Survey of Microcleaning Methods for Application to Army Coal-Fired Plants
Abstract
Many Army installations use coal-fired boilers in their physical plants. These facilities are now facing more rigorous enforcement of regulations governing air pollutant emissions, largely due to the increased concern over acid rain. Of particular significance to these plants is that new standards have lowered the acceptable level of sulfur oxides (SOx) in the exhaust. Compliance with these regulations will have major economic impact on the plants' operating costs. The U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (USACERL) is investigating emission control technologies to find the most cost-effective way of meeting the new standards for SOx. Several options are available, including flue gas desulfurization, fluidized bed combustors, and precombustion cleaning. This report focuses on microcleaning-one form of precombustion treatment to remove SOx and other particulates before the coal is burned, eliminating these byproducts from the emission. Three types of microcleaning were evaluated: chemical, biological, and physical. Many of the chemical and biological processes are still in the early stages of development and have not been commercialized. In addition, all of the processes were found to be more expensive than flue gas desulfurization-an option used at many industrial plants. For the present, microcleaning technology is immature and does not represent the best alternative for the Army in reducing SOx.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA206949
Entities
People
- Cindy Jongkind
- Gary Schanche
- Jeraldine Northrup
Organizations
- Construction Engineering Research Laboratory