Billion Dollar Flow Control and Treatment Market to Reduce Coal Flyash Contamination and To Make Valuable By-products

Coal-fired power plants are being forced to give up their traditional ash ponds to prevent repetition of recent ash spill incidents in Tennessee and the Carolinas.  In the U.S. and elsewhere, the discharge limits on effluents are becoming more stringent. As a result, this is generating a new opportunity for suppliers of pumps, valves, filters and centrifuges.  This opportunity is being continually analyzed in a number of McIlvaine publications.

Zero liquid discharge systems are one solution.  Wastewater is purified and reused or evaporated.  A number of systems have recently been installed in the U.S., Italy and China.

The flyash formerly residing in ponds will be removed and placed in dry landfills or made into useful products.  The Chinese have a large program to extract rare earths from the flyash.

Centrifuges, clarifiers, hydrocyclones and other sedimentation equipment will play a major role in both process separation and wastewater purification as these flyash landfills are processed. There is a major opportunity to extract the rare earths at the time of coal combustion or gasification.

The largest gasification program is in China where more than one billion tons of coal per year are slated for conversion. Other Asian countries are moving ahead with coal-to-chemicals plants.  The Ukraine has five plants underway to reduce dependence on Russian gas.

Direct coal liquefaction uses grinding, hydrogenation and separation.  Centrifuges and clarifiers provide process separation.  Indirect liquefaction and coal-to-gas utilize gasification.  The big uses of centrifuges and clarifiers are in water and wastewater treatment.

The economics and environmental impact of coal conversion can be greatly enhanced by rare earth recovery.  In the past, an outside source of acid to leach the rare earths has been needed.  McIlvaine Company believes this expenditure can be avoided.

By using the chlorine in coal, the rare earths can be extracted in what the McIlvaine Company believes to be simply the marriage of two proven systems.

Making hydrochloric acid from coal is not a new idea. Using this technology for rare earth leaching is new.  The particulate and HCl emanating from the gasifer are captured in a venturi scrubber. This is already the scheme used for the GE gasifier.  However, the proposed design recirculates acid to achieve a 30 percent dirty acid concentration.  A bleed stream with the flyash and acid is then sent to a tank for further leaching. A number of additional separation steps are then needed to produce the rare earths from the flyash. So this separation is another opportunity for centrifuge and clarifier suppliers.

For more on N005 Sedimentation and Centrifugation World Markets, click on: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/markets/2-uncategorised/119-n005

Pumps World Markets, click on: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/component/content/article?id=75

N006 Liquid Filtration and Media World Markets, click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/water.html#n006

N064 Air/Gas/Water/Fluid Treatment and Control: World Market, click on: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/markets/27-water/445-n064-air-gas-water-fluid-treatment

Hot Gas Filter Discussion Will Be Continued On July 2

Twelve experts weighed in on hot gas filtration options at the Power Conference held by AFS in Charlotte eight weeks ago.  This discussion will be continued on July 2 at 10:00 a.m. The purpose will be to help decision makers determine the options which are available and guide them to select the option which best fits their unique needs.

The discussion will be a constructive review and new additions for the following decision guide route map and summary http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/images/Hot_Gas_Filter_Decision_Guide_April_30_2015.pdf

The decision guide starts with a clean slate.  Why place the SCR ahead of the particulate collector? Why use a rotary air heater with 10 percent leakage and a discharge temperature of 320^oF?  Why use multiple devices for particulate filtration, NO_x reduction, and acid gas absorption?  Why not combine all the technologies in one device?

There are two options which are fully explored.  One is the conventional option which results in particulate filtration at 320^oF.  The other is the catalytic filter with filtration at 850^oF.

The 320^oF option has two routes.  One is to use a dry scrubber and fabric filter.  The other is to use an electrostatic precipitator.  This decision is dependent on the dust limit and the ability of the precipitator to meet it. It is dependent on decisions about by-products.  In fact there are many factors which need to be considered.  How will each option deal with mercury?  Are there water use and pollution concerns? What space is available?  What is the age and condition of the existing air pollution control system?  As you can see, all these are addressed in the guide.  However, there was a difference of opinion on:

·       Achieving 5 mg/Nm³ particulate continuously with a dry precipitator

·       Bag designs for the filter alternative

·       Media designs

·       Fiber selection

·       Method of cleaning

The greatest differences of opinion related to the 850^oF option, should metallic elements be used and followed by an SCR?  Two variations are available: sintered metal fibers and sintered powdered metal.  Alternatively, why not use a ceramic catalytic filter element?  Both choices can be accompanied with DSI.  If the catalytic filter is the choice, then there are a number of related questions:

·       Will the catalytic filter element prove as good in large coal-fired boiler applications as it has in industrial boilers, glass plants, mining operations, etc?

·       Who will supply and guarantee the systems using catalytic filter elements?

·       Who will supply the elements?

·       Who will supply the catalysts and ceramic bundles?

One of the potential benefits of these expert discussions is the holistic analysis. The question of pleated bags vs. tubular bags needs to take into account the potential to vary the cleaning design.   A more robust pulse cleaning system and the pleated design may have to be matched against a less robust cleaning design and the tubular bag.

There are billions of dollars being spent to improve the particulate removal performance at coal-fired power plants in China, the U.S., South Africa, Europe, Chile and even Russia.  Cement plants and operators of industrial boilers are also facing upgrades of their particulate removal systems at the same time they are required to capture acid gases and reduce NO_x.  So this discussion is an important one for combustor operators around the world.

Participants for Discussion on Hot Gas Filtration on July 2, 2015

Reid E. Thomas, Technical Director, Menardi-Filtex

Dr. John McKenna, Principal, ETS International, Inc. 

Charles (Chuck) Capps, VP Sales & Marketing, FLSmidth Airtech, Advanced Filtration Technologies 

George Moeke, Regional Manager, North Mid-west, Clean Air Systems, Pentair, Goyen Valves LLC 

Rod Gravley, Technology Director, Tri-Mer Corporation and Kevin D. Moss, Business Development Director, Advanced Technologies 

Clint B.Scoble, Jr., President, Testori USA, Inc. 

Manfred Salinger, Rath Group

Details on the webinar are found at: Click here to view schedule and register

Headlines for Utility E-Alert – June 19, 2015

UTILITY E-ALERT

#1228– June 19, 2015

Table of Contents

COAL – US

§  Federal Appeals Court strikes down Rules to cut Coal-fired Power Plant Pollution

§  Industry Officials push for Congressional fix for EPA's Coal Waste Disposal Rule

COAL – WORLD

§  Pakistan Power Plant to be Set Up by China Firm

§  Public Hearing on SEPA’s Authority to carry out Post-EIA monitoring of Projects

GAS/OIL – US

§  Siemens to Supply and Service Power Generation Technology for CPV Valley Energy Center in Wawayanda, NY

GAS/OIL – WORLD

§ Siemens to supply Three Combined Cycle Power Plants to Egypt

§ Safety Power Lands Three Orders for ecoCUBE System

§ Combined Cycle Power Plant to be built near Swift Current, Saskatchewan

§ E.ON confirms closure of Killingholme Power Station, UK

BIOGAS

§  Duke Energy testing Swine Waste-to-Power at NC Power Plants

NUCLEAR

§ South Korea’s Oldest Nuclear Reactor to permanently shut down

§ Ningde 3 Nuclear Unit begins Commercial Operation in China

§ Construction Milestone for Fifth Yangjiang, China Unit

§ Fast Breeder Nuclear Reactor to begin operations this Year

§ DTE Energy Nuclear Unit License expands Midwest Power Generation Options

§ Geometric Power and GE to build 1,080 MW Power Plant in Nigeria

§ Unit 3 Steam Generator arrives from South Korea for Vogtle Expansion in Georgia

BUSINESS

§  HBM Holdings acquires Breen Energy Solutions

§  EPRI receives $3 Million award for Power Plant Cooling Research

§  New Report from the IEA Clean Coal Center

§  PSEG Power acquires Maryland Combined Cycle Power Plant Project

§  Market for Wet Calcium FGD to Remain at a High Level

§  Operators are challenged to keep up with the Latest Gas Turbine Combined Cycle Technology

§  $500 Million per Year for Gas Turbine Air Filters

HOT TOPIC HOUR

§  SO₃ Decision Route Map is revised in Hot Topic Hour Yesterday (June 18)

§  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