Air Pollution Control

A-83

FIG. A-76 Efciency versus pressure loss lter characteristic. (Source: Altair Filters International

Limited.)

Dynamic water eliminator

This feature conducts water and salt removal. The vanes, which are constructed from corrosion-resistant marine grade aluminum (other materials are available), are produced with a prole that allows the maximum removal of salt and water, yet produces an extremely low pressure loss. This optimal prole has been achieved by the very latest design methods, and in particular by utilizing a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) ow modeling system. Hydra also incorporates a unique and novel method of separating water droplets from the air stream, and this has led to improvements in bulk water removal compared with conventional methods. Reference and Additional Reading
1. Tatge, R. B., Gordon, C. R., and Conkey, R. S., Gas Turbine Inlet Filtration in Marine Environments, ASME Report 80-GT-174.

Typical Specications for Range of Air Filters This range includes panels and bags as well as high-efciency, high-velocity systems and air/water separators. Filter holding frames are constructed in mild or stainless steel, designed to provide quick and easy removal from upstream, downstream, or sides of ducting, without the use of springs or clips of any kind. Filter housings, ducting, louvres, dampers, and silencers can also be designed and fabricated, providing a total system capability.

Air Pollution Control*

The main methods of combating and controlling air pollution include: Electrostatic precipitators (for particulates) Fabric lters (for dust and particulates) Flue gas desulfurization (for SOx removal) SCR DeNOx (for NOx removal) Absorbers (for environmental toxins) End-producthandling systems (for solid and liquid wastes) Combined unit systems (for some or all of the previous items)
* Source: Alstom. Adapted with permission.

A-84

Air Pollution Control

Electrostatic Precipitators In combustion processes, the largest quantities of heavy metals and dioxins are found in the y ash, or can be contained there by technical means. It is therefore essential to increase even further the very high precipitation efciencies that are already being achieved. There are two types of ESPs, wet and dry, for collecting particles. (See Fig. A-77.) New and retrot systems are used. Retrotting with new spiral electrodes, a rapping system, and pulsed energization pay immediate dividends in the form of improved abatement efciency and lower power consumption.
Semipulse and Multipulse for enhanced separation and energy efciency

The rather uncomplicated process of charging dust by means of a high-voltage DC system, which makes dust stick against collector plates, has undergone high-tech renement. Several of the improvements have been implemented to minimize energy consumption. Originally, it took about 1 MW of power to operate an ESP in a large coal-red power station. Pulsed energization is a means to cut energy consumption substantially while simultaneously improving separation efciency. Two systems for this purpose have been developed: the Semipulse Concept (SPC) with millisecond pulses, and the Multipulse Concept (MPC) with microsecond pulses. (See Fig. A-78.) Since their introduction in 1983, more than 3500 SPC and MPC units have been supplied. SPC can be easily installed in existing plants, while MPC involves a higher investment and is generally considered for retrots and new plants. The savings for high-resistivity dust can be substantial. Energy consumption after installation of SPC or MPC is typically between 10 and 20% of the original. At the same time, dust emissions are reduced to 2550%. Upgrading or retrotting with pulsed energization is often the solution when a utility wants to switch to low-sulfur coals, which often produce dust of higher

FIG. A-77

A typical electrostatic precipitator. (Source: Alstom.)

Air Pollution Control

A-85

In the Semipulse system, pulsing is achieved by controlling the conventional T/R set of the precipitator. In the Multipulse system, special T/R equipment produces intensive bursts of short pulses.

FIG. A-78 Pulse systems in precipitators. (Source: Alstom.)

resistivity. It also gives a utility a wider choice of coals that can easily be valued in money terms. Semipulse and Multipulse offer an inexpensive route not only by improving energy and separation efciency, but also by requiring a minimum of supervision and maintenance. Fabric Filters Fabric lters are used for cleaning large ows of ue gases from coal-red power plants and municipal waste incinerators. (See Fig. A-79.) The fabric lter has gained a wide market, due to its versatility for a large number of dust and process types and its ability to capture all particles, not only those that can be charged electrically (as in ESPs). (See Fig. A-80.) Another reason for the recent success of fabric lters is that they operate by passing the dust-laden gas through a dust cake that is constantly being built up with the support of the fabric. This enables the removal of a large portion of the nest particles, a feature that is becoming increasingly important as more stringent emission controls are required. (See Fig. A-81.) With the ne particles, several heavy metals can be trapped in the dust cake, together with sulfur dioxide, if lime is introduced in the ue gas. This manufacturer/information source supplies two different kinds of fabric lters: the high-ratio and low-ratio type, denominated by the air-to-cloth ratio. A major difference between the two lter types is the cleaning system. The high-ratio fabric lter is cleaned by the Optipulse cleaning system (see following text).

A-86

Air Pollution Control

FIG. A-79 Fabric lter installation in a metallurgical plant, Hgans, Sweden (left).

(Source: Alstom.)

In the low-ratio lter, gas enters the lter bags from the inside, then outward. The lter bags are cleaned off-line using either the reverse gas ow, reverse gas with high-energy sound horns, or a cleaning system of the deate or shake mechanism type. (See Fig. A-82.)
The Optipulse cleaning concept

(Optipulse is a trademark for a proprietary design of this information source.) Pulse-jet fabric lters operate with dust-laden gas approaching the lter elements from the outside, depositing the particles on the bers of a depth-ltering medium. The clean gas leaves the open end of the lter element, which is typically of tubular design with a diameter of 120150 mm (56 in). An internal wire cage supports the lter element against the pressure caused by the gas ow. (See Fig. A-83.) Periodically, the dust cake is cleaned off by expanding the lter element with a rapid pulse of air. The removed dust cake is transported by gravity toward the dust hopper. The effectiveness of the cleaning depends on the character of the pressure pulse. Optipulse produces a forceful pulse by an optimized geometry of the pneumatic system delivering the pulse (see Fig. A-84): The pulse air is injected in the lter element, without dissipation of energy in a large volume of ue gas, through injection nozzles optimally selected in relation to lter element size. The area of all nozzles on the header serving one row of lter elements is matched to the area of a large, pilot-operated, fast-opening supply valve. Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) Today, ue gas desulfurization is a well-established method to ght global environmental impairment such as acid rain. Most industrial countries have set standards for SO2 emissions and committed themselves to large reductions of national emissions in international agreements. There are several different types of FGD technologies for a wide range of applications.

FIG. A-80

Typical lter product range. (Source: Altair Filters International Limited.)

A-87

A-88

Air Pollution Control

FIG. A-81

Air lter elements. (Source: Alstom.)

FIG. A-82

Low-ratio fabric lter installation at Nevada Power, United States. (Source: Alstom.)

FIG. A-83 Installation of lter elements in an Optipulse fabric lter. (Source: Alstom.)

Air Pollution Control

A-89

FIG. A-84 Operating principles of the Optipulse pulse cleaning system. (Source: Alstom.)

FIG. A-85 Wet/dry ue gas FGD plant, including fabric lters, after two coal-red boilers at TWS

Dampfkraftwerk, Stuttgart, Germany. (Source: Alstom.)

Three common technologies for FGD

1. The wet/dry lime spray drying process offers low capital costs and an easily disposable/reusable end product for small and medium-sized plants. (See Figs. A-85 and A-86.)

A-90

Air Pollution Control

The reactor in the W/D FGD plant utilizes a spinning disk or a two-fluid nozzle for atomization of lime slurry. The reaction between absorbent and acid gas components takes place

mainly in the wet phase. The process is regulated in such a way that the reaction product becomes dry and can be collected in a conventional dust collector.

FIG. A-86 Basic principles of wet/dry FGD installation. (Source: Alstom.)

2. The open spray tower lime/limestone wet FGD process offers low operating costs and proven production of commercial grade gypsum. (See Figs. A-87 and A-88.) 3. The seawater process offers low operating costs and fully eliminates disposal problems of end products at plants with access to suitable and sufcient amounts of seawater. (See Figs. A-89 and A-90.) SCR DeNOx Technology
Catalysts solve pollution problems

The SCR (selective catalytic reduction) technique was transferred to Europe from Japan, where it was rst developed. The reduction of nitrogen oxides with ammonia, which occurs spontaneously at high temperature [about 950C (1750F)], can be achieved at a manageable temperature after the boiler with the aid of a catalyst. (See Fig. A-91.) For NOx reduction, the catalyst is usually an active phase of vanadium pentoxide and tungsten trioxide on a carrier of titanium. Other types of catalysts are available, however. The ideal catalytic reactor is made up of catalyst elements that are assembled in modules usually 1 1 2 meters in size. A reactor normally has three to four layers of catalyst modules. Three positions of the reactor are possible in the treatment chain (see Fig. A-92):

In a wet FGD plant, line or linestone slurry is sprayed through nozzles into the gas flow. The mixture of slurry and reaction products is gathered at the bottom of the absorber-tower and recycled through the spraynozzles. An important element in the wet FGD process is the mist

eliminator above the spray nozzlebanks. Secondary oxidation is normally achieved through introduction of oxygen at the bottom of the slurry tank. With oxidation, the reaction product, after dewatering, will be gypsum.

FIG. A-87 Wet FGD plant. (Source: Alstom.)

FIG. A-88

Wet FGD plant with one single absorber installed after a 700-MW coal-red boiler at Asnsvrket utility in Kalundborg, Denmark. The plant produces commercial quality gypsum. (Joint venture Alstom and Deutsche Babcock Anlagen.) (Source: Alstom.)
A-91

FIG. A-89

Seawater FGD plant at Tata Industries, India. (Source: Alstom.)

The wet FGD process can utilize the alkalinity of seawater to absorb SO2 in the flue gas. Absorption takes place in a once through packed bed absorber.

The effluent is aerated in a seawater treatment plant and mixed with cooling water from the condensers before disposal at sea.

FIG. A-90 Basic operation of seawater FGD. (Source: Alstom.)

A-92

FIG. A-91

The reduction of nitrogen oxides with ammonia is achieved at a manageable temperature by the use of a catalyst. (Source: Alstom.)

FIG. A-92

Flow diagrams for different DeNOx process systems. (Source: Alstom.)

A-93

A-94

Air Pollution Control

1. High dust system. The reactor is placed before the air preheater, and operates directly in the dust-laden and acidic gas that leaves the boiler. This system dominates the fossil fuel boiler market today. (See Fig. A-93.) 2. Low dust system. The reactor is placed after the hot electrostatic precipitator but before the air preheater, which is possible, for example, in the case of waste incineration or, in the case of a gas turbine, in the heat recovery boiler. 3. Tail end system. The reactor is placed after particulate control and after sulfur dioxide and/or hydrochloric acid removal in the ue gas cleaning train. This allows for the use of a much more compact catalyst reactor. The tail end solution is used when the particulates or gases are harmful to the catalyst. (See Fig. A-94.)
SCR reactor design

Although design and operation of an SCR reactor is fairly straightforward and simple, there are a few issues that require special attention. One such issue is gas distribution at the inlet of the reactor. In the case of high dust it is of the utmost importance that the gas is properly distributed to avoid catalyst erosion problems. The reactor is equipped with guide vanes and distributor plates to ensure even gas distribution under all operating conditions. (See Fig. A-95.) Another important issue is ammonia slip, which must be kept to a minimum for several reasons. If the gas still contains sulfuric gases, i.e., in the high dust case, ammonia slip will react with sulfur trioxide to form ammonia bisulfate when cooled in the air

FIG. A-93 SCR reactor of the high-dust type. (Source: Alstom.)

FIG. A-94

This coal-red 550-MWe/900-MWth combined heat and power plant is located centrally in the town of Vsters, Sweden. Alstom has gradually extended its ue gas treatment system, which today comprises ESP, FGD, and SCR units for full emission control. (Source: Alstom.)

FIG. A-95 Stadtwerke Mnchen Sd, Germany, has installed a CDAS (Conditioned Dry Absorption

System), as well as a tail-end-type SCR unit, at its 300,000-tons-a-year waste-to-energy plant. (Source: Alstom.)
A-95

A-96

Air Pollution Control

preheater. This formation will take place on the dust particles and make the y ash unsuitable for direct use in concrete manufacturing. The ammonia will also end up in the efuent from a downstream FGD plant, requiring efuent treatment. The SCR plant is therefore equipped with a control system of the feed forwardtrim back type. In this system, ammonia is injected before the catalyst in relation to both the measured NO content after the reactor and the amount of NO present in the gas fed into the reactor. Catalyst activity will inevitably decrease with time. The mechanisms that control the rate of deactivation are mainly: (i) sintering of the microsurface due to elevated temperatures, (ii) poisoning of the active metal atoms or molecules through a permanent bond or reaction with, for example, alkali metals, and (iii) blocking of pores by, for example, ammonia bisulte or dust. The reactor is equipped with a spare layer that can be charged when the efciency of the catalyst has dropped below a certain level. When the activity drops further, the catalyst has to be replaced. The obvious advantages with the tail end system, with favorable conditions regarding all three deactivation parameters, are offset only by the cost of bringing the gas temperature back to the elevated operation temperature of the catalyst. This manufacturer is also conducting research to nd catalysts with lower operation temperatures for various applications.

Absorbers for Environmental Toxins

The dioxin and heavy metal problem

This refers to the entrapment of dioxins in dry scrubbers. The experiments in this eld were rst conducted in gas cleaning systems for waste-to-energy plants, where dioxin emissions are a major problem. The emission control system described combines the dual effect of chemically enhanced adsorption/absorption and ltration. The fabric lter is also very effective for controlling heavy metals, due to its capacity for ltering submicron particles. The combination of dioxin and heavy metal abatement has been especially important for the environmental acceptance of waste-to-energy plants. This manufacturer has developed the TCR (Total Cleaning and Recycling) concept for complete control of ue gases from waste-toenergy installations. More than 50 Filsorption plants have been installed in Europe and the United States. These plants repeatedly measure dioxin emissions below 0.1 ng/Nm3. (See Fig. A-96.) The latest development is the Filsorption II system, which introduces a mixture of lime and coke in a safe blend to enhance abatement of organic emissions, primarily dioxins, heavy metals, and acidic gases.
Filtration and chemisorption (Filsorption II)

Filsorption is short for ltration and chemisorption, indicating the dual duty of the system. The Filsorption II system is primarily aimed at the control of organic emissions such as dioxins. The system also offers control of mercury, acidic gases, and particulate emissions. Filsorption is an absolute lter for securing very low emission levels. The system includes a storage and injection system for the chemically active

Air Pollution Control

A-97

FIG. A-96 Hazardous waste incineration plant with Alstom Filsorption system, Cleanaway Ltd.,

Ellesmere Port, UK. (Source: Alstom.)

sorbent. The sorbent is normally a mixture of coke and lime, mixed to a safe blend. This is a signicant advantage of this system, which reduces risks for operating personnel. The fabric lter collects the particulate matter that escapes the upstream particulate control units along with the injected sorbents and reaction products. The fabric lter also acts as a chemical reactor for lime with SO2, SO3, HCl, and HF. The ash collected in the lter is discharged for nal handling or recirculation back to the combustion unit to destroy its organic contents. The contaminated reaction product requires a dust-free handling system. This information source provides an underpressure conveying system to prevent potentially hazardous ash from contaminating the working area. The Filsorption system can be used for treatment of gases containing dioxins and heavy metals from other types of industrial processes besides waste-to-energy installations. (See Figs. A-97 to A-103.) End-Products Handling Systems The often substantial amounts of solid or liquid wastes resulting from emission control systems require careful and efcient handling systems within the plant itself, as well as environmentally sound methods of treatment, recycling or disposal. Ash-handling technology needs various types of solids handling, including bottom ash submerged drag chain conveyors, wet impounded hoppers, economizer and pyrites systems, and pneumatic y ash handling.

A-98

Air Pollution Control

FIG. A-97

Schematic for ltration and chemisorption unit (Filsorption II). (Source: Alstom.)

FIG. A-98 Stabilized gypsum from a wet FGD plant. The end product is suitable for landll use.

(Source: Alstom.)

The DEPAC system illustrated is a pneumatic conveying system based on dense phase technology. Cost-efcient methods are developed to utilize the solid waste products. A number of commercial operations have already been established such as commercial grade gypsum for wallboard manufacturing and high-strength ll materials.

Air Pollution Control

A-99

FIG. A-99

Group of silos for short-term storage of reagents and reaction products from an FGD plant. (Source: Alstom.)

FIG. A-100

The heart of the Flkt DEPAC system is the dust transmitter, in which the product is uidized by means of compressed air. (Source: Alstom.)

Combining Unit Operations Total turnkey solutions for emission problems combine the operations of various units. The example illustrated is the TCR system. This system is designed to clean ue gas from waste incineration and produce certain recyclable end products. In a similar manner, units are combined to form complete ue gas treatment trains in modern power plants.

A-100

Air Pollution Control

FIG. A-101 Schematic for end-products handling for boiler xed plant. (Source: Alstom.)

Such treatment trains could combine DeNOx and wet FGD units in, for example, a large coal-red power plant with an ESP for full emission control of the ue gases. Because emissions of heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium are common problems associated with coal ring, Filsorption units may be utilized to curb such emissions. Also industrial application often contains several unit operations for full emission control. A steel process plant, for example, has many emission sources that all require a separate solution.
TCR

The TCR system contains basically three unit operations: (i) Filpac, (ii) Wetpac, and (iii) Catpac. The Filpac stage (shown here is the Filsorption II process) is used for separation of submicron particles, heavy metals, and toxic hydrocarbons by a combination of ltering, sorption, and chemical reaction. The Wetpac process is an absorption stage collecting the acid gas components and producing recyclable products, such as hydrochloric acid, chloride, and sulfate compounds.

Air Purication; Air Sterilization

A-101

FIG. A-102

Combined NOx and FGD units. (Source: Alstom.)

Catpac is used to reduce nitrogen oxides but may also incinerate hydrocarbons or dioxins. With the TCR approach we combine well-proven unit operations into modularly built and fully optimized APC solutions for true eco-engineering. Reference and Additional Reading
1. Soares, C. M., Environmental Technology and Economics: Sustainable Development in Industry, Butterworth-Heinemann, 1999.

Air Purication; Air Sterilization

Certain specialized processes require air that is a great deal cleaner than outlined in the previous section on air pollution control. Examples include food processing and pharmaceuticals production. The detailed methodology needs to be worked out with equipment vendors, but basically it involves:

A-102

Air Purication; Air Sterilization

FIG. A-103 Unit for separating submicron particles, heavy metals, and toxic hydrocarbons. (Source: Alstom.)

1. Filtration (the end process may require removal down to 0.1 mm; 1 to 5 mm is common). 2. Electrostatic precipitation (can remove up to 90% plus of the particles in the air). 3. Air washing (can remove between 50 and 80% plus of the microorganisms in the air). 4. Ultraviolet irradiation. Different microorganisms have different sensitivities. 5. Heat and compression. Heat helps the sterilization process. Compression produces work, which, in turn, produces heat that also can contribute to sterilization.