Industry publication, December 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

I^TECHNOLOGY ;<C O A

High Gas Prices and Technology Brighten King Coal’s Star Menu of choices now is broader than in past years

fl. ast winter’s sustained reduce sulfur emissions. spike in natural gas prices Contributing to coal’s (restored some luster to rebirth are emissions-control “king coal” as an electricity­ technologies that enable I generation fuel. The pace of cleaner, more efficient com­ I announcements of new coal- bustion. Since its unhealthi- fired powerplants picked up est peak over 30 years ago, throughout 2001 and tech­ U.S. air quality has improved nologies that reduce the dramatically, even while coal emissions from coal combus­ consumption in powerplants tion drew renewed interest has tripled—^powerful testi­ Project developers taking a mony to emissions-control fresh look at coal have found a rich menu of choices in F technologies. Many “new” technologies are simply im­ both fuels and technologies provements to older, post­ that didn’t exist 20 years combustion technologies, ago—a menu that enables including electrostatic pre­ coal to be both low-cost and cipitators, selective catalytic environmentally acceptable. 1 reduction and FGD systems. The reinvigorated coal Typical is an upgrad­ market is being led by Pow­ ed ESP, recently supplied by der River Basin coals, which Wheelabrator Air Pollution offer both environmental Control, Pittsburgh, at the and economic advantages 1,230-Mw Crist station in Pen­ over eastern coals. Most PRB sacola, Fla. The new ham­ mines, located in eastern f mer-rapped rigid-discharge Wyoming and Montana, pro­ electrode precipitator fea­ duce co^ that emits less than tures wide-spaced plates set 1 lb per million Btu of sulfur 16 in. apart, higher voltage dioxide (SO2), making it the and rapping insulators, and coal of choice despite its rela­ rigid electrodes and tum­ tively low heat content. bling hammer rapping—a PRB coal seams 60 to 100 ft combination well suited to thick and lying close to the J ! difficult coal dusts. Initial surface allow producers to tMjl performance tests measured use large surface-mining ex- HEW Hawthorn Is first pulverized coal plant in recent years. particulate emissions of 0.01 traction equipment. Wyo- “ ~ ’ lb per million Btu and opaci- ming PRB coal sells for 20^ to 260 per mil- coals. Scheduled for operation in July ty levels less than 2% at volumetric rates lion Btu, giving it a price advantage over 2003, the facility near Gillette, Wyo., will of 1,264-million cu ft per minute. eastern coals. The economic and envi- feature a l,005°F, 1,620-psi superheated- A staggering 60,000 Mw of existing ronmental benefits are leading to devel- steam boiler, supplied by Babcock & Wil- coal-fired capacity in the U.S. will be ret- opment of a number of new PR&<oal- cox Co., Barberton, Ohio. B&W also will rofitted with SCR systems by May 2004 to burning plants and plants already burn- engineer, design, procure and construct bring emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx)

1 ing PRB coal have increased their capaci- the facility, including its substantial emis- into compliance with U.S. Environmental ty factors. Most significantly, scores of sions-control systems. plants burning coal from other regions Protection Agency regulations. An SCR

1 Coal wastes processed into fuel in the system for the 600-Mw New Madrid Unit switched to PRB coal or PRB-based blends. form of briquettes or pellets also are gar- 2, installed in 2000 for Associated Electric The upward trend in PRB coal con­ nering new attention, spurred by the Cooperative Inc., Springfield, Mo., was sumption likely will continue. The first Nonconventional Sources of Fuels Tax the first application of SCR to a utility- new pulverized-coal project in recent Credit. Most waste coal has a high sulfur scale boiler firing PRB coal. It reportedly years, the 80-Mw Wygen Unit 1, an­ content, so a utility boiler typically req- is achieving 93% NOx reduction. nounced in early 2001, is based on PRB uires a flue-gas desulfurization system to Although SCR technology has been sue- ( Powerplant Construction«43

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