Utility industries pollutants

Selection and insteillation of an integrated air pollution control system do not end the concern of the utility industry. Maintenance and operational problems of the system are considered by many engineers to be the weak link in the chain of power generation equipment (6). The reliability of the... 

The chemical flue gas treatment business has required the development of marketing skills not normally associated with specialty chemical suppliers. Historically, the major customer, the utility industry, had relied upon mechanical and electrical devices for pollution control. Thus, cyclones, electrostatic precipitators, and,more recently baghouses were the devices considered. The utility industry normally employs a technical staff of skilled mechanical and electrical engineers who operate the boilers and turbines. Thus, these personnel were available to apply their skills to pollution control equipment as well. 

A similar opportunity exists for the public utility industry in the potential of LBG and MBG. The reduced environmental impact of a coal gasification plant which produces a perfectly clean fuel equivalent to natural gas, compared to direct combustion of coal may allow increased use of coal in areas where increased pollutant emission is barred. As these PSD areas increase in number, the advantages of coal gasification become more apparent. The potential of more efficient combined cycle generation systems which can be used with coal-derived gases is an added factor for implementing coal gasification. 

A serious govemment/industry program to abate air pollution from stationary sources has been underway for about five years. Until recently this program has concentrated on the development of effluent treatment technology directed to the electric utility industry. This prioriy was based primarily on mass emission, i.e., that 70% of total U.S. SOj. emissions as indicated in Table IV come from electric utilities. 

For zinc surfaces, the rate of accumulation of substances is expected to affect the rate of corrosion of the metal. For aluminum in most environments, the passive surface oxide will protect the metal from further significant corrosion. Any interactions that occur on the surface will be among the accumulated substances and perhaps with the outermost layer of metal oxide. Interestingly, a few materials perform better in industrial atmospheres than in clean environments. Suzuki, et aL (17), have discussed the fact that weathering steel utilizes atmospheric pollutants, particularly sulfur dioxide gas, to form protective layers. 

The Wellman-Lord process can be a significant factor in helping domestic power plants to meet the air pollution abatement requirements of the Clean Air Act of 1970. To show its applicability to the utilities industry, Davy Powergas Inc. is building a demonstration installation at the Dean H. Mitchell Station of Northern Indiana Public Service Co. in Gary, Ind. When completed, it will consist of a Wellman—Lord sulfur dioxide recovery unit connected to an Allied Chemical Co. sulfur dioxide-to-sulfur reduction process to produce elemental sulfur. Davy Powergas guarantees emissions of 200 ppm by volume or less of sulfur dioxide at this facility. 

Ottosen et al. [16] compiled literature with results obtained on laboratory and pilot scale with electrokinetic removal of heavy metals from industrially polluted soil. The general trend was that for Cd, Cu, and Zn good removal was obtained in most investigated soil types by applying the electric potential to the soil, utilizing the acidic front developing from the anode for heavy metal mobilization, as described in Fig. 1. In many cases, 80-98 % of the heavy metals are removed (both on lab scale and field scale). For... 

The proposals were Intended to allow companies to buy and sell the right to pollute and to let the market decide the cheapest way to contain emissions. Plants within the same state were to be allowed to trade pollution rights. Thus if they exceeded the required reductions, they could sell rights to emit extra pollution to other companies or transfer rights to other plants within the same company. The first phase of required cuts in pollution would have affected 107 power plants in 18 states which emit more than 2.5 pounds of sulphur for every million Btus they produce. The proposals failed to meet the demands of environmentalists who had called for a reduction of 12 million tons of suiphur dioxide, while the utility industry and its supporters contended that mandated controis are unnecessary because sulphur pollution has been declining in recent years and that clean coal technologies would assure future gains (New York Times. 10 June 1989). 

Environmental Protection Agency, National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, From Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units and Standards of Performance for Fossil-Fuel-Fired Electric Utility, Industrial-Commercial-Institutional, and Small Industrial-Commercial-Institutional Steam Generatirtg Units, 76 Fed. Reg. 23,399 (2011) EPA Finalizes Rule to Reduce Mercury, Air Toxics Emissions From Power Plants, 42 BNA Env. Rept. 2877 (2011) Amy Harder, Mercurial, National Journal, September 17, 2011, at 54 (Obama Speech). 

Several developments are being pursued to utilize coal directly, ie, automation of controls, coal and ash handling equipment for smaller stoker and pulverized coal-fired units, design of packaged boiler units, and pollution control equipment. In the cement industry coal firing has been used, because the sulfur oxides react with some of the lime to make calcium sulfate in an acceptable amount. 

Even though society has moved toward centralized industries and utilities, we still have many personal sources of air pollution for which we alone can answer—(1) automobiles, (2) home furnaces, (3) home fireplaces and stoves, (4) backyard barbecue grills, and (5) open burning of refuse and leaves. Figure 6-4 illustrates the personal emissions of a typical U.S. family. 

The energy release and air pollution emissions from personal sources in the United States are greater than those from industry and utilities combined. In any major city in the United States, the mass of pollutants emitted... 

Under low-dose conditions, forest ecosystems act as sinks for atmospheric pollutants and in some instances as sources. As indicated in Chapter 7, the atmosphere, lithosphere, and oceans are involved in cycling carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and other elements through each subsystem with different time scales. Under low-dose conditions, forest and other biomass systems have been utilizing chemical compounds present in the atmosphere and releasing others to the atmosphere for thousands of years. Industrialization has increased the concentrations of NO2, SO2, and CO2 in the "clean background" atmosphere, and certain types of interactions with forest systems can be defined. 

The most widespread and persistent urban pollution problem is ozone. The causes of this and the lesser problem of CO and PMjq pollution in our urban areas are largely due to the diversity and number of urban air pollution sources. One component of urban smog, hydrocarbons, comes from automobile emissions, petroleum refineries, chemical plants, dry cleaners, gasoline stations, house painting, and printing shops. Another key component, nitrogen oxides, comes from the combustion of fuel for transportation, utilities, and industries. 

The pollutant ouqiuts from the refining facilities, however, are modest in comparison to the pollutant outputs realized from the consumption of petroleum products by the transportation sector, electric utilities, chemical manufacturers, and other industrial and commercial users. 

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