FGD and DeNOx
NEWSLETTER

March 2020
No. 503

 Table of Contents 

 

BUSINESS 

 INDIA

 

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 BUSINESS

Fuel Tech 2019 Revenues Were Lower

Consolidated revenues for 2019 were $30.5 million as compared to $56.5 million last year.

Cost of sales for 2019 also included the $2.0 million of unreimbursed customer remediation costs.

Reflecting the inclusion of the unreimbursed customer remediation costs, gross margin for 2019 was 35.5 percent as compared to 35.5 percent of revenues for 2018. Excluding the unreimbursed customer remediation costs, gross margin for 2019 was 42.1 percent.

SG&A expenses for 2019 declined 7.4 percent to $17.2 million from $18.6 million in 2018. On a total dollar basis, SG&A for 2019 decreased by $1.4 million. SG&A attributable to the company’s China operations was $1.7 million in 2019 as compared to $2.2 million in 2018.

Net loss from continuing operations, including the unreimbursed customer remediation costs, was $(7.9) million, or $(0.32) per share, compared to net income from continuing operations of $0.1 million, or $0.00 per share, in 2018. Excluding the impact of the unreimbursed customer remediation costs, net loss from continuing operations was $(5.9) million, or $(0.24) per share.

Results for 2019 and 2018 included revenues from Beijing Fuel Tech of $0.3 million and $3.0 million, respectively, and operating losses of $1.8 million and $1.9 million, respectively.

Adjusted EBITDA loss was $(6.2) million compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $1.5 million last year.

Eskom’s Pollution Control Commitments to World Bank Ignored

When the World Bank agreed in 2010 to provide loans to Eskom for the 4800 MW Medupi coal plant, a condition was the installation of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) equipment on each of the plant’s six units by December 2021. On December 30, 2019 the World Bank agreed to the seventh amendment of the loan agreement allowing the FGD units to be installed between 2027 and 2032. Lauri Myllyvirta from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air estimates the lack of FGD units could result in the premature deaths of up to 900 people over the next 10 years. The ongoing controversy over Eskom’s breaching of air pollution standards comes as President Cyril Ramaphosa has flagged his support for the sale of some of the utility’s power stations to private investors to help reduce its crippling debt.

MHI Changes Business Structure to Drive Growth Strategies

Effective April 1, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) will reorganize its corporate structure with the establishment of a new "Growth Strategy Office" to enable exploration and development of new businesses, as well as reorganizing its business domains and segments, which will lead to a flatter organization to help accelerate its growth strategy. The reorganization will include absorption of MHI's wholly owned Group company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Forklift, Engine & Turbocharger Holdings, Ltd. (M-FET). With the new reorganization program, MHI will harness its Groupwide synergies to strengthen earning capacity and global market competitiveness while responding to changes in the external business environment, including the need to accelerate decarbonization initiatives and deal with U.S.-China trade frictions.

Functions relating to new business development, which until now have been spread mainly across the Business Strategy Office and Marketing & Innovation Headquarters, will be consolidated under a newly established "Growth Strategy Office" directly managed by the CEO. The new entity will flexibly pursue business expansion through exploration of new business areas and integration of existing businesses — difficult to achieve under the current business division organization—to respond to major shifts in social values and the rapid development of technological innovation.

Current Power Systems domain becomes Energy Systems, enabling global expansion in the energy and environment fields. The current Power Systems domain centered around Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS), which will become a wholly owned MHI Group company, will become the new "Energy Systems" domain. In its new incarnation, the Energy Systems domain will strengthen MHI's global growth in the energy and environment fields, with a focus on decarbonization, and promote structural changes in the thermal power systems area.

GE Improves Profitability in Power Sector

Larry Culp, Chairman & CEO at GE informed stockholders this week about progress in improving profile.

Power

“We focused much of our energy this year on Power, and our progress illustrates the type of improvements we can make across the company over the long term. Power drove tremendous change in 2019, starting by separating Gas Power from Power Portfolio to improve visibility and accountability in these businesses. In Gas Power, the team reduced fixed costs by 10 percent and narrowed the perimeter of projects it goes after, setting evaluation standards across price, terms, and scope. It also booked 13.6 gigawatts in gas turbine orders during the year, including its 100th HA turbine order and launched its new 7HA.03, now the world’s largest and most efficient gas turbine.

Power Portfolio, which includes Steam, Power Conversion, and GE Hitachi Nuclear, also improved its commercial discipline and cost structure, applying more rigorous daily management both in our operations and at our job sites. The team is focusing on subsegments where we have a differentiated market position, like medium voltage and complex systems in Power Conversion.

Power’s focus on daily management, particularly on the project side, is creating a lower-risk, higher-margin backlog for the future. I’m pleased with the progress Power made in 2019 and look forward to more in 2020.

Renewable Energy

Renewable Energy is well positioned to serve clean energy markets that are expected to grow rapidly over the coming decades.1 In 2019, we brought all of GE’s renewable and grid assets into this business, creating a differentiated offering that can both produce renewable energy and reliably and safely integrate it into electrical grids. The team achieved record unit volume for onshore wind turbines in 2019 while securing nearly 5 gigawatts of commitments for its new offshore wind turbine, the Haliade™-X.

Broadly, though, Renewable Energy’s performance was mixed. I think about the dynamics at play in Renewable Energy in three parts. First, Onshore Wind is our most established, profitable business, and it is meeting high customer demand and growing internationally. Second, we’re placing technology bets in fast-growing markets. In October, for example, Offshore Wind successfully installed the prototype for the Haliade-X, which already is breaking records for power production by a wind turbine. Third are our required turnarounds in Grid Solutions and Hydro. Improving project underwriting and daily execution here will be a major focus for us in 2020.”

MHPS Receives 12-Year Maintenance Service Extension for the BLCP Power Station in Thailand

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. (MHPS), concluded a third long-term maintenance agreement (LTMA) for the BLCP Power Station operated by BLCP Power Limited (BLCP), an independent power producer (IPP) in Thailand. The contract was concluded at a signing ceremony held on February 14. The original LTMA for the power station lasted three years, which was followed by a second agreement for six years. MHPS' technical service effectiveness over the nine-year period was highly regarded by the client. As such, BLCP sought continuation of long-term stable operations and improved efficiency, which led to the conclusion of a 12-year third LTMA.

The signing ceremony, held at the MHPS head office in Yokohama, was attended by BLCP Managing Director Yuthana Charoenwong and other company executives, with MHPS represented by President Ken Kawai. The comprehensive LTMA includes regular inspections, equipment replacement, and efficiency improvements. The extension concludes in 2032, when the 25-year power purchase agreement with the Electricity Authority of Thailand completes. MHPS' strong track record in maintenance and optimization will help ensure a long service life for the power plant.

The BLCP Power Station, located in the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate in Rayong Province in eastern part of Thailand, is a 1400-megawatt thermal power generating facility comprising of two power plants for which the handover from MHPS was completed in 2007. The LTMA covers the power plant major equipment including boilers, steam turbines and flue gas cleaning system built by MHPS on a turnkey basis.

MHPS also concentrates on measures to strengthen its service business, such as developing and expanding its operations and maintenance (O&M) service including enhancing efficiency through renewal and renovation of power generating equipment, trouble prevention and reducing CO2 emissions. The conclusion of this LTMA is part of this effort. 

Cormetech Announces the Success of its Breakthrough DustBuster™ Coal SCR Catalyst

In making the announcement, Mike Mattes, President & CEO of Cormetech said, “Demand continues to be strong as utilities worldwide recognize the benefits of DustBuster™ and are looking to improve their coal-fired generation SCR performance and meet new environmental emission standards in an economical way. DustBuster™ is our most innovative Coal SCR catalyst technology to date and solves many of the issues associated with plate style SCR catalyst. Specifically, it has superior pluggage resistance, can be regenerated more effectively to new catalyst performance, will not corrode or delaminate, is 100 percent recyclable and made in the USA. Additionally, its SO2 conversion percentage does not increase over time due to iron in the metal mesh being exposed to flue gas.”

DustBuster™ utilizes 100 percent catalyst material and is often used in conjunction with Honeycomb catalyst on a layer to maximize life and minimize pluggage in problem areas of the SCR. A key feature associated with all of Cormetech’s SCR catalyst, including DustBuster™, is its ability to be efficiently re-used through Cormetech’s proprietary cleaning technology and then regenerated or recycled to extend SCR catalyst life. As a result, the need to landfill the spent honeycomb type catalyst can be completely eliminated, significantly reducing a utility’s overall compliance costs and eliminating an environmental legacy.

Cormetech’s DustBuster™ SCR catalyst consists of optimized channel geometries, up to 11mm hydraulic pitch, that facilitate the flow of ash-laden flue gas through catalytic surfaces resulting in extremely low pluggage in an innovative honeycomb SCR catalyst platform which delivers higher DeNOx potential and very low SO2 conversion percentage. DustBuster’s uniform single continuous extruded element and extra-large hydraulic diameter rectangular openings with larger aspect ratios prevent dust build-up and catalyst pluggage inside the reactor.

 

INDIA

Power-Gen India

Event Details

The event will be held this year from June 23-25 in New Delhi. There has been no final decision on holding the event, but attendees are being advised that Clarion will follow all the guidance recommendations of health authorities.

For more than 15 years, POWER-GEN India has served as India's premier forum for the power generation industry. Attracting over 8,000 attendees, POWER-GEN India covers all forms of power generation, from conventional to renewable energy and other low-carbon options. This leading forum is where the power industry can meet, share and discuss solutions for India's energy future.

Turbine Bypass Valves at Power-Gen India

There are only a few valve manufacturers who can meet the difficult requirements needed for turbine bypass applications, three of them will be exhibitors at Power-Gen India.

Baker Hughes

Baker Hughes offers customized valve solutions for the power generation industry with its wide range of certifications, engineered products, general service/severe service control valves, isolation valves, ASME Section I safety valves and pilot operated safety relief valves. Baker Hughes combines innovation with decades of industry experience; their valves technology, instrumentation, positioners, and digital valve management technologies seamlessly come together for a customized, high-performance solution for the most demanding applications in power generation.

Masoneilan SteamForm is a reliable steam conditioning valve for high temperature, high pressure drop and erosive steam applications in power plant and process industry applications. With Masoneilan SteamForm, BHGE offers: Broad Industry Applications • Control and shut-off valves for wide range of Power, Oil Refineries, Petrochemicals, Chemicals, Paper, Food and other industry applications • High rangeability of 50:1 turndown for a wide range of process conditions Reliability.

Koso

Performance of the turbine bypass system has a strong influence on plant heat rate and capacity, effective forced outage rate (EFOR) and long-term health of critical components such as boiler tubes, headers and steam turbines. Therefore, correct sizing and selection of all components in turbine bypass systems is essential for smooth operation of a steam plant.

The Koso 530D/540D design meets the critical functional requirements of turbine bypass systems which are: 

ValvTechnologies

Turbine bypass systems are generally sized for a specific percent bypass, which depends on the end user’s intent and desire for functionality. Common practices for bypass capacity are 30 – 35 percent, 60 – 70 percent and 100 percent of the design flow. Each of these reflects differing intent of how the plant will be operated and/or the functionality desired in operation.

Now keep gas turbine and heat recovery system generator (HRSG) online in the event of a steam turbine trip with the ValvTechnologies’ turbine bypass system (TBS). Purposefully designed for the new generation of combined-cycle power plants, their TBS combines the proven Xactroll®. severe service control valve design with a state-of-the-art de-superheating control system. At the same time, the TBS facilitates fast HRSG and CT start-ups in peaking power plants. and helps these plants operate at turndown conditions far below the levels that can be achieved with standard governor systems.

Products for the Precipitator Upgrades Plus SO2 and NOx Reduction

Indian power plants are currently purchasing billions of dollars’ worth of equipment to reduce air pollution in accordance with recent mandates. There has been considerable controversy over the applicability of certain products proven internationally due to the unique nature of Indian coals and operating procedures. Exhibitors will be able to provide some valuable insights.

Horiba

This Japanese-based company provides continuous emission monitoring system for power plants.

Lechler

The scrubbers being used in the limestone scrubbing systems being purchased by Indian power plants require a number of abrasion resistant spray nozzles. Lechler is a major supplier of these special ceramic nozzles.

Marsulex

The company has installed a large number of FGD systems around the world. A large installation is presently under construction in India. A few months ago, Marsulex was purchased by KraftPowercon. The ‘SmartKraft’ and ‘MicroPulse’ power supplies are offered as a low cost means of upgrading ESPs to achieve particulate emission compliance.

ThermoFisher

The company has been one of the most successful suppliers of CEM systems for power plants in the U.S. and Asia.

Yara

The company is one of the largest suppliers of urea and ammonia with activities in most countries around the world. It is supplying the reagent for many SCR systems operated in power plants.

NTPC Is Moving Forward with APC and CEMS Systems

Control of Air Emissions: High efficiency Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs) with efficiency of the order of 99.97 percent and above with advanced control systems, have been provided in all coal- based stations to keep Particulate Matter (PM) well below the prevailing permissible emission limits. All upcoming units have been planned with ESPs, DeNOx and FGD systems designed to meet new emission norms. Performance enhancement of ESPs operating over the years is being enhanced to achieve the desired emission level to meet revised emission levels by augmentation of ESPs fields, retrofitting of advanced ESP controllers, new technology, i.e. MEEP (Moving Electrode Electrostatic Precipitators) and adoption of sound O&M practices.

For control of SOx, the first wet FGD has been commissioned and is operational at Vindhyachal Station. Erection of wet FGD at Bongaigaon and Dadri is in an advance stage. FGD based on dry sorbent injection (DSI) systems is under erection at Dadri (St-I) and Tanda (St-I) to meet the emission norms for SOx. Awards and execution of contracts for FGD packages for all stations are in various stages to comply with the new norms for SOx emissions as per the timeline stipulated by concerned regulator.

NOx control in coal-fired power plants is presently achieved by controlling its production by adopting best combustion practices (primarily through excess air and combustion temperatures optimization). Work for combustion modification was awarded and is under execution to lower NOx  To comply with new norms for NOx emissions, a pilot study, based on SCR/SNCR technology at 11 locations, is in the final stage of completion to find out the optimal solution and suitable technology for DeNOx systems suitable for Indian coal. In gas-based stations, NOx control systems (hybrid burners or wet DeNOx) have been provided for good combustion practices.

In new projects, around 13-15 percent of the project cost is spent on core environment pollution control systems such as Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs), Liquid Waste Treatment Plants (LWTP), Ash Water Recirculation System (AWRS), Coal Settling and Separation Pit (CSSP), Dry ash extraction system (DAES), dust extraction & suppression system, sewage treatment plant and desulfurization and deNOx systems. Continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS), Effluent quality monitoring system (EQMS), Continuous ambient air quality monitoring system (CAAQMS) are operational at all operating stations and included in the EPC packages of all new projects at the time of award of new units/ projects itself. NTPC has adopted advanced and high efficiency technologies such as supercritical boilers at new stations. DeNOx and FGD will be included in all upcoming green field projects. Mercury analyzers for emission and air monitoring are installed in all 800 MW units.

BHEL Requested Bids On CEMS for Multiple FGD Systems

BHEL is supplying a number of FGD systems for NTPC. It is contracting for supply of the CEMS systems as one package. Bid requests were made last year. Here are the details and contacts.

NIT NO

NIT_49194

UNIT

BHEL, Bangalore

ADDRESS

Electronics division, Mysore road, Bangalore-560026

EMAIL

mounishg@bhel.in

PHONE

080   26989576

CONTACT PERSON

G. Mounish

NOTIFICATION NO.

MGR0000325

PUBLISH ON

05-10-2019

TENDER TITLE

Rate Contract for a period of 01 year for Supply with Erection Supervision and Commissioning of SO2 NO NO2 CO CO2 and FGD SO2 Analyzers for Upcoming NTPC FGD Package Projects.

TENDER TYPE

Buy

TENDER DESCRIPTION

Rate Contract for a Period of 01 year for Supply with Erection Supervision and Commissioning of SO2 NO NO2 CO CO2 and FGD SO2 Analyzers for Upcoming NTPC FGD Package Projects.

NTPC Requested Bids for CEMS for Dadri Plants

A bid request for the Dadri plant of NTPC was issued in 2018. Specifications included the following:

Pre-Qualification Requirements (PQR) of Bidders for Flue Gas Analyzers & Ultrasonic Flue Gas Flowmeter:  

(1)  The bidder should have executed/completed work of “Design, supply, erection & commissioning of Flue Gas Analyzers & Ultrasonic Flue Gas Flowmeter and shall be in successful operation and working satisfactorily for at least one year in one station of power plant of unit rating 200 MW or above as on the date of bid opening of this tender. Bidder means either OEM of analyzer or authorized representatives/system integrators of analyzer OEM.”  

(2)  Original Equipment Manufacturers based outside India, who are making offer for this tender shall have authorized representatives in India for support related to Documentation, Erection, Commissioning & any other co-ordination work. This Authorization provided by OEM to representatives shall indicate the Type, Duration & Validity of the agreement. The Indian representative should have the team of experienced service engineers on payroll located at various parts of India.  

(3)  Submit Reference List of Projects wherein offered system is supplied & commissioned.    Hot extractive dilution analyzers were specified. 

Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) (common for 02 units): Shall be for a period of 10 years after expiry of warranty period (2 years). This shall cover total maintenance of all hardware related to the system. BHEL shall have the option to short close the AMC after the end of first five years with a notice period of one month. Bidder to provide year wise price break up for the same.

(2.1) Availability of valid data: At least 95 percent of time during warranty & AMC period and necessary steps to ensure availability shall be taken by the bidder.

(2.2) Quarterly one visit shall be made by the bidder. Bidder shall note that during each visit, cleaning, servicing, testing, checking and calibration of the entire system to be carried out. Further, Service reports, in mutually agreed format (check list), are to be furnished for having carried out the services/breakdown services. Service report shall be signed by bidder representative & BHEL representative at site.

(2.3) Hardware/ Software Replacement – as and when required from the available spares shall be done by the bidder within 72 hrs. to ensure system availability for operation.

NTPC pursuing Biomass Co-firing and Waste-to-Energy

NTPC has taken initiatives to utilize agro residue for power generation. This is intended to cut down carbon emissions and also to discourage crop residue burning by farmers after harvesting by adding economic value to the crop residue and providing extra income to farmers and employment in rural sector. Biomass co-firing is a unique method to utilize coal-based power plant infrastructure to produce renewable energy by simply replacing some of the coal with biomass-based fuel. Being a carbon neutral fuel, biomass co-firing is a technology recognized by UNFCCC as a measure of reducing greenhouse gas emission.

After successfully demonstrating biomass co-firing at Dadri, the company has started commercial scale biomass co-firing at Dadri from December 2018 onwards for which NTPC has placed a purchase order for supply of 200 metric tons per day of pellets/ torrefied pellets. Further, in line with advisory of CEA, the company has invited expression of interest from entrepreneurs and start-ups for production and supply of agro residue-based pellets/ torrefied pellets to majority of its power plants (21 power stations including JV at Jhajjar).

Waste-to-energy: NTPC has taken several initiatives to support & leverage Government of India’s effort towards realizing Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) thereby ensuring pollution free environment to people’s health and welfare. The company has commissioned 24 TPD thermal gasification-based demonstration scale WtE plant at Varanasi to support technology development in India. The Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is first converted to producer gas, which is then used to generate approximately 200 kW of electric power. Further, to promote Make in India concept, this Project has been awarded to a MSME player. Further, the company has also signed in-principle MoU with Surat and East Delhi Municipal Corporations for setting up a state of art WtE plant. Process for bid invitation is under progress.

Initiative for Use of Treated Sewage Water from Municipal Sewage Treatment Plants: NTPC has already taken initiative to use treated sewage water from municipal STPs nearby for bulk water requirement in its power plants, replacing precious fresh water from rivers/ lakes/ reservoirs/ dams meant for other priority uses like agriculture, drinking, pisiculture water body preservation, etc. Treated sewage water will be used for Condenser Cooling Water system makeup for the power stations wherever Municipal STPs are within 50 km distance from Power station complying Tariff Notification of GOI dated 28.01.2016.

The company has already identified some projects viz. Dadri, Patratu, Solapur, Meja, Mouda, Korba, Sipat and Ramagundam where there is feasibility of using the STP treated water as STPs already exist/are going to be constructed within 50 km radius of the power plants with substantial availability of STP water. For Dadri STP, the company has already signed in-principle MOU with NOIDA authority for utilization of 80 MLD treated sewage water from Noida STPs as a flagship project. The contract for installing Secondary Treatment and Tertiary Treatment of Sewage Water by Solapur Municipal Corporation is on the way to provide 52 MLD of treated sewage to Solapur Thermal Power Station. Agreements with Nagpur Municipal Corporation for Mouda Thermal Power Station and Ramagundam Municipal Corporation for Ramagundam Power Station are under discussion.

NTPC accounts for 15 percent of the total power generation in India.

OTHER - INDIA

 

 

Capacity at the individual plants in 2019 is shown below and compares NTPC to other plants by region.

 

 

NTPC added 2,180 MW in capacity in 2018-19. 

 

FGD for Units 3 & 4 at Singaji

The Madhya Pradesh Power Generating Co. has installed Flue-Gas Desulfurization Systems (FGD) in units 3 and 4 of 660-660 MW capacity in the second phase of Shri Singaji thermal power project located at Khandwa. In a notification issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, the thermal power plants have been instructed to keep the emission of sulfur dioxide within the norms of 100 mg/³ (100 Mg/Nm³).

The estimated cost of the project is approximately Rs 562 crore. The Flue Gas Desulfurization System (FGD) is likely to be operational in the year 2021 in units three and four of the Shri Singaji thermal power project till June and September respectively.

FRP Chimney Liners Indian Power Plants

EPP reports that the SOx-NOx conference was quite successful in providing insights needed for the very ambitious air pollution control program, which is being undertaken. Key Highlights include EPP-PCIC (Plasticon Group) partnership announcement, showcasing the FGD equipment's corrosion resistant fiber reinforced plastic cases. Mr. Jan Anno Vander Laan – Sr. Manger Business Development – PCIC Netherland BV presented a paper on “Use of Fiber Reinforced Plastic in Flue Gas Desulfurization applications in high temperature conditions," under the Session theme “Pollution Monitoring/Control Technologies, Equipment’s and other Retrofit Solutions.”

Plasticon provided documented proof that the specified chimney liner will:

·         Have a service life of 50 years.

·         Resist flue gas with temperatures of 60/150°C during decades.

·         Resist a short term (30 minutes) excursion temperature of 300°C without permanently damaging the laminate structure, shape, or corrosion resistance.

·         As proven by comparable case histories, the calculations and the FEA, the up to 300°C requirement, poses no issues for the FRP liners in the Singaji project.

 

Plasticon Composite, established in 1956, was one of the first FRP companies in West-Europe. Today it serves the worldwide chemical and power industry with FRP tanks, apparatus and stacks and stack liners.

For the Sangaji project, Plasticon investigated the potential use of FRP liners for emitting the flue gasses on 27 5m height after desulfurization in the FGD. The project exists of 2 liners of DN7200 diameter, each installed in a concrete chimney of 267m height. The top of the FRP liner is at 275m. The FRP liners are split-up in parts of 45m each. Every part is supported by a 360° support ring at the top and laterally guided at the bottom. To absorb expansion caused by temperature, compensators are installed every 45 m.

A typical laminate structure from the inside out is shown below.

The process temperature is an important aspect in the design of a FRP liner. From a process point of view, there are three different operating scenarios.

(1)  Operating conditions ≈ 60°C, over ≤ 50 years.

(2)  By-Pass conditions ≤ 150°C, over ≤ 10 years within the FGD’s lifetime.

(3)  Excursion ≤ 300°C, once per FGD’s lifetime, ≤ 30 minutes.

Per load scenario, the so-called design factor should be determined. Some loads have significant impact but because their duration is very short, the overall impact is not normative. Other loads are relatively low but occur during the complete 50 years of lifetime. Therefore, the impact is rather high. Design factors will be determined for either strength (stress) or stability (buckling factor). To assess the impact on the construction per load scenario, the overall design factor for strength and stability is determined per load scenario. The design factors, according to the EN 13121-3:2016 code, are built-up from several partial material and load factors. each covering a degradation aspect of the FRP, the time factor (duration of a load), and covering normal variances in production, materials and loads.

For FRP chimney liners, the stiffness of the construction is normative in the design. The most optimal design in such a case is the so-called rib reinforced cylinders where equally spaced stiffener rings are applied around the cylinder. The stiffener itself can either be built-up from massive FRP, rolled steel profiles or hollow FRP profiles.

The optimal type of stiffener, the number of stiffeners, their minimal stiffness (E x I) and the optimal distance between two stiffeners, is determined by the stress and stability calculation. Stiffeners can either be integrated into the wall (FRP) or separately installed (Steel).

 

 

The full paper is available at  http://soxnox2019.missionenergy.org/presentations/Jan%20Anno%20Van%20der%20Laan.pdf.

Indian Power Companies Want to Make the NOx Emission Limits More Lenient

India’s power industry, led by its largest producer National Thermal Power Corp. (NTPC), is pushing to water down the norms for lethal oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions, saying pilot projects of technologies to cut down emissions have proved ineffective in India, The companies involved in the pilot projects have contested NTPC’s findings saying that NTPC did not allow these companies to make some primary modifications to the plants before conducting the tests, and that the technologies on their own had produced good results during the pilot and are currently used in China, Japan and European countries to reduce NOx pollution.

The results of these pilots, and NTPC’s claims, are important for an ongoing air pollution case at the Supreme Court that will determine whether Indian power plants can and must follow new, stricter norms. The court will also decide whether norms should be relaxed.

Under the new norms introduced in 2015, power plants commissioned between 2003 and 2016, which account for 65 percent of India’s total 197 gigawatt (GW, 1000 megawatt) coal capacity, will have to cap their NOx emissions at 300 milligram per cubic meter (or mg/Nm3 where ‘N’ refers to standard temperature and pressure). New plants commissioned from 2017 onwards — that comprise 5 percent of total coal-based thermal power capacity — must limit NOx emissions to 100 mg/Nm3.

The government is already in the process of diluting the norms — for power plants that came up between 2003 and 2016 — from 300 mg/Nm3 to 450 mg/Nm3, the central government affidavit to the apex court shows. The NTPC is now suggesting that norms for new plants commissioned after 2017 also be diluted from 100 mg/Nm3 to 450 mg/Nm3.

In effect, the magnitude of reduction in NOx limit for new plants (from 100mg/Nm3 to 450) mg/Nm3 is higher than that for older ones (from 300 mg/Nm3 to 450 mg/Nm3). 

The 300 mg/Nm3 limit that applies to the majority of Indian plants is five times higher than that already being met by power plants in China. It is twice the norm in Germany and the European Union and more than three times that in the United States. Even the lowest Indian NOx norm of 100 mg/Nm3 is twice the world’s strictest norms of 50 mg/Nm3 set by China for its coal power plants. All of these countries are meeting their NOx norms using the same technologies rejected by NTPC.

Several studies have proven that a range of technologies exist that enable Indian power plants to meet the prescribed norms. Installing NOx cutting technologies to achieve standards will cost Indian thermal plants between Rs 12,233 crore ($1.8 billion) and Rs 15,430 crore ($2.3 billion), a much lower cost than the health benefits of cutting this pollutant, studies have shown.

NOx is a toxic gas that can cause respiratory infections and sicken or kill people after it takes the form of PM2.5–airborne particles 30 times finer than a human hair that enter the lungs. Power plants are one of the chief polluters of India’s air. Their emissions have been linked to 83,000 deaths annually in India. This number could go up to 186,500–229,500 deaths per year by 2030, by when India's total coal power capacity is expected to more than double to 450 GW (from the current 197 GW).

The move to dilute the standards comes after the government of India has already shifted the implementation deadline for NOx norms in power plants by five years to 2022, after they missed their original deadline of December 2017 to meet the new standards. Even after the delay, over half the capacity of India’s coal power plants are expected to miss the deadline of capping their emissions.

The NTPC pilot included two technologies: Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) and Selective Non-catalytic Reduction (SNCR). These methods have been employed globally for more than 40 years to reduce NOx emissions by using ammonia or urea to break NOx into nitrogen and water. Called secondary methods, they cut NOx from the smoke duct (known as the flue) post combustion. The cost of installing SNCR is about Rs 2 lakh per megawatt (MW), while for SCR, it is about Rs 10-15 lakh per MW.

Cheaper primary methods which reduce the production of NOx during combustion also exist. These methods include combustion modification through installing low-NOx burners (LNB), which reduce NOx by 30-50 percent, and Over Fire Air Burners (OFA), which reduce NOx by 20-45 percent. Combustion modifications cost about Rs 2 lakh per MW.

A power plant would have to use both the primary and secondary methods to lower emissions. Indian power plants are considering primary modifications to meet the lenient standard of 600 mg/Nm3 for plants that are older than 2003 (known as vintage) and constitute 60 GW (30 percent) of India’s total installed capacity. The SNCR and SCR technologies were being considered for plants that have to achieve the new stricter targets of 300 mg/Nm3 and 100 mg/Nm3.

In 2017, the government of India said that these two technologies were not tested for India’s coal, which has a high amount of ash. The same year, NTPC set out to test these technologies in pilots at some of its units. 

NTPC had invited many international companies working with SCR and SNCR to conduct these pilots, including Doosan (South Korea), Mitsubishi (Japan), General Electric (USA) and Yara (Norway), according to documents accessed by IndiaSpend. 

The results of the pilot would form the basis on which NTPC would invite tenders to finally implement the two technologies in its plants to meet the 2015 NOx emission standards. NTPC’s certificates for SCR and SNCR would also serve as a stamp of approval for the suitability of these technologies for other power plants in India.

The results are also awaited by the Supreme Court in the ongoing case on air pollution, where the court is reviewing the progress made by the power industry to abide by the new Indian emission standards of 2015.

The three-year-long tests started in April 2017. According to the timeline, NTPC should have published the results after all the plants had tried the technology for 4400 running hours. Many of the companies completed this run around June-July 2019, but NTPC has not yet published the results. These results will show how much NOx was cut, among other details.

“The contract of the pilot project is ending in a few months’ time (by April 2020),” an official of one of the companies involved in the pilots told IndiaSpend, on the condition of anonymity. “We were first told that the results will publicly come out by September-October 2019, but nothing happened. Now we have reminded the NTPC again to issue the certificates.”

The NTPC presented the results of these pilots to India’s chief environmental agency, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), in a meeting on November 2, 2019, where they declared that both the technologies “are not suitable for installation” in Indian power plants. The companies involved were not present at this meeting.

The NTPC then suggested that the norms for the new plants be diluted from 100 mg/Nm3 to 450 mg/Nm3. The diluted level can be achieved by “carrying out combustion modification and tuning of operational parameters,” NTPC said.

It is very difficult to believe that proven technology is not working for Indian plants, Vibhuti Garg, Senior Energy Specialist at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), told IndiaSpend. An independent analysis by a non-government organization is required to establish the claims made by NTPC, and the government should make public NTPC and other power plant emission data for a detailed analysis, she added.

“The emission limit for existing plants (300 mg/Nm3) is eminently achievable using a variety of techniques,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst for the advocacy, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), and a former member of a European Union technical working group that revised the emission limits for thermal power plants for the EU.

“If the government walks back regulations every time a polluter complains, there is no hope of meeting the (Indian government’s) National Clean Air Program target of reducing PM2.5 pollution by 20-30 percent by 2024,” Myllyvirta said.

 

 

NTPC’s presentation to the CPCB, reviewed by IndiaSpend, mentioned some of the issues related to both the technologies.

For SNCR NOx reduction would only be ~23.4 percent to 30 percent. So, NOx can be brought down from 450 to 345 mg/Nm3 and Norms cannot be met,” the presentation said on SNCR. The presentation also cited the requirement of additional urea, coal and water as an issue.

For SCR, the NTPC presentation accepted that the NOx reduction of nearly 80 percent could be achieved “but not on (a) consistent basis.” SCR can only work efficiently when flue gas has a certain required temperature that plants can only achieve when they are working above 80 percent of their capacity, the presentation said. 

The presentation also mentioned several constraints faced during the pilot use of SCR technology in power plants, including the disposal of a huge amount of catalyst used in the SCR method and abnormally high erosion of the catalyst due to the high ash content and abrasive nature of Indian coal. It also said that there were space constraints in some plants to install SCR.

Post the NTPC presentation, the CPCB met some of these companies to discuss these issues, on November 7, 2019, according to internal communications accessed by IndiaSpend. Companies in this meeting rejected NTPC’s findings of the pilot projects, according to an audio recording of the meeting accessed by IndiaSpend. Representatives of NTPC did not join this meeting.

To some of the technical issues related to efficiency of SCR and SNCR raised during the November 7 meeting, one of the companies involved in the pilot projects informed CPCB that NOx emissions from Indian power plants could be reduced to 450 mg/Nm3 just by primary measures (combustion modifications). These could be further reduced to 280 mg/Nm3 and up to 80 mg/Nm3 if the primary measures are combined with SNCR and SCR, respectively.

Many of the problems of these technologies, except for high-ash content of coal, are not exclusive to India, and countries around the world have been successfully dealing with them, said experts.

Combustion modification can reduce NOx by another 20-30 percent, Soundaram Ramanathan, deputy program manager of environment governance (energy) at the Center for Science and Environment, a Delhi-based think-tank, told IndiaSpend.

The CPCB knew from the beginning that these technologies would use additional urea, coal and water. And it is too minuscule — maybe less than 1-2 percent of the total use or CO2 emissions — but the benefits are much larger as NOx has higher global warming potential, Ramanathan said.

The problem of high ash content in Indian coal can easily be dealt with some engineering choices that power plants across the world are already making, Myllyvirta of CREA said.

China, which also uses high ash and low calorific value coal, has retrofitted hundreds of gigawatts of coal-fired capacity to comply with a NOx limit of 50 mg/Nm3, half of India’s strictest limit of 100 mg/Nm3, said Myllyvirta. Old coal-fired power plants in Japan and South Korea that have undergone retrofits routinely achieve emissions below 100 mg/Nm3, he added.

“It is always possible to install dust controls before the SCR to have low dust levels in the flue gas going into the SCR and avoid the issues NTPC is describing,” he said, adding that it cannot be a reason to not comply with the NOx standard.

“They (NTPC) have already retrofitted SCR systems to conduct the pilot in existing power stations,” Ramanathan of CSE said. “Currently denying that it is not possible to retrofit SCR is ambiguous. If space is unavailable then technical diagrams and other valid evidence should be included for further assessments,” she added, referring to the NTPC’s claim of not having space in the plants to install new technologies.

“The company (NTPC) could view this as an opportunity to improve the operation of the plants, but unfortunately its response so far has been to oppose any and all measures that would address the tremendous damage to air quality and public health its facilities are causing,” Myllyvirta said.

KSB Has $13 Million Pump Order From NTPC

KSB Ltd India has bagged an order worth Rs 100 crore ($13 million) for the supply of slurry re-circulation pumps to be installed across 10 NTPC sites in the country. The deliveries of the pumps begin this month and they will be installed in FGD units at a number of power plants, KSB Ltd India Managing Director Rajeev Jain said.

 

 

FGD and DeNOx Newsletter No. 503