Efficiency, Energy Consumption and Life Impact Filter Media Decisions - Hot Topic Hour October 16

Suppliers of media and fibers provided attendees with the considerations needed to make decisions in the Hot Topic Hour yesterday. The speakers were

John Darrow, W.L. Gore

Terry McKenna, Ticona

Chet Moon, Toray Flurofibers

John McKenna, ETS

Jim Griffin, Tetratex / Donaldson

John Darrow predicts that membranes with a fiberglass support will penetrate the coal-fired boiler industry the way they have the cement industry. The following power plants are already using membranes.
 

• Otter Tail Power - Big Stone One
• Constellation Energy - Crane
• Exel Energy - Tolk
• Colorado Springs - Nixon & Drake
• NPPD - Gerald Gentleman
• Exel - Arapaho
• Vectren - AB Brown and Culley
• Tucson Electric - Springerville
• Basin Electric - Antelope Valley
• SCE&G - Wateree
• Exel Energy - Pawnee

Terry McKenna said that fiber diameter is an important factor. Here are the typical selections with PPS fibers which are proving very satisfactory.

• Generic PPS OEM Power Plant Installation
  • 2 and 2.7 denier
  • Scrim supported
  • Meets emission code
  • Provides good service life
• COHPAC Alternate
  • Top surface is 2.7 denier – good efficiency
  • Scrim supported
  • Back side is 7 denier – to reduce pressure drop
• TOXECON
  • Top surface #1 – blend of micro-denier and 2.2 denier for best efficiency
  • Top surface #2 – 2.2 denier
  • Scrim supported
  • Back side is 7 denier to reduce pressure drop

Chet Moon explained that Toray offers PPS fibers but also has other fabrics including Tefaire, which shows promise for higher efficiency on PM_2.5 particles. Because of its lower pressure drop, it is attractive for carbon injection applications.

John McKenna discussed the ETV test procedure for fabrics and cited the following benefits:

• ETV/BFP has proven to be a very valuable tool for:
  • Facilitating market entry of commercial-ready filtration fabrics.
  • Verifying vendor filtration performance and pressure drop claims.
• ASTM 6830 with more than 100 tests conducted has proven to be:
  • An essential component of QA/QC programs when purchasing new bag sets.
  • An excellent tool for filtration performance screening of development stage fabric.
  • A suitable test for monitoring long term performance deterioration.

Jim Griffin discussed the growing popularity of membranes for power plant applications. The OEMs are typically furnishing the nonwovens but the power plants are switching to membranes for the replacement needs. Jim showed the big variation in particle size and shape between coal- fired boiler installations and even with the same unit over time.  This variable deserves more attention in the bag selection process.

Bios, abstracts and photos are displayed at http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/utilityalert/subscriber/UtilityE-Alert/2008/Bios, abstracts and photo - Hot Topic Hour Oct. 16, 2008.htm

The individual power points are in the Particulate Decision Tree and can be accessed as follows:

John Darrow – W.L. Gore

Particulate Continuing Decision Process For: Products

GORE™Filter Media for Power Generation Applications

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Particulate_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/John Darrow - Gore, WL.pdf

Terry McKenna - Ticona

Particulate Continuing Decision Process For: Products

Selecting Filter Media for B/Hs in the Power Industry

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Particulate_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/Terry McKenna - Ticona.pdf
 

Chet Moon – Toray Fluorofibers (America), Inc.

Particulate Continuing Decision Process For: Products

TORAY High Performance Fibers as Filter Media in Coal Fired Plants
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Particulate_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/Chet Moon - Toray Fluorofibers (America), Inc.pdf
 

 John McKenna - ETS

Particulate Continuing Decision Process For: Design

Filter Media Selection for Coal-Fired Plants

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Particulate_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/John McKenna - ETS.pdf

James Griffin – Tetratex / Donaldson

Particulate Continuing Decision Process For: Products

Utility Boiler Media Selection
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/Particulate_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/James Griffin - Donaldson Tetratex.pdf