What New Power Technologies will change the Markets and who will provide them?
Hot Topic Hour April 7, 2016

Utilities and suppliers from around the world participated in a discussion on what new power technologies are going to be implemented and who will implement them. We started with an analysis for the future markets segmented by fuel type. The biggest investment in the next 25 years will be in coal-fired boilers.

The McIlvaine Company was tracking the technology and markets in the 1970s when European precipitator technology usurped the throne shared by Research Cottrell and Western Precipitation. Within a few years the world’s largest precipitator companies were reduced to “also rans.”  The main reason was that the wire and weight design was inferior to the rigid frame.  So the power markets are “technology forcing” and there is lots of new technology which could be a force. The conclusion is that success in the $4.4 trillion coal segment will be determined by developing superior technology.

Asia is where the action will be

•      There are 670 new generation high efficiency, low emissions (HELE) coal-fired power generation units in operation in 10 Asian economies – Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

•      These units, which represent 37 percent of electricity capacity, are producing affordable energy with sharp reductions in CO₂ and other emissions.

–     The units emit 20-25 percent less CO₂ than the average of existing power stations and up to 40 percent less than the oldest technology in place.

–     For each unit of electricity generated, they consume less fuel and emit fewer local pollutants and,

–     They typically incorporate modern SO₂, NO_x and particulate control systems.

•      New HELE coal technology in the 10 countries is already reducing CO₂ emissions by an estimated 479 million tonnes a year.

•      This low emissions coal revolution is accelerating with an additional 1,066 HELE units under construction or planned in these 10 economies alone (representing 672 gigawatts of capacity).

THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITY FOR INTERNATIONAL SUPPLIERS IS IN TECHNOLOGY WHICH MAKES COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS MORE EFFICIENT AND REDUCES ALL ENVIRONMENTAL EMISSIONS NOT JUST CO₂. INTERNATIONAL SUPPLIERS WITH NEW SUPERIOR TECHNOLOGY CAN CAPITALIZE ON THIS OPPORTUNITY. BUT, WILL THESE INNOVATORS BE AMERICAN, EUROPEAN, JAPANESE, CHINESE OR EVEN FROM SOME SURPRISING LOCATIONS?

We are finding that China is already moving forward with some of the innovations which McIlvaine believes could be winners. But there are even better technologies available.

Are Chinese companies going to be the coal-fired power plant technology leaders of the future? The Shenhua Shenwan Energy Company’s Anqing Power Plant Phase II’s 2×1000 MW expansion project boasts the highest steam parameters in China with extremely low emissions.

•      Eighty-five new technologies were adopted at the Anqing power plant, raising the power plant efficiency significantly and reducing coal consumption and emissions. 

•      Ultra-supercritical (USC) steam turbines, steam cycle pressure and temperatures of 28 MPa/600˚C/620˚C—the first time such high parameters were used in China on a power plant of this size.

•      Compared to the steam parameters used by conventional 1000-MW units, the Anqing steam turbines’ heat consumption is 53 kJ/kWh lower and the standard coal consumption for power generation was reduced by 1.94 g/kWh. The annual savings, based on standard coal costs, are about 19.8 million yuan (US$3.10 million).

•      The cost for the two units was less than $ 1 billion or just $ 500/kW.

HOW CAN SUCH LOW INVESTMENT COSTS BE ACHIEVED?

HOW COSTLY ARE CHINESE PLANTS WHEN EXPORTED TO AFRICA /ASIA?

IS CHINESE USC TECHNOLOGY LEADING THE WORLD?

Some of the heat exchange innovations were

•      Extracting steam from nine different locations in the turbine to optimize boiler feedwater heating. As compared to the typical grade-8 regenerative extraction, heat consumption was reduced by 10 kJ/kWh and standard coal consumption for power generation was reduced by 0.34 g/kWh. 

•      A high-yield water cooling tower designed to save energy compared to a conventional cooling tower was used for the first time at a 1000-MW unit in China, reducing the circulating pump lift by 10–11.5 m and reducing noise by 8–10 dB. About 3790 kW/hr. of parasitic energy was saved, reducing the plant’s power consumption by 0.38%, and the standard coal consumption for power generation was reduced by about 1 g/kWh.

•      Another approach to saving energy was capturing the waste heat in the flue gas and using it to preheat the boiler feedwater. Operating at the designed full load, the flue gas heat exchanger recovers 44,000 kW of heat, which reduced heat consumption by 45 kJ/kWh, and reduced the plants’ standard coal consumption by 1.65 g/kWh. 

•      Minimizing the backpressure on the steam turbines is another approach to increasing the efficiency of the power plant. Thus, at the Anqing units the backpressure for the units was optimized to improve overall efficiency.

THERE IS LOTS OF HEAT RECOVERY RELATED ACTIVITY IN CHINA .WE HAVE NOT IDENTIFIED THE HEAT RECOVERY SYSTEM USED AT ANQING BUT HAVE INITIATED RESEARCH AND FIND THAT ZHENGZHOU BOILER  IS  OFFERING TWO STAGE CERAMIC MEMBRANE HEAT RECOVERY SYSTEMS.  THIS SEEMS TO BE PARALLEL TO WORK IN THE U.S.  BY GTI WHICH IS ONLY IN THE PILOT PHASE.  ARE THE CHINESE AHEAD OF THE WORLD ON THIS?

Very low emissions are achieved:  outlet dust emissions of 3 mg/ Nm³ and 95% NO_x removal

•      The efficient spin exchange coupling wet FGD removes SO₂ with an efficiency of 97.8 to 99.7%.

•      In the spin exchange coupling efficient-FGD technology, a device termed a “turbulator” has been added between the entering flue gas and first level of the FGD tower, which changes the flow state of the incoming gas from laminar to turbulent and reduces the gas film resistance, so as to increase the liquid-gas contact area, increase the gas-liquid mass transfer rate, and thus increase FGD and PM removal efficiency.

•      This system also requires less power consumption than other FGD systems. In the compulsory 168-hour unit test run, the FGD efficiency reached 99.7%.

THE TURBULATOR IS A SCRUBBER INVENTED IN CHINA BY SPC WHO HAS A NUMBER OF RECENT ORDERS FOR LARGE FGD SYSTEMS AND REPORTED 2015 SALES OF 2400 MILLION CNY AND IS FORECASTING 6200 MILLON CNY FOR 2017. THIS INNOVATION NEEDS TO BE COMPARED TO THE B&W TRAY SCRUBBER BECAUSE BOTH RELY ON TURBULENCE RATHER THAN LAMINAR FLOW.  MCILVAINE HAS BEEN PREACHING TURBULENCE AS THE ANSWER FOR DECADES.

An additional question is, how much competition will Chinese companies pose in other countries of Asia and in Africa and Eastern Europe?

There are a number of Chinese power plant equipment suppliers who have the lion’s share of the experience on 1 million MW of new coal fired plants installed in the last 20 years.  In many cases the installations were partnerships of licenses but the Chinese companies are increasingly doing their own research.

Shanghai Electric is now aiming to become more competitive in the global market and it has identified technological innovations as the key to doing so. A spokesman recently stated that half of the company’s new technologies would be invented through their own research by 2025.

The company owns a big chunk of Ansaldo and its gas turbine technology.  It has a joint venture with Alstom for coal-fired power plants. It acquired the Manz solar technology recently. So this company, which is state owned and primarily focused on coal-fired power, is now becoming a force in other power plant technologies. It has also booked significant orders for its coal-fired boiler plants in other countries.

There are a number of promising technologies which were discussed.  They included

·         Production of hydrochloric acid, rare earths, and precious metals with minor increase in capital investment compared to a conventional FGD system.

·         Use of the catalytic filter with DSI to replace three individual devices and to create a clean hot gas at 850°F from which the heat is extracted.

·         Gasification of municipal solid waste and use as a reburn fuel above the primary firing zone.

The power point presentation is found at Power Generation Technologies Slides