Environmental

Texas could again see tight power supplies in the summer of 2013 and beyond—with reserve margins dropping to 2.8% by 2022—even though the outlook has improved, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) warned in its latest long-term outlook released on Monday.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on Monday made public a proposal that calls for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use its authority under the Clean Air Act (CAA) to set greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for existing power plants. The NRDC approach would have the EPA create “systemwide standards” rather than ones based on individual generating units.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency efforts to regulate mercury emissions from coal- and oil-fired power plants have spanned nearly two decades. In February of this year the agency promulgated the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, but changes to the standards continue.

Coal used for power generation has been the cornerstone of economic development, social progress, and a higher quality of life around the globe and is now fueling the 21st-century economic miracle rapidly unfolding in China. Meanwhile, China is leading the world in coal-fired plant efficiency and the deployment of clean coal technologies.

Duke Energy said  in mid-October that testing was under way in preparation for commercial operation next year of its 630-MW integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) Edwardsport power plant in Knox County, Ind.

A bipartisan delegation of lawmakers from Pennsylvania on Oct. 15 urged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consider creating a separate subcategory for power plants that convert coal refuse into energy in its final Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). Though waste coal plants made an important environmental contribution by reducing coal refuse piles, the hydrochloric acid (HCl) standard in the MATS rule could push them out of business, they said.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Oct. 5 appealed a federal court decision handed down on Aug. 21 that vacated the agency’s July 2011–finalized Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) because, the court said, it violated federal law. The EPA is now seeking a rehearing en banc that would involve all eight judges that serve at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

This synopsis of today’s most interesting research related to power generation gives you a glimpse of what’s possibly coming to your plant in the not-so-distance future. Research under way today will surely determine how power plants are designed, operated, and maintained for many years to come.

The world’s first supercritical pulverized coal–fired low mass flux vertical tube Benson boiler is Jinzhushan 3, located in Hunan Province of the People’s Republic of China. The 600-MW Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group Inc. once-through boiler burns Chinese anthracite using downshot pulverized coal (PC) technology. Part 2 of this three-part article discusses the boiler technology. The third and final part will review the plant’s performance test results.

In a project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Fossil Energy (OFE), researchers at The Ohio State University have developed what they call a groundbreaking new hybrid membrane that combines the separation performance of inorganic membranes with the cost-effectiveness of polymer membranes. The breakthrough technology has vast commercial potential for use at coal-fired power plants with carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), a key element in national efforts to mitigate climate change.