The $US33 million clean coal technology project was reported in ILN on Wednesday [see related story], with the US Department of Energy selecting Pittsburgh-based coal outfit Consol Energy to work with international energy company AES to implement clean technologies that could significantly reduce emissions from small energy producers.
BPE said its integrated system could deliver economic and environmental outcomes that could prolong the lifespan of small coal-fired power stations throughout the US, by using new technologies with less mechanical complexity, ensuring increased system availability while meeting increasingly stringent air quality standards.
The multi-pollutant control system offered by BPE will reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, sulfur dioxide (SOx) emissions, particulate matter (PM), mercury (Hg) and acid gases (SO3, HCl, and HF).
The system incorporates low NOx burner upgrades to the plant's existing tangential firing system and separate overfire air system; a combined selective non-catalytic reduction/selective catalytic reduction (SNCR/SCR) system for further NOx removal; and a dry circulating bed flue gas desulfurisation (DFGD) scrubber for SOx reduction.
"Greenidge Unit 4 is one of about 500 coal-fired units in the US with capacities in the 50-600MW range that are not currently equipped with FGD, SCR, SNCR or mercury control systems," BPE president Jim Dougherty said.
"These small-to-medium size units are increasingly vulnerable to fuel switching or retirement as a result of more stringent environmental regulations. This project will demonstrate the commercial readiness of this multi-pollutant emissions control system that is particularly suited, because of its low capital and maintenance costs, to meet the requirements of this large group of existing generating units."
Alternate desulfurisation scrubbers from process industry heavyweights such as Emerson have already demonstrated an ability to reduce sulfur emissions at around 50% of the cost of traditional SOx removal systems.
BPE claim its DFGD system can also remove mercury from emissions by injecting carbon directly into the scrubber, as part of its integrated multi-pollutant system.
BPE will draw upon the resources of Riley Power (a fellow subsidiary of Babcock Power Inc) to provide the NOx upgrades, while the DFGD unit will incorporate technology provided under licence from Austrian Energy & Environment (AEE), marketed as Turbosorp.
The selective catalytic reduction component of the system (for improved nitrogen removal) will include technology provided to BPE under an exclusive licence from German firm Balcke-Durr.
Consol Energy is the prime contractor under the DOE cooperative agreement and will be responsible for project administration, performance testing, and reporting.
DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory will manage the Consol project, as well as power plant improvement initiative projects.
