Electro Catalytic Oxidation (ECO) Operation
The power industry in the United States is faced with meeting many new regulations to reduce a number of air pollutants including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, fine particulate matter, and mercury. With over 1,000 power plants in the US, this is a daunting task. In some cases, traditional pollution control technologies such as wet scrubbers and SCRs are not feasible. Powerspan's Electro-Catalytic Oxidation, or ECO{reg_sign} process combines four pollution control devices into a single integrated system that can be installed after a power plant's particulate control device. Besides achieving major reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}), nitrogen oxides (NOx), fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and mercury (Hg), ECO produces a highly marketable fertilizer, which can help offset the operating costs of the process system. Powerspan has been operating a 50-MW ECO commercial demonstration unit (CDU) at FirstEnergy Corp.'s R.E. Burger Plant near Shadyside, Ohio, since February 2004. In addition to the CDU, a test loop has been constructed beside the CDU to demonstrate higher NOx removal rates and test various scrubber packing types and wet ESP configurations. Furthermore, Powerspan has developed the ECO{reg_sign}{sub 2} technology, a regenerative process that uses a proprietary solvent to capture CO{sub 2} from flue gas. The CO{sub 2} capture takes place after the capture of NOx, SO{sub 2}, mercury, and fine particulate matter. Once the CO{sub 2} is captured, the proprietary solution is regenerated to release CO{sub 2} in a form that is ready for geological storage or beneficial use. Pilot scale testing of ECO{sub 2} began in early 2009 at FirstEnergy's Burger Plant. The ECO{sub 2} pilot unit is designed to process a 1-MW flue gas stream and produce 20 tons of CO{sub 2} per day, achieving a 90% CO{sub 2} capture rate. The ECO{sub 2} pilot program provided the opportunity to confirm process design and cost estimates, and prepare for large scale capture and sequestration projects. The objectives of this project were to prove at a commercial scale that ECO is capable of extended operations over a range of conditions, that it meets the reliability requirements of a typical utility, and that the fertilizer co-product can be consistently generated, providing ECO with an economic advantage over conventional technologies currently available. Further objectives of the project were to show that the ECO system provides flue gas that meets the inlet standards necessary for ECO{sub 2} to operate, and that the outlet CO{sub 2} and other constituents produced by the ECO{sub 2} pilot can meet Kinder-Morgan pipeline standards for purposes of sequestration. All project objectives are consistent with DOE's Pollution Control Innovations for Power Plants program goals.
- Research Organization:
- Firstenergy Service Corporation
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- FC26-06NT42806
- OSTI ID:
- 1029625
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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