FGD and DeNOx
NEWSLETTER

June 2019
No. 494

Table of Contents

NO_x 

• GE Power Limited Wins Order for NO_x Combustion System in India

• Yara Supplying Ammonia and NO_x Control Services in India

• BHEL Cites advantages of Anhydrous vs. Aqueous Ammonia

MERCURY

• Midwest Energy Emissions Optimizes Mercury Capture With Proprietary Sorbents and Holistic Approach

• A Columbian Plant Fitted Only With An ESP Is Achieving Low Mercury Emissions

• RWE Will Use Activated Lignite to Meet Mercury Requirements Under BREF

• German Power Plant installing Gore Mercury Module

CONTROLS

• Yokogawa Process Management System Optimizes FGD Process

• Yokogawa Delivers FGD Control System for Bosnian Coal-fired Power Plant

• Steag Algorithm Optimizes Multiple Pump Operation in German FGD System

• Horiba Analyzer Is Popular for Portable SO₂ Monitoring in Europe

DRY SCRUBBERS

• Komline Sanderson’s Unique Dry Scrubber Atomizer Suitable for Three Different Applications

• Illinois Power Plants Evaluating Wet Limestone, Dry Lime, and Ammonia Options

• Dadri Coal-fired Plant Is Installing DSI

• Time to Register for the Dry Scrubber Users Group Conference in Kansas City

 BOQI

• Build and Operate Market for Air Pollution Control Systems in China and Elsewhere

• Concession Operation Business

• Capturing the Market Opportunities Brought by the Government’s “Ultra-low Emission” Policy

• Expanding the Business Scope of the Group with Core Competitive Strengths

• Continuing to Invest in Research and Development and Strengthening the Conversion of Policy Research Results and Technological Achievements

INDUSTRY NEWS 

• JET Has Impressive Executives Who Are Promoting Coal to Ammonium Sulfate Technology

• Chinese Environment Agency Reports Local Pollution Data Fabricated

• Thermax Group Profits Surge 41% for the Fiscal

• Advanced Emissions Solutions, Inc. Profits UP

• KPS Capital Partners to Acquire Howden From Colfax Corporation

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NO_x

GE Power Limited Wins Order for NO_x Combustion System in India

GE Power India Limited has won an order worth Rs. 142 crore from NTPC for supply and installation of low NO_x combustion system for 10 GW of thermal power plant capacity across India. This is the first large scale project awarded by NTPC for installing low NO_x combustion technology at its thermal power plant fleet.

The low NO_x combustion system will be delivered in a phased manner over a period of over 30 months. The project involves in-combustion system modification of the boiler by staging the combustion air in the furnace to reduce the generation of fuel and thermal NO_x during the combustion process. This technology will help reduce 30-40 percent of NO_x emissions from these coal-fired boilers up to a level of less than 400 mg/Nm³ at 6 percent oxygen (O₂) content in flue gas on the dry gas basis at Induced Draft (ID) Fan outlet.

With more than 150 GW of coal-fired plants operating at the sub-critical level, India is the world’s second largest NO_x emitter, contributing close to 30 percent of annual NO_x emissions of the country’s industrial sector. With this order, GE Power has an opportunity to address this critical issue of emission from coal power plants.

Earlier in September 2018, GE was selected by NTPC and Tata Chemicals to upgrade two coal-fired boilers in India with low NO_x firing system in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh and Mithapur, Gujarat, which was the first standalone order for low NO_x firing system upgrade in any coal-fired utility and industrial boilers respectively in India.

Yara Supplying Ammonia and NO_x Control Services in India

With lots of new SCR and SNCR systems being installed in India, there is a need for both reagents and technical expertise. Yara has a long history in India due to its major role in the fertilizer industry.

Yara supplies the reagents for SNCR and SCR and can also supply complete systems. For each site, whether a power plant, a cement plant, or a waste incinerator, it can optimize the NO_x control system and reduce operating costs by:

• Maintenance, supply of spare parts, assessment of the SNCR and SCR system to improve its performance, safety audits.

• Advising and installing the correct storage system for your urea reagent needs, installing remote management of inventory by telemetry. The Indian market is served by Yara Fertilizers India

• Pvt. Ltd in Haryana.

BHEL Cites advantages of Anhydrous vs. Aqueous Ammonia

Although aqueous ammonia has perceived safety advantages, its cost is significantly higher than anhydrous ammonia.  

• Aqueous ammonia has the double disadvantage of transporting and storing large quantities of water and evaporating that water prior to reaction in the SCR system.

• Vaporizing aqueous ammonia requires approximately 10 times the energy required to vaporize anhydrous ammonia.

• Finally, aqueous systems require liquid pumps and approximately 3-4 times the storage volume for an equivalent amount of reagent, resulting in additional capital costs.

• BHEL manufacturers both plate catalyst and honeycomb ceramic catalyst with three different designs.

MERCURY 

Midwest Energy Emissions Optimizes Mercury Capture With Proprietary Sorbents and Holistic Approach

ME2C’s SEA^® Technology provides Total Mercury Control, providing solutions that are based on a thorough scientific understanding of actual and probable interactions involved in mercury capture in coal-fired flue gas. A complete understanding of the complexity of mercury–sorbent–flue gas interactions and chemisorption mechanisms allows for optimal control strategy and product formulation, resulting in the most effective mercury capture achievable. Combined with a thorough proprietary audit of the plant and its configuration and instrumentation, ME2C’s complete science and engineering approach for mercury–sorbent–flue gas interactions are well-understood, highly predictive, and critical to delivering Total Mercury Control. 

A Columbian Plant Fitted Only With An ESP Is Achieving Low Mercury Emissions

Lesley Sloss of IEA visited the TermoPaipa unit 4, in Columbia to find out why a precipitator is achieving high mercury removal.

The reason why this coal/plant configuration achieved such a feat is a combination of a very clean coal and a boiler running just a little less efficiently than it should. Mercury in Colombian coal is low. Chlorine is moderate — helping to oxidize the mercury to make it “sticky” enough to attach to any fly ash materials, which have some form of sorbent characteristics … unburned carbon being the ideal surface. And so, a boiler running at a slightly lower efficiency than perhaps it should, producing 10-12 percent LOI (loss on ignition/unburned carbon) provides inherent sorbent, perfectly placed to capture the now oxidized mercury within the flyash. As a result, 90 percent of the mercury is captured consistently.

RWE Will Use Activated Lignite to Meet Mercury Requirements Under BREF

For RWE’s lignite-fired power plants, the focus for mercury control is on an innovative entrained flow process and adsorption by activated lignite, called HOK^®, produced from Rhenish lignite. HOK^® is injected into the flue gas stream, adsorbs both elemental and oxidized mercury and is removed from the flue gas in the electrostatic precipitator together with the flyash. This activity is described in Modern Power Systems by Knut Stahl, Dr. Peter Moser, Ferdinand Steffen, RWE Power AG, Essen, Germany.

With their existing flue gas treatment capabilities, RWE’s coal-fired power plants will safely comply with both the current and the upcoming German national mercury emission limits, which will become effective in 2019.

However, the introduction of EU-wide flue gas mercury emission limits via the BREF-LCP process, with a bandwidth of Hg < 1-4 μg/m³N for hard coal and Hg < 1-7 μg/m³N for lignite (annual average for existing large combustion plants >300 MWt), will again drastically tighten the framework conditions for the operation of RWE’s power plant fleet from 2021 onwards. Currently, no mercury control technique is commercially available to safely and reliably achieve emission levels below the upper limits of the bandwidth of 4 μg/m³N for hard coal and 7 μg/m³N for lignite in an industrially applicable and economically affordable way. 

Based on experience and taking into consideration available technology options for Hg control in lignite-fired power plants, RWE has opted for activated carbon injection (ACI) in an entrained flow process. RWE’s affiliate Rheinbraun Brennstoff GmbH produces an activated lignite called HOK^® (“Herdofenkoks”), produced from Rhenish lignite via the so-called rotary hearth furnace process. The special properties of Rhenish lignite, coupled with the activation conditions in the production process, yield an activated carbon which has the capability for retention of a large number of pollutants due to its large specific surface area, its favorable pore radii distribution and its catalytic behavior. HOK^® activated lignite has been commercially used for many years as an adsorption and filter agent for waste gas and effluent treatment in a vast range of applications, and several American power producers also use HOK^® in their ACI system.

https://www.modernpowersystems.com/features/featurehow-rhenish-lignite-can-reduce-power-plant-mercury-emissions-6921016/

German Power Plant installing Gore Mercury Module

With new EU regulations limiting mercury and SO₂ emissions due to come into force by 2021, executives at German power company Eins Energie in Sachsen (Saxony) knew it was time to make a change. Their coal-fired combined heat and power plant in Chemnitz was not due to be shut down for at least ten years and they needed to meet the new standards as soon as possible in the existing plant.

Roland Warner, CEO of Eins, explains, “The heat supply in Chemnitz is still largely based on lignite coal today. This type of generation produces mercury that has to be disposed of. We needed a way to comply with regulations and continue to operate our coal units in an environmentally friendly manner until they are shut down — not before 2029.

For the solution, the operators of the Chemnitz CHP plant turned to an innovative technology from W. L. Gore & Associates.

The GORE™ Mercury and SO₂ Control System has already been proven for four years in various US coal-fired power plants. The Chemnitz combined heat and power plant is pioneering the technology in Germany. After various test installations at other locations, it is also the first commercial use of the GMCS in Europe.

https://www.modernpowersystems.com/features/featuregores-passive-hg-and-so2-removal-system-makes-its-european-commercial-debut-at-chemnitz-6922218/

CONTROLS

Yokogawa Process Management System Optimizes FGD Process

FGD optimization requires a high level of sophisticated advanced process control using multiple techniques including model-based prediction, process value prediction, and enhanced regulatory control. When such an optimization system is implemented, the result is significant savings in energy use, reduced pump maintenance, longer pump life, and less limestone usage. This is the conclusion of Toshihiko Fuji of Yokogawa Electric Corp. writing in Power Magazine.

The optimization system typically consists of three functions: enhanced regulatory control, model-based prediction, and process value prediction. The system uses these three functions to continuously determine the minimum required number of recirculation pumps in operation, and to calculate the setpoint for the limestone slurry flow PID (proportional-integral-derivative) control loop.

Enhanced regulatory control governs the number of recirculation pumps in operation and calculates the slurry flow setpoint. It also calculates the optimal pH setpoint, using feed-forward control for some abnormal cases. Enhanced regulatory control also keeps track of the run time of each recirculation pump and uses this data to equalize the operating times of the pumps.

https://www.powermag.com/advanced-process-control-for-optimizing-flue-gas-desulfurization/

Yokogawa Delivers FGD Control System for Bosnian Coal-fired Power Plant

Yokogawa has delivered a control system for a flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system in Bosnia and Herzegovina, representing what the company said will be the first such system in the western Balkans.

The integrated production control system was installed at the 300 MW Ugljevik coal-fired power plant in the northeast of the country. It was delivered in August 2018 and is slated to come online in October 2019.

The brown coal-fired Ugljevik plant supplies around one-fourth of the power capacity for the Republica Srpska (Bosnian Serb Republic). Since brown coal has a high sulfur content, Yokogawa said, the emissions from Ugljevik's flue stack contain high levels of sulfur dioxide.

Installation of the flue gas desulfurization system is expected to improve the regional environment and help Bosnia and Herzegovina to meet the environmental standards required to join the European Union.

Steag Algorithm Optimizes Multiple Pump Operation in German FGD System

An approach to reduce the energy consumption of the flue gas desulfurization system for the hard coal-fired power station, Walsum 9 in Germany has been utilized. The FGD-system features two independent FGD-subsystems with five pumps each. This high number of operation modes makes it complex for the human operator to find optimal pump activation patterns, because each pump has an individual flow and also a specific power consumption. Furthermore, ongoing load demand changes as well as changing coal types with different sulfur contents make this challenging task even harder. To optimize the operation of the FGD-system, Steag implemented a clustering algorithm, which learns automatically from historical process data relationships between pump constellations, power consumption, reduction of sulfur emissions, plant load, and other factors.

https://www.steagsystemtechnologies.com/uploads/pics/Paper_APC_Improved_FGD_OperationEfficiency_eng.pdf

Horiba Analyzer Is Popular for Portable SO₂ Monitoring in Europe

The Source Testing Association conducted a survey regarding trends in portable instrumentation. The two most popular type of portable SO₂ analyzers were the Horiba NDIR (67 percent of respondents) and the Gasmet FTIR (44 percent of respondents). There were few notable trends by country, but every company from Italy who responded included the Horiba PG250/PG350 in their equipment list, with these models also proving popular in Finland. Germany and the UK.

DRY SCRUBBERS

Komline Sanderson’s Unique Dry Scrubber Atomizer Suitable for Three Different Applications

Komline Sanderson has a unique rotary atomizer used for dry scrubbing but also for chemical and food production. Elimination of silos between industries should lead to improved atomizer designs.

Komline-Sanderson’s variable-speed Rotary Atomizers represent a dependable approach to atomization and spray drying. The compact, rugged, direct-drive, high-speed motor, utilizing only a few parts in one rotating assembly (no gear, pulley, gearbox or coupling), reduces the need for traditional mechanical maintenance. High quality, oil-mist lubricated precision bearings (ABEC-7), of ceramic-ball design, provide maximum reliability.

K-S has over 35 years of experience using rotary atomizers in the following applications: 

·         Air Pollution Control (APC)

·         Dry Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) on coal-fired boilers

·         Dry Flue Gas Cleaning (FGC) on municipal and industrial waste combustors (incinerators)

·         Evaporation of wet scrubber effluents at hazardous waste facilities

·         Spray Drying of miscellaneous chemical and mineral products for the production of dry, free-flowing powders, such as:

•  Inorganic salts

• Tungsten carbide

• Catalyst carriers qSilicas

• Kaolin & clay products

Illinois Power Plants Evaluating Wet Limestone, Dry Lime, and Ammonia Options

Illinois power plants have significant amounts of dry FGD and DSI. A task force was assembled in 2018 to evaluate options and impact on Illinois coal use. The conclusion was that ammonia scrubbing with by-products be considered.

McIlvaine has been involved in ammonia scrubbing starting in 1962 when a pilot unit was installed at a TVA fertilizer research facility. MET has sold ammonia systems at several plants around the world. The price of ammonium sulfate by product can be as high as four times the raw ammonia cost. The high chlorine Illinois coals are an attractive fuel source for ammonium sulfate production.

The task force considered the technology of a Chinese-based supplier — Jiangnan Environmental Technology Inc. This supplier has 300 installations utilizing the technology. The one concern McIlvaine has is the potential for a blue plume of small particles. MET ultimately retrofitted a wet electrostatic precipitator to solve the blue plume problem.

The Flue Gas Desulfurization (“FGD”) Task Force Act (20 ILCS 5120) created the FGD Task Force “to increase the amount of Illinois Basin coal use in generation units,” and to “identify and evaluate the costs, benefits, and barriers of new and modified FGD, or other post-combustion sulfur dioxide emission control technologies, and other capital improvements, that would be necessary for generation units to comply with the sulfur dioxide National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), while improving the ability of those generation units to meet the effluent limitation guidelines (ELGs) for wastewater discharges and enhancing the marketability of the generation units' FGD by-products.”

There are also significant amounts of coal burned by industrial plants in Illinois.

The most relevant measures for the cost of SO₂ control by FGD are the costs in dollars per ton of SO₂ removed, and the annualized costs of installing and operating an FGD system. The dollars per ton of SO₂ removed figures are useful in comparison to prices for emission allowances. Annualized costs of controls include capital costs amortized over the life of the system and the operation and maintenance costs associated with the control and provide an understandable estimate of the actual costs to power plant operators. Estimates for costs have been taken from USEPA information, and the following estimates are based on a unit with a capacity of 500 megawatts.

Coal-fired units in Illinois range between 78 MW and 800 MW, but a 500-MW unit could be considered a unit of typical size in Illinois for the purposes of these estimates. Wet scrubbing system capital costs range from $50 to $125 million per unit controlled, and annualized costs range from $10 to $25 million annually. Control costs are in a range of $200 to $500 per ton of SO₂ removed. It should be noted that many power plants operate several generating units and total capital costs and annualized costs can be much higher than the estimate above for control of an entire power plant with multiple units.

Dry scrubbing system capital costs range from $20 to $75 million per unit controlled, and annualized costs are also range from $10 to $25 million annually. Control costs are in a range of $150 to $300 per ton of SO₂ removed. As with the cost estimates given for wet scrubbing systems, it should be noted that many power plants operate several generating units and total capital costs and annualized costs can be much higher than the estimate above for control of an entire power plant with multiple units.

DSI system capital costs range from $3 to $15 million, but as previously stated, control costs and annualized costs are heavily dependent upon factors specific to the power plant and their target control efficiency. Again, there are associated operating and maintenance costs.

At the October 10th meeting of the FGD Task Force, a presentation was made by representatives of Jiangnan Environmental Technology Inc. (“JET”), a company that reports it has been installing and operating ammonia-based FGD systems outside the U.S. According to JET, these ammonia-based FGD systems have many advantages over conventional limestone/lime wet scrubbers and can increase revenue at a power plant through the sale of the by-products of the systems. JET representatives suggested that use of higher-sulfur Illinois coal in their systems was actually preferable to low-sulfur coal because it would produce more by-product which is potentially saleable. According to JET, advantages of ammonia-based FGD systems include: SO₂ control efficiencies of 99 percent or greater; no wastewater or solid waste; lesser power consumption by the controls and thus lower operating costs; and profits through the sale of ammonia sulfate as a fertilizer. The company’s business model involves financial support for the cost incurred by EGU owner related to installation of the technology, for the costs associated with the packaging and sale of the fertilizer by-product, and for operation of the control at the plant. JET posits this arrangement provides for essentially no-cost control of SO₂ emissions in addition to a share of the revenue to the plant from the sale of the byproduct. JET does not currently operate any ammonia-based FGD systems in the U.S., however, the company apparently has installed the technology in over 150 projects worldwide, and claims that the technology is mature and suitable for use in the U.S. Issues of concern for installation of this technology in the U.S. are the permitting difficulties presented by a third-party control operator, potential additional emissions of ammonia and particulate matter, ensuring that there are indeed no issues requiring water permitting, and the issues involving accumulation of by-product in the event it is not marketable.

From the information gathered for this report, the FGD Task Force acknowledges the challenges to sustaining and increasing the use of Illinois coal, and is encouraged by technological developments that could prove useful in achieving that goal. In the Illinois deregulated electricity market, the cost of constructing, operating, and maintaining FGD systems on independent generating units has been one of the biggest obstacles to the use of Illinois coal. While it would require further site-specific evaluation by EGU owners and operators, the ammonia-based FGD technology presented by JET could possibly overcome hurdles to Illinois coal usage. Currently, the investor-owned power plants in Illinois are owned by Vistra Energy and NRG Energy. Accordingly, the Task Force urges Vistra Energy and NRG Energy to seriously consider this technology for its Illinois power plants

http://www.ilga.gov/reports/ReportsSubmitted/173RSGAEmail366RSGAAttachFINAL%20FGD%20Task%20Force%20Report%20and%20Appendix%20(printing).pdf

Dadri Coal-fired Plant Is Installing DSI

The National Thermal Power Corp. (NTPC)’s Dadri Power Plant is opting for a Dry The National Thermal Power Corp. (NTPC)’s Dadri Power Plant is opting for a Dry Sorbent Injection (DSI) system for controlling sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emissions and ensuring compliance with the 2015 environmental norms within the stipulated deadline.

The Dadri power station in the Dehli-NCR region had invited bids in March 2018 from interested manufacturers to install DSI technology. In the first phase, four power generation units with a capacity of 210 MW each will be targeted. The Invitation For Bids (IFB), currently running in its final stages, has laid out the technical criteria, wherein the bidder should have built at least one DSI system “in a pulverized coal-fired unit, having flue gas flow of not less than 6,000,000 Nm³/hr., with sulfur dioxide capture efficiency of at least 50 percent....The….System should be using Sodium Bicarbonate as reagent and should have been in successful operation for a period not less than one year prior to the date of Techno-Commercial bid opening.”

The scope of Dry Sorbent Injection (DSI) System Package for NCTPP, Dadri, Stage-I (4x210 MW) for four units of 210 MW shall cover design, engineering, manufacture, shop fabrication, preassembly, shop testing/type testing at manufacturer’s works, packing, transportation, unloading, handling and conservation of equipment at site, complete services of construction including erection, supervision, pre-commissioning, commissioning and performance testing of equipment under bidder’s scope of work of Dry Sorbent Injection (DSI) System and its associated auxiliaries, including all associated Electrical, Control & Instrumentation, Civil, Structural and Architecture works. Dry Sorbent Injection System shall use Sodium Bicarbonate as reagent.

G Srikanth, an independent technical expert, believes that the technology choice is appropriate. “The lower capital cost and smaller construction and commissioning time make it ideal for smaller generation units that have stiff deadlines. Moreover, DSI actually improves the efficiency of electrostatic precipitator (ESP), thus reducing the emission levels of Particulate Matter (PM) further,” he said.

Operational costs due to reagents, however, remain a bone of contention. While some experts believe that the reagent in question is expensive, raising the operational costs, others are of the opinion that the higher cost is offset by the lesser quantity of reagent that will be needed in the process.

Notwithstanding the differences in opinions over cost of reagent, this is a significant development for the power sector, as the stations and technology manufacturers had been advocating for flue gas desulfurization (FGD) as the only solution.

Time to Register for the Dry Scrubber Users Group Conference in Kansas City

The annual Dry Scrubber Users Group will be held from September 10 through 12, 2019 in Kansas City, MO. The 3rd annual pre-conference golf tournament and evening registration will take place on Monday, September 9, 2019. Participation in the conference can be achieved not only through registration but also through the sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities or by submitting abstracts for an opportunity to present at the conference.

Important conference dates:

July 15, 2019 – Call for abstracts closes

August 1, 2019 – Author Notifications sent

August 15, 2019 – Final presentations due

The theme of this year’s conference is “Work Smarter, Not Harder.” We have all experienced the change in the power industry over the past few years coupled with a generation of engineers and operators that have or will be retiring as we usher in a new generation of young engineers and operators who will take the reins. As a result, the industry will have to continuously evolve to new technologies as well as new operating philosophies in order to minimize operating and maintenance costs while maximizing plant performance. While these constraints pose many problems this also presents opportunities for new solutions which is the essence of this year’s theme. 

This year there will be three plant tours showcasing a variety of dry scrubber applications at the following location: 

• Spray Dryer Absorber (SDA) Technology – Kansas City Power & Light’s Hawthorn Station Unit 5 which is a wall fired boiler burning PRB coal with a load range of 300 to 590 MWs. This site has a Babcock and Wilcox SDA as well as SCR system and UCC bottom ash submerged flight conveyor.

• Circulating Dry Scrubber (CDS) Technology – Kansas City Board of Public Utilities Nearman Creek Power Station Unit 1 is 256-MW Riley Stoker wall-fired boiler burning PRB coal.  This site has a dual train Babcock Power CDS along with a Babcock/Dustex pulse jet fabric filter.  The site also has an SCR system, dual train Babcock/Chemo PAC injection system and UCC PAX dry bottom ash system.

• Spray Dryer Evaporator (SDE) Technology – Kansas City Power & Light’s Iatan Station Unit 2 is an 850-MW balanced draft super-critical unit with an air quality control system consisting of an SCR, pulse jet fabric filter, PAC injection system and wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) system. The plant was also retrofit with Alstom’s SDETM technology for elimination of the WFGD blowdown stream.

Alstom’s SDE™ technology is based on its SDA technology, which has been widely deployed since the mid-1970s to remove acid gases from utility flue gases. The SDETM technology takes a small slipstream of hot flue gas from boilers to evaporate the WFGD blowdown stream in lieu of sending it to a waste water treatment (WWT) system.  Dissolved and suspended solids in the blowdown stream sent to the SDE are dried and collected by the existing downstream particulate collection device.  Alstom’s SDE™ technology offers a true Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) solution that can be used on a stand-alone basis or in conjunction with other WWT technologies. The SDE™ technology is considered cost-effective and relatively simple to operate. Since the WFGD blowdown stream is evaporated, this is true ZLD technology meaning that there is no waste water stream that must be permitted and monitored and is one potential solution that could be utilized to comply with the upcoming ELG rule. 

One of the biggest advantages of attendance is the access to experienced industry experts not only from the U.S. but also international attendees.  One such individual is Dr. Jianchun Wang (Joe) of Lonjing (www.lonjing.com). Joe has been an attendee as well as a speaker at a number of past Dry Scrubber User Group meetings. His company, also known as Longking, has supplied more dry scrubber systems than any other company.

You can register for the conference at the following link and you can reach out to the association president, Gerald Hunt, with any questions (gerald.hunt@lhoist.com):    http://www.cvent.com/events/2019-dry-scrubber-users-conference/event-summary-a5a83248aab04179bd8355b529d6334b.aspx 

BOQI

Build and Operate Market for Air Pollution Control Systems in China and Elsewhere

China Boqi has made the transition from the typical air pollution control systems provider to that of maintaining, operating and even owning air pollution control facilities. This is an option made more profitable by the Chinese government. The government was concerned about plant owners ignoring emission requirements, so it has encouraged third party operation of the pollution control facilities.

Air Products and Chemical and Mitsubishi teamed up to form Pure Air in the U.S. in the 1990s.  They successfully built, owned and maintained a NIPSCO FGD system. This could have been a model for profitability for system suppliers who instead lost a great deal with the downturn in the power plant air pollution control industry in the U.S.

Even though the market for systems in China has peaked, there is the opportunity to generate high margins with ownership and operation. China Boqi Environmental (Holding) Co., Ltd.  for the year ended December 31, 2018, reported revenue of RMB 1,744,998,000 compared to RMB 1,329,078,000 a year ago. Profit for the year was RMB 392,819,000 or RMB 0.44 per basic share or RMB 0.27 per diluted share compared to loss of RMB 37,029,000 or RMB 0.08 per basic and diluted share a year ago.

Market-oriented operation and maintenance of desulfurization/denitrification projects is one of the major trends in recent years. Professional third-party treatment companies, observes Boqi, possess richer experience in operation, maintenance and more abundant technical expertise compared with power plants. The penetration rate of third-party treatment is expected to keep rising. Boqi quotes other sources which predict that by 2021, the penetration rate of cumulative installed capacity in operation of desulfurization and denitrification under the operation and maintenance model in China would reach 16.5 percent. Meanwhile, boosted by favorable government policies, the market has witnessed increasing recognition and effective promotion of the concession operation model in the industry of environmental protection for coal-fired power plants. The desulfurization and denitrification concession operations are expected to grow steadily with a penetration rate to reach 15.7 percent and 15.5 percent, respectively, by 2021.

The Group enters into project contracts with coal-fired power plants and other customers for the provision of services mainly based on three business models: the EPC, the O&M business and concession operations (which includes BOT and TOT). The Group uses different business models for different projects in its desulfurization, denitrification and other flue gas treatment businesses in an effort to comply with general market practices or to meet customer’s expectation or to take advantage of certain favorable government policies

As of December 31, 2017, the cumulative installed capacity contracted for newly-built EPC projects (including desulfurization, denitrification and dust removal projects) of the Group reached 2000 MW and the cumulative installed capacity contracted for upgrade EPC projects of the Group reached 3235 MW. The total contract value of newly contracted EPC projects, including newly built and upgrade project, amounted to RMB712 million for the 2017 Financial Year. Among which, Boqi has made a breakthrough in EPC projects in non-electricity fields and have entered into contract for their first ultra-low emission project in the petrochemical industry, namely the Shanghai Petrochemical Boiler Ultra-low Emission Upgrade Project and the Group’s first flue gas desulfurization project in the electrolytic aluminum industry, namely the flue gas desulfurization system engineering of Aluminum Company I （鋁業一公司） and Aluminum Company VI （鋁業六公司） of Zouping Hongmao New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. (鄒平縣宏茂新材料科技有限公 司) of Shandong Province.

As at December 31, 2017, the Group had 14 EPC projects under construction. The following table sets forth the status of the EPC projects under construction as of December 31, 2017: 

Notes:

(1)   Represents the percentage of completion as measured by the preparation that construction costs incurred for work performed to date relative to the estimated total construction costs.

(2)   The construction of the project is temporarily on hold, subject to further adjustments of construction plans, pursuant to the instruction by the relevant government authorities.

Concession Operation Business

Under the concession operation business model, the Group is responsible for the financing, investment, construction and upgrade of a project according to the concession contract with the customer. In general, the concession projects are funded by the Group’s own capital or borrowings from local banks. After the completion of constructions, the Group also owns the project assets and operates the project for a period pre-defined in the concession agreement, which is typically 15 to 20 years, and the Group is entitled to collect revenues generated from the project during the term of the contract. Revenues generated by the concession operation business during the operation phase of the relevant projects are calculated based on the on-grid power generation of the customer using the unit price specified in the concession contract during the operation phase, which is generally settled with the customers on a monthly basis. The Group also generates revenues from the sales of by-products during the operation of the environmental protection facilities. The fees the Group receives for the provision of concession services under the concession contracts typically include a service fee based on a guaranteed minimum flue gas treatment volume and such fees are contingent subject to adjustment of certain variable cost the Group incurred. Such tariff subsidy for the power consumption pre-determined at the time the concession agreement has been entered into with the client.

In 2017, the Group continued to carry out its concession operation business, including desulfurization, denitrification and Green Island (which is an integrated flue gas treatment system synergic treatment of flue gas pollutants produced by the boilers of coal-fired power plants, including denitrification, desulfurization, dust removal, induced-drafted fan system, reheating system.). As at 31 December 2017, the Group cumulatively undertook six concession operation projects with one under construction and five in operation. Among which, the acquisition of Xinjiang Shenhuo BOT Project has further optimized the business structure of the Group and enhanced the profitability of the Company, which demonstrated the significance of the Group’s development in regional markets such as Xinjiang.

(1) For Xinjiang Shenhuo BOT Project, the Group acquired certain flue gas desulfurization, denitrification and dust removal facilities, which in turn upgrade at the Group’s own expenses. The Group expects to recover its investments in the acquisition and upgrading of the relevant facilities through the service fees it charges during the subsequent concession operation period.

Capturing the Market Opportunities Brought by the Government’s “Ultra-low Emission” Policy

The Group seeks to capture the market opportunities arising from China’s national “ultra-low emission” policy. Leveraging the extensive customer base and abundant business experience of the Group, the Group seeks to further cover the whole industrial chain of flue gas treatment. The Group would closely focus on the development of the third-party treatment market, endeavor to tap into the market potential of the desulfurization and denitrification concession operation and O&M business and improve the proportion of third-party treatment business within our major businesses, so as to achieve the sustainable development of their business. The PRC government has promulgated a series of environmental treatment polities, which brought significant impetus to the development of the relevant industries. In light of the favorable national policies, looking forward, the Group would put more focus on the expansion of flue gas third party treatment markets, while it would strengthen the market overall planning, modify marketing strategies, increase their resource allocations, building up their professional image and brand, attach great importance to the maintenance of major customers, continuously offer training to marketing personnel in respect of technology knowledge, market analysis and sales techniques and improve the quality of tenders won.

Expanding the Business Scope of the Group with Core Competitive Strengths

The Group will continue to expand its business scope with competitive strengths. Looking to the future, the Group plans to extend its flue gas treatment industrial chain to other aspects of heavy metal treatment, VOC treatment and CO2 capturing and collection in order to provide customers with integrated energy-saving and environmental protection solutions. Meanwhile, after Listing, leveraging strong capital strength, the Group entered the fields of municipal and industrial sewage treatment business and detoxification treatment of solid waste through various approaches, such as technology cooperation, investment, mergers and acquisitions, so as to build an integrated environmental industry group. In addition, supported with the resources of the shareholders in the industry, the Group would collaborate with research institutes on joint technology licensing so as to expand their “ultra-low emission” upgrade business in the fields of petroleum and petrochemicals, metallurgical, steel and coal chemicals. Leveraging the Implementation of the “One Belt One Road” National Strategy to Explore the Overseas Markets By leveraging the “One Belt One Road” strategy and the national “Green Finance” policy, the Group will explore overseas markets in countries alongside the “One Belt One Road”, such as Turkey, Serbia, India, Russia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan. The Group would continue to reinforce cooperation with overseas energy engineering companies and large-scale technology companies. The Group plans to explore overseas market based on current EPC and O&M model. In January 2018, the Group completed the structural adjustment of overseas business expansion. By establishing an international business department, the Group would strengthen our overseas team building in terms of marketing, designing, purchasing and project executions, and accelerate its overseas talent base through talent introduction and internal cultivation, so as to satisfy their needs for overseas market development and enlarge their space for development in overseas market.

Continuing to Invest in Research and Development and Strengthening the Conversion of Policy Research Results and Technological Achievements

The Group will continue to invest in technology research and development and technology innovation by promoting the infrastructure of technology research and improving postdoctoral research station and technology center, to strengthen the cultivation and utilization of skilled talents, so as to make full use of the skills of the talents. By conducting multilevel, multi-channel cooperation and communication with external institutions in technology, the Group will closely monitor the latest development of the industry, establish the platform to acquire and monitor technology in different phases and different depth. The Group seeks to establish a pool of various technologies to provide technical support for development. By further improving the postdoctoral research station, the experimental research base and technology the Group has established, the Group will strengthen the infrastructure of technology research, improve its innovation capabilities and fully utilize the Group’s strengths in technology as a high-tech enterprise. The Group will actively participate in the establishment of the national and industrial standards to strengthen its leading position in technology

INDUSTRY NEWS

JET Has Impressive Executives Who Are Promoting Coal to Ammonium Sulfate Technology

Jiangnan Environment Technology Inc (JET) has sold a number of systems in China to use high sulfur coals and make ammonium sulfate. Last week we devoted considerable space to the conclusions of an Illinois task force which recommended pursuit of this technology. We did not report the impressive group of individuals supporting the initiative.

JET has a U.S. office in Ridgefield Park, NJ. This year, the company hired several prominent American executives and diplomats, including Neil Bush, the fourth child of George H.W. Bush and brother to former President George W. Bush. Bush's hiring was announced the same day as JET executives met with Dept. of Energy officials.

Other members of JET's U.S. team include David Phillips, a former KeySpan Corp. CEO and chairman of the Bilateral U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce, and Richard Westerdale II, a former State Department adviser.

While at the State Dept., Westerdale spoke at a JET technology symposium at the St. Regis hotel in Washington, providing an overview of the Trump administration's energy policy. Less than a month later, he would leave the government to take a job with the company.

Other presenters at the conference included JET's founder and chairman and the chief operating officer of its U.S. subsidiary, a former Indianapolis Power & Light Co. executive.

Dynegy Inc. sent a team to China in mid-2017 to evaluate whether JET's technology made sense for the company's Zimmer power station in Ohio, according to the former managing director of the plant, who presented at the fall technology symposium.

Plus, JET did its own case study using the Kincaid coal-fired power plant in Illinois, concluding that the plant could save $44 million annually with its SO₂-removal technology and a switch to Illinois coal.

McIlvaine has been reporting on ammonia scrubbing since 1974. It did one brief study, which showed that higher chlorine Illinois coals could be burned without corrosion. This could make cheaper high chlorine coals the most attractive fuel. Peabody Coal has expressed concern that mining low chlorine coals is more expensive than importing PRB.

McIlvaine has also recommended that the system include rare earths recovery. The cost to produce 30 percent hydrochloric acid, rare earths feedstock, ammonium sulfate, and high quality flyash is little more than a typical limestone scrubbing system. This insight is unique and the result of direct accidental experience at Philadelphia Electric Eddystone and Cromby.

Chinese Environment Agency Reports Local Pollution Data Fabricated

Reports released by China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment state that pollution inspectors have been presented with fake data by polluters. The agency reported that in one instance a thermal power company in Henan province used a wireless mouse to interfere with the sealed automatic monitoring system and deleted data on excessive emissions. The ministry also stated that six national observation stations in Linfen in Shanxi province had been interfered with over 100 times between April 2017 and March 2018. The ministry reports also revealed some city environmental protection bureaus, which are responsible for ensuring standards are met, have fabricated documents to cover up their lack of enforcement of pollution control standards. In other instances, regulators have been found to have been corrupt. New data also indicates that over the first four months of 2019, PM_2.5 fine particle air pollution in northern China increased largely as a result of local officials relaxing limits on coal use and heavy industry.

Thermax Group Profits Surge 41% for the Fiscal

Thermax Group posted consolidated revenue of Rs. 5973 crore compared to Rs. 4486 crore in the previous year, up 33 percent. Profit after tax for the year was Rs. 325 crore (Rs. 231 crore). Consolidated earnings per Rs. 2/- share were Rs. 28.90 compared to Rs. 20.61 in 2017-18. 

The profits are after an exceptional charge of Rs. 90 crore, principally related to the impairment of the goodwill in Danstoker and after a credit of Rs 94 crore deferred tax adjustment in Thermax Babcock & Wilcox Energy Solutions Private Limited (TBWES).

Consolidated order intake for the year was Rs. 5633 crore, 12 percent lower than Rs. 6380 crore in 2017-18. Last year’s figure comprised some sizeable orders including a single large export order of Rs. 1000 crore, a trend not witnessed during the current fiscal. Order backlog as on March 31, 2019, stood at Rs. 5370 crore, 6 percent lower than last year’s Rs. 5689 crore. 

On a standalone basis, Thermax Limited had revenue of Rs. 3541 crore as compared to Rs. 2746 crore in the previous fiscal. The Boiler and Heater (B&H) business of the company has been considered as a discontinued operation as it is being transferred to the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, TBWES. The company’s profit after tax, including discontinued operation, is Rs. 275 crore as compared to last year’s Rs. 238 crore, a growth of 16 percent. The profit is after considering Rs. 48 crore (Rs.25 crore) of an exceptional item of expenditure on account of impairment loss on the company’s investments in JVs and subsidiaries. For 2018-19, Thermax Limited registered an order intake of Rs. 3325 crore (Rs. 3634 crore) and an order backlog of Rs. 2741 crore (Rs. 3074 crore).

On April 11, 2019, the company acquired the entire stake held by the joint venture partners, namely MUTARES HOLDING-24 AG, Germany and BALCKE-DUERR GmbH, Germany in Thermax SPX Energy Technologies Limited (TSPX). Subsequent to the acquisition, TSPX has now become a wholly owned subsidiary of Thermax Ltd.

Advanced Emissions Solutions, Inc. Profits UP

Advanced Emissions Solutions, Inc. serves as the holding entity for a family of companies that provide emissions solutions to customers in the power generation and other industries.

ADA brings together ADA Carbon Solutions, a leading provider of power activated carbon (PAC) and ADA-ES, the providers of ADA^® M-Prove™. The company provides products and services to control mercury and other contaminants at coal-fired power generators and other industrial companies. A broad suite of complementary products control contaminants and helps customers meet their compliance objectives consistently and reliably.

CarbPure Technologies LLC, (CarbPure), formed in 2015 provides high-quality PAC and granular activated carbon suited for treatment of potable water and wastewater. Affiliate company, ADA Carbon Solutions, LLC manufactures the products for CarbPure.

Tinuum Group, LLC (Tinuum Group) is a 42.5 percent owned joint venture by ADA that provides patented Refined Coal (RC) technologies to enhance combustion of and reduce emissions of NO_x and mercury from coal-fired power plants.

The 1^st quarter revenue and cost of revenue were $19.3 million and $141.1 million, respectively, compared with $3.9 million and $0.6 million in the 1^st quarter of 2018. The increase in revenues during the 1^st quarter was almost entirely driven by the $14.5 million increase in consumables sales resulting from the contribution of the company’s PGI segment, which contains the newly acquired activated carbon assets.

The 1^st quarter earnings from equity method investments were $21.7 million, compared to $12.3 million for the first quarter of 2018. The significant increase was driven by additional RC facilities year over year as well as the impact of the adopted change in lease and revenue accounting standards by Tinuum.

KPS Capital Partners to Acquire Howden From Colfax Corporation

KPS Capital Partners (KPS) announced May 16 that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Howden, from Colfax Corp. for an enterprise value of $1.80 billion, including $1.66 billion in cash consideration and $0.14 billion in assumed liabilities and minority interest, subject to customary closing adjustments.

Howden is a leading global provider of mission critical air and gas handling products and services to the industrial, power, oil & gas and mining industries. Based in Glasgow, Scotland, Howden has a 160-year heritage as a world-class application engineering and manufacturing company with a presence in 32 countries. Howden manufactures highly engineered fans, compressors, heat exchangers, steam turbines, and other air and gas handling equipment, and provides service and support to customers around the world in highly diversified end-markets and geographies. The company has over 5,300 employees, including over 650 industry-leading engineers and 22 manufacturing facilities in 12 countries.

Raquel Palmer, Co-Managing Partner of KPS, said, "We are thrilled to have the opportunity to own and support Howden as the Company continues its path of transformation and growth. Howden is a formidable company that benefits from many positive secular trends, including increasingly greater environmental standards, the need for energy conservation and the trend toward urbanization, especially in developing economies. Howden enjoys a leading market position, scale, a global manufacturing footprint, world-class design and engineering capabilities, and a portfolio of industry-leading products. We intend to capitalize on the company's many attractive growth opportunities, including strategic acquisitions, and to support its already substantial investment in research and development, technology and new product development. We look forward to partnering with Howden's talented management team to achieve success as an independent company."

Ian Brander, Chief Executive Officer of Howden, said, "We are excited about our future as an independent company under KPS' ownership. KPS is an ideal partner, given its demonstrated track record of recognizing and growing world-class industrial companies. KPS' commitment to continuous improvement, its global network, access to capital and significant resources will enable us to continue to grow our business and provide our customers with market-leading products and solutions." 

"We are very pleased that our Air and Gas Handling associates will be working with a strong partner whose vision is to invest and grow the business," said Matt Trerotola, President and Chief Executive Officer of Colfax Corp. "I want to thank the team for their success in reshaping the business toward more profitable growth opportunities."

Completion of the transaction is expected in the second half of 2019 and is subject to customary closing conditions and approvals. 

FGD and DeNOx Newsletter No. 494