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Coal Supply and Air Quality Limitations on Fossil-Fueled Energy Centers
The coterminous United States is screened on a county-by-county basis to identify areas most likely to provide sites for fossil energy centers (FECs) utilizing local coals and having capacities between 5,000 and 20,000 MWe. Areas eliminated as potential sites include national public lands excluded by legislation, urbanized areas, Air Quality Maintenance Areas for particulates and SO2, and counties where air quality data indicate violations of particulate or SO2 ambient standards. The remaining counties are further screened for suitable coal reserves. The quality of coal required for an FEC to meet emissions and ambient standards is determined for sulfur content and heating value. Based on Bureau of Mines coal reserve data, counties in areas with not enough quality reserves to support an FEC are eliminated. Areas most likely to provide sites for FECs of 5,000, 10,000, and 20,000 MWe, in two different spatial configurations, each with and without flue gas desulfurization are determined and mapped. The possible impacts of regulations for the prevention of significant deterioration are illustrated.
Air Pollution and the Siting of Fossil Fuel Power Plants
The decision to locate a fossil-fueled electrical power plant on a particular site involves trade-offs among the costs of: (1) land acquisition, (2) plant construction, operation, and maintenance, (3) power transmission, and (4) air pollution damage to humans, animals, plants and materials. The fourth of these, pollution costs, has been of great concern in recent years. But seldom, if ever, are the specific dollar trade-offs between the environmental and the other costs associated with site selection taken into account. The sum of the costs of power generation (land, construction, operation, maintenance), power transmission, and air pollution damages (from sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulates) is the total social cost of a fossil-fuel plant; this total cost will generally vary by site. This paper presents an analysis of the total social cost, and the trade-offs between generation/transmission and air pollution costs, for various types of fossil plants at different sites in northern Illinois. The analysis identifies the combinations of site, fossil fuel, and sulfur dioxide (SO2) control technology that minimize total social costs.
Corrosion and Mechanical Behavior of Materials for Coal Gasification Applications
A state-of-the-art review is presented on the corrosion and mechanical behavior of materials at elevated temperatures in coal-gasification environments. The gas atmosphere in coal-conversion processes are, in general, complex mixtures which contain sulfur-bearing components (hydrogen sulfide, SO2, and COS) as well as oxidants (carbon dioxide/carbon monoxide and water/hydrogen). The information developed over the last five years clearly shows sulfidation to be the major mode of material degradation in these environments. The corrosion behavior of structural materials in complex gas environments is examined to evaluate the interrelationships between gas chemistry, alloy chemistry, temperature, and pressure. Thermodynamic aspects of high-temperature corrosion processes that pertain to coal conversion are discussed, and kinetic data are used to compare the behavior of different commercial materials of interest. The influence of complex gas environments on the mechanical properties such as tensile, stress-rupture, and impact on selected alloys is presented. The data have been analyzed, wherever possible, to examine the role of environment on the property variation. The results from ongoing programs on char effects on corrosion and on alloy protection via coatings, cladding, and weld overlay are presented. Areas of additional research with particular emphasis on the development of a better understanding of corrosion processes in complex environments and on alloy design for improved corrosion resistance are discussed.
The MAP3S Aerosol Sulfate Acidity Network: A Progress Report and Data Summary, November 1981
Abstract: A network of five atmospheric aerosol samplers was established in the northeastern US starting in February 1977. Size-fractionated samples of the aerosol were collected continuously with four-hour time resolution until the network was dismantled in February 1980. The aerosol-loading and aerosol-chemistry data obtained over this three-year period are summarized in this report. In particular, the samples were analyzed for the sulfate acidity of the aerosol. The acidity was found to be quite high over prolonged periods of time, with the monthly averaged acidity approaching that of ammonium bisulfate at several of the sites. Monthly, seasonal, daily, and diurnal variations in aerosol particle loading and acidity, and sulfate, ammonium, and nitrate ion concentrations are presented. The aerosol-chemistry data are tabulated separately for each of the sampling sites.
Pressure Effects on Electric Field Spectra of Molecular Rydberg States
Electric field studies, electrochromism, were used to obtain excited-state data for analogous divalent sulfur compounds. The sulfides investigated were dimethyl sulfide and small cyclic sulfides including the three to six member ring compounds. The excited-state dipole moments and polarizabilities are reported for the first s, p, and d Rydberg absorption bands which occur in the near vacuum ultraviolet region from 230 to 170 nm. The excited-state data are interpreted in terms of the particular excited-state (s, p, or d) for the molecules and the bending differences due to the presence of the ring and the number of atoms in the ring. The next section describes the use of electrochromism to investigate the pressure effect of argon, carbon tetrafluoride and sulfur hexafluoride on the spectra for molecular Rydberg states.
Preliminary Assessment of the Health and Environmental Impacts of Fluidized-Bed Combustion of Coal as Applied to Electrical Utility Systems
The objective of this study was to assess the health and environmental impacts of fluidized-bed combustion of coal (FBC), specifically as applied to base-load generation of electrical energy by utilities. The public health impacts of Fluidized-Bed Combustion (FBC) plants are expected to be quite similar to those for Low Sulfur Coal (LSC) and Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) plants because all appear to be able to meet Federal emission standards; however, there are emissions not covered by standards. Hydrocarbon emissions are higher and trace element emissions are lower for FBC than for conventional technologies. For FBC, based on an analytical model and a single emission data point, the polycyclic organic material decreases the anticipated lifespan of the highly exposed public very slightly. Added health protection due to lower trace element emissions is not known. Although there is a large quantity of solid wastes from the generating plant, the environmental impact of the FBC technology due to solid residue appears lower than for FGD, where sludge management requires larger land areas and presents problems due to the environmentally noxious calcium sulfite in the waste. Fixing the sludge may become a requirement that increases the cost of wet-limestone FGD but makes that system more acceptable. The potential for aquatic or terrestrial impacts from hydrocarbon emissions is low. If application of AFBC technology increases the use of local high-sulfur coals to the detriment of western low-sulfur coal, a sociological benefit could accrue to the FBC (or FGD) technology, because impacts caused by western boom towns would decrease. The infrastructure of areas that mine high-sulfur coal in the Midwest are better equipped to handle increased mining than the West.
Contributions to the Data on Theoretical Metallurgy: [Part] 7. The Thermodynamic Properties of Sulphur and its Inorganic Compounds
Report issued by the Bureau of Mines over studies on the thermodynamics of sulphur. As stated in the introduction, "the present bulletin has as its primary purpose the correlation of the thermodynamic properties of elementary sulphur and its inorganic compounds and the presentation, after careful consideration of all available information, of a self-consistent system of thermodynamic relationships for these substances" (p. 1). This report includes tables.
Contributions to the Data on Theoretical Metallurgy: [Part] 7. The Thermodynamic Properties of Sulphur and its Inorganic Compounds
Report issued by the Bureau of Mines discussing the thermodynamic properties of sulfur, and its inorganic compounds. As stated in the introduction, "the present bulletin has as its primary purpose the correlation of the thermodynamic properties of elementary sulfur and its inorganic compounds and the presentation, after careful consideration of all available information, of a self-consistent system of thermodynamic relationships for these substances" (p. 1). This report includes tables.
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