• "Compliance Strategies for PM_2.5" is "Hot Topic Hour" on Thursday May 12, 2011
• Electric Power Will be the Big Event Next Week
• Headlines for the Utility E Alert on April 29, 2011
• Wind Industry Continues to Innovate
• Methane 72 Times More Potent than CO₂ over 20 Years

"Compliance Strategies for PM_2.5" is "Hot Topic Hour" on Thursday May 12, 2011

Now that the Utility MACT has been proposed, power plant engineers know the limit for particulate emissions. Now the question becomes "Can this plant meet the limit at an economic cost and if so how?" For some plants, the solution may be to simply improve the efficiency of existing processes and equipment. At some of the larger plants, it may be necessary to add new control equipment such as a baghouse. But at smaller plants there may not be an economic solution and shut down may be the choice of the utility.

The following speakers will describe the options available to power plants of all sizes to achieve the proposed MACT particulate limits. They will address the available technologies, capital and operating costs, the advantages or disadvantages of the options for specific plant configurations and operating conditions and factors to consider when selecting a particular control strategy.

Steven A. Jaasund, P.E. Manager of the Geoenergy Division of A.H. Lundberg Associates, Inc, will explore the pros and cons of retrofit wet ESPs in the utility environment. Recently proposed MACT rules for utility boilers may require the addition of particulate control equipment.   Wet electrostatic precipitator technology is a logical add-on alternative to help meet these rules.  This is particularly true if boiler emissions are already being treated with a wet FGD system. 

John D. McKenna, Ph.D., principal and founder of ETS, Inc, will discuss compliance strategy options and costs for PM_2.5 control for utility coal-fired boilers.  Capital and operating cost will be compared for three alternatives: electrostatic precipitators, pulse jet and reverse air baghouses.  A hypothetical example is developed in detail.  The pros and cons of each option will be discussed.  

Terence R. Ake, Product Manager for Turbosorp^® Circulating Dry Scrubbers at Babcock Power, Inc, will describe why a circulating dry scrubber is one of the best options to reduce particulate matter (PM) from utility coal-fired and waste-to-energy boilers. The EPA is proposing national emission standards for solid, liquid and gas fired industrial and utility electric steam generating units for hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.  The new standards target total particulate - both filterable (PM_2.5) and condensable particulate.  A circulating dry scrubber is one of the best options to reduce particulate matter (PM) from utility coal-fired and waste-to-energy boilers because of its ability to remove both filterable and condensable PM while also removing SO₂, HCl and Hg that are also limited in the standards.  There is no provision for boiler startup, shutdown or malfunction in the EPA standards.  For utilities that install continuous emission monitors for PM (as a surrogate to measuring non-mercury hazardous metal emissions), the EPA will compare a 30-day rolling average with the PM limit.  To ensure that a boiler stays below the rolling average limits for PM, SO₂, HCl, and Hg species, the circulating dry scrubber must be able to remove the species well below the limits with a high degree of availability.

To register for the "Hot Topic Hour" on Thursday, May 12, 2011 at 10 a.m. CDT (Chicago time), click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/hot_topic_hour_registration.htm.

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Electric Power will be the big event next week

Electric Power will be held in Chicago next week. Bob McIlvaine will be walking the floor on Wednesday and Thursday. So just call him on his cell phone at 847 226 2391 to set up discussions. Here are details on the exhibitors and some of the papers:

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·         Ceramic Tile Lined Absorber Vessels - Electric Power May 10 - 12, 2011, Chicago, Illinois by John Winkler, Project Manager, Siemens Environmental Systems and Services

·         Dominion, Chesterfield 6 - Wet FGD Systems Operation in a low ash environment - Electric Power May 10 - 12, 2011, Chicago, Illinois by Aydra Kalynchuk, Applications Engineer, Siemens Energy, Inc.

·         Electric Power Conference, Chicago, Illinois, May 10-12, 2011, Exhibitors

·         Enhanced Capture of Mercury in Baghouse by using Novel Filtration Media and Filter Design - Electric Power May 10 - 12, 2011, Chicago, Illinois by Vishal Bansal, Principal Engineer, GE Energy

·         Next Generation Nid for PC boilers - Electric Power May 10 - 12, 2011, Chicago, Illinois by Mark Fiedler, Principle Process Engineer, Alstom

Here are some of the networking opportunities from those who have completed biographies and informed us of their activities:

Wind Industry Continues to Innovate

With global wind power installations nearing 200 GW the wind industry is continuing to innovate. New technologies and improvements on existing technologies are reported each month in McIlvaine's Renewable Energy Update.

Vestas has revealed the details of its next generation dedicated offshore turbine. To ensure the lowest possible cost of energy this new machine, the V164-7.0 MW, boasts an entire 7.0 MW and a rotor diameter of 164 meters. Lowering the cost of energy in relation to offshore wind is essential for the industry. Some of the major stepping stones in achieving this are size and subsequent increased energy capture, which means a need for much bigger turbines that are specifically designed for the challenging offshore environment.

According to Anders Søe-Jensen, President of Vestas Offshore, the offshore wind market is set to really take off over the coming years, but more so in some parts of the world than in others: "We expect the major part of offshore wind development to happen in the Northern part of Europe, where the conditions at sea are particularly rough. We have specifically designed the V164-7.0 MW to provide the highest energy capture and the highest reliability in this rough and challenging environment.

Construction of the first V164-7.0 MW prototypes is expected in Q4 2012. Serial production is set to begin in Q1 2015 provided a firm order backlog is in place to justify the substantial investment needed

GE has introduced its 4.1-113 wind turbine, a four-megawatt (MW) class machine that is optimized for offshore use and is designed to bring a new level of reliability to the offshore wind industry. GE has signed a contract to supply a 4.1-113 wind turbine, along with associated services, to Göteborg Energi for installation in the Gothenburg, Sweden harbor in the second half of 2011, GE announced at the European Wind Energy Association's EWEA 2011. This project is supported by the Swedish Energy Agency through its technology program, demonstrating its interest in leading offshore technology.

With fewer moving parts, the direct-drive technology provides a simple, reliable design with built-in redundancy and partial operation for major components, all focused on keeping turbines operating reliably at sea. The direct-drive technology eliminates costly gearbox parts, lowering operating expenses, and also relies on an innovative modular approach to maximize in-situ repair and reduce the need for large repair vessels. The 4.1-113 blade design is optimized to maximize energy capture.

GE has also introduced taller towers for its onshore wind turbine product line. The new towers enable higher annual energy production (AEP) and increase the number of potential wind sites. The towers initially will be offered for GE's 2.5-MW series including the new 2.75-103 wind turbine. The taller towers are available with hub heights in excess of 130 meters.

Initial key markets for the new, taller GE wind turbine towers will be Germany, Scandinavia, Poland, Romania and Canada.

Nordex USA, Inc. will debut its new N117/2400 wind turbine for the US market at WINDPOWER in Anaheim, California. The latest addition to the company's Gamma Generation of turbines, the N117 is designed specifically for light wind sites, creating new power generating potential for locations across the country

The acoustic power level is limited to a maximum of 105 decibels, allowing the turbine to be used closer to residential areas and facilitating optimal turbine layout at wind farms. Its hub height on a standard tower of 91 meters remains below the FAA threshold of 500 feet.

Suzlon Group announced the launch of its new S9X suite of wind turbines at the Wind Power 2011 conference in Chennai, India.

The S9X suite of turbines has been specifically designed keeping in mind the needs of the market. 

Every aspect of the turbine, the blades, the generator and sub-systems feature improved designs to deliver a higher return on investment. The machines also have better grid compatibility and are in accordance with the highest safety standards.

The S9X suite is an evolution of Suzlon's technology platform, and is built around a core doubly fed induction generator-based technology. A compact and modular DFIG design allows ease of serviceability and meets the latest grid requirements for smoother wind power plant connectivity. New blade designs with rotor diameter of 95 meter and 97 meter offers a larger swept area add to this with greater energy capture and power production from moderate to low wind speeds. To ensure the highest standards in quality, Suzlon's blade testing simulates total life cycle of blade (1 million cycles) in most extreme onsite conditions.

The turbines boast of variable tower heights of 90 or 100 meters, leading to low cost optimization and higher power generation. The S9X turbines also comply with low voltage regulation (LVRT) requirement, this leads to better compliance with grid regulation.

Additionally, improved sub-systems like the new pitch and yaw systems have increased system reliability of the machines.

Serial production of the S95 turbine is scheduled to begin in Q2 FY11 - 12.

The McIlvaine Company has been tracking the Energy field since 1974 and has been following the renewable energy field for the last five years.

Further details may be found at:

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/Renewable_Energy_Brochure/renewable_energy_WM_brochure.htm

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Methane 72 Times More Potent than CO₂ over 20 Years

This Alert has covered the new evidence that gas-fired power plants result in more greenhouse gases than coal-fired power plants. This evidence revises some data about the quantity of methane leaks and the indirect energy increasingly required to extract natural gas, but the big difference is the timeframe. Methane decays to CO₂ in the atmosphere after a decade or so. CO₂ lasts for many decades.  Over 100 years the greenhouse gas potential of methane is only 20 times that of CO₂. Over 20 years it is a whopping 72 times greater. We have a huge inconsistency in the forecasts for cataclysmic results if we continue to burn coal. On one hand we are told that we are a few years away from disaster. On the other the calculations are based on impact comparisons over 100 years.  Over the short term gas-fired generation is a much bigger contributor to global warming than coal-fired generation.

Broad public backing for coal can be achieved by presenting coal as a 25 year bridge to whatever energy form is best for 2045 and beyond.  The following results can be shown for a complete fleet of new coal-fired power plants to be phased in at 30,000 MW/yr for the next 10 years.

·         Lowest emissions of all pollutants (calculated in equivalent tons of CO₂).

·         Lowest electricity cost of all the options for improving the environment.

·         $600 billion stimulus to the economy.

·         Certainty over fuel costs.

·         Energy security benefits.

·         Reduce coal use by 30 percent and use that coal to make liquid fuels.

You can register for our free McIlvaine Newsletters at: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/Free_Newsletter_Registration_Form.htm

Bob McIlvaine
President
847 784 0012 ext 112

rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com