NEWS RELEASE FEBRUARY 2016
A Complex Multitude of Air Quality Decisions Need to Be Made by the World’s Coal-fired Power Plants
Coal-fired power generators supply more electricity than gas, wind or solar. Expenditures for new power plants continue at a rate in developing countries sufficient to ensure that the net world coal-fired generating capacity will continue to increase. Both existing power plant operators and new power plant developers have a large number of complex decisions to make about achieving air quality.
Power Plant Air Quality Decisions is a combination of alerts and decision systems, which helps the power plants make the best decisions and helps suppliers understand the issues and options.
Here are some of the options:
| Option A | Option B | Option C |
| Mercury Reduction | ||
| Activated Carbon | Chemicals in Fuel | Absorber Module |
| Mercury CEMS | Sorbent Traps | Both |
| DeNOx | ||
| SCR | SNCR | Catalytic Filter |
| SO2 | ||
| Wet Scrubbers | Dry Scrubbers | Direct Injection |
| Lime/Limestone | Sodium | Ammonia |
| Particulate | ||
| Precipitator | Fabric Filter | Hybrid |
| Opacity monitor | Mass Monitor with Physical Capture | Mass Monitor with Electronic Measurement/ Conversion |
| Discrete Particles | Condensibles | Total particulate |
| Hourly limits | Daily limits | Yearly Limits |
| Selenium Capture | ||
| Activated Carbon | Scrubber | Not Captured |
| HCl Capture | ||
| Chloride Salts in Dry Mix | Chloride Salts Washed from Gypsum | 30% Grade Hydrochloric Acid |
There are a number of other decisions which influence the above choices. If there is a market for flyash, it will impact the choice of mercury and SO2 capture technologies. If the expected plant life is long, then the particulate and SO2 technology selections will be different than if the remaining life is short.
There are many new developments which are likely to change future decision making. The catalytic filter with direct sorbent injection combines three devices into one. More importantly, it provides clean hot gas at 850°F and facilitates maximum heat recovery and energy efficiency.
The use of gasified waste as a “reburn” fuel reduces operating costs and reduces the CO2 footprint. The use of treated municipal wastewater plus zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technology makes the plant a positive contributor to improved water quality in the region.
The extraction of rare earths and valuable metals from the ash promise to make coal-fired power an important resource.
For more information on 44I Power Plant Air Quality Decisions click on: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/other/2-uncategorised/86-44i
