NEWS RELEASE                                   JANUARY 2010

NO_x Control Market Will Exceed $15 Billion/yr over the Next Decade

The world market for stationary selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems and for the consumable catalysts will exceed $15 billion/yr over the next 10 years.  The market for the consumable catalysts will grow steadily to exceed $2 billion/yr by 2020.  The market for NO_x control capital equipment will fluctuate year to year from $7 to $20 billion/yr.  These are the latest forecasts in NO_x Control World Markets, a continuously updated online market report from McIlvaine Company.

These capital expenditures do not include the incremental costs for retrofitting old power plants with SCR.  Another $3 billion/yr of expenditures will be devoted to fitting SCR into existing power plant locations where additional ductwork and demolition of existing structures will be required.  Also not included are catalyst cleaning and regeneration expenditures.  These are estimated at over $1 billion/yr.

Coal-fired power plants are the dominant market.  The U.S. and China have major retrofit programs.  In most countries, new coal-fired boilers will utilize SCR or in some cases selective non-catalytic reduction systems (SNCR).  Gas turbines are increasingly being required to utilize SCR.  Formerly only combined cycle power plants installed SCR, now even peaking power plants are installing them.

The market for NO_x control in the cement industry is presently small but growing rapidly.  Petroleum refineries, waste incinerators, and nitric acid plants have utilized SCR for many years.

China is the fastest growing market.  In the past 12 months there has been a big investment in catalyst manufacturing capacity in China.  This will make China self sufficient and, in fact, a catalyst exporter.

There are only a dozen major manufacturers of catalyst for coal-fired boilers.  There are larger numbers of equipment suppliers.  They include many of the major boiler companies.  Many suppliers of scrubbers and precipitators expanded into NO_x control within the last two decades.

There is a substantial market for the suppliers of ammonia.  Because of safety concerns, many plants have opted to buy urea and convert it to ammonia on site.  There are suppliers specializing in systems to make this conversion.  Others specialize in injection systems to insure even distribution of the reagent.  There are substantial investments in instrumentation and controls to minimize reagent consumption while achieving desired emission levels.  Several suppliers offer static mixing systems which insure that the reagent is mixed thoroughly in the flue gas.  Requirements for heavy steel plate and structural supports are substantial due to size of the SCR reactor and its location in the 850^oF temperature zone.

The markets are bolstered by increasingly stringent regulations.  The concerns are not only ozone but also fine particulate.  NO_x reacts with calcium and ammonia in the atmosphere to form small nitrate particles.  These particles have been deemed to be quite harmful.  Therefore, countries around the world have been tightening NO_x emission limits.