Hot Topic Hour on March 1, 2012 is Ultra
Supercritical Coal-fired Boilers
Ultra-supercritical (USC) coal-fired power plants
offer the best immediate solution to our energy security and global warming
concerns. They will allow us to utilize our vast coal resources to produce
energy while, at the same time, achieving our environmental goals. USC boilers
offer significantly greater efficiency compared to conventional coal-fired power
plants. Greater efficiency will reduce fuel consumption for production of a kW
hour and thus proportionally reduce the cost of the power as well as all
pollutant emissions and waste streams including CO2. They also offer
operating advantages such as the ability to operate efficiently under low load
and to quickly adapt to continuous variable loads.
Dr. Jeff Phillips, a Senior Program Manager at
the Electric Power Research Institute, will present the "Progress on High
Efficiency Coal Plants."
His presentation will provide an update on the joint
project of the US Dept. of Energy and the Ohio Coal Development Office to
develop "advanced ultra-supercritical" or A-USC boilers and steam turbines
capable of operating with steam temperatures as high as 1400
F
or 760C. In the past year, one of the
materials developed by the project has received approval by the ASME Boiler Code
committee and progress has been made on other fronts as well. This project could
ultimately allow coal-fired power plants to operate with thermal efficiencies as
high as 47 percent on an HHV basis.
A short overview of the world's first supercritical
circulating fluidized bed (CFB) coal-fired power plant will also be presented.
The power plant, located in Lagisza, Poland, was designed by Foster Wheeler and
has nameplate net capacity of 439 MW.
Bob McIlvaine will discuss an analysis which
shows that replacement of old coal-fired boilers with ultrasupercritical boilers
makes both economic and environmental sense even if those boilers are retired
after 25 years. The support of the environmental community could be obtained
when they understand the "short life ultrasupercritical" concept. Furthermore,
there are technologies to convert existing coal-fired boilers to
ultrasupercritical. Novel space saving concepts such as building vertical will
make this possible.
To register for the Hot Topic Hour on March 1, 2012 at
10 a.m. (CST), click on:
There are many unanticipated events which are changing
the potential markets in flow control and treatment. Regulations are important
factors. New regulations for ballast wastewater discharges and sulfur air
emissions for ships will substantially boost the markets for liquid treatment
and scrubbers.
The oil spill prevention market is booming since the
Gulf oil spill disaster. The market for systems to prevent escape of
contaminants during a nuclear meltdown and to remediate contaminated sites is
substantial.
Some of the market adjustments are due to the
development or acceleration in growth in dynamic industries. The continuing
successes in developing the gas shale reserves are the best example. The more
rapid conversion from ocean harvesting to aquaculture for fish products will
also positively boost the flow control and liquid treatment markets.
The markets can be further boosted by a proactive
approach by industry efforts. Three initiatives which could have significant
impact on the markets are:
- Co-location of power and municipal wastewater treatment plants
- Improved co-location of livestock and aquaculture enterprises
- Retrofitting of ultrasupercritical technology at existing coal-fired power
plants
For more information on: Air/Gas/Water/Fluid
Treatment & Control World Markets, click on:
World NOx Control Revenues ($ Millions)
Bottom of Form
World Region 2012
Africa 7
CIS 7
East Asia 3,609
Eastern Europe 302
Middle East 29
NAFTA 1,327
South & Central America 14
West Asia 9
Western Europe 480
Total 5,784
This forecast does not include any mobile sources but
does include stationary engines, coal-fired boilers, gas turbines, cement plants
and other industrial sources.
The market can be further segmented into $4.3 billion
for systems and $1.5 billion for replacement catalyst. The equipment market is
volatile due to the large size of coal-fired power plant orders. The catalyst
sales are steadily growing due to the lack of retirements of existing systems
and the need to substitute new catalyst for existing catalyst every 3 to 5
years.
The rapid growth continent is Asia. China will install
an average of 35,000 MW of new coal-fired boilers each year. Most of these will
be equipped with SCR. This is in addition to a substantial program to retrofit
SCR to older units.
The large number of gas turbine power plants scheduled
for the U.S. will boost the NOx control market in this country. Some
of these units will be peaking rather than combined cycle and will require high
temperature catalyst or system designs to cool the flue gas to temperatures
suitable for a lower temperature catalyst. For more information on: NOx
Control World Markets, click on:
.
Biogas Projects Provide a
Double Benefit
Biogas projects prevent the release of methane to the
atmosphere while providing a renewable fuel source thereby yielding a double
benefit. These projects are among the many covered in McIlvaine’s
Renewable Energy Projects and Update.
USDA Announces Funding to Produce Renewable Energy for
Rural Communities and Reduce Energy Costs for Small Businesses and Farms in
Eight States
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that
the USDA is funding anaerobic digester projects in eight states to encourage
renewable energy production, reduce energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and farm-based pollution.
Funding for the biodigesters is provided through
the USDA Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) and has created or saved an
estimated 13.4 billion kWh of electricity and reduced almost 14.5 million metric
tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
One of the biodigesters announced will be
constructed on Heller Farms near Alma Center in Jackson County, WI. It is
expected to produce 3.3 million kW hours of renewable energy each year, enough
to power 400 average Wisconsin homes per year. Digesters will also be
constructed in Pennsylvania, Idaho, Iowa, Florida, Oregon, Ohio, and Vermont.
In fiscal year 2011, the USDA, through the REAP
program, provided nearly $21 million in assistance for biodigesters, and
leveraged over $110 million in project development. Through its Value-Added
Producer Grant program, the USDA provides planning grants of up to $100,000 and
working capital grants of up to $300,000 to be used for establishment of a
biodigester. Additionally, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
offers financial and technical assistance through the Environmental Quality
Incentives program (EQIP).
Republic Services, Fortistar
and Old Dominion Electric Cooperative Dedicate Central Virginia’s Newest
Landfill Gas-to-Energy Facility
Fortistar recently finalized the construction on a
6.4-MW renewable energy facility, called Richmond Energy LLC, at Republic
Services’ Old Dominion Sanitary Landfill in Henrico County. The plant is in
startup phase now. The output will be sold to ODEC under a long-term power
purchase agreement.
The Old Dominion energy project uses four
Caterpillar G3520 reciprocating engine generator sets, each rated at 1.6 MW, and
with the support of associated landfill gas cleanup and compression equipment,
will meet the total electrical energy needs of approximately 4,500 Virginia
residences.
This is the first power purchase agreement
Fortistar will complete with ODEC and adds to the over 20 projects Fortistar
currently operates on Republic Services landfills.
GE’s Landfill Gas Technology
Powers New Brazil Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project
Brazil’s goals to increase the production of
renewable and alternative energy recently received an important boost with the
successful startup of Asja Brasil’s new 4.3-MW Belo Horizonte landfill
gas-to-energy (LFGTE) project in the state of Minas Gerais. The project
currently features three GE 1.4-MW ecomagination-qualified J420 Jenbacher gas
engines. GE recently delivered a fourth J420 to the plant with startup expected
by the end of 2011.
Asja Brasil, a subsidiary of the Italian
multinational Asja Group, is managing the project to capture and recover the
Belo Horizonte sanitary landfill’s waste gas for 15 years.
FlexEnergy and DoD Announce
the First Commercial System to Generate Clean Energy from Low Quality Landfill
Methane with Near Zero Emissions
FlexEnergy Inc., an energy technology company based
in Irvine, CA, celebrated the successful installation and operation of the first
commercial deployment of its Flex Powerstation™ FP250 system on November 8, 2011
at the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Fort Benning, GA Army post. The Flex
Powerstation™, the only turbine to offer both pollution control and energy
generation, converts previously-wasted landfill gas into 250 kW of renewable
electricity, which is enough energy to power 250 homes. The clean energy
produced has near-zero emissions and will reduce both the Army’s carbon
footprint and its bottom line.
FlexEnergy’s technology converts methane into
usable clean electricity. The system architecture and proprietary technology
allows the Flex Powerstation™ to utilize all sources of methane gas, even
low-quality gas from closed landfills. The Fort Benning installation is running
on previously-unusable methane gas and produces a cost-effective source of
renewable power. Throughout the last year, FlexEnergy has created over a hundred
new American jobs.
GrDF Selects Elster to Provide
Biogas Stations
Elster announced that Gaz reseau Distribution
France (GrDF), the main gas utility in France and wholly-owned subsidiary of GdF
Suez that manages the longest natural gas distribution network in Europe, has
selected Elster as the sole supplier to establish at least five biogas injection
stations throughout the country. The first station will be delivered in the
first quarter of 2012.
The two-year agreement calls for the stations to
measure the quality of biogas and inject it into GrDF’s natural gas grid after
it is processed by the producer through purification stations. Each station will
be equipped with two Elster EnCal 3000 high-end process gas chromatographs,
Elster rotary or turbine gas meters, electronic volume correctors and odorizing
devices. All of the stations will be assembled in France by Elster.
For more information on Renewable Energy
Projects and Update please visit