Emission Reductions for New Coal Technology

摘要

The electric power industry is under constant scrutiny for its detrimental impacts on the environment. Responsible for more air emissions than any other group, the electric power industry must always seek to improve efficiency through alternative sources of energy and improved methods of combustion. One organization in particular has developed an approach using traditional coal to simultaneously produce electricity and a useful byproduct. Global New Energy (GNE) has patented a new technology in which coal combustion results in the production of not only electricity but also high strength cement clinker. Through the addition of Ash Modification Components (AMC) to pulverized coal fuel, the resulting ash becomes high strength cement clinker, thereby causing the power plant to also function as a cement kiln. AMC improves combustion and eliminates ash disposal. In addition, emissions of sulfur compounds (SOx), nitrogen compounds (NOx), particulate, and mercury are significantly reduced as these compounds are entrained in the clinker. This technology has been successfully employed in China since 1998, with pilot installations undertaken in New York, Connecticut, Wisconsin, and Ontario. The AMC process is estimated to be applicable to 85 percent of all coal-fired combustors in North America. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) techniques were used with respect to the AMC technology to quantify the environmental benefits of the technology. Specifically, Life Cycle Inventory (LCI), the component of LCA listing the product's inputs and outputs, was used to compare the emissions, byproducts, and raw material consumption of the AMC technology with that of traditional coal-fired power plants and cement plants. Several of the environmental benefits demonstrated by the comparison include the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) and other emissions, reduction in waste disposal to landfills, reduction in wastewater, conservation of raw material resources, and conservation of fuel resources.