Global trends in advanced coal-fired plants include low NOx burners and wet scrubbing systems that help turn sulfur-dioxide emissions into synthetic gypsum for use in drywall manufacturing. Courtesy PPL Corporation.
In an effort to provide greener options for generating electricity from coal, chemical engineers have made great strides. They have achieved significant environmental improvements with the development of integrated combined-cycle gasification (IGCC) power plants. These plants generate power first by producing gas through coal gasification and then by converting the gas to power, rather than by using traditional coal combustion. Pollutants are lowered as is water consumption.
Two-cycle generation
In IGCC power plants coal is first turned into a synthetic gas. The syngas is cleaned to remove unwanted pollutants and then burned in a gas turbine. The exhaust from the primary turbine is used to create steam for a secondary turbine that generates additional electricity.
Copyright © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers and Chemical Heritage Foundation. All rights reserved.