Pollution Engineering - February 2009 - (Page 26)

A unique solution for pollution abatement and energy savings is implemented in one of South America’s fastest growing economies. By PAUL A. TETLEY, Met-Pro Corp. antiago Chile antiago, Chile, is one of Latin America’s more impressive economic success stories. Unfortunately, Chile’s capital city now suffers some of the world’s worst air pollution as a result of rapid growth with relatively limited government-based environmental controls. But at least one local firm, Thermal Engineering, is helping its industrial clients to curb the pollution and meet new air-quality regulations. In one case, the company was able to help a local paper manufacturer comply with appropriate pollution control standards while reducing its dependence on high-cost natural gas for processing, instead substituting lower-cost fuel. S 26 Paper pollution economics The firm was tasked by Compañia Manufacturera de Papeles y Cortones (CMPC) and their Tissue Talagante plant, a major paper manufacturing facility in Santiago, to help it manage growth while also meeting the strict environmental air quality regulations. The paper company’s management, ever sensitive to the impact of its manufacturing processes on the environment, had begun working towards removing PM10 and SO2 gas from its emissions even before many Chilean environmental regulations were put in place. The paper company had long based its manufacturing processes on natural gas as its main energy source. But with natural gas in short supply, and with the price rising as supply dwindled, management realized that an alternative source of fuel was needed. The paper mill had managed to obtain natural gas from sources in Pollution Engineering FEBRUARY2009 Argentina, time. Argentina but those suppliers became unreliable over time Seeking a practical solution, management sought an answer to their energy needs that would also comply with the country’s new, strict environmental regulations. The consulting firm realized that the plant had based their operations on one of the cleaner forms of energy in natural gas, and that any alternative fuel solution would also call for installation of the proper environmental controls at their client’s facility. The low cost and ready availability of No. 6 fuel oil made this energy source a viable candidate for economic reasons, but using this as the fuel for the paper mill would require unique environmental control measures. Byproducts of burning No. 6 fuel oil include a high level of particulates as well as SO2 gas. Chilean environmental regulations call for tight controls of these pollutants, with full removal of particulates and reduction of SO2 to undetectable levels. “We considered optional fuels, such as fuel oil No. 2 which are very expensive, about two-and-one-half times the cost of natural gas. Our other option was heavy fuel oil,” said Arnulfo Oelker, president of Thermal Engineering. Of course, the low cost of heavy (No. 6) fuel oil makes it attractive for industrial use in many places, but local environmental restrictions only allow the use of No. 6 fuel oil with extensive modifications to a company’s infrastructure. As Oelker explains, “The problem with heavy fuel oil is that here in Santiago, we have emission restrictions that wouldn’t allow using heavy fuel oil if you don’t use a filter to reduce particulate emissions and a scrubber to reduce SO2 emissions, because of the high sulfur content of these kind of fuels.”

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Pollution Engineering - February 2009 Contents The Guest Dialog EnviroNews PE Events Legal Lookout Casebook Canada Environmental Management When Cleanup is Rocket Science RemTEC Features A Chile Air Filter Safer Waste Handling Reaps Rewards 2009 Environmental Software Review Some Serious Sliplining Environmental Software Products Biosolids Equipment Classified Marketplace Advertisers Index State Rules

Pollution Engineering - February 2009

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