The demonstration project was part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Power Plant Improvement Initiative and also included Babcock Power Environmental Inc. as engineering, procurement and construction contractor. The DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory oversaw the project through a cooperative agreement with CONSOL Energy.
The multi-pollutant control technology was installed on AES Greenidge’s 100 MW Unit 4 in Dresden, New York, and began operating in early 2007. Performance testing data collected through June 2008 showed average removal efficiencies of 96% for sulfur dioxide, 95% for sulfur trioxide, 97% for hydrogen chloride, and 98% for mercury. Emissions of nitrogen oxides were also significantly reduced and particulate matter emissions were reduced by more than 98% relative to the emission rate observed prior to installation of the technology.
The multi-pollutant control system at AES Greenidge cost 40% less to construct and required significantly less land area than conventional selective catalytic reduction and wet flue gas desulphurization technologies when applied to a 100 MW unit. The system included Fuel Tech’s NOxOUT CASCADE hybrid selective non-catalytic reduction/selective catalytic reduction technology to control nitrogen oxides and Babcock Power’s Turbosorp circulating fluidized bed dry scrubbing technology to control sulfur dioxide, mercury, sulfur trioxide, hydrogen chloride, and particulate matter.
The project at AES Greenidge represents the first application in which these technologies were combined to form an integrated multi-pollutant control system, as well as the first application of either technology to a unit firing high-sulfur coal.
