More than 98% SO₂ Removal will be Required and Limestone Can Do It - Hot Topic Hour July 9, 2009

In the 2-hour Hot Topic Hour conducted on July 9, speakers charted the progress of limestone wet scrubbers in achieving high efficiency with lower power costs than a decade ago. Carbon capture requirements will dictate high removal efficiencies and SO₂ contamination down as low as 10 ppm. This will be a tough task for limestone scrubber suppliers but they are up to it.

Harald Reissner head of process technology at AE&E AUSTRIA GmbH & Co. KG, cited the new generation of scrubbers which his company is supplying with more than 99 percent removal efficiency and designed to make plants carbon ready. A number of innovations in nozzle design and location, as well as methods for evenly distributing the flue gas are the heart of the improvements. The new Karlsrhue unit is designed for inlet of 3800 mg/Nm₃ and an outlet less than 50 mg. TbK BOA is designed for 6200 mg/m³ inlet and less than 50 mg outlet for an efficiency of 99.1 percent.

Gordon Maller, a Principal Project Manager and Business Manager of the FGD aftermarket business area for URS Corporation, described many of the projects URS has undertaken to upgrade existing old scrubber systems and make them both more efficient and more cost effective. Both open spray and tray type upgrades have been supplied. One 750 MW unit was upgraded from 90 to 98 percent efficiency.

Matthew Quitadamo, Product Manager Babcock Power Environmental, Inc., described the steady improvements in the spray tower design including distribution, nozzle design, and other features which have substantially reduced the power consumption to achieve a specified efficiency.

Kevin Smith, Technical Manager Carmeuse North American Tech Center, provided a detailed analysis of the relationship between various parameters. By normalizing the efficiency of one tray with the equivalent l/g for a spray tower he was able to make a number of interesting observations about the ways to achieve high efficiency. He also showed that magnesium enhanced lime has lots of advantages where efficiency requirements and SO₂ are high.

Ghassem Manavi, Deputy General Manager, Environmental Systems Division (Advatech JV), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, explained the advantages of a unique nozzle design which is just an open pipe providing a fountain effect. The two directional flow has advantages in achieving higher efficiency at lower energy consumption. Higher scrubber velocities result in a more compact design.

Tim Roth, Pollution Control Services provided some good general information and then provided good advice on limestone evaluation. The supply of high grade limestone is diminishing. It is therefore necessary to consider the source, quality and cost of limestone long before major design decisions are finalized.

The bios, abstracts and photos can be viewed as follows: July 9, 2009 Bios, Photos, Abstracts.htm

The individual slides are in the FGD Decision Tree and can be viewed as follows:

Gordon Maller – URS

Tim Roth – Pollution Control Services

Kevin Smith - Carmeuse

FGD Continuing Decision Process For: Design Considerations

Achieving 98% Scrubber Efficiency in Older FGD Systems, presented by Gordon Maller, aftermarket business area for URS Corp. Hot Topic Hour July 9, 2009.

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/FGD_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/Gordon Maller - URS July 9, 2009.pdf

98% Limestone Scrubber Efficiency - Achieving High SO2 Removal Efficiency Using Limestone, presented by Tim Roth, Pollution Control Services (pcs). Hot Topic Hour July 9, 2009

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/FGD_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/Tim Roth, Pollution Control Services - July 9, 2009.pdf
 

Evaluation of Wet FGD Technologies to Meet Requirements for Post CO₂ Removal of Flue Gas Streams, presented by Kevin Smith, Carmeuse. Hot Topic Hour July 9, 2009.

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/FGD_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/Kevin Smith - Carmeuse - July 9, 2009.pdf

Harald Reissner - AE&E Austria 

FGD Continuing Decision Process For: Products

Spray bank design in the Open Spray Tower as a key requirement for achieving high SO₂ removal efficiencies, presented by Harald Reissner, Austraian Energy. Hot Topic Hour July 9, 2009.

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/FGD_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/Harald Reissner - AE&E Austria - July 9, 2009.pdf

Matthew Quitadamo – Babcock Power 

FGD Continuing Decision Process For: Products

98% Limestone Scrubber Efficiency - Achieving High SO₂ Removal Efficiency using Limestone, presented by Matthew Quitadamo, Babcock Power. Hot Topic Hour July 9, 2009.

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/FGD_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/Matthew Quitadamo - Babcock Power - July 9, 2009.pdf
 

Ghassem Manavi – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries / Advatech

This is the Final FGD Decision Process For: Products

Advatech Technology & System Integration for Control of Multiple Pollutants, presented by Ghassem Manavi, MHI. Hot Topic Hour July 9, 2009.

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/FGD_Decision_Tree/subscriber/Tree/DescriptionTextLinks/Ghassem Manavi - ESD, Mitsubishi - July 9, 2009.pdf