“New Developments in Air Pollution Control Technology Part 2” -- Hot Topic Hour on August 1, 2013

The four speakers yesterday revealed some significant new choices for APC purchasers. Bromine injection (EMO) without activated carbon injection (ACI) could be a winner for dry FGD. WESPS and scrubbers can be the key to removing the finest metal particles and allow operators to burn gasified municipal waste as a reburn fuel. It is possible to recover the unused sorbent and to reuse it economically.  Finally, there is an alternative to activated carbon which is now commercial, so the McIlvaine decisive classification system needs to expand to include these additions (changes are shown in italics).

Bobby I.T. Chen, Client Program Manager Integrated Emission Solutions, Environmental & Infrastructure at CBI, made a strong case for bromine injection (EMO) as the answer for mercury reduction from power plants burning the full range of fuels. The performance compares favorably when precipitators or baghouses are used. It compares favorably when both wet and dry scrubbers are incorporated. When hydrated lime was used for SO₃ mitigation less EMO was needed to achieve the same results. Emissions below 1 lb/tBTu were achieved routinely.

Decisive classification changes:  Consider bromine injection without ACI  for dry FGD as a viable option.

Steven A. Jaasund, Manager of Geoenergy Products for Lundberg, presented “Wet ESPs for Improved Particulate Control and displayed some impressive test results. Very low particulate emissions were achieved in boilers burning various fuels including biomass and municipal solid waste. With the scrubber/WESP combination very high flow rates and therefore small WESP modules proved effective. Bob McIlvaine and Steve agreed that the WESP/scrubber combination could be used for older coal-fired power plants who decided to gasify and inject MSW as a reburn fuel.

Decisive Classification Changes:  Consider WESP for toxic metal reduction greater than alternatives. Consider using gasified municipal waste as reburn fuel in coal-fired boiler with scrubber and WESP.

Jean-Philippe FEVE, Ph.D., Director of Business Development at Neumann Systems Group, Inc., discussed a process for recycling injected sorbents. The use of Dry Sorbent Injection (DSI) is gaining popularity for control of SO₃, HCl and even SO₂ in utility and industrial applications. However, high removal rates of SO₂ can only be achieved at the cost of very high injection rates of sorbent, most of which leaves the system without reacting. Neumann Systems Group has a new process that allows efficient recycling of the unreacted and otherwise wasted sorbent, thus enabling up to 60-80 percent savings in sorbent cost.

Decisive Classification Changes:  Consider option to recover dry sorbent and to recycle it. This is different from reagent recycle where the flyash, reacted reagent, and unreacted reagent are recycled, so the term “reagent recovery” should distinguish this from reagent recycle.

Jim Butz, Vice President of Product Management at Novinda, presented “Full-scale Plant Trials of Novinda’s Non-carbon Mercury Capture Reagent.” Novinda’s amended silicates is a non-carbon sorbent for capture of mercury from coal-fired power plants. A commercial production plant with 20 million pounds per year production capacity is now providing material for full-scale power plant field trials and long-term supply contracts. Superior performance has been observed in power plants with dry scrubbers as well as with ESP/wet FGD systems. Cost analyses show savings over ACI for the same efficiency. There is also no leachate of mercury. The company now has a commercial contract and they can quickly build new facilities to meet any demand. Since the carrier is bentonite which is used in drilling muds, kitty litter and foundries, the production is substantial.

Decisive Classification Changes:  Non-carbon sorbent should now be a commercial alternative to activated carbon based on the commercial contract.

Bios, Abstracts and Photos can be seen at:  BIOS, ABSTRACTS, PHOTOS - 8-1-13.htm

The individual presentations are as follows:

·         New Developments in Power Plant Air Pollution Control Technology - Part 2 - Hot Topic Hour August 1, 2013  (Webinar Recording  Dated:  8/1/2013)

·         Wet ESPs for Advanced Particulate Collection by Steven A. Jaasund, Lundberg Associates - Hot Topic Hour August 1, 2013  (Presentation  Dated:  8/1/2013)

·         NeuStream - DR: Improving the Effectiveness of DSI while substantially Reducing the Chemical Cost by Jean-Philippe Feve - Neuman Systems Group - Hot Topic Hour August 1, 2013  (Presentation  Dated:  8/1/2013)

·         EMO+HL, Total MATS Compliance Solution, by Bobby I.T. Chen, CB and I - Hot Topic Hour August 1, 2013  (Presentation  Dated:  8/1/2013)

·         Full-scale Plant Trials of Novinda's Non-carbon Mercury Capture Reagent by Jim Butz, Novinda - Hot Topic Hour August 1, 2013  (Presentation  Dated:  8/1/2013)