Pilot Testing of Mercury Oxidation

Catalysts for Upstream of Wet

FGD Systems
Gary Blythe
URS Corporation
Illustration of Process Concept

Mercury
Oxidation
Catalyst

ESP
Wet FGD System
(SO2/Hg Removal)
 Background
DOE/EPRI project (DE-FC26-04NT41992)
conducting pilot-scale tests of low-temp Hg0
oxidation catalysts at three sites
2 to 4 catalysts tested in parallel (~2000 acfm
each)
12-20 months automated operation at each site
~Bimonthly catalyst activity measurements
Pilot wet FGD (~2000 acfm one catalysts
flow) used to measure ability to scrub
catalytically oxidized Hg
Example Catalysts
Previous Project - Test Locations
GREs Coal Creek (ND
lignite, ESP/wet FGD)
Pilot unit started up
October 02
Long-term test completed
June 04
CPS Spruce (PRB,
FF/wet FGD)
First 2 catalysts started up
August 03
Long-term test completed
April 05
 Summary from CCS Results
Sonic horns required to prevent fly ash buildup
Pd catalyst achieved 60-70% Hg0 oxidation after 20+
months
Pd catalyst restored to ~90% oxidation after
regeneration with 600oF air
Wet FGD pilot tests showed removal of oxidized Hg
across wet scrubber limited only by re-emissions (79%
overall Hg removal in LSFO mode with FGD inlet Hg
84% oxidized)
Preliminary economics showed catalytic oxidation most
cost effective relative to ACI when plant sells fly ash and
when catalyst can be regenerated
 Summary from Spruce Results
Sonic horns not required downstream of fabric filter (FF)
High Hg % oxidation downstream of FF made it difficult
to evaluate catalysts
Pd and Au catalysts achieved ~50% Hg0 oxidation after ~17
months
Pd and Au catalysts restored to ~80% oxidation after
regeneration with 600oF air
Wet FGD pilot tests showed up to 93% Hg removal
when operating downstream of catalysts (FGD inlet Hg
96% oxidized)
Preliminary economics showed catalytic oxidation not
cost effective relative to ACI for PRB plant with FF
 Test Locations - Current Project
TXUs Monticello Station (TX lignite/PRB,
ESP, LSFO wet FGD)
Began January 05
Long-term test ended August 06
Southern Companys Plant Yates (low S
Eastern bit., ESP, CT-121 wet FGD)
Began December 05
Will operate into early 2007
 Current Project (continued)
SRPs Coronado Station (PRB, hot side
ESP, fly ash sales, horizontal LS wet FGD)
Added to project in 2006
Funded by SRP/EPRI tailored collaboration
project
New 2-chamber catalyst pilot unit
Began operation March 06
Will operate through March 07
 Monticello Pilot Unit
(moved from CCS)
Cells per Cross Catalyst Area
Sq. In. Section Depth Velocity
Catalyst (cpsi) (in. x in.) (in.) (sft/hr)
Gold (Sud-Chemie 29.5 x
Prototech) 64 9 (3 x 3) 50
29.5
Pd #1 (Johnson Matthey) 29.5 x
64 9 50
29.5
Pd #1 (regenerated from 29.5 x
CCS) 64 9 (3 x 3) 50
29.5
SCR (Cormetech/MHI) 35.4 x
58 29.5 12
36.2
 Summary of Monticello Results
Fly ash buildup in catalysts has been a
problem
Partly due to sonic horn reliability issues (same
horns and controls used at CCS)
Unscheduled pilot unit outages (mostly due to plant
construction) appear to have exacerbated buildup
Catalyst chambers not purged before outages
Flue gas moisture condensation leads to cementitious
reactions with ash

May have confounded catalyst activity

results
 Monticello Catalyst Pressure
Drop Data
10
J-M Pd Un-
9 Cleaned 2
SCR diagnosed
catalysts
Problem
8 Au

Pilot Unit Off-line due to Power,

Unscheduled Pilot Unit Outage
Pressure Drop, in H 2O

7 Regen Pd

Compressed Air Outages

Sonic Horn
6 Problems

5 Sonic Horns Cleaned

Placed in Catalysts
4 Service
3

0
1/13 3/14 5/13 7/12 9/10 11/9 1/8 3/9 5/8 7/7 9/5
Date/Time
 Monticello Catalyst Activity Data
100 JM Pd SCR Au Regen Pd
Cleaned JM Pd & Au Catalysts

Pilot Unit Off-line due to Power, Compressed

Cleaned Catalysts
90
Hg0 Oxidation Across Catalyst, %

80

Unscheduled Pilot Unit Outage

70

Air Outages
60

50
Catalysts
40 in Service
30

20 Low
Performance
10 due to Fly Ash
Buildup Cleaned SCR & Regen Pd Catalysts
0
1/13 3/14 5/13 7/12 9/10 11/9 1/8 3/9 5/8 7/7 9/5
Date
 Yates Pilot Unit
(moved from Spruce)
Cells per Cross Catalyst Area
Sq. In. Section Depth Velocity
Catalyst (cpsi) (in. x in.) (in.) (sft/hr)
Gold (Sud-Chemie 29.5 x
Prototech) 64 9 (3 x 3) 50
29.5
Pd #1 (Sud-Chemie 29.5 x
Prototech) 64 9 (3 x 3) 50
29.5
Au (Prototech -
29.5 x
regenerated from 64 9 (3 x 3) 50
29.5
Spruce)
SCR (Argillon
35.4 x
regenerated from 46 29.5 13
35.4
Spruce)
 Yates Catalyst Pressure Drop
Data
10
Prototech Au Unit Outage,
9 Cleaned 3
Prototech Pd
Catalysts
8 Regenerated Au
Pressure Drop, in. H2O

7 Regenerated SCR

6 Pilot unit off line Breaker

due to power dis- tripped on
5
connect by plant skid
4

0
12/14 2/12 4/13 6/12 8/11 10/10
Date/Time
 Yates Catalyst Pressure Drop
Data (normalized to 1800 acfm)
10
Unit Outage,
9 Prototech Au Cleaned 3
Catalysts
8
Pressure Drop, in. H2O

7
6 Pilot unit off line Breaker
5 due to power dis- tripped on
connect by plant skid
4
3
2
1
0
12/14 2/12 4/13 6/12 8/11 10/10
Date/Time
 Yates Catalyst Activity Data
100
Unit Outage,
90 Pilot unit off line Cleaned 3
catalysts
Hg0 Oxidation Across Catalyst

80 due to power
disconnect by
70 plant
60
Breaker
50 Catalysts in tripped on
Service skid
40

30
Prototech Pd
20 Prototech Au
10 Regen Au
Regen SCR
0
12/14/2005 2/12/2006 4/13/2006 6/12/2006 8/11/2006 10/10/2006
Date
Catalyst Dimensions for Coronado
Pilot

Cells Cross Area

per in.2 Section Length Velocity
Catalyst (cpsi) (in. x in.) (in.) (sft/hr)
Au (Johnson
Matthey) 5.5 64 30 x 30 12 (2 x 6) 38
ft/sec
Au (Johnson
Matthey) 15 64 18 x 18 24 (4 x 6) 52
ft/sec
5.5 ft/sec Catalyst
15 ft/sec Catalyst
 Pressure Drop Data for Coronado
Pilot Unit
10
5.5 ft/sec
9 15 ft/sec

8
Pressure Drop, in. H 2O

0
03/30/06 04/29/06 05/29/06 06/28/06 07/28/06 08/27/06
 Activity vs. Time for Coronado
Catalysts (Hg SCEM)
100

95

90
Hg Oxidation at Catalyst Ou

85

80

75
5.5 ft/sec
70 15 ft/sec

65
0

60

55

50
3/30 4/19 5/9 5/29 6/18 7/8 7/28 8/17
Date
Wet FGD Pilot Unit at Coronado
 Example Pilot Wet FGD Test
Results (15 ft/sec Catalyst)
FGD SO2 Total Hg Total Hg Hg+2 Hg0 Re-
Operating Removal, Oxidation Removal, Removal, emissions,
Mode % at FGD % % % of FGD
Inlet Inlet Hg+2
LS Natural 93 88 81 96 4
Oxidation
LS Natural 94 89 87 97 0
Oxidation
with TMT
Addition

Total Hg Oxidation at Catalyst Inlet 8%

Expected Total Hg Removal Across FGD (w/o catalyst) - <10%

 Full-scale Testing of Hg
Oxidation Catalyst
DOE Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-
06NT42778 (award date 7/24/2006)
Co-funded by EPRI, LCRA, Great River Energy,
Johnson Matthey, Southern Company, SRP, TVA, URS
and Westar
Will test gold catalyst at 15 ft/sec upstream of one
full-scale wet FGD module (~200 MW)
Host site is the Lower Colorado River Authoritys
Fayette Power Plant Unit 3
460 MW
Cold-side ESP followed by LSFO wet FGD system
Fires PRB
 Conclusions
Sonic horns are required to keep horizontal gas
flow catalysts clean downstream of ESPs
May not be adequate downstream of small ESPs
Hg oxidized by catalysts removed by wet FGD at
high efficiency, unless limited by re-emissions
Catalysts can remain active 20+ mos. (Coal Creek)
Regenerated catalyst performs similarly to fresh
catalyst (Monticello)
Economics show possible lower cost than ACI
Economics best for plants with ESP/FGD that sell ash
Catalyst regeneration greatly improves economics
Current EPRI project will optimize regeneration conditions