New Requirements to Remove Hazardous Air Pollutants Necessitate a Holistic
Approach
The requirements for power, cement, waste-to-energy, incinerator and other
combustion facilities to reduce hazardous air pollutants must be viewed in terms
of the total impact on air, water and solid waste.
Furthermore, the successes in one industry in one country need to be
evaluated by other industries and other countries.
There are thousands of alternative system designs. Here are 12 of the most
common or most promising:
1. Many existing combustors are just equipped with a precipitator but now face
mercury, acid gas and NOx requirements.
2. The conventional approach is to add an SCR and a wet scrubber with chemical
injection in the fuel and scrubber if needed. A tail end absorber will
result in overall mercury reduction above 90 percent but is not yet common.
3. A number of plants are opting for the dry approach but are no longer able to
sell ash and have a landfill challenge. The concern with DSI is the cost
of lime but the capital cost is low and particulate removal is high. Acid
gas removal can be high with a DSI-SDA combination.
4. Older plants which want to retain the precipitator but minimize capital
cost can consider the low cost approach with a small scrubber using highly
reactive lime preceded by ozone injection for NOx control.
5. Older plants which also need to meet a lower particulate limit can use a
venturi scrubber as opposed to upgrading the precipitator with bags.
6. Older plants which have little room can replace the precipitator with a high
energy venturi absorber.
7.
Using a tray scrubber and wet ESP requires a higher investment but will have
lower energy costs and higher PM2.5 removal.
8. Maximum efficiency with fabric filters and wet ESPs.
9. The new catalytic filter operating at 350°F or 850°F introduces another set
of options.
10. The catalytic filter can be combined with a condensing heat exchanger
scrubber for low emissions and heat recovery to reduce energy impact.
11.
Extend the rotary heat exchanger and reduce gas temperature entering the
precipitator to 200°F. The increase in efficiency rivals a wet
precipitator.
12. Multiple scrubbers with
hydrochloric acid and gypsum production
plus heat extraction.
The most investment has been made in approach 2 but without the adsorber module.
This addition can increase mercury removal to greater than 90 percent.
The adsorber module is being used at a few power plants but it is being embraced
by sewage sludge incinerator operators. The location of adsorber modules
above the mist eliminators in the typical sewage sludge incinerator scrubber is
relatively inexpensive. The cement and power industries should take note of this
early sewage sludge incinerator experience.
A number of older power plants have opted for approach 3. Perhaps approach 4
through 7 might be even more attractive for older power plants. One reason is
the ability to chemically fix the calcium sulfite sludge. Before the concerns
about mercury and other toxic metals the belief was that the gypsum process had
the least negative impact on water and solid waste. It is now recognized
that encapsulating toxic metal slurries through chemical fixation is the safest
route. The loss of gypsum revenue using approach 2 is offset by savings in
treating wastewater to remove the toxic metals. The solid waste from
approach 3 can be mixed with lime to also provide a land fill or construction
product. China is making bricks from this material.
Some new power plants with the most stringent emission requirements have opted
for approach 8. One advantage is
the sale of the gypsum. This approach requires a capital investment more than
twice some of the other alternatives. China is presently upgrading its
coal-fired power plant systems by adding wet precipitators. This is
approach 8 but the initial collector is an existing precipitator.
Approach 9 has been successfully applied for incinerators, biomass combustors
and glass furnaces. The first big order for a cement plant application has just
been placed. The heat recovery provides the greenhouse gas reduction benefits.
Particulate, NOx and acid gases are all captured in one device.
Mercury needs to be captured downstream due to the high temperature at the
filter.
Approach 10 substitutes a condensing scrubber for DSI. In approach 11 the
precipitator efficiency is improved by lowering the entry gas temperature.
Approach 12 is the one used in a number of new waste-to-energy plants in Europe
and proposed for Los Angeles. It maximizes salable byproducts and
minimizes energy losses. McIlvaine has recommended a variation of this
process to recover rare earths and metals in coal-fired power generation.
Much of the power plant experience has been in the U.S. while a number of the
industrial installations have been in Europe. There have been some
innovative approaches in China including hybrid precipitator /baghouses.
It is desirable that the world experience across the industries be continually
analyzed. McIlvaine is pursuing this in a series of webinars and online
decision systems.
Click here for the webinar schedule and free registration:
Hot Topic Hour Schedule and Recordings
The decision systems appear in:
44I Power
Plant Air Quality Decisions
Industrial Air Plants and Projects
N021 World
Fabric Filter and Element Market
N027 FGD
Market and Strategies
N018 Electrostatic Precipitator World Market
N008
Scrubber/Adsorber/Biofilter World Markets
Asia Will Be the Largest Purchaser of Gas Turbine–Combined Power Plants This
Year
In 2016 more than 73,000 MW of gas turbine power generators will start
operation. Forty-five percent of the total will be in Asia.
Gas Turbine
Starts (MW) |
|
Continent |
2016 |
Total |
73,465 |
Africa |
5,684 |
America |
20,885 |
Asia |
33,411 |
Europe |
13,485 |
The lower cost of natural gas is having an impact on the Asian market. LNG
imports will provide the needed fuel for future growth. The U.S. market is
robust due to both low gas prices and environmental deterrents to coal-fired
generation.
A steady growth rate in capacity is anticipated despite competition from
renewable sources such as wind and solar. The differential cost between
gas turbine based electricity and that from wind and solar has widened with
plunging oil and gas prices.
The forecasts through 2021 are available in two services provided by McIlvaine.
Gas Turbine Combined Cycle Capacity 2016-2021
is an excel spreadsheet with the megawatts of capacity in 80 countries and sub
regions. The spreadsheet also contains totals for regions and continents
so that larger geographical trends can be analyzed. The price is
$900. To order contact:
editor@mcilvainecompany.com.
This forecast is updated quarterly and included in a very comprehensive program
59EI Gas
Turbine and Combined Cycle Supplier Program.
Purchasers of the spreadsheet can later
deduct this price if they then purchase 59EI.
Benefits of Sharing Air Pollution Information across Geographies and
Applications
Large power plants in the developed countries were the main purchasers of air
pollution control systems in the past. This is no longer the case.
Developing countries are the big spenders in the power plant sector. Other
industries such as cement, waste-to-energy, steel and oil and gas are stepping
up the investment to remove gas phase contaminants.
The innovations and insights are now scattered around the world. In order
to ensure that the value is shared, McIlvaine is taking several steps:
·
Strengthen the interface with Asian and African power plants who are making many
difficult decisions.
·
Expand coverage of all the industrial applications.
·
Facilitate the transfer of information from industry to industry.
Changes have been made to the McIlvaine webinar format as part of the new focus:
·
Organization is by pollutant with segmentation by industry rather than the
reverse.
·
Power point decision guides for various industry/pollutant combinations are
maintained and available for reference during the webinars.
·
The webinars are focused on helping end users make decisions using the guides.
·
End user participants can ask questions which will be addressed in the
discussion format.
·
Suppliers and various experts can submit information for consideration in the
guides and can debate or discuss options during the webinars.
·
The guides are displayed and continually updated on the Air Quality Decisions.
·
The webinars are free of charge to everyone. The decision guides and
access to the Air Quality Decisions website is free to end users but by
subscription only for others.
A webinar on February 11 will cover mercury control in all industries in all
countries. There will be seven slide decks available for reference and
display during the meeting:
·
Pulverized coal with wet scrubbers
·
Pulverized coal without wet scrubbers
·
Coal gasification and IGCC
·
Cement
·
Sewage sludge incineration
·
Waste-to-energy
·
Other including steel, taconite mining, etc.
Anyone can submit data for consideration over the next three weeks. End
users and subscribers can request copies of the draft slide decks in advance.
Activated carbon improvements are important and are options for all the
applications. Bromine injection to
oxidize mercury also has widespread application. Mercury absorber modules
are now being used in power, sewage sludge incineration and have potential for
most applications.
The multi pollutant aspects of each application influence the mercury removal
choice. If wet scrubbers are used for acid gases, the bromine additive for
mercury oxidation is the likely first choice.
The mercury emission limit is a major consideration. Many industries in
many countries are not constrained.
In others, the limit is 50 ug/Nm3.
This limit can often be met without special mercury reduction investment.
The U.S. has led the way with limits approaching 3 ug/Nm3. As a
result, many of the latest innovations have occurred here.
The decisions are influenced by the ultimate fate of the captured mercury.
One aspect is mercury re-emissions from scrubbers. Another is mercury in
gypsum and scrubber sludge. Dust with mercury laden activated carbon is
another challenge. There are some unique solutions which need further
investigation. Several waste-to-energy plants in Germany are utilizing
two-stage scrubbers. The first stage concentrates HCl and generates dirty
30 percent hydrochloric acid. The mercury is removed with ion exchange
resin. The clean acid is then sold.
This process opens up a brand new opportunity which is the rare earth and
precious metals recovery from flyash using acid leaching.
Combining emission sources is another solution. Municipal solid waste and
sewage sludge can be utilized in cement kilns and coal-fired power plants.
MSW gasification, cleanup and direct use as a turbine fuel is relatively costly.
On the other hand, using gasified dirty municipal waste as a reburn fuel in coal
fired boilers has several benefits. It replaces coal and reduces net
greenhouse gases. Injection above
the primary firing zone reduces NOx. The mercury in the
gasified waste is removed along with the mercury in the coal in the main air
pollution control system.
To register for the mercury webinar click on:
Utility E-Alert Tracks Billions of Dollars of New Coal-fired Power Plants on a
Weekly Basis
Here are some headlines from the Utility
E-Alert.
UTILITY E-ALERT
#1256 – January 22, 2016
Table of Contents
COAL – WORLD
§
Proposed Cadiz City 300 MW Coal-fired Power Station
§
Coal-fired Power Station under development in Davao Occidental Province,
Philippines
§
Nam Dinh Thermal Power Plant Pact signed in Ha Noi
§
Krishnapatnam Power to build Thermal Power Projects worth Rs. 16,680 Crore in
Andhra Pradesh
§
China to further cut Coal Capacity
The
41F Utility
E-Alert
is issued weekly and covers the coal-fired projects, regulations and other
information important to the suppliers. It is $950/yr. but is included in the
$3020
42EI
Utility Tracking System
which has data on every plant and project plus networking directories and many
other features.
Which Subjects should be discussed in the Mercury Hot Topic Hour (HTH) February
11?
There are lots of questions about how to meet mercury emission limits in various
industries and countries. Answers to these questions will be continually
addressed in a new McIlvaine Program including a Hot Topic Hour (HTH) discussion
on February 11. The details on the program are explained below along with the
specific issues and options we plan to discuss. We encourage your input in
advance to add additional questions and to provide answers.
Our Decisions HTH on Mercury, DeNOx and Hot Gas Filtration will be
based on decision slide decks which will be continually updated prior to and
subsequent to the webinar. End users and subscribers have free access to
the online slide decks. It is all explained at
Hot
Topic Hour Schedule and Recordings
on the McIlvaine Company website.
The Mercury HTH will focus on questions from end users as well as discussions
about the merits of various approaches. One of the biggest contributions
will be to provide cross pollination between industries. The sewage sludge
incinerator plants in the U.S. and the waste-to-energy plants in Europe have
some cutting edge technologies which need to be evaluated for use in other
industries.
Here is the McIlvaine view of the status and potential of the technologies for
the various industries:
|
Coal-fired Power |
Waste to Energy |
Sewage Sludge Incineration |
Cement |
Natural Gas |
Non- Ferrous |
Activated carbon injection |
EH PM |
EH PM |
EL PL |
EL PL |
EL PL |
EM PM |
Activated carbon pellets |
EL PM |
EM PL |
EM PM |
|
EH PH |
|
Scrubber chemicals |
EM PH |
EL PM |
EL PM |
EL PM |
EL PL |
EH PH |
Gore module |
EL PH |
EL PH |
EM PH |
EL PM |
EL PU |
EL PH |
Metal sorbent |
EL PL |
EL PL |
EL PL |
EL PL |
EM PM |
EH PM |
Molecular sieve |
EL |
PL |
EL PL |
EL PL |
EH PH |
EL PL |
Ionic liquid |
EL PL |
EL PL |
EL PL |
EL PM |
EL PH |
EL PL |
E = experience P = potential
H = high, M = medium, L= low, U = unknown
Are the experience and potential ratings for the various technologies accurate?
If you think otherwise you can say so during the session or better yet—send us
some support data in advance.
Each application has technology which may prove valuable for one or more of the
other applications. For example, the ionic liquids are a new approach
being used in natural gas mercury removal. The pilot systems show advantages
over carbon pellets. Sewage sludge incinerators use carbon pellets and
Gore modules.
Which industries should consider ionic liquids and Gore modules as an
alternative to the present approach?
Sewage sludge incinerator operators have selected absorber modules instead
of carbon pellets for more than a dozen installations. Coal-fired power
plants are also using adsorber modules as one of the approaches. Sharing
of information on both applications will be beneficial.
Non-ferrous smelters are using metal filters but are also using scrubbers with
unique liquids. The Boliden-Norzink process involves the following three steps.
First, mercury scrubbing occurs in the reaction tower. The reaction tower is a
counter-current absorber tower made of fiber glass reinforced polypropylene
plastic. In the reaction tower, the HgCl2 solution is sprayed evenly
in the packing area and reacts with mercury in the flue gas. The second step
involves the production of the calomel mercurous chloride (Hg2Cl2),
which is suspended in solution. Some of the Hg2Cl2
is also sent to chloride process. During the final step, the Hg2Cl2
is oxidized by Cl2 in the stirring tank.
The extensive use of chlorine in solution has been implemented in waste
incineration in Europe. Many waste-to-energy plants have multi stage scrubbers
with the first stage being used to make salable 30 percent hydrochloric acid.
What happens to the mercury in this first stage scrubber?
Is the knowledge gained by the non-ferrous industry of use to WTE operators?
The potential use of the WTE acid loop by the power industry is transformative.
The coal-fired power plant would become a chemicals complex with production of
rare earths, precious metals, hydrochloric acid, gypsum or sulfur and flyash.
The WTE experience plus the Chinese and U.S. initiatives for extraction of rare
earths from flyash can lead the way to the power/chemicals complex.
McIlvaine believes that the acid loop is transformative.
What do you think? Is there any reason in situ leaching is not
vastly superior to the approaches by the Chinese government and the U.S. DOE?
There are lots of monitoring related questions.
Where do you use sorbent traps and where do you use CEMS and shouldn’t you use
both?
Is the answer different for each of the industries?
How much mercury is escaping in the particulate form?
Should you use one CEM and two sample ports or two CEMS to analyze both inlet
and outlet mercury?
One of the experts displays slides showing that CEMS are less expensive than
sorbent traps for life cycles longer than two or three years. Do you agree?
There are lots of questions about the addition of chemicals.
If bromine is used with the coal:
·
Is the corrosion worry just with section 45 installations?
·
Is 75 ppm of bromine safe but 150 ppm risky?
·
What about Mitagent or other chemicals to reduce corrosion potential?
·
Where should halogens be injected?
What about preventing re-emissions from the scrubber.
How much additional mercury capture is achieved with chemicals added in the
scrubber loop?
Is activated carbon a viable choice for the recirculating scrubber loop?
The choice of activated carbons is important. We need to explore the
differences between one carbon and another and also to determine where and when
activated carbon should be injected.
How much performance improvement has been made by activated carbon
manufacturers?
What removal efficiency and what will be the cost for activated carbon if I just
have a precipitator?
If I have a dry scrubber, how much efficiency reduction is possible from SO3
interference and can I inject sorbent ahead of the air heater to eliminate this
potential?
How much selenium will be captured with AC?
What about concrete friendly AC and the impact on the sales of flyash?
If I operate with dry sorbent injection, do I add the AC prior to or with the
sorbent?
Mercury and NOx control variables. The decisions on NOx control
effect the mercury reduction choices.
How much mercury oxidation is achieved in so called standard catalysts vs. the
newer offerings which balance NOx reduction, SO2
conversion to SO3 and mercury oxidation?
Regulatory issues and questions abound.
If I emit particulate mercury but don’t report it since I am using CEMS which
measures gaseous emissions as required, do I have any liability?
Will China more broadly pursue the Near Zero Emissions (NZE) goals with mercury
limits similar to the U.S. or will this just be a demonstration in certain
cities and provinces?
Will the true cost initiative which shows that mercury and fine particulate are
major costs in producing cement in China lead to mercury controls for this
industry?
Since one major Chinese cement company is also the world leader in co-combustion
of sewage sludge, will there be more extensive mercury controls on his plants?
How many countries require CEMS for mercury emissions from waste-to-energy
plants?
Each of the six decision slide decks will be revised until February 10.
McIlvaine will be at EUEC where many of the suppliers of mercury removal
products will be exhibiting or speaking. McIlvaine has a stand. Also you
can meet with Bob McIlvaine by contacting him at mobile #847 226 2391.
McIlvaine
Hot Topic Hours (HTH) and Recordings
Explanation
Applicable
Services
Schedule
& Registration
Sponsored
Webinars
McIlvaine conducts periodic webinars which are in a discussion format and are
free of charge to all participants. The displayed material and recordings are
free to purchasers of the products and services and by subscription to others.
Format: 50-90 minute recorded discussion using Mcilvaine display material.
The session will be free of charge to all participants but registration is
required.
Approach: There are two types of webinars. One is focused on Markets and
directed to suppliers. The other is focused on aiding purchasers make the best
Decisions relative to purchases of flow control and treatment equipment and
services.
Markets HTH
The general overviews of the market including size and major variables will be
discussed with heavy emphasis on technology and regulatory drivers. The
presentation will be based on the latest information appearing in Mcilvaine
multi-client reports. Questions and views from both subscribers and
non-subscribers are encouraged.
Decisions HTH
Mcilvaine has been publishing information systems on pollution control since
1974. Each subject is organized by the pollutant control technology e.g. fabric
filter, scrubber etc. There are search capabilities to retrieve information on
any application. The newest addition has been slide deck systems
displaying the issues and options relative to a specific applications.
Coal-fired power, cement, steel, and waste combustion decision slide decks are
continually updated.
The continually updated slide decks are displayed on the applicable decision
system. It is recommended that participants view the slide deck in advance
of the session and be prepared with questions and views.
Value to purchasers and specifiers: Your questions and interests will be
prioritized in the discussion. You will get a monthly newsletter and have
continuing access to the system and multiple ways to interface in the future
along with a networking directory of suppliers.
Value to Suppliers: You have the opportunity to provide data to be
considered at no charge. If you are also a subscriber you will see the summaries
in advance and be able to shed light on issues and options not properly covered
in the slide deck. If you are a subscriber you will receive the monthly
newsletter and continuing yearly access to the system including networking
directories.
44I Power Plant Air Quality Decisions
includes 1ABC, 3ABC, 4ABC, 9ABC decision services but not 2ABC. So those with
multiple technologies and at least partial focus on power will find this
combination most cost effective.
Applicable Services for Hot
Topic Hours** |
|||||||
Pollutant |
Industry |
Fabric Filter
(1ABC) |
Scrubber
(2ABC) |
Precipitator
(4ABC) |
FGD & DeNOx
(3ABC) |
Air Pollution
(9ABC) |
Gas |
Mercury
February |
Coal |
|
|
|
X |
X |
|
WTE |
X |
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
Sewage |
|
X |
X |
|
X |
|
|
Cement |
X |
|
|
|
X |
|
|
Natural Gas* |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DeNOx
March 24, 2016 |
Coal |
|
|
|
X |
X |
|
Incineration |
|
|
|
X |
X |
|
|
Steel |
|
|
|
X |
X |
|
|
Cement |
|
|
|
X |
X |
|
|
Diesel* |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gas Turbine |
|
|
|
X |
|
X |
Hot Gas |
Coal |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
|
WTE |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
|
|
Cement |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
|
|
Steel |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
|
|
Incineration |
X |
X |
X |
|
X |
|
|
Coal Gas |
X |
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
GT Intake |
|
|
|
|
|
X |
|
FGD and Acid Gas
June 16, 2016 |
Coal |
|
|
|
X |
X |
|
Sewage |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
WTE |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
Cement |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
|
Steel |
|
X |
|
|
X |
|
*Included in custom system |
HOT TOPIC HOUR (HTH) SCHEDULE
Dates for the next 6 meetings are firm; the others will be held in sequence at
approximately two week intervals. Unforeseen developments could dictate
the insertion of new subjects.
DATE |
SUBJECT |
February 11, 2016
Decisions |
Mercury
-
Review of the issues and options
for mercury removal for sewage
sludge incinerators, cement,
coal fired power, and waste to
energy plants.
Click
Here to Register |
February 25, 2016
Markets |
Zero Liquid Discharge
-
Regulatory status in US and ROW;
spray drier vs. evaporation for
Chinese power plants; difference
in various system designs; total
cost of ownership; valve,
pump, evaporator, centrifuge,
instrumentation, materials and
compressor options.
Click Here to Register |
March 10, 2016
Markets |
Gas Turbine
-
Intake filter, SCR, NH3, HRSG,
valve, pump, instrumentation and
cooling options (dry vs. wet);
treatment chemicals; challenges
with FAC due to extensive
cycling.
Click Here to Register |
March 24, 2016
Decisions |
NOx Control
- Review
of the issues and options for
NOx control in coal fired power,
cement, steel, and waste to
energy plants as well as mobile
diesel vehicles.
Click Here to Register |
April 7, 2016
Markets |
Power Generation Technologies
-
Future of USC coal in India,
Vietnam and Indonesia;
natural gas prices; GHG
regulations; nuclear costs;
penetration for wind and solar.
Click Here to Register |
April 21, 2016
Decisions |
Hot Gas Filtration
-
Issue and Option for particulate
capture. in coal fired power,
cement, steel, and waste
incineration. Click
Here to Register |
June
16, 2016
Decisions |
FGD and Acid Gas Separation
- Issue
and options for SO2 and other
acid gas separation from coal
fired power, cement, steel, and
waste incineration plants.
Click
Here to Register |
TBA
Markets |
Desalination
-
Thermal vs. Membrane; energy
recovery, pump, valve,
compressor and chemicals
options; power/desalination
combinations. |
TBA
Markets |
Oil, Gas, Refining
-
Supply and demand; impact on
flow control and treatment
products; regional impacts
e.g. subsea in North Atlantic
vs. shale in the US vs. Oil
Sands in Canada. |
TBA
Markets |
Food
- Analysis
of 12 separate
applications within food and
beverage with analysis of valve,
pump, compressor, filter,
analyzer and chemical options;
impact of new technologies such
as forward osmosis. |
TBA
Markets |
Municipal Wastewater
-
Quality of pumps, valves,
filters, and analyzers in
Chinese and Asian plants; new
pollutant challenges; water
purification for reuse. |
TBA
Markets |
Mobile Emissions -
Reduction in CO, VOCs, and
particulate in fuels, oils, and
air used in on and off road
vehicles; impact of RDE
and failure of NOx
traps and the crisis in Europe
created by the focus on diesels. |
Click here to Register for the Webinars
___________________________________________________________________________
Sponsored Webinars
allow suppliers to take
advantage of all the valuable
information on their power point
presentations. Click
here for details |
Free Sponsored Webinars
·
Albemarle
- Cement MACT
·
Aquatech
·
NVISTA
·
Midwesco - Bagfilter Performance
Analyzer
·
Pavilion
·
Sick Maihak
- Cement MACT
·
Tekran Instruments
- Cement MACT |
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