MEGA Pre-Symposium Workshop
“Air Pollution Control Fundamentals”
Sponsored by the Air & Waste Management Association
Monday, August 18, 2014
AGENDA
2 hrs: NOx control – Steve Johnson
1hr 45 min: SO2 control – Paul Farber
1 hr 45 min: Mercury control and potential balance of plant impacts – Sharon Sjostrom
30 min: Impacts of sorbent injection on ESP and fabric filter performance – Paul Farber and John
McKenna
2 hrs: Effluent Management - Richard Breckenridge
AGENDA TOPIC ABSTRACTS
Evolution of NOx Emission Control Technology in the Power Industry
Stephen Johnson, Quinapoxet Solutions
Once upon a time, utility coal-fired boilers were designed to make steam as efficiently as
humanly possible. To achieve that goal, boiler combustion systems featured high temperatures
produced by turbulent burners mounted in a compact firebox. All that changed after 1970 when EPA
released the first Clean Air Act. Since then, emission-control systems designers have developed and
introduced a wide range of combustion modifications and post-combustion technologies, to the point
where our industry emits about 95 percent less NOx (lb/MBtu basis) than it did 44 years ago. This
Session will provide a look at that 44-year history while explaining theory and practice, capabilities and
limitations of today’s NOx emission control options.
SO2 Control
Paul Farber, P. Farber & Associates, LLC, & John McKenna, ETS, Inc.
Reduction of SO2 emissions is important for regulatory compliance and fortunately, a range of
technologies is available to the utility industry to achieve emissions targets. This module of the
workshop will review:
 Wet FGD Systems
 Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP)
o Operation with Fly Ash
 Reagent Preparation
o Operation with DFGD
o Limestone
o Operation with DSI
o Lime
o Trona
 Fabric Filters
o SBC
o Operation with DFGD
o Operation with DSI and Fly Ash
 Waste/Byproduct Dewatering
 Dry Sorbent Injection
 Dry FGD Systems
o Lime
o Trona
o Sodium Bicarbonate (SBC)
Mercury Control and Potential Impacts on Other APC Equipment
Sharon Sjostrom & Connie Senior, ADA-ES
Mercury emissions from coal-fired industrial and utility boilers are soon to be regulated with the
promulgation of the federal Mercury and Air Toxics Rule (MATS), Industrial Boiler Rule, and Portland
Cement Rule. In two decades since the first demonstrations of mercury control technology the
knowledge of chemistry within the boiler and air pollution control equipment has been used to create
cost-effective mercury control technologies. Many implementation challenges lie ahead for boiler
operators. This module of the workshop will review:
 Fundamentals of mercury chemistry in coal combustion systems
 Mercury Control Technologies
o Sorbent Injection
o Coal Additives
o Scrubber Additives
 Factors that influence performance
 Integration of mercury control into overall compliance efforts
 Balance-of-plant impacts
 New Developments
Effluent Management
Richard Breckenridge, EPRI Generation
New proposed Effluent Guidelines rule will impact treatment options for regulatory compliance
of key metals and nutrients. This module of the workshop will review:
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Chemical Precipitation
Biological Treatment
Zero Valent Iron
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Membrane Systems
Ponds, Constructed Wetlands and Deep
Well Injection
Thermal Evaporation/Crystallizers
Solids Fixation