Power Generators Use a Slew of Emissions Reduction Technologies to Reduce Power Plant Emissions

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). The nation’s electric energy providers depend on a diversity of fossil fuel, such as coal, oil, and natural gas to generate electricity, with the majority of electricity being produced by power plants that burn coal. Coal is a storehouse for harmful chemical elements. The unavoidable consequence for burning coal is that toxic chemicals are released into the environment including sulfur dioxides (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NO2), particulate matter and mercury. These pollutants are associated with respiratory problems, asthma attacks, and heart disease. As a result, power plants are faced with strict federal regulations to reduce emissions.

Energy providers are spending billions of dollars to remove these pollutants from coal-fired power plant emissions. Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) is one of the technologies being used by power plant owners to reduce NOx emissions by more than ninety-percent. While SCR allows power plants to achieve the necessary reduction, maintaining this high efficiency may not always be practical from an accounting perspective. SCR installation can cost a utility company millions of dollars, which has caused many power plant owners to look for alternative solutions for cost-effective NOx control.

The most common NOx control technology currently in use, at a fraction of the cost of SCR and close to its emissions level reduction, is low NOx burners. These burners are capable of reducing emissions by forty to sixty percent. Florida Power & Light Company (Juno Beach, Florida) intends to install the burners at its 863-megawatt Unit #2 at the Manatee Power Station (Parrish, Florida) in the fall of 2006. Dairyland Power Cooperative (La Crosse, Wisconsin) will also implement the use of low NOx burners at its 82-megawatt Unit #5 Alma Power Station (Alma, Wisconsin) in 2008.

Particulate matter control devices, such as Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP), are being rebuilt at numerous coal-fired power plants across the country. For example, Georgia Power Company’s Wansley Power Station, located in Roopville, Georgia, will rebuild ESPs on its 952-megawatt Unit #1 in the fall 2006, and Unit #2 in the spring of 2008. In Addition, Allegheny Energy’s (Greensboro, Pennsylvania) Harrison Power Station in Haywood, West Virginia, will rebuild the existing ESP on the 684-megawatt Unit #2 in the spring of 2006.

Scrubbers, including Flue Gas Desulfurization, are being implemented to reduce SO2 emissions. Progress Energy (Raleigh, North Carolina) has planned to add equipment to "scrub" its three units at the Roxboro Power Station (Semora, North Carolina). The project is scheduled for completion in 2009.

Industrialinfo.com is tracking the implementation of these technologies and more, including more than 400 projects in the U.S. as part of its Environmental Compliance Database. Click on this link for details or contact Industrialinfo.com’s Member Center at 1-800-762-3361.

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