Clean Electricity Through Advanced Coal Technologies: Handbook of Pollution Prevention and Cleaner Production

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Copyright

Preface

About the Author

1. Air Pollution

1.1 Overview

1.2 The National Emissions Inventory

1.3 Criteria Air Pollutants

1.4 Comparing Emissions

1.5 Mercury Releases

2. Solid Wastes

2.1 Overview

2.2 Coal Combustion Byproducts

2.3 Regulations

2.4 Origins and General Properties of Fly Ash

2.5 Flue-Gas Desulfurization Material

2.6 Toxic Heavy Metals Found in Fly Ashes

2.7 Beneficial Ash Characteristics and Markets

2.8 Radioactive Constituents

3. Old and New Generation Technologies

3.1 Overview

3.2 Stoker-Fired Coal Combustion

3.3 Pulverized-Coal Combustion

3.4 Cyclone Coal Combustion

3.5 Fluidized-Bed Combustion

3.6 Gasification

3.7 Comparing Energy Costs

4. Carbon Capture and Sequestration

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Factors Influencing GHG Emissions

4.3 Emissions Trading Scheme

4.4 Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Technologies

4.5 Commercial Status

4.6 Improving Efficiencies

5. The TVA Ash Spill

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Facility Background

5.3 Coal Sources and Quantities

5.4 Solid Waste Storage

5.5 Ash Analysis

5.6 The Spill

5.7 Facility Environmental Footprint

5.8 Airborne Releases from the Spill Incident

5.9 Exceedances and Excursions

5.10 Toxins Released

5.11 An Estimate of the Releases to Air

5.12 Industry-Wide Problem

Recommended Sources

Glossary

Index

Copyright

William Andrew is an imprint of Elsevier

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First published 2012

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Notices

Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2012936055

ISBN: 978-1-43-777815-1

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Preface

The quality of life throughout most of the world is tied to electricity. In this regard, coal plays a vital role in electricity generation worldwide. Coal-fired power plants currently fuel 41% of global electricity. In some countries, coal fuels a higher percentage of electricity. Compared to other electricity-generating technologies, it is and is likely to remain the most economical fuel source through the next generation.

Coal also carries with it the largest environmental footprint of all known power-producing technologies. Coal-fired power plants are the largest industry source of greenhouse gases. And the solid waste issues that are the result of depending on this technology are almost mind boggling. In the United States alone, roughly 1.05 billion tons of coal are burned each year to generate electricity. More than 500 coal-burning plants across the United States emit 1.9 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year and create 120 million tons of toxic waste. Coal combustion waste (CCW) constitutes the second largest waste stream after municipal solid waste in the U.S.

Sulfur dioxide scrubbers, which are used for air pollution controls, also create toxic waste. The flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) process creates a wet solid residue containing calcium sulfite (CaSO3) and calcium sulfate (CaSO4). Dry material such as fly ash is added to stabilize the sludge for transport and landfill storage.

Coal waste is disposed of in landfills generally referred to as ponds or surface impoundments. The ponds are lined with compacted clay soil, a plastic sheet, or both. When rain filters through the toxic ash pits, the toxic metals are leached out and pushed downward by gravity toward the lining and the soil below. Because all liners eventually degrade, crack, or tear, landfills eventually leak and release their toxins into the groundwater. The Environmental Protection Agency has reported that a 10-acre landfill would leak 0.2 to 10 gallons per day, or between 730 and 36,500 gallons over a 10-year period. There are an estimated 156 ash waste ponds across the United States containing more than 19 million tons of toxic ash waste. In 2008 one of these waste ponds owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority failed, releasing 5.4 million cubic yards (4 million m³) into a community.

Coal has been dubbed by much of the general public as dirty coal. It is the cause of major air pollution, global warming, and has resulted in the release of toxic heavy metals and radionuclides, which place communities at long-term health risks. The coal industry was exempt from reporting its air emissions to the public until about the turn of the twenty-first century.

This volume serves as primer on coal-burning technologies for electricity generation. Newer generation technologies that are emerging and being commercialized have significantly smaller environmental footprints than conventional technologies used with the existing coal-fired infrastructure that currently exists throughout much of the world. This volume is a part of the Cleaner Production series and meant to provide basic information and awareness of environmental issues and responsible pollution management.

The author extends a heartfelt gratitude to the publisher for its fine production of this volume and series.

Nicholas P. Cheremisinoff, Ph.D.

About the Author

Nicholas P. Cheremisinoff has 30 years of international consulting and project management experience across a broad spectrum of industry sectors dealing with environmental management practices and technologies. His assignments have focused on corporate responsible care through the application of pollution prevention and cleaner production. He has served as both a practitioner and an educator to industry stakeholders on responsible care practices that strive to improve environmental performance through the application of cost-effective clean technologies. He has designed and implemented projects for the United States Agency for International Development, the World Bank Organization, the European Union, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Defense, and a number of Fortune 100 and multinational companies. He has applied his experience and knowledge in major environmental toxic tort litigations as an expert witness in the fields of environmental forensics, in historical reconstruction of environmental management practices, and in formulating opinions regarding levels of responsible care exercised by industry stakeholders. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of more than 160 book publications and numerous state-of-the-art review articles and R&D papers. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering from Clarkson College of Technology.

1

Air Pollution

Chapter Outline

1.1 Overview

1.2 The National Emissions Inventory

1.3 Criteria Air Pollutants

1.3.1 Carbon Monoxide

1.3.2 Lead

1.3.3 Nitrogen Dioxide

1.3.4 Particulate Matter

1.3.5 Ozone

1.3.6 Sulfur Dioxide

1.3.7 NAAQS

1.4 Comparing Emissions

1.4.1 National Emissions Inventory

1.4.2 Toxics Release Inventory

1.5 Mercury Releases

1.1 Overview

Nearly 50% of the electricity generated in the world uses coal as the primary fuel. The function of the coal-fired thermal power plant is to convert the energy available in the coal to electricity. Coal power plants work by using several steps to convert stored energy in coal to usable electricity. The conversion from coal to electricity takes place in three stages.

Stage 1 involves the conversion of energy in a boiler. Coal is burned in the boiler furnace to produce heat. Carbon in the coal and oxygen in the air combine to produce carbon dioxide and heat.

Stage 2 is a thermodynamic process. The heat from combustion of the coal boils water in the boiler to produce steam. In a modern power plant, boilers produce steam at high pressures and temperatures. The steam is then piped to a turbine. The high-pressure steam impinges and expands across a number of sets of blades in the turbine. The impulse and the thrust created rotate the turbine. The steam is then condensed and pumped back into the boiler to repeat the cycle.

In Stage 3 rotation of the turbine rotates the generator rotor to produce electricity based on Faraday’s Principle of electromagnetic induction.

In practice, to effect these three stages of conversion, many systems and subsystems have to be in service. Also involved are different technologies, such as combustion, aerodynamics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, pollution control, and logistics. As an example, consider the following: for a coal-fired power plant of capacity 500 MW, about 2 million tons of coal are needed each year to produce the continuous power. Also, coal combustion in the boiler requires roughly 1.6 million cubic meters (m³) of air in an hour to be delivered by fans into the furnace. For this same size plant, the ash generated from the combustion of coal is around 200,000 tons per year. Electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) capture most of this ash without dispersing it to the atmosphere. Pollutants from coal power plants include carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and particulate matter (PM). Thermal power plants are the largest producers of carbon dioxide.

The boiler for typical 500 megawatt (MW) units produces around 1,600 tons per hour of steam at a temperature of 540–600°C. The steam pressure is in the range of 200 bar. The boiler materials are designed to withstand these conditions with special consideration for operational safety. Heat transfer from the hot combustion gases to the water in the boiler takes place due to radiation and convection. The electrical generators carry large electric currents that produce heat and are cooled by hydrogen and water. The steam leaving the turbine is condensed, and the water is pumped back for reuse in the boiler. To condense all the steam requires around 50,000 cubic meters per hour of cooling water to be circulated from lakes, rivers, or the sea. The water is returned to the source with only an increase of 3–4°C to minimize negative impacts to the environment. In addition to the cooling water, the power plant also requires around 400 cubic meters per day of fresh water for making up the losses in the water–steam cycle.

Electricity has often been characterized as the foundation of advanced countries and societies. It unquestionably is the basis by which societies maintain human life and sustain and grow economies. But the dependence on coal-fired technologies is a dirty business that has global implications on long-term sustainability. In the United States alone, there are more than 440 power plants larger than 25 MWs located in 46 states and Puerto Rico that burn coal to generate electricity. The National Emissions Inventory shows that 84 of the 187 hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pose a threat to human health and the environment. These plants release about 386,000 tons of hazardous air pollutants annually, accounting for roughly 40% of all hazardous air pollutant emissions from point sources. In fact, coal-burning power plants release more hazardous air pollutants than any other point source category. These plants are the largest point source category of hydrochloric acid, mercury, and arsenic releases to air.¹ Additionally, coal-fired plants are major sources of emissions for criteria air pollutants (CAPs) such as sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, and particulate matter.

1.2 The National Emissions Inventory

The U.S. EPA’s National Emission Inventory (NEI) can be found at http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/net/1999inventory.html. The EPA’s Emission Factor and Inventory Group (EPA/OAR/OAQPS/EMAD/EFIG) prepares a national database of air emissions information with input from numerous state and local air agencies, from tribes, and from industry. This database contains information on stationary and mobile sources that emit criteria air pollutants and their precursors, as well as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). The database includes estimates of annual emissions, by source, of air pollutants in each area of the country, on an annual basis. The NEI includes emission estimates for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Emission estimates for individual points or major sources (facilities), as well as county-level estimates for area, mobile, and other sources, are available currently for years 1985 through 1999 for criteria pollutants, and for years 1996 and 1999 for HAPs. Data from the NEI are used for air dispersion modeling purposes, regional strategy development, regulation setting, air toxics risk assessment, and tracking trends in emissions over time. For emission inventories prior to 1999, criteria pollutant emission estimates were maintained in the National Emission Trends (NET) database, and HAP emission estimates were maintained in the National Toxics Inventory (NTI) database. Since 1999, criteria and HAP emissions data are being prepared in a more integrated fashion in the NEI, which takes the place of the NET and the NTI.

1.3 Criteria Air Pollutants

Six criteria air pollutants (CAPs) are tracked on the NEI. They are carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, ozone, and sulfur dioxide.

1.3.1 Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless gas emitted from combustion processes. Nationally, and particularly in urban areas, the majority of CO emissions to ambient air come from mobile sources.

CO can cause harmful health effects by reducing oxygen delivery to the body’s organs (such as the heart and brain) and tissues. At extremely high levels, CO can cause death. Exposure to CO can reduce the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. People with several types of heart disease already have a reduced capacity for pumping oxygenated blood to the heart, which can cause them to experience myocardial ischemia (reduced oxygen to the heart), often accompanied by chest pain (angina), when exercising or under increased stress. For these people, short-term CO exposure further affects their body’s already-compromised ability to respond to the increased oxygen demands of exercise or exertion.

The EPA first