Fossil Fuel-fired Power Plants can be a Positive rather than A Negative Contributor to Water Quality

Operators of coal-fired power plants and gas turbine combined cycle power plants can utilize municipal wastewater for cooling and other needs. When they also eliminate discharges through zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technology they become positive rather than negative contributors to water quality.  Water lost through evaporation can be greatly reduced by heat extraction from the flue gas before it reaches the scrubber.  This also reduces total CO₂/MW and makes the plant greener in every sense.

The markets and technology for this approach will be discussed in a free webinar on February 25^th at 10:00 a.m. CST.

The various geographical markets will be analyzed.  China is embracing ZLD in its power plants as well as its coal-to-chemical facilities.  Gas turbine combined cycle power plant developers in the U.S. are selecting ZLD not only in arid areas but generally to avoid the need to obtain water discharge permits.  ZLD is the preferred option in Saudi Arabia and surrounding countries.

The availability and cost of treated municipal wastewater will be reviewed.  In general, power plants are near enough to municipal treatment plants to make the use practical.

Technologies to minimize evaporation losses will also be discussed.  The potential is being increased by new developments such as catalytic filtration at 850^oF.

China is making the largest investment in ZLD.  Huaneng Group, China’s largest power producer, has constructed a 1.3 GW state-of-the-art ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plant at the Changxing Power Station in Zhejiang Province.

•The plant uses Oasys’ technology to treat the wastewater from flue gas desulfurization (FGD).

•The system treats up to 650 cubic meters of wastewater a day. Startup was early 2015. The system uses forward osmosis separation technology.

Aquatech has supplied ZLD systems for a number of power plants and coal-to-chemicals plants.  Enel has purchased several systems from Aquatech for its Italian coal-fired power plants. Aquatech has a Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) plant in a coal-to-chemicals facility in Inner Mongolia. The ZLD plant incorporates HERO™ (High Efficiency Reverse Osmosis) and a Thermal Brine Concentrator. The plant will treat 2400 m³/day of wastewater and reuse 92.5 percent of it, producing 2000 m³/day of process water and 220 m³/day of distilled water for various end user applications.

China has some ZLD systems using evaporators but is leaning toward the cheaper route of using flue gas to evaporate liquid in the sludge. The spray drier approach is being offered by Mitsubishi, URS and other international companies.

The various approaches for evaporation of water from slurries will be analyzed.  One option is a falling film evaporator (inside the brine concentrator vessel) that is seeded with calcium sulfate to minimize scale formation.

Mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) is the method by which a blower, compressor or jet ejector is used to compress, and thus, increase the temperature of the vapor produced.  In this way, the vapor can serve as the heating medium for the ZLD solution being concentrated. The efficiency and feasibility of this process lies in the efficiency of the blower or compressor and the heat transfer co-efficient attained in the heat exchanger contacting the condensing vapor and the boiling ZLD liquid.  Several different blower and compressor options will be reviewed.

The discussion will also include the co-combustion of sewage sludge and the use of gasified sludges as reburn fuels in coal-fired boilers.

Click Here to Register

A full review of the options for coal-fired power plants is provided in 44I Power Plant Air Quality Decisions.  A full review of options for gas turbines is part of  Gas Turbine and Combined Cycle Decisions.  Both of these services are free of charge to power plants and by subscription for others.

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:

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

$10 Billion Annual Market for Precipitator Upgrade and Repair

Fabric filters are now the popular option for particulate control. The sales of new electrostatic precipitators peaked some years ago.  However, electrostatic precipitators will continue to outstrip fabric filters in terms of the installed base for at least the next 15 years. This is the prediction in N018 Electrostatic Precipitator World Market.

Large investments in new electrostatic precipitators are being made in Indonesia, Vietnam, India and other developing countries.  In Europe, China, Japan and the U.S. billions of dollars per year are being spent to repair and upgrade existing units.

Most countries now limit emissions from coal-fired boilers, cement plants and other large sources to such a low level that it is difficult for existing precipitators to meet the requirements.  The installation of newer designs of discharge and collection electrodes and modifications to the electrical system can improve operations.

Another option is to make the precipitator into a hybrid. The last field of the precipitator is replaced with bags.  LongKing has sold a number of hybrid conversions to Chinese power plants.  FLSmidth has sold hybrid conversions to cement plants.

One option is to add a wet precipitator downstream of the dry precipitator and scrubber.  Several of the 2010 vintage new coal-fired power plants in the U.S. incorporate this combination.  A number of Chinese power plants chose this option to deal with the new particulate standard.

One of the most promising developments involves the reduction of the inlet temperature to the precipitator.  Mitsubishi and Hitachi found that reducing the temperature below 200°F at the precipitator inlet achieved the 10 mg/Nm³ performance which otherwise required the wet precipitator addition.

The challenge of this approach is to reduce the inlet temperature without condensing sulfuric acid. URS and others are preventing the acid formation by injecting sorbent ahead of the air pre-heater.

The addition of the sorbent and extension of the air heater is more than justified by the 1 percent increase in thermal efficiency for the plant.  The precipitator improvement is a serendipitous result.

The biggest opportunity for precipitator suppliers lies in a comprehensive support program to help precipitator owners minimize their total cost of ownership while complying with the regulations.

To learn about all these options and their impact on the market opportunity click on N018 Electrostatic Precipitator World Market.

Gas Turbine after Market is both Substantial and Concentrated

As the U.S. switches from coal to gas a very large after market is developing for intake filters, valves, pumps, turbine and HRSG components.  McIlvaine quantifies and tracks all the activity in Gas Turbine and Combined Cycle Supplier Program.

Of the 440 GW of gas turbine-generated power operating in the U.S. as of the end of 2015, 170 GW or over one-third is produced by the top ten producers.

Largest Gas-Turbine Power Producers in the U.S.

Based on Capacity as of the end of 2015

Note:  “Total Number of Units” includes both combustion and steam turbines.

Most of these producers are large, U.S.-based energy companies.  However, Engie (known as GDF Suez until April 2015) is a France-based multinational energy company and one of the largest independent power producers in the world.  In 2011 and 2012, Engie doubled its U.S. power generation capacity through acquisitions.  Berkshire Hathaway is essentially a holding company with an energy division which includes MidAmerican Energy (acquired in 1999), PacifiCorp (2005) and NV Energy (2013). 

Identifying key decision makers has become particularly difficult over the last decade due to electricity restructuring in the U.S. The distinction between regulated and deregulated companies has become blurred.  Power plants are bought and sold frequently as companies and utilities seek to make a profit in the new market-oriented environment.

McIlvaine has been tracking ownership changes and reports on them regularly along with identifying every new and existing power plant and project worldwide.  For more information on 59EI Gas Turbine and Combined Cycle Supplier Program click on:  http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/markets/28-energy/610-59ei

Utility E-Alert Tracks Billions of Dollars of New Coal-fired Power Plants on a Weekly Basis

Here are some headlines from the Utility E-Alert.

UTILITY E-ALERT

#1259 – February 12, 2016

Table of Contents

COAL – US

·       TVA completes Scrubber installation at Gallatin, TN Power Plant

·       B&W awarded $18 Million Contract for Reheater Replacement at Coal-fired Pawnee Generating Station 

·       Regulator fines Duke Energy nearly $7 Million for Coal Ash Spill

COAL – WORLD

·       ICVL launches Tender for 200 MW Pit-head Power Project in Mozambique 

·       SSE may close Three Units at Fiddler’s Ferry Coal-fired Power Plant

·       Coal-fired Power Station expansion in Jerada, Morocco

·       Safi 1,386 MW Coal-fired Power Station under Construction in Cap Ghir Safi, Morocco

·       Dr. Narla Tata Rao 800 MW Power Plant Expansion in Andhra Pradesh, India

·       Proposed 552 MW Coal-fired Power Station in Lanao del Norte Province, Philippines

·       Adani's Coal Mine clears Australia Environmental hurdle

The 41F Utility E-Alert is issued weekly and covers the coal-fired projects, regulations and other information important to the suppliers. It is $950/yr. but is included in the $3020 42EI Utility Tracking System which has data on every plant and project plus networking directories and many other features.

 McIlvaine Hot Topic Hours (HTH) and Recordings

     Explanation          Applicable Services         Schedule & Registration       Sponsored Webinars 

McIlvaine conducts periodic webinars which are in a discussion format and are free of charge to all participants. The displayed material and recordings are free to purchasers of the products and services and by subscription to others.

Format:  50-90 minute recorded discussion using McIlvaine display material. The session will be free of charge to all participants but registration is required.

Approach: There are two types of webinars. One is focused on Markets and directed to suppliers. The other is focused on aiding purchasers make the best Decisions relative to purchases of flow control and treatment equipment and services.

Markets HTH
The general overviews of the market including size and major variables will be discussed with heavy emphasis on technology and regulatory drivers.  The presentation will be based on the latest information appearing in McIlvaine multi-client reports. Questions and views from both subscribers and non-subscribers are encouraged.

Decisions HTH
McIlvaine has been publishing information systems on pollution control since 1974.  Each subject is organized by the pollutant control technology e.g. fabric filter, scrubber, etc. There are search capabilities to retrieve information on any application.  The newest addition has been slide deck systems displaying the issues and options relative to a specific applications.  Coal-fired power, cement, steel and waste combustion decision slide decks are continually updated.

The continually updated slide decks are displayed on the applicable decision system.  It is recommended that participants view the slide deck in advance of the session and be prepared with questions and views.

Value to purchasers and specifiers:  Your questions and interests will be prioritized in the discussion. You will get a monthly newsletter and have continuing access to the system and multiple ways to interface in the future along with a networking directory of suppliers.

Value to Suppliers:  You have the opportunity to provide data to be considered at no charge. If you are also a subscriber you will see the summaries in advance and be able to shed light on issues and options not properly covered in the slide deck.  If you are a subscriber you will receive the monthly newsletter and continuing yearly access to the system including networking directories.

44I Power Plant Air Quality Decisions  includes 1ABC, 3ABC, 4ABC, 9ABC decision services but not 2ABC. So those with multiple technologies and at least partial focus on power will find this combination most cost effective.

HOT TOPIC HOUR (HTH) SCHEDULE

Dates for the next 6 meetings are firm; the others will be held in sequence at approximately two week intervals.  Unforeseen developments could dictate the insertion of new subjects.

Click here to Register for the Webinars

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Bob McIlvaine
President
847-784-0012 ext. 112
rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com
www.mcilvainecompany.com