POWER March 2014 - 52

THE FUTURE OF COAL-FIRED GENERATION
of the boiler to 178F at the end of the DRYCON
cooling conveyor (Figure 3). The conveyor
itself does not need to be insulated, as
the outside skin temperature has been shown
to average 87F.
As it relates to upcoming CCR regulations,
the DRYCON system requires no water,
thus it will comply with either a Subtitle
C or Subtitle D final regulation. However,
installation of this type of system will require
With the tight compliance deadlines and
uncertain regulatory provisions, utilities
should be prepared with multiple compliance
scenarios.
Removal of the water-flooded ash hopper
will reduce thermal losses from evaporation
of water (evaporative cooling), and
the unburned carbon content of the ash is
reduced, thus increasing boiler efficiency.
As a result of the reduction in unburned
carbon content of the ash, boiler efficiency
can be increased by 0.02% to 0.07%. Likewise,
the reduction in unburned carbon in
the ash itself increases its possible sale as a
beneficial by-product.
a longer outage (the system can be installed
in a 22-day outage), as significant demolition
and construction activities to the ash hoppers
are required.
Path Forward
Although it may appear to be a case of " the
boy who cried wolf, " the EPA is being pressured
more than ever and can be expected to
promulgate CCR regulations by year's end.
Current timetables for compliance are tight
regardless of which path for CCR regulation
the EPA takes.
In the case of a Subtitle C regulation,
each state will be required to adopt the rule
individually, thus effective dates will vary;
however, in some states effective dates will
be as soon as six months after promulgation.
In the case of a Subtitle D regulation,
most provisions will be effective six
months after promulgation.
With the tight compliance deadlines and
uncertain regulatory provisions, utilities
should be prepared with multiple compliance
scenarios. Many of the commercially
available technologies are mature and can
be competitively bid among suppliers. Some
technologies are " cutting edge " and may
offer additional benefits, such as reduced
auxiliary power load and increased boiler efficiency.
However, each facility will need to
evaluate these technologies based upon sitespecific
equipment configurations, expected
outage times, and capital/operating costs of
the systems. ■
-Brandon Bell, PE (bbell@valdeseng.
com) is a project manager with Valdes
Engineering Co. and a POWER contributing
editor.
2014
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POWER March 2014

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