Multi-emissions Control is Hot Topic on Thursday, May 20 and Friday, May 21, 2010 at 10 a.m. CDT
While the regulations on emissions from power plants winding their way through the EPA and Congress will surely place a greater burden on utilities to cut stack emissions of all pollutants to near zero, there may be a silver lining. The industry may at long last get the coordinated approach to future air quality requirements that the industry has long desired. This will provide regulatory certainty about the amount of and timetable for future emissions reductions, which can be factored into investment decisions and emission control strategies in a way that will maximize efficiency, minimize cost and provide greater overall benefit for the environment. The future regulations will most likely include stringent limits on the emissions of NOx, SO2 , SO3 and other acid gases, fine particulates (PM2.5), trace elements, volatile organic compounds and other HAPs with CO2 perhaps being a separate regulatory issue that must be considered when planning any control strategy.
In response to the potential for multi-emissions regulations covering more pollutants, the air pollution control equipment industry is already developing systems that will offer an integrated approach to emissions reduction rather than the piecemeal add-on devices that have been used to achieve compliance with individual rules for NOx, SO2, PM and mercury as the rules were enacted. The fact that many power plants simply do not have the real estate to install more equipment and the push to increase efficiency and reduce operating costs are also driving the development of integrated control systems. These development efforts seek to combine control of several or all pollutants into a single piece of equipment with technologies that will minimize or even eliminate the need for additives such as activated carbon. However, the problem does not stop at just removing these pollutants from the flue gases. With increasing limits on solid waste disposal and water discharge, an integrated approach also needs to consider how to capture the pollutants and dispose of them in an environmentally friendly manner. Of course the best way to reduce emissions is to utilize technologies that limit or minimize the formation of pollutants but in many cases, such as with the metals naturally occurring in coal, this is difficult if not impossible.
The speakers will help us understand the current situation; the potential rules and regulations and their timing; the multi-emission control technologies available and under development with their applicability, capabilities, and limitations and present other alternatives available to achieve compliance with the expected regulations.
The following speakers will present on Thursday, May 20, 2010:
Phil Boyle, President and COO of Powerspan Corp., will summarize the company's experience with its multi-pollutant control technology (SO2, fine PM, and oxidized mercury). He will also discuss Powerspan’s carbon capture technology, which can follow a conventional SO2 scrubbing technology, such as a limestone forced-oxidation FGD, or follow Powerspan’s multi-pollutant control technology. Phil will also summarize the results of a recent independent technology assessment.
David S. Helm, P.E., Environmental Specialist at Sargent & Lundy, LLC, will discuss current and future emissions reduction initiatives that directly impact coal-fired power plants. EPA and Congress are developing new rules that will require additional SO2, NOx, and hazardous air pollutant (HAP) emissions reductions from power plants. These initiatives include the Regional Haze Rule, CAIR Replacement Rule, changes in the NAAQS and Utility MACT.
Dr. Brian Higgins, Vice-President of Technology at Nalco Mobotec, Inc., will describe Mobotec's multi-pollutant emissions control approach.
Rod Gravley, Technology Director at Tri-Mer Corporation, will present the UltraTemp Filtration System that Tri-Mer is introducing to the North American market. The filter technology is based on a new generation of ceramic-coated fibers. This allows operation of the system up to 1650oF, while consistently achieving outlet concentrations below 0.001 grains/dscf, even with submicron PM loadings greater than 1.0 - 2.0 grains/dscf. At the same time, SO2 can be removed with sorbent injection. Most importantly, a variation of the filter has an SCR catalyst manufactured into the filter itself, thus allowing simultaneous removal of NOx, up to 95 percent, with simple urea injection. The result is a single system that can remove PM, SOx, and NOx at very high levels of efficiency. Mercury removal is also an option. There is an installed base of over 400 applications in Europe.
The following speakers will present on Friday, May 21, 2010:
Heidi E. Davidson, Technical Development Engineer SOLVAir® Products at Solvay Chemicals, Inc., will discuss the use of dry sorbent injection (DSI) with sodium bicarbonate or trona to control acid gases, including HCl, HF, SO2, and SO3, while enhancing mercury capture. DSI provides a low-capital alternative for treating flue gas at power plants. Heidi will also describe the long history and many years of experience Solvay Chemicals, Inc. and SOLVAir® Products has providing multi-pollutant control solutions to the utility sector.
Paul Farber, Environmental Specialist at Sargent & Lundy LLC, will discuss the recently released industrial boiler MACT. The MACT calls for control of particulates, mercury, total selected metals, HCl and organics including dioxins/furans. It is reasonable to expect that a similar group of emissions will have to be controlled with the upcoming Utility MACT. The most economical approach to meeting these MACTs will be control technologies that can reduce more than one pollutant. In many cases these multi-pollutant control technologies exist today as single or combinations of conventional equipment. These will be addressed in this presentation.
Stratos Tavoulareas, Energy Technologies Enterprises Corp. (EnTEC), will describe ReACT, a multi-pollutant control technology. ReACT is commercially available abroad and has very high proven collection efficiencies for SOx (both SO2 and SO3), NOx and mercury. New power plants are utilizing it, confirming further its efficiency and cost-effectiveness. As of 2009, ReACT is available under commercial terms in the US through Hamon Research Cottrell.
To register for the "Hot Topic Hour" on Thursday, May 20, 2010 and Friday, May 21 at 10 a.m. CDT (Chicago time), click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/FGDnetoppbroch/Default1.htm
Bob McIlvaine
President
847 784 0012 ext 112