvaine Company.

 

Chemical Type

Sales ($ Millions)

Lime

600

Limestone

             2,000

Sodium

500

Ammonia

900

Polymers/Flocculants/pH Adjusters

300

Odor Control Chemicals

300

Activated Carbon

700

Other

300

Total

             5,600

Sales of activated carbon are now projected at $700 million. This is a lower adjustment from previous forecasts. The important Utility air toxic rules in the U.S. will have major impacts on sales but the time frame has been moved back until 2014-2016. Sales of sodium bicarbonate and trona are going to experience substantial growth as limitations on emissions of hydrogen chloride and sulfur trioxide come into effect in the U.S. Sodium hydroxide is widely used worldwide in acid gas scrubbers in chemical, incineration, and mining applications.

The biggest use of ammonia is for reduction of nitrogen oxides. The sales figure of $900 million for 2012 is just for stationary source emissions. There is an additional significant mobile market. Ammonia is also used as a scrubber reagent. A byproduct is ammonium sulfate. The sales price of the byproduct is now four times the price of the purchased ammonia, so there is an economic advantage to using this reagent. The problem is that a blue plume is generated and a wet electrostatic precipitator is often needed to eliminate the fine ammonium chloride or sulfide particles.

Most scrubber systems are equipped with wastewater treatment equipment. This involves the use of various chemicals including polymers flocculants, and pH adjusters. A variety of odor control chemicals including hydrogen peroxide, potassium permanganate, and others are used in scrubbers located in municipal wastewater treatment, chemical, food, and other manufacturing plants.

The market is growing at close to double digit rates. China is the largest purchaser of limestone for scrubbers and is the second largest purchaser of ammonia for NOx control. The U.S. remains the largest purchaser for the present but will lose this position by 2020.

For more information on Air Pollution Management, click on:  http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/air.html#5ab

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Utility Power Water Treatment Market Will Exceed $23 Billion in 2012 

Utility power generators will spend $23.4 billion in 2012 for equipment and chemicals to treat water. This is the conclusion reached in the continually updated, Fluid/Gas Treatment and Control: World Markets published by the McIlvaine Company www.mcilvainecompany.com.

 

Product Type

Revenues

($ Millions)

Chemicals

     4,600

Filtration/separation

     2,500

Instrumentation

     2,500

Other treatment

     3,100

Pumps

     3,500

Valves

     7,200

Total

   23,400

Power plants use ten times more water than is treated in municipal drinking water plants. They extract and treat more water than all other industries combined.  The only larger use of water is for irrigation. The above totals do not include industrial power plants which add another $5 billion to the total.

The main use of water by the utility power generators is for steam generation. This includes the water which is directly converted to steam and the large amount of cooling water which is also required. The biggest user is the coal-fired generation segment.  They also have flyash transport and SO2 scrubbers which require additional amounts of water treatment. Nuclear power plants need the water for steam generation but also have to deal with remediation and contamination prevention.

Various renewable energy technologies also require water.  Concentrated solar power uses water for steam generation.  Geothermal power requires significant amounts of water.  Hydropower uses water directly as an energy source.   Tidal and wave energy are in the early stages of development.

Water for steam generation must be treated to a quality far beyond that of drinking water. Many filtration, ion exchange and degasification steps are utilized. The steam cycle requires large quantities of valves and pumps which must deal with very high pressures and temperatures.  Sophisticated instrumentation is required.

The filtration and separation starts with the river or surface water treatment and ends with the treatment of the wastewater prior to discharge. There are chemicals required at each step along the way.  Flocculants and coagulants are needed in pre–filtration.  Corrosion inhibitors, oxidizers, scale inhibitors, ion exchange resins and other chemicals are needed during the many treatment steps prior to discharge.

The scrubber to remove SO2 from a 1000 MW power plant requires as much water as a 400 MGD municipal water treatment plant. This is a plant big enough to serve a city of four million people. Recent regulations, which are targeting the so called thermal pollution, will require many utilities in the U.S. to install recycling systems to cool the steam condensate. Other clean water regulations will require expenditures to renovate existing ash ponds.

Large numbers of coal-fired power plants are being built in Asia. There are some very large hydropower projects in the region as well. Consequently, Asia is the largest market presently and will be the fastest growth market over the next decade.

For more information on Fluid/Gas Treatment and Control: World Markets http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71

 BIOMASS PROJECTS MOVING FORWARD

Biomass Energy is covered in McIlvaine’s Renewable Energy Updates and Projects. Here are just a few of the items reported on in a recent Update.

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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited a waste-to-energy bioprocessing facility under construction in Florida August 11, 2011 to announce that the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy (DOE) have awarded 10 grants totaling $12.2 million to spur research into improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of growing biofuel and bioenergy crops. The grants are part of a broader effort by the Obama administration to develop domestic renewable energy and advanced biofuels, providing a more secure future for America’s energy needs and creating new opportunities for the American farming industry.

Overall, the USDA and DOE projects are designed to improve special crops to be grown for biofuels including selected trees and grasses by increasing their yield, quality and ability to adapt to extreme environments. Researchers will rely on the most advanced techniques of modern genomics to develop breeding and other strategies to improve the crops. The research will be conducted on switchgrass, poplar, miscanthus and brachypodium, among other plants.

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USDA Forest Service also awarded nearly $3 million in grants to 17 small businesses and community groups to develop wood-to-energy projects that require engineering services and will help expand regional economies and create new jobs.

These projects will use woody material removed from forests during projects such as wildfire prevention, and that woody biomass will be processed in bioenergy facilities to produce green energy for heating and electricity. The awardees will use funds from the Woody Biomass Utilization Grant program to further the planning of such facilities by funding the engineering services necessary for final design, permitting and cost analysis.

Examples of possible projects include the engineering design of a woody biomass boiler for steam at a sawmill, non-pressurized hot water system for a hospital or school, and a biomass-power generation facility. The grant program helps applicants complete the necessary design work needed to secure public or private investment for construction.

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Foster Wheeler has chosen Emerson Process Management’s PlantWeb™ digital plant architecture with the Ovation™ expert control system and AMS Suite predictive maintenance software to control a new biomass boiler at the Polaniec Power Station in Poland. When operational in 2012, this will be the world’s largest 100 percent biomass-fired boiler.

Foster Wheeler is building the 190-MWe biomass-fired circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) boiler island for plant owner GDF Suez, one of the world’s leading energy providers. Poland has been investing in biomass power generation to achieve a target of producing 15 percent of its total energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020.

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ITOCHU Corporation announced equity participation in Gainesville Renewable Energy Center, a 100-MW biomass power project located in Gainesville, FL through indirect affiliates.

The project was jointly developed by BayCorp Holdings, Ltd., Energy Management Inc., and Tyr Energy Inc., a wholly-owned Independent Power Producer company of ITOCHU Corporation, and is the second 100-MW class biomass power project developed by the group. The project is one of the largest biomass-fueled electric generating facilities in the United States, with an emission control system designed to meet or exceed all U.S. and Florida requirements.

Following financial closing, the project will move forward to the construction phase and is expected to begin commercial operation in 2013. After commencement of commercial operation, the project will deliver electricity to Gainesville Regional Utilities, the city-owned utility in Gainesville, FL, under a 30-year long-term power purchase agreement. NAES Corporation, the largest independent Operation & Maintenance provider, which operates the largest fleet of biomass facilities in U.S., will provide Operation & Maintenance service to the project.

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German biomass energy giant STEAG New Energies has been awarded planning permission to build its first biomass plant in the U.K.

Kent county council has granted permission for the company’s U.K. subsidiary, STEAG New Energies U.K., to build a Combined Heat and Power Plant (CHP) at Ridham Dock in Kent which will burn approximately 160,000 tonnes of waste wood a year.

The Waste Incineration Directive-compliant facility will produce 25 MW of power and up to 8-10 MW of heat. The waste wood is expected to come from municipal waste (15-20 percent), commerce and industry (25-30 percent) and construction and demolition (40-60 percent).

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AREVA, Dutch civil works company Ballast Nedam and Finnish boiler supplier Metso Power Oy, have been awarded a contract by Eneco, one of the main Dutch utilities, to build a biomass power plant in Delfzijl, in northern Netherlands. The total value of the consortium’s order amounts to €155 million.

The AREVA group will lead the consortium and will be in charge of designing, building and installing the 49-MW plant fueled with recycled wood. It will also provide testing and commissioning services.

The new plant is scheduled to begin commercial operation in 2013.

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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