Burning coal more cleanly and efficiently

Journal Article · Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1986 · IEEE Spectrum; (United States)

OSTI ID:5125293

Clean coal-burning technologies, long an object of research, have become a political hot potato overnight, caught up in the debate over how best to control acid rain. Suddenly a host of U.S. government officials have come forward, all determined to ''do something about acid rain.'' But what should be done. Some want to mandate pollution controls, like scrubbers, on existing coal-burning power plants; other want to push for new, cleaner ways to burn coal. Regardless of what Governemnt officials decide, engineers who have looked into the problem have reached a firm conclusion: the new technologies promise better pollution control at lower cost than attempts to patch the old systems; they also solve another utility problem-how to add small increments of generating capacity in only a few years. Unlike scrubbers, which capture pollutants from coal boilers as they flow up the stack, the new methods-fluidized-bed combustion and coal gasification-consume hydrocarbons and remove gaseous pollutants (such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide) during the combustion process itself. Integrating emission control into the combustion or gasification process is less costly, less energy-intensive, and more efficient than removing pollutants from the flue gas. The new alternatives will make better use of utility and ratepayer money, proponents of the new technologies maintain.

• OSTI ID: 5125293
• Journal Information: IEEE Spectrum; (United States), Vol. 23:8
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACID RAIN
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
COAL
FLUIDIZED-BED COMBUSTION
COAL GASIFICATION
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
AIR POLLUTION ABATEMENT
HYDROCARBONS
NITROGEN OXIDES
SULFUR DIOXIDE
USA
AIR QUALITY
COMBUSTION KINETICS
COST
DESULFURIZATION
ECONOMICS
EFFICIENCY
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
EPRI
FLUE GAS
NAPAP
POWER GENERATION
PUBLIC OFFICIALS
SCRUBBERS
ATMOSPHERIC PRECIPITATIONS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COMBUSTION
ENERGY SOURCES
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
EQUIPMENT
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GASEOUS WASTES
GASIFICATION
KINETICS
MATERIALS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDATION
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION ABATEMENT
POLLUTION CONTROL EQUIPMENT
POWER PLANTS
PUBLIC UTILITIES
RAIN
REACTION KINETICS
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR OXIDES
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
WASTES
014000* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Combustion
010404 - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Gasification
200108 - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Fuels- (1980-)
500200 - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)
200106 - Fossil-Fueled Power Plants- Economics