Co-firing Biomass, Sewage Sludge and Municipal Waste
is the Hot Topic Hour Dec. 13, 2012
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia, representing over half of the
U.S. electricity market, already have Renewable Energy Standards (RES) ranging
from 10-33 percent with various timelines between 2015 and 2025. Pending Federal
legislation would establish a national renewable energy/efficiency standard of
up to 24 percent in 2020 increasing to 84 percent in 2035. As a result,
coal-fired power plant and industrial boiler operators are exploring biomass as
an option for RES compliance. Co-firing biomass with coal has the potential to
reduce emissions from regulated pollutants as well as GHGs, without
substantially increasing costs or infrastructure investments.
It has been demonstrated, tested and proved in all boiler types commonly used by
electric utilities. There can be little or no loss in total boiler efficiency
after adjusting combustion output for the new fuel mixture.
However,
those who have done it know that co-firing and even firing only biomaterials are
typically not without many significant problems. Obtaining a reliable,
consistent supply of a specific biomass material is just the start of the
problems. The physical characteristics and chemical
makeup of biomass fuels can lead to significant cost increases particularly for
material handling and preparation, maintenance problems, boiler slagging and
fouling issues, increased boiler corrosion and decreased efficiency if biomass
use is not very closely managed. The composition of the combustion gases
from burning bio-materials can also have both a positive or negative effect on
stack emissions and the air pollution control systems required to meet emission
limits and must be considered.
The following speakers will address the issues and
implications of converting coal-fired boilers to full or partial use of
biomass, sewage sludge or municipal waste,
the biomass fuel choices and how these vary
regionally, the costs that need to be considered in a biomass conversion plan,
the advantages and disadvantages of various fuels, methods for co-firing
and available equipment options as well as any new equipment designs, technology
and systems being developed to make co-firing or combustion of bio-materials
easier and more efficient and to describe their experience with planning,
permitting, developing and operating plants that co-fire of all types of
biomass.
Arie Verloop,
P.E., Vice President of Technology and Client Relations with Jansen Combustion
and Boiler Technologies, Inc. (JANSEN), will discuss their experience with
upgrading industrial stoker-fired boilers to burn a variety of alternative
fuels. Jansen provides customized engineered solutions to improve the operating
performance and waste fuel burning capacity of existing large industrial
stoker-fired boilers that burn “difficult” fuels. Over 300 boilers have been
evaluated, worldwide, and over 100 boilers have been upgraded (combustion system
and/or pressure parts). Typical fuels are: wet waste wood/biomass, chemical
spent liquors, secondary wastewater treatment sludge, refuse derived fuel (RDF),
municipal solid waste (MSW) and tire derived fuel (TDF).
Brandon Bell,
P.E., Principal Mechanical Engineer at KBR Power & Industrial, will discuss
typical problems associated with the conversion of coal units to co-fire
biomass. Biomass fuels vary widely depending on regional availability and have a
big impact on the feasibility of co-firing biomass. Current EPA regulations that
affect pollution control requirements for Independent Power Producers,
Agricultural Cooperatives and Utilities with regard to biomass units will be
discussed. Additional equipment and operational considerations for various
biomass fuels will also be presented.
Thomas (Tom) J. Maestri,
Director of Renewable Energy Programs at Synagro
Technologies, Inc., will present “Co-Combustion of Sewage Sludge with
Non-Solid Waste Fuels.” Recently EPA-promulgated New Source Performance
Standards (NSPS) and emissions guidelines for sewage sludge incineration require
MACT air pollution control standards under Section 129 of the Clean Air Act;
this as opposed to less stringent Section 112 boiler standards previously
applied. The changes have created new financial burdens on existing sludge
combustion facilities and cast a shadow over many new projects which had planned
to use sewage sludge as a primary fuel or to co-fire sewage sludge with biomass
or other non-solid-waste fuels. A simultaneous EPA ruling on how various
combustion materials (non-hazardous secondary materials) would be identified as
solid waste when burned in a combustion unit has further complicated the issue.
His presentation will outline the issues and discuss solutions to dealing with
the potential technical and economic challenges created by the new rule when
co-firing sewage sludge.
To register for the Hot Topic Hour on December 13, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. (CST),
click on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/hot_topic_hour_registration.htm.
McIlvaine Hot Topic Hour Registration
On Thursday at 10:00 a.m. Central time, McIlvaine hosts a 90 minute web meeting
on important energy and pollution control subjects. Power webinars are
free for subscribers to either Power Plant Air Quality Decisions
or Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System. The cost is
$125.00 for non-subscribers.
Market Intelligence
webinars are free to McIlvaine market report.
|
2012 |
|
DATE |
SUBJECT |
|
December 13 |
Co-firing Sewage Sludge, Biomass
and Municipal Waste |
Power |
|
2013 |
|
January 10 |
Update on Oxy-fuel Combustion |
Power |
January 17 |
Production of Fertilizer and
Sulfuric Acid at Coal-fired
Power Plants
|
Power |
January 24 |
Gypsum Dewatering |
Power |
January 31 |
Filter media (forecasts and
market drivers for media used in
air, gas, liquid, fluid
applications, both mobile and
stationary). |
Market
Intelligence |
February 7 |
Valves for Power Plants, Boilers
and Water Treatment Facilities |
Power |
To register for the Hot Topic Hour, click on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/hot_topic_hour_registration.htm.
UTILITY E-ALERT
Here are the Headlines for the November 30, 2012 – Utility E-Alert
#1102– November 30, 2012
Table of Contents
COAL – US
COAL – WORLD
GAS/OIL / US
GAS/OIL – WORLD
CO2
NUCLEAR
BUSINESS
POWER-GEN 2012
HOT TOPIC HOUR
For more information on the Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System,
click on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/energy.html#42ei.
2100 Major Municipal Water Treatment Projects in the U.S. and Canada in Next 12
Months
Municipalities in Canada and the U.S. will construct new drinking water
treatment plants to supply a growing population. They will also replace and
upgrade existing facilities. These projects are tracked biweekly in the
McIlvaine North American Public Water Plants and
People.
Category |
U.S. |
Canada |
Total |
Additional urban MGD |
1,185 |
95 |
1,280 |
Year end urban MGD |
48,600 |
5,060 |
53,660 |
Additional rural MGD |
180 |
11 |
191 |
Year end rural MGD |
7,500 |
635 |
8,135 |
Total additional MGD |
1,365 |
106 |
1,471 |
Total MGD at year end |
56,100 |
5,695 |
61,795 |
Replacement MGD |
5,000 |
500 |
5,500 |
Total new MGD |
6,365 |
606 |
6,971 |
Number of projects |
1,600 |
150 |
1,750 |
Canada and the U.S. will add 1,471 MGD of new facilities and will replace or
upgrade 5,500 MGD. This will be accomplished through 1,750 major projects and
many thousands of minor projects at the 22,000 treatment plants in the two
countries.
In addition to the capital projects, McIlvaine forecasts that 30,000 bid
requests for treatment chemicals will be issued for treatment plants in the two
countries. Over 20 different chemicals are being used by treatment plans
in the two countries. McIlvaine tracks chemical bid requests and bid reviews for
chemicals as well as tracking capital projects.
For more information on North American Public
Water Plants and People, click on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/water.html#67ei.
Liquid Macrofiltration Market to Approach $7 Billion Next Year
The market for equipment and media to separate larger particles from liquids and
dewater slurries will exceed $6.8 billion next year. This is the latest forecast
in Liquid Filtration and Media: World Markets published by the McIlvaine
Company. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)
Liquid Macrofiltration Market ($ Millions)
World Region |
2013 |
Africa |
234
|
CIS |
188
|
East Asia |
2,727
|
Eastern Europe |
160
|
Middle East |
225
|
NAFTA |
1,209
|
South & Central America |
483
|
West Asia |
712
|
Western Europe |
941 |
Total |
6,879 |
The equipment included in this forecast are gravity belt filters, belt filter
presses, drum filters, leaf filters, granular media filters and bag filters.
These devices are separating particles between 1-100 microns from various
liquids from water to wine. Dewatering of sewage sludge and other slurries is a
major use.
East Asia will dominate the market next year for several reasons. The first is
the large investment in belt filter presses to dewater sewage sludge, mining
ores and coal slurries. The large investment in flue gas desulfurization will be
accompanied by significant investment in belt filters to dewater gypsum.
Granular media filters will purify much of the water needed for cooling in
coal-fired power plants.
Hardware sales in NAFTA will be less than 50 percent of the hardware sales in
East Asia, but the sales of media will be more equal. This is because the
existing market is large in NAFTA but the new expansions are comparatively few.
NAFTA will benefit from a substantial expansion of oil and gas processing
plants. Hydraulic fracturing is creating the need for treatment of the flow-back
liquid which contains sand, shale particles and high levels of dissolved solids.
Treatment of produced water is another expanding application. The use of
automatic backwash filters in treatment of ballast water is another growth
segment.
For more information on Liquid Filtration and Media: World Market: click
on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/water.html#n006
----------
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Bob McIlvaine
President
847-784-0012 ext 112
rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com
www.mcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com
Copyright © 2012 McIlvaine Company. All Rights Reserved
191 Waukegan Road Suite 208 | Northfield | IL 60093
Ph: 847-784-0012 | Fax: 847-784-0061
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