flue gas treatment

flue gas treatment, a process designed to reduce the amount of pollutants emitted from the burning of fossil fuels at an industrial facility, a power plant, or another source. Flue gas—the emitted material produced when fossil fuels such as coal, oil, natural gas, or wood are burned for heat or power—may contain pollutants such as particulates, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and carbon dioxide. Most flue gas, however, consists of nitrogen oxides. If left untreated, flue gas from power plants, industrial facilities, and other sources can substantially affect local and regional air quality.

Under many national-level clean-air regulations, power plants and other facilities are required to use flue gas treatments to reduce the amount of emitted pollutants. Such approaches, which use devices such as electrostatic precipitators and scrubbers, can successfully remove 90 percent or more of certain pollutants. However, they can be very costly to install and operate, and requirements for flue gas treatment frequently provoke complex legal battles. Treatments vary widely from one plant to another, and some countries have far-stricter requirements than others. Emissions from utilities and industries in countries with less-stringent pollution laws are a concern for environmentalists.

Flue gas treatment dates back to the 19th century when concerns grew over the impact of sulfates on the environment. Throughout the 20th century increasingly sophisticated devices were developed to remove pollutants by a variety of means, mostly through chemical reactions and electrostatic charges. Those efforts took on new urgency as industrialized countries adapted stricter air-pollution measures, such as the U.S. Clean Air Act in 1970, and as subsequent regulations imposed increasingly stringent limits on such pollutants as fine particulates.

Treatment process

At plants that emit a number of pollutants, flue gas may go through a series of devices for cleaning. Flue gas treatment has achieved the greatest success in reducing particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide. In a typical treatment process, the gas is first sent to an electrostatic precipitator, although fabric filters can be used as well. That device removes ash and other particulates by electrostatically charging them, causing them to be attracted to and deposited on plates or other collection devices. Particulate removal is an essential part of the process, because particulates released into the atmosphere can affect the respiratory systems of people and animals, reduce visibility, and influence climate. Depending on such factors as the size of the particles and the design of the electrostatic precipitator, this treatment can remove 99 percent of particulate matter.

The gas then moves on to a denitrification unit that alters the chemical composition of nitrogen oxides through a catalytic reaction with ammonia or urea. The goal is to produce nitrogen gas, rather than nitrogen oxides. Some facilities can also reduce nitrogen oxide emissions through modifications to the combustion process. If emitted into the atmosphere, nitrogen oxides can irritate the lungs and contribute to the formation of smog.

Sulfur dioxide is removed by one of a number of processes, most of which involve scrubbers in one form or another. Most U.S. facilities rely on wet scrubbers, which use a slurry of alkaline sorbent (usually comprising limestone or lime) or seawater to clean the gases. Other technologies include spray-dry scrubbing, which also uses sorbent slurries; a wet sulfuric acid process that recovers the sulfur in the form of sulfuric acid; dry sorbent injection systems; and a flue gas desulfurization technique known as SNOX, which uses catalytic reactions to clean flue gases of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and particulates, as well as sulfur dioxide. Newer technologies can remove more than 90 percent of sulfur dioxide from flue gas. Sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere can aggravate respiratory illnesses and cardiovascular conditions; it also leads to acid rain, reduces visibility, and affects clouds and climate.

Technologies to remove mercury and carbon dioxide from flue gases have lagged, but there is growing interest in these areas. Mercury is a neurotoxin that is released in both elemental and oxidized forms and that can cause brain damage and reproductive problems in women as well as wildlife. Electrostatic precipitators or fabric filters can remove 30–60 percent of elemental mercury in the airflow and lower amounts of oxidized mercury. Wet scrubbers can also remove mercury and are especially effective for oxidized mercury. Dry flue gas desulfurization scrubbers, when combined with a baghouse (a dust-collector system that uses fabric filter tubes or other tools), can remove as much of 90 percent of mercury. However, those devices are primarily engineered to remove other pollutants instead of mercury.

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Carbon dioxide, a common greenhouse gas blamed for global warming, is more difficult to remove and capture once it has been emitted. New techniques designed to sequester carbon dioxide—such as scrubbing towers, artificial trees, and pumping carbon dioxide captured at the source of emission directly into cavities deep underground—are being developed and refined.