Abstract

Technologies for reducing air pollution and greenhouse gases that are being implemented in several on-going power projects are presented. In addition, strategies for producing clean fuels that lead to emissions reduction from motor vehicle fuels are also presented.

The first commercial-sized Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Power Plant projects without U.S. government funding are currently underway. With IGCC technology, emissions of mercury, NOx, Sox, and particulate matter are reduced significantly compared to conventional pulverized coal power generation. In addition, future CO2 capture and sequestration can be achieved with IGCC at a much lower cost of electricity than any other coal-fired power generation technology. China is planning its own IGCC demonstration project at Yantai.

Strategies for the production of clean fuels for motor vehicle fuels include the following:

Asian countries with limited natural gas reserves can manufacture synthetic natural gas (SNG) from coal gasification and methanation. SNG can be used in CNG vehicles for emissions reduction from urban transportation.

Reformulated low-sulfur gasoline coupled with catalytic converter-equipped motor vehicles can reduce emissions by up to 73%. Some of the capital costs for producing reformulated gasoline can be recovered by extracting ethylene, propylene, benzene, and other aromatics from the gasoline pool and upgrading them into high-value petrochemicals such as polypropylene, styrene, and paraxylene. Some of these strategies are being implemented in a major refinery expansion in India.

Ultra low sulfur diesel combined with catalytic particulate trap equipped vehicles can reduce PM emissions by up to 90%. Sulfur-free naphtha and diesel can be produced by gas to liquids (GTL) and coal to liquids (CTL) technologies. China is implementing CTL technology in Shenhua.

Presentation: http://www.cleanairnet.org/baq2006/1757/docs/SP3_1.ppt

Full paper:

Engineering Better Air Quality [.doc, 1368.5Kb]