Flue-gas desulfurization
Flue-gas desulfurization
Main page
2061646

Flue-gas desulfurization

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Flue-gas desulfurization

Flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) is a set of technologies used to remove sulfur dioxide (SO2) from exhaust flue gases of fossil-fuel power plants, and from the emissions of other sulfur oxide emitting processes such as waste incineration, petroleum refineries, cement and lime kilns.

Since stringent environmental regulations limiting SO2 emissions have been enacted in many countries, SO2 is being removed from flue gases by a variety of methods. Common methods used:

For a typical coal-fired power station, flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) may remove 90 per cent or more of the SO2 in the flue gases.

Methods of removing sulfur dioxide from boiler and furnace exhaust gases have been studied for over 150 years. Early ideas for flue gas desulfurization were established in England around 1850.

With the construction of large-scale power plants in England in the 1920s, the problems associated with large volumes of SO2 from a single site began to concern the public. The SO
2
emissions problem did not receive much attention until 1929, when the House of Lords upheld the claim of a landowner against the Barton Electricity Works of the Manchester Corporation for damages to his land resulting from SO2 emissions. Shortly thereafter, a press campaign was launched against the erection of power plants within the confines of London. This outcry led to the imposition of SO
2
controls on all such power plants.

The first major FGD unit at a utility was installed in 1931 at Battersea Power Station, owned by London Power Company. In 1935, an FGD system similar to that installed at Battersea went into service at Swansea Power Station. The third major FGD system was installed in 1938 at Fulham Power Station. These three early large-scale FGD installations were suspended during World War II, because the characteristic white vapour plumes would have aided location finding by enemy aircraft. The FGD plant at Battersea was recommissioned after the war and, together with FGD plant at the new Bankside B power station opposite the City of London, operated until the stations closed in 1983 and 1981 respectively. Large-scale FGD units did not reappear at utilities until the 1970s, where most of the installations occurred in the United States and Japan.

The Clean Air Act of 1970 (CAA) and it amendments have influenced implementation of FGD. In 2017, the revised PTC 40 Standard was published. This revised standard (PTC 40-2017) covers Dry and Regenerable FGD systems and provides a more detailed Uncertainty Analysis section. This standard is currently in use today by companies around the world.

As of June 1973, there were 42 FGD units in operation, 36 in Japan and 6 in the United States, ranging in capacity from 5 MW to 250 MW. As of around 1999 and 2000, FGD units were being used in 27 countries, and there were 678 FGD units operating at a total power plant capacity of about 229 gigawatts. About 45% of the FGD capacity was in the U.S., 24% in Germany, 11% in Japan, and 20% in various other countries. Approximately 79% of the units, representing about 199 gigawatts of capacity, were using lime or limestone wet scrubbing. About 18% (or 25 gigawatts) utilized spray-dry scrubbers or sorbent injection systems.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.