Big emission cuts for fossil fuel plants can be achieved using relatively simple efficiency tweaks, says John Goldring, Managing Director of RJM International in this article for The Chemical Engineer magazine, the journal for Members of the Institute of Chemical Engineers.
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RJM announces today that it has secured a major project to supply new combustion technology, including CFD combustion analysis and ultra-low NOx gas burners to upgrade a power plant in Spain. The two unit, 922MW Aboño power plant is located near Gijon, Asturias in Northern Spain and currently fires a mix of coal and Blast Furnace Gas (BFG) sourced from a nearby steelworks. The project is for Unit 2 to cease firing coal and for it to be converted to fire a blend of natural gas, BFG and, later on, hydrogen. In environmental terms, the conversion of Unit 2 will reduce emissions of particulates and sulphur oxides by almost 100% and nitrogen oxides by 80%. In terms of CO2 emissions, the average reduction will be 30%, depending on the volume of BFG being co-fired. An additional environmental benefit is that by utilising BFG as a second fuel, a further one million tonnes of CO2 emissions will be avoided. RJM will be supplying 30 new low NOx gas burners to replace the existing coal burners, and 12 conversion kits to allow the BFG pilot burners to fire natural gas. RJM’s scope also includes detailed CFD studies of the furnace and combustion air systems to ensure that the new fuel mix will not impact negatively on MW output, reliability or efficiency. Supporting power generators of all types – no matter what the fuel, the combustion technology or the size of the plant – and enabling them to transition to lower carbon generation is a key part of RJM’s global strategy. The driving force is to deliver exceptional improvements in performance across every plant parameter, making enduring changes that are efficient, reliable and cost-effective. Commenting on the project win, John Goldring, Managing Director of RJM said, “We know our track record of successfully completing similarly complex power plant upgrade projects and coal to gas conversions stood us in good stead with the customer and we are delighted to be working with Wood and Duro Felguera on this major contract. “Looking ahead, we aim to develop further emissions reduction and decarbonisation projects on coal-to-gas conversions of other utility boilers in Europe, the USA and the rest of world,” he confirmed. Work is well underway on the project and it is planned that the upgrade will be completed by July 2025. -ENDS- Notes for Editors: The Aboño plant selected Wood, the global engineering consultancy and industrial boiler OEM (from their Foster Wheeler heritage), to source the most suitable technology provider to upgrade the plant and deliver the most appropriate solution to enable the plant to carry out the conversion, under an award to Duro Felguera as the main EPC contractor. Following a complex tendering process and submissions by a number of multi-national burner technology companies, Wood short-listed and then selected RJM to deliver its innovative combustion and emissions solution to the Aboño plant. Additional online resources: EDP and Corporación Masaveu award Duro Felguera the Aboño gas conversion project – Duro Felguera Power | Wood
Having recently won a number of significant power plant performance upgrade projects, RJM announces today that it is currently working on power plants across South-East Asia and Australia. For these plants which have a combined output in excess of 10,000MW, RJM is delivering a range of innovative products, services and performance solutions to help them meet the latest emissions legislation, improve combustion performance, improve fuel flexibility and enhance operational reliability and efficiency. Most South-East Asian countries have committed to reduce the intensity of their carbon emissions and fully decarbonise by 2050. The work RJM is doing in these countries is supporting this drive to decarbonisation, through making coal-fired power plants operate more efficiently and also through exploring how power plants can be converted to co-fire biomass with coal, both of which reduce carbon emissions. In Australia, as the continent adopts its Net Zero Plan, the immediate requirement for power plants is to meet the forthcoming tightening up of NOx emissions while maintaining combustion performance, and RJM will be applying its proven low NOx technologies to facilitate this reduction in NOx emissions. Commenting on these major successes in Asia-Pacific, John Goldring, Managing Director of RJM International said, “The projects that we are winning across the region confirm our commitment to delivering the energy transition and our capability to work with generators – no matter what the fuel, the firing technology or the size of the plant. “We are confident that our innovative approach to solving complex combustion and emissions challenges is just as relevant to other power plants in Asia-Pacific as they seek to improve performance, meet tightening emissions regulations and deliver on their decarbonisation strategies. “Whilst much of the focus in the energy sector today is rightly on renewables – which RJM is promoting and contributing to – all these countries need to maintain an efficient and versatile thermal-fired generation capability to deliver reliable baseload power that is clean and affordable during this important energy transition to cleaner energy supplies,” he confirmed.
Dr. Gerry Riley, Head of Business Development at RJM will present a paper at the UK’s first Bio-Dust Conference being hosted by the University of Greenwich’s Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling Technology on Tuesday 11th June. The Conference is being held at the University of Greenwich’s Medway Campus at Chatham Maritime in Kent and will bring together UK industry leaders that handle, manage and regulate bio-dust, to share best practice and lessons learned. “Learning from the past – dust-related incidents on power plants” is the title of Gerry’s presentation, co-authored by Anjali Mohindra of RJM and Alf Malmgren of BioC Limited. It will focus on how the safe handling and storage of biomass fuels in thermal power stations is absolutely critical and is based on a report currently being updated by RJM and BioC Limited on behalf of the Energy Institute to ensure best practice reflects the latest findings from industry. With generators increasingly widening their fuel diet to transition to lower carbon generation by including new zero carbon fuels such as biomass, the Bio-Dust Conference will be an opportunity for industry leaders in the UK to discuss the challenges they face and debate solutions for the future, with an aspiration to make the industry safer. As the UK’s single-largest generator of renewable electricity using biomass, the Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling Technology has collaborated with Drax to create this first opportunity for organisations, academics and professionals in the industry to come together. The Conference agenda also includes panel sessions to give industry professionals a platform to host discussions on optimum design and equipment selection. For more information on the event, click here: Constable & Smith :: Programme (constableandsmith.com) For more information on BioC Limited, click here: www.bioc-ltd.com IMAGE CAPTION: Biomass fuel on fire in the Bunker House. Tilbury Power Station, February 2012
Dr. Gerry Riley of RJM International and Vince Barreto, of PowerPlus Cleaning Systems of the USA will jointly present a paper demonstrating the advantages of the IMPULSE® Cleaning system to PREWIN members at the Aston University Conference Centre, Birmingham on 6th June 2024. The IMPULSE® system uses innovative shockwave technology to significantly reduce the build-up of fused ash deposits and enables plants to operate longer campaigns with reduced downtime. The headline topic of this PREWIN conference is On-Line Cleaning and the joint RJM / PowerPlus paper is entitled, “The advantages of IMPULSE® shockwave cleaning technology on Waste to Energy boiler applications”. Over 350 IMPULSE® Cleaning units have now been successfully installed by PowerPlus at a mix of power plants across the USA including CFB units firing coal and petcoke, Waste to Energy plants firing Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) and Refuse-Derived Waste (RDF), as well as other plants firing various biomass fuels. Most recently, RJM has acquired from PowerPlus Cleaning the exclusive rights to sell the IMPULSE® technology in Europe and is currently installing an 11 unit IMPULSE® system at an Outotec plant firing waste wood in the UK and a two unit IMPULSE®system at a rotary kiln unit firing hazardous waste in Sweden. Confirming the effectiveness of the IMPULSE® technology a USA-based customer commented, “The results were dramatic. The plant personnel had never seen the boiler looking so clean after a year of operation. The IMPULSE® system has maximised production and allowed us to operate both boilers for the entire nine month processing season, without the need for a forced outage.” Jeff Kava, Western Sugar. For more information on IMPULSE® Cleaning technology: https://rjm-international.com/solutions/impulse-cleaning-system/ For more information on PowerPlus Cleaning: https://www.powerpluscs.com/ For more information on PREWIN: https://www.prewin.eu/ Founded in 2000, the PREWIN European network is an association of over 160 businesses operating in the W2E sector. It includes waste treatment plant operators, equipment suppliers, maintenance companies and consultancies. It holds regular meetings to support progress towards improved performance and reliability of European Waste-to-Energy plants (incineration and co-incineration) while maintaining low or reduced emissions to the environment.
RJM will be exhibiting on Stand A14 at Australia Energy Week 2024 being held in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Australia Energy Week is the premier event for the nation’s energy sector stakeholders and as the energy transition gathers pace, RJM is ideally placed to help Australia’s thermal-fired generators reduce emissions and implement their low carbon strategies. RJM is already working with a leading power producer in Australia and is keen to offer its full range of innovative products and services to other power producers in the Australian energy sector, in support of the National Energy Transformation Partnership. To find out more: https://www.energyweek.com.au/ To attend, please follow this link: https://www.energyweek.com.au/content/visitor-expo-pass
