Co-firing Biomass, Sewage Sludge and Municipal Waste is the Hot Topic Hour
Dec. 13, 2012
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia, representing over half of the
U.S. electricity market, already have Renewable Energy Standards (RES) ranging
from 10-33 percent with various timelines between 2015 and 2025. Pending Federal
legislation would establish a national renewable energy/efficiency standard of
up to 24 percent in 2020 increasing to 84 percent in 2035. As a result,
coal-fired power plant and industrial boiler operators are exploring biomass as
an option for RES compliance. Co-firing biomass with coal has the potential to
reduce emissions from regulated pollutants as well as GHGs, without
substantially increasing costs or infrastructure investments. It has been
demonstrated, tested and proved in all boiler types commonly used by electric
utilities. There can be little or no loss in total boiler efficiency after
adjusting combustion output for the new fuel mixture.
However, those who have done it know that co-firing and even firing only
biomaterials are typically not without many significant problems. Obtaining a
reliable, consistent supply of a specific biomass material is just the start of
the problems. The physical characteristics and chemical makeup of biomass fuels
can lead to significant cost increases particularly for material handling and
preparation, maintenance problems, boiler slagging and fouling issues, increased
boiler corrosion and decreased efficiency if biomass use is not very closely
managed. The composition of the combustion gases from burning bio-materials can
also have both a positive or negative effect on stack emissions and the air
pollution control systems required to meet emission limits and must be
considered.
The following speakers will address the issues and implications of converting
coal-fired boilers to full or partial use of biomass, sewage sludge or municipal
waste, the biomass fuel choices and how these vary regionally, the costs that
need to be considered in a biomass conversion plan, the advantages and
disadvantages of various fuels, methods for co-firing and available equipment
options as well as any new equipment designs, technology and systems being
developed to make co-firing or combustion of bio-materials easier and more
efficient and to describe their experience with planning, permitting, developing
and operating plants that co-fire of all types of biomass.
Arie Verloop, P.E., Vice President of Technology and Client Relations with
Jansen Combustion and Boiler Technologies, Inc. (JANSEN), will discuss their
experience with upgrading industrial stoker-fired boilers to burn a variety of
alternative fuels. Jansen provides customized engineered solutions to improve
the operating performance and waste fuel burning capacity of existing large
industrial stoker-fired boilers that burn “difficult” fuels. Over 300 boilers
have been evaluated, worldwide, and over 100 boilers have been upgraded
(combustion system and/or pressure parts). Typical fuels are: wet waste
wood/biomass, chemical spent liquors, secondary wastewater treatment sludge,
refuse derived fuel (RDF), municipal solid waste (MSW) and tire derived fuel (TDF).
Brandon Bell, P.E., Principal Mechanical Engineer at KBR Power & Industrial,
will discuss typical problems associated with the conversion of coal units to
co-fire biomass. Biomass fuels vary widely depending on regional availability
and have a big impact on the feasibility of co-firing biomass. Current EPA
regulations that affect pollution control requirements for Independent Power
Producers, Agricultural Cooperatives and Utilities with regard to biomass units
will be discussed. Additional equipment and operational considerations for
various biomass fuels will also be presented.
Thomas (Tom) J. Maestri, Director of Renewable Energy Programs at Synagro
Technologies, Inc., will present “Co-Combustion of Sewage Sludge with Non-Solid
Waste Fuels.” Recently EPA-promulgated New Source Performance Standards (NSPS)
and emissions guidelines for sewage sludge incineration require MACT air
pollution control standards under Section 129 of the Clean Air Act; this as
opposed to less stringent Section 112 boiler standards previously applied. The
changes have created new financial burdens on existing sludge combustion
facilities and cast a shadow over many new projects which had planned to use
sewage sludge as a primary fuel or to co-fire sewage sludge with biomass or
other non-solid-waste fuels. A simultaneous EPA ruling on how various combustion
materials (non-hazardous secondary materials) would be identified as solid waste
when burned in a combustion unit has further complicated the issue. His
presentation will outline the issues and discuss solutions to dealing with the
potential technical and economic challenges created by the new rule when
co-firing sewage sludge.
To register for the Hot Topic Hour on December 13, 2012 at 10 a.m. (CST), click
on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/hot_topic_hour_registration.htm.
McIlvaine Hot Topic Hour Registration
On Thursday at 10 a.m. Central time, McIlvaine hosts a 90 minute web meeting on
important energy and pollution control subjects. Power webinars are free for
subscribers to either Power Plant Air Quality Decisions or Utility Environmental
Upgrade Tracking System. The cost is $125.00 for non-subscribers.
Market Intelligence webinars are free to McIlvaine market report.
2012
DATE SUBJECT
December 13 Co-firing Sewage Sludge, Biomass and Municipal Waste Power
2013
January 10 Update on Oxy-fuel Combustion Power
January 17 Production of Fertilizer and Sulfuric Acid at Coal-fired Power Plants
Power
January 24 Gypsum Dewatering Power
January 31 Filter media (forecasts and market drivers for media used in air,
gas, liquid, fluid applications, both mobile and stationary). Market
Intelligence
February 7 Valves for Power Plants, Boilers and Water Treatment Facilities Power
To register for the Hot Topic Hour, click on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/hot_topic_hour_registration.htm.
UTILITY E-ALERT
Here are the Headlines for the November 30, 2012 – Utility E-Alert
#1102– November 30, 2012
Table of Contents
COAL – US
EPA revises FIP for Arizona Power Plants but SCR still likely
EPA releases New Limits for Mercury for New Power Plants
Big Cajun II to convert One Unit to Natural Gas, install DSI on Unit 1, ACI,
and SNCR
Wolverine, We Energies will install SO2 Control at 344 MW Presque Isle
Presque Isle Deal raises Questions about Wolverine’s Rogers City CFB project
Logansport wants to Repower Plant to burn Pellets of Residential Refuse
COAL – WORLD
Daewoo to build 2x300 MW Power Plant in Kenya
Bulgaria could build 2x280 MW Maritsa Iztok 2 Units 9 and 10
GDF Suez and Posco Energy may also invest in 415 MW Ulaanbataatar, Mongolia
Power Plant
DTEK to build 800 MW Burshtyn Exspansion in Ukraine
Mitsubishi to build 758 MW Coal-fired Power Plant in Chile
Metso to supply Two Power Boilers (270 MW total) to PT Cikarang Listrindo in
Indonesia
Slovenia to provide Guarantees for Sistanj Upgrade
GAS/OIL / US
Nine Gas-fired Power Projects undergoing Review in Pennsylvania, but not all
will be built
Coronado Ventures to build 700 MW Natural Gas-fired Power Plant in Edinburg,
Texas
GAS/OIL – WORLD
Myanmar signs MoA with Foreign Companies to build 120 MW Gas-fired Power Plant
CO2
Greenhouse Gas Concentrations Reached Record Highs in 2011 According to U.N.
Study
California Holds First Auction of GHG Allowances, Median Price is Low at
$10.09/ton
First Large-Scale CCS Project in U.S. Completes First Year of Operation
DOE Approves 1-MW Scale-Up of Membrane Carbon Capture Technology
UK Approves £18.3 Million in Funding for Carbon Capture and Utilization
Technology Research
NUCLEAR
Brazil Plans Four New Nuclear Power Plants before 2030
China restarting Construction on Nuclear Power Projects
Still unclear what Type of Power Plant Turkey will build near Bulgarian Border
Florida Regulators approve Nuclear Power Costs recovery
EDF Energy receives Nuclear Site License for Hinkley Point C in UK
BUSINESS
Indian Railways to build 1,000 MW Nabinagar, 1320 MW Adra and 700 MW Thakurli
Power Plants in India
United Conveyor has Orders for 11 DSI Systems
ADA-ES to supply 11 to 20 ACI Systems to Fleet
Flow Control and Treatment Markets to rise $15 Billion Next Year to $338
Billion
Future Electricity Mix Depends on the Price of Oil
POWER-GEN 2012
Improve Your Networking at Power-Gen 2012
Water Discussion at Ovivo Stand on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Air Filtration is Important not only for Turbine Protection but also to reduce
PM2.5 Emissions - More at the Pneumafil Stand #4456
HOT TOPIC HOUR
“Catalyst Selection for NOx needs to factor in Mercury and SO3 - Hot Topic
Hour Thursday, November 29, 2012
“Boiler Feed and Cooling Water Treatment” is the Hot Topic Hour on Thursday,
December 6, 2012
Upcoming Hot Topic Hours
For more information on the Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System, click
on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/energy.html#42ei.
2100 Major Municipal Water Treatment Projects in the U.S. and Canada
in Next 12 Months
Municipalities in Canada and the U.S. will construct new drinking water
treatment plants to supply a growing population. They will also replace and
upgrade existing facilities. These projects are tracked biweekly in the
McIlvaine North American Public Water Plants and People.
Category U.S. Canada Total
Additional urban MGD 1,185 95 1,280
Year end urban MGD 48,600 5,060 53,660
Additional rural MGD 180 11 191
Year end rural MGD 7,500 635 8,135
Total additional MGD 1,365 106 1,471
Total MGD at year end 56,100 5,695 61,795
Replacement MGD 5,000 500 5,500
Total new MGD 6,365 606 6,971
Number of projects 1,600 150 1,750
Canada and the U.S. will add 1,471 MGD of new facilities and will replace or
upgrade 5,500 MGD. This will be accomplished through 1,750 major projects and
many thousands of minor projects at the 22,000 treatment plants in the two
countries.
In addition to the capital projects, McIlvaine forecasts that 30,000 bid
requests for treatment chemicals will be issued for treatment plants in the two
countries. Over 20 different chemicals are being used by treatment plans in the
two countries. McIlvaine tracks chemical bid requests and bid reviews for
chemicals as well as tracking capital projects.
For more information on North American Public Water Plants and People, click on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/water.html#67ei.
Liquid Macrofiltration Market to Approach $7 Billion Next Year
The market for equipment and media to separate larger particles from liquids and
dewater slurries will exceed $6.8 billion next year. This is the latest forecast
in Liquid Filtration and Media: World Markets published by the McIlvaine
Company. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)
Liquid Macrofiltration Market ($ Millions)
World Region 2013
Africa 234
CIS 188
East Asia 2,727
Eastern Europe 160
Middle East 225
NAFTA 1,209
South & Central America 483
West Asia 712
Western Europe 941
Total 6,879
The equipment included in this forecast are gravity belt filters, belt filter
presses, drum filters, leaf filters, granular media filters and bag filters.
These devices are separating particles between 1-100 microns from various
liquids from water to wine. Dewatering of sewage sludge and other slurries is a
major use.
East Asia will dominate the market next year for several reasons. The first is
the large investment in belt filter presses to dewater sewage sludge, mining
ores and coal slurries. The large investment in flue gas desulfurization will be
accompanied by significant investment in belt filters to dewater gypsum.
Granular media filters will purify much of the water needed for cooling in
coal-fired power plants.
Hardware sales in NAFTA will be less than 50 percent of the hardware sales in
East Asia, but the sales of media will be more equal. This is because the
existing market is large in NAFTA but the new expansions are comparatively few.
NAFTA will benefit from a substantial expansion of oil and gas processing
plants. Hydraulic fracturing is creating the need for treatment of the flow-back
liquid which contains sand, shale particles and high levels of dissolved solids.
Treatment of produced water is another expanding application. The use of
automatic backwash filters in treatment of ballast water is another growth
segment.
For more information on Liquid Filtration and Media: World Market: click on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/water.html#n006
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Bob McIlvaine
President
847 784 0012 ext 112
rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com
www.mcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com
Copyright © 2012 McIlvaine Company. All Rights Reserved
191 Waukegan Road Suite 208 | Northfield | IL 60093
Ph: 847-784-0012 | Fax; 847-784-0061
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