Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and FGD Technology

摘要

Most of the electricity in the U.S., which accounts for more than one- third of the Nation's energy needs, is produced by burning high sulfur bituminous coal. The increased use of high sulfur coal has resulted in an acid rain problem. The 101st Congress in 1990, to alleviate the acid rain problem, adapted the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA '90). To comply with the more stringent SO2 emissions requirements of CAAA '90, coal burning electric utilities switched either to alternate fuels or installed Flue Gas desulfurization (FGD) units. As a result of the FGD installations, electricity generation has led to accumulation of inordinate volumes of FGD byproduct, in addition to the common coal combustion residues, fly ash and bottom ash. This has led to research and development activities directed to utilization of these byproducts as a potential source of raw materials. This paper discusses some of the more popular FGD methods, FGD sludge disposal and utilization areas, such as highway construction, agriculture, mine backfill, and FGD spatial analysis is performed using Geographic Identification System (GIS) developed by the Industrial Minerals Section of the Minerals Information Team (MIT).