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Weekly selected highlights in flow control, treatment and combustion from the many McIlvaine publications.
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- Coal Byproducts including Rare Earths will be a Game Changer
- Join the Debate on Insitu Rare Earth Recovery
Coal Byproducts including Rare Earths will be a Game Changer
The UK is importing flyash due to the retirement of coal fired boilers. The U.S. is gambling millions on the belief that rare earths extracted from flyash will eliminate a national security problem. Ash stored in ponds in the U.S. and other countries has been viewed as a contamination source but is increasingly being viewed as an important resource.
Suppliers of combust, flow, and treat products and services should consider the combined markets of remediation of existing ash pond and creation of valuable by products. The U.S. is leading in site remediation efforts but 90 percent of the potential is in other countries.
There are opportunities in revisions to air pollution control systems. There are new ways to move flyash from the dust collectors to storage and new storage designs which apply to all the world markets. These can include air slides such as made by FLSmidth or dense phase coal sludge pumps such as made by Putzmeister. There are new ways to process flyash and bottom ash. The market to harvest flyash from existing ponds and landfills will continue in countries where new flyash generation is shrinking. In fact the demand increases as the supply of new flyash decreases.
It is a very dynamic market. Some U.S. utilities took steps to bring their ponds into compliance with new CCR standards and then due to some groundwater contamination law suits now have to consider pond excavation.
McIlvaine is addressing all the opportunities in its market reports on Precipitators, Fabric Filters, FGD, Valves, Pumps, Treatment Chemicals and IIoT. The opportunities at specific plants are being pursued with weekly coverage in the Utility E-Alert. Analysis of individual utilities is provided in 42EI Utility Tracking System. A sample for Vectren is shown at http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/vectren/page1.htm
McIlvaine believes there is a big potential for insitu rare earths feedstock and is making a special effort to analyze the process in Coal Fired Power Plant Decisions 44I Coal Fired Power Plant Decisions
Join the Debate on Insitu Rare Earth Recovery
The McIlvaine Company believes insitu rare earth recovery from coal combustion will be much more economical than using flyash ponds and landfills as the source. The assertion is that coal fired boilers can generate rare earth feedstocks, 30 percent hydrochloric acid, and contaminant free ash, while avoiding many of the present problems of not removing HCl separate from the SO2.
There is a substantial factual basis for the assertion based on the operation of some coal fired plants and many municipal waste incinerators. Other than McIlvaine there is no other source who seems to have evaluated this opportunity. The University of Kentucky, Battelle, EPRI, Georgia Power, ACAA, Chinese researchers, suppliers of waste to energy systems with acid and metal byproduct sales and others will have insights which would help determine the efficacy of this option.
The basic case is available for review at Insitu Rare Earth Recovery System. Input from any source will be welcomed and comments posted. Webinars to discuss this option will be held at the appropriate time Bob McIlvaine welcomes questions or comments at 847 784 0013, cell 847 226 2391, email: rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com
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