Increase Your Monitoring Sales for Just $500

The decision guides explained below on mercury in many industries include the water and air monitoring options.  More importantly they deal with the processes that you need to understand to sell your equipment.  Each of these guides is included in  9ABC Air Pollution Monitoring and Sampling Knowledge Systems.

This also includes all past 160 issues of the air and water monitoring newsletter and the networking directory with the system supplier contacts.  It also includes listings for all your subsidiaries and the products offered by each.  You can check this out at: View and Correct Your Product Listings.  The service is only $500/yr

Preparing Decision Slide Decks for the Mercury Hot Topic Hour (HTH) February 11

Our Decisions HTH on Mercury, DeNO_x 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.

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:

E = experience  P = potential

H = high  M = medium  L= low   U = unknown

Technologies such as the Gore module and ionic liquids are relatively new developments.  In addition there are complimentary options such as adding calcium bromide with the fuel and the impact of SCR which oxidizes mercury.

Six Decision slide decks will be accessed during the conference.  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.  Should they be considering ionic liquids?

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.

Each of the six decision slide decks will be revised until February 10.  McIlvaine will be at EUEC next week 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 in advance at mobile #847 226 2391.

Aquaculture is a Steady Growth Market

Fish is a major source of protein for over one billion people around the world, especially in the developing countries.  In the U.S. the awareness of protein from fish consumption and other health benefits is making fish farming a profitable business.

Over 70 percent of the world’s wild fish stock has been exploited or depleted due to over fishing and, therefore, fish farming has become a necessity.

The market is concentrated in Asia with China and Indonesia accounting for 80 percent of current production.

Recirculating Aquaculture has advantages over sea pens and land ponds because it reuses all resources, minimizes waste of water and other resources and has least negative impact on the environment. This growing segment uses oxygen monitors, aerators and other process equipment. The recirculated water is continually purified.  It is therefore an attractive market for suppliers of flow control and treatment equipment.

There is a direct relationship between weight of fish, input air, gallons of water to be treated and waste products. McIlvaine has compiled a forecast with tons of fish which will be harvested by aquaculture in the next five years in each of 80 countries and sub regions.  Each excel spreadsheet also contains a total for the region and continent for analysis of larger geographies.  Aquaculture 2015-2021 is an electronic database delivered as an excel spreadsheet with tons of fish forecasted for each country in each future year through 2021.  The price is $500.  To order contact: editor@mcilvainecompany.com. 

Desalination is a High Growth Market

Water in many countries is competing with oil as the most precious commodity.  The ocean can supply the needs of the world through desalination.  One of the limiting factors in increased desalination production has been energy costs. With more efficient desalination technology and the low price of oil the costs of desalination are now less than that of water from alternative sources.  This is creating a high growth market for membrane based processes and a modest growth market for thermal processes.

China is one of a number of countries who will achieve double-digit growth in desalination capacity in the coming five years. With 20 percent of the world’s population but only 7 percent of its fresh water, China has embraced desalination. The central government’s Special Plan for Seawater Utilization calls for producing 3 million tons (807 million gallons) a day of purified seawater by 2020—roughly quadrupling the country’s current capacity.  Of China’s 668 largest cities, at least 400 already suffer from water scarcity.  As of 2015 China was fifth in the world in installed desalination capacity; two years earlier it ranked ninth.

Desalination 2016-2021 is an analysis of the desalination capacity in millions of gallons per day (mgd) for each of 80 major countries and sub regions for each year through 2021.  The excel spreadsheet also includes sub region, region and continent to allow analysis of larger geographical areas.  Desalination 2016-2021 is available as a excel spreadsheet for $700.  To order contact: editor@mcilvainecompany.com

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.

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 NO_x.  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: 

Click here to register

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 NO_x 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 NO_x 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 PM_2.5 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, NO_x 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

N035 NOx Control World Market

N018 Electrostatic Precipitator World Market

N008 Scrubber/Adsorber/Biofilter World Markets

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.

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.

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.

Click here to Register for the Webinars

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You can register for our free McIlvaine Newsletters at: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/Free_Newsletter_Registration_Form.htm.

Bob McIlvaine
President
847-784-0012 ext 112
rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com
www.mcilvainecompany.com