Displaying items by tag: greenhouse gas
COAL - More urgency needed for coal power plant re-design
With several decades to go before low carbon and renewable energy sources replace fossil fuels, the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is urging greater innovation in the design of coal-fired power plants to improve efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Coal provides around 40 per cent of the world’s energy and has been the fastest growing global energy source for over a decade. However, the existing 2,300 coal-fired power plants1 currently generate around 43 percent of global CO2 emissions2, and this will increase with over a thousand new coal-fired power plants planned for development in around 60 countries.3
Despite the growth in renewable energy and natural gas, coal will continue to be the dominant source of electricity through to 2050, especially in countries like China and India. With low carbon, renewable energies not expected to replace fossil fuels by 2075, the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is urging more research into mitigating the impact of coal on climate change.
IChemE president, professor Geoff Maitland, said: “We need to be realistic. The global transition to renewable energies will take time, but, eventually, it will solve many of the challenges of climate change.
“But there is still a major job to do now to mitigate electricity generation from burning fossil fuels. Although the Obama Administration in the US is currently ‘waging a war’ on coal, globally there are still plans for a 50 per cent increase in the number of coal-fired power plants suggesting things will get worse before they get better – we need to limit this damage as much as possible.
“Effective carbon capture and storage will be an important and essential step and must be implemented on a large scale much more rapidly than it is at the moment. Also, more investment in research is needed to improve the efficiency of coal-fired plants to lessen emissions.”
Some of the most interesting power plant design research is looking at waste heat recovery systems, in particular flue gas waste heat.
Up to fourth fifths of a boiler’s thermal loss is simply emitted into the environment – equivalent to up to eight per cent of a coal-fired power plant’s energy input. Making better use of this waste heat continues to be a major opportunity to improve efficiency and reduce the amount of coal used.
New research from China shows that changes in plant design and using flue gas waste heat differently has the ability to nearly double the power output from conventional waste heat recovery systems to around 11 MWe. There are financial benefits too with potential energy savings of up to US$2.6 million per year.4
Professor Maitland continued: “Some of the research coming out of major coal consuming countries like China, US and Germany is helping to improve plant design bit by bit. Over the next few decades, this steady flow of improvements could aggregate to produce significant benefits and we urge Governments to step-up their funding as part of the battle against climate change.”
The role of chemical engineers in the energy sectors is explored in IChemE’s latest technical strategy, Chemical Engineering Matters.
About chemical engineers
Chemical, biochemical and process engineering is the application of science, maths and economics to the process of turning raw materials into everyday products. Professional chemical engineers design, construct and manage process operations all over the world. Pharmaceuticals, food and drink, synthetic fibres and clean drinking water are just some of the products where chemical engineering plays a central role.
About IChemE
The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) is the hub for chemical, biochemical and process engineering professionals worldwide. With a growing global membership of nearly 40,000, the Institution is at the heart of the process community, promoting competence and a commitment to best practice, advancing the discipline for the benefit of society, encouraging young people in science and engineering and supporting the professional development of its members.
References
1 World Coal Association
2 International Energy Agency
3 World Resources Institute
4 A novel flue gas waste heat recovery system for coal-fired ultra-supercritical power plants: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.03.038