AIR & WATER

MONITORING NEWSLETTER  

March 2013
No. 401

East Asia Will Spend $4.8 Billion on FGD This Year

Power plants in East Asia will spend $4.8 billion on flue gas desulfurization (FGD) this year. This will be 63 percent of the total worldwide expenditure. This is the conclusion reached in “FGD World Markets” published by the McIlvaine Company.

                 ($ Millions)

These forecasts do not include repair parts and upgrades nor do they include consumables such as lime and limestone. Total expenditures by the power plants for FGD will exceed $15 billion in 2013.

The forces shaping the market include:

• Continued expansion of coal-fired capacity in India and China
• Chinese program to fit both new and existing power plants with FGD
• New air toxic rules in the U.S.
• Limits on new coal-fired power plant construction in the U.S.
• Low price of natural gas in North America
• Aging fleet of FGD systems at existing power plants
• Corrosion problems at existing units
• New by-product opportunities
• Increasing stringency of standards for FGD wastewater discharge
• Performance of circulating fluid bed absorbers on SO₃ capture
• Need to remove mercury and prevent re-emission
• Inclusion of FGD in power plant optimization
• New FGD technology

China continues to spend more for new FGD systems than the rest of the world combined. It is also requiring existing power plants to upgrade to meet tougher standards. The new air toxic rules in the U.S. are leading older and smaller power plants to install dry sorbent injection systems. They reduce the hydrogen chloride to meet the new limits and also remove SO₂. An alternative is the more capital intensive fluid bed absorber. It has the advantage of SO₃ capture and uses less lime.

Several new FGD technologies hold promise. Neumann systems have made improvements to the double alkali system. Clear Edge has a catalytic filter which captures SO₂, particulate and NO_x. Hitachi has a system which produces both gypsum and hydrochloric acid.

The FGD system is both a major capital and operating cost to the operator. This cost can be minimized with some of the newer optimization and process control systems. Neuco uses neural networks to optimize the boiler efficiency, NO_x generation as well as NO_x, SO₂, and mercury emissions.

Another trend is toward use of a main automation contractor to ensure synergy with the many FGD sub systems and components. Yokogawa supplied the FGD automation for the Turceni power plant, in Romania (330 MW x 7 units), Yokogawa provided its CENTUM VP Integrated Production Control System; field devices such as DPharp EJX Pressure/Differential Pressure Transmitters, pH analyzers and temperature transmitters; the Plant Resource Manager (PRM) integrated device management tool; and the Exaquantum Plant Information Management System.

For more information on “FGD World Markets,” click on: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php?option=com_content&;view=article&id=48#n027

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