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Data from the US EPA FGD Database containing FGD effluent data from selected U.S. coal power plants. Original data from: Nguyen, Dan-Tam, Eastern Research Group. Sep 29, 2015. Analytical Database for the Steam Electric Rulemaking - DCN SE05359. https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OW-2009-0819-5640
Case studies of selected streams from the EPA FGD Database. Includes OLI Studio and Geochemist's Workbench example files. Original data from: Nguyen, Dan-Tam, Eastern Research Group. Sep 29, 2015. Analytical Database for the Steam Electric Rulemaking - DCN SE05359. https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OW-2009-0819-5640
This presentation reviews the results of our research on flue gas desulfurization effluent treatment modeling and speciation analysis before and after physical/chemical biological treatment using aqueous chemistry software.<br>
Flue gas desulfurization systems (FGD) mitigate air pollutants from coal fired power plants. However, such systems produce wastewater that contains other pollutants such as mercury, arsenic, nitrogen, and selenium that must be removed before the water is released back into the environment. Selenium is of interest because chronic low doses of selenium (ng/L) can cause detrimental ecological consequences. Biological treatment can be utilized to remove selenium from FGD wastewater, but the microorganisms involved in this process and environment within the FGD effluent have not been well studied. This study identifies the microorganisms in selenate-enriched and selenite-enriched FGD effluent that can reduce selenium oxyanions to elemental selenium. Knowing more about these organisms can lead to an eventual optimization in the biological removal of selenium species in these wastewaters.
This U.S. Department of Energy/National Energy Technology Laboratory techno-economic analysis evaluates those parameters having the greatest performance and cost impact on wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) effluent wastewater treatment systems, and air cooled condensers for dry cooling systems. Two supercritical pulverized coal power plants are considered: 1) an existing plant (modified for surface water discharge and air emissions consistent with limits for existing plants) retrofitted with wet FGD effluent wastewater treatment and 2) a greenfield plant constructed with an air-cooled condenser (ACC). Sensitivity analyses are completed on various process parameters associated with the wet FGD effluent wastewater treatment system and ACC to determine the impact on the net plant efficiency and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). Research and development targets are recommended for the parameters shown to have the greatest potential impact on cost or performance.
Overview and How-to Tutorial Videos for Using NEWTS Data Video 1: Overview of NEWTS Database Video 2: How-to tutorial for EPA Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) Effluent NEWTS dataset Video 3: How-to tutorial for USGS Produced Waters NEWTS dataset Video 4: How-to tutorial for EPA Ash NEWTS dataset Video 5: How-to tutorial for Quillinan, et al 2018 DOE Geothermal Technology Office REE dataset Video 6: Tutorial video on navigating the NEWTS Dashboard, with an overview of NEWTS and navigating between the NEWTS Dashboard and Datasets (https://netl-doe.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/a5fa4192f7c6478dab3d6180d9c30b84) Video 7: Additional tutorial video on navigating the NEWTS Dashboard and investigating specific data points in the Dashboard and Datasets Video 8: Re-record of recent webinar giving an overview of the NEWTS Database and Dashboard, including interacting with the NEWTS Dashboard, locating specific data points, and finding the relevant streams in the NEWTS Database and datasets on EDX. Includes overview of the datasets, case studies, and steps for taking stream data from the database and modeling stream data in OLI Studio and Geochemist's Workbench. Note: Video 3 tutorial is also applicable to the USGS Brackish Water NEWTS dataset.
Herein this study reports a novel approach of resource recovery from co-managing two geographically co-located and chemically complementary wastewaters using a pilot-scale treatment process. Designed to treat flue gas desulfurized (FGD) effluent from combustion powerplants and produced water (PW) from energy industries, the process consists of soda-ash softening, nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO). Recovered products are barite, calcite, and low-salinity water. Using field-collected waters, the results show that softening at pH 8.5 produces calcite (yield: 30 kg/m 3 treated water), a chemical used as SO ₂(g) scrubbers. NF treatment under an applied pressure of 3.5 MPa yields a permeate stream laden with monovalent ions (water recovery 60%) and a concentrate stream with a sulfate concentration 1.8 times of the feedwater concentration. Mixing the NF concentrate and PW at a volumetric ratio of 1.0 precipitates a high-density barite material (4.1 g/cm 3 , yield: ~7.5 kg/m 3 mixture) – a critical mineral commonly used as a weighting agent in drilling. The RO treatment recovers >64% water as the permeate, which can be readily used as cooling make-up water at the powerplants. The RO concentrate stream can be further processed in a thermal evaporative system for additional water recovery and brine production.
The National Energy Water Treatment and Speciation (NEWTS) Integrated Dataset v1.0 provides water researchers, community leaders, and regulators with a unified and standardized energy-related wastewater stream database. This resource is derived from 27 state and federal entities, and scientific publications, and contains more than 400,000 sample records, many of which also provide geospatial information. The dataset includes data for several different energy-related wastewater types including produced water, other oil and gas wastewaters, mine drainage, coal ash leachate, and power plant wastewater. The NEWTS Integrated Dataset was built to support environmentally prudent decision-making, explore treatment opportunities, and identify potential critical mineral sources. A subset of this novel resource is also featured on NETL NEWTS State-Level Database Dashboard. Additional data can be found in the NEWTS EDX Group and the NEWTS Federal Database Dashboard.
In order to limit and mitigate the environmental impacts associated with coal combustion, flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems have been put into place to reduce the release of contaminates. The main constituent targeted by FGD systems is sulfur oxide gasses (SOx). While FGD systems have been able to achieve high removal rates of SOx gasses, the wastewater effluent requires treatment before release back into the environment. The release of wastewater is heavily regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and their effluent guideline limitations rule (ELG). The ELG rule set new limits on discharges containing constituents such as selenium, nitrogenous species, mercury, and arsenic in the effluent. This report seeks to give background on abiotic removal methods as well as highlight the most important issues when utilizing biological treatment to treat the FGD wastewater for the constituents of interest mentioned. This report also seeks to discuss the issues of foaming which can occur during biological treatment.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued updated effluent limitation guidelines (ELGs) and standards for the steam electric power generation point source category in November 2015 to strengthen controls on wastewater discharges. Many of the public comments discussed concerns about reliability, and whether Best Available Technology Economically Achievable (BAT) has been adequately demonstrated under a variety of conditions; however, discussion of the cost of electricity (COE) impact of installing the technology on existing coal units was limited. To address the COE impact of installing processes to achieve compliance for wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater at existing pulverized coal (PC) plants, this study focused on developing cost and performance estimates of multiple commercial technologies in various configurations, including alternative (non-BAT) compliance processes (e.g., zero valent iron) and overcompliance processes (e.g., brine concentration with fly ash conditioning). Exhibit ES-1 provides the net plant efficiency (η) and COE estimated for each of the selected process configurations in this study. Case 0 is the reference subcritical PC plant, which represents an existing unit discharging wet FGD wastewater to surface water. It is assumed that all existing capital assets are fully depreciated, such that any capital costs reflect only the cost of the wet FGD wastewater treatment systems and plant upgrades required to accommodate the retrofits.
Constructed wetland treatment systems are used to remove selenium (Se) from flue‐gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater (WW). However, direct confirmation of the mechanism responsible for FGD WW Se retention in soil is lacking. A laboratory‐based soil column study was performed to develop an evidence‐based mechanism of Se retention and to study the behavior and the retention capacity of FGD WW constituents in water‐saturated soil. A deoxygenated 1:1 mixture of FGD WW and raw water was delivered to the columns bottom‐up at a flux of 1.68 cm d −1 for 100 d. Some of the columns were flushed with the raw water at the same rate for an additional 100 d. Column effluent was analyzed for constituents of concern. Results showed a complete retention of FGD WW Se in the soil materials. Boron and fluorine were partially retained; however, sulfur, sodium, and chlorine retention was poor, agreeing with field observations. The FGD WW Se was retained in soil near the inlet end of the columns, indicating its limited mobility under reduced conditions. Sequential extraction procedure revealed that retained Se was mainly sequestered as stable/residual forms. Bulk‐ and micro‐X‐ray absorption near‐edge structure spectroscopy confirmed that Se was mainly retained as reduced/stable species [Se(IV), organic Se, and Se(0)]. This study provides direct evidence for FGD WW Se retention in water‐saturated soil via the transformation of oxidized Se into reduced/stable forms. Core Ideas The mechanism of FGD wastewater Se retention in water‐saturated soil was studied. Sequential fractionation of Se, micro‐XRF, and micro‐ and bulk‐XANES were used. Behavior of FGD wastewater constituents in saturated soil was comparable to field‐scale observations. FGD wastewater Se exhibited strong retention in reduced soil. Reduced/stable species of Se governed the retention mechanism.
The coal combusted at coal-fired power plants (CFPPs) contains several trace elements that impact human heath if released to the environment. Effective combinations of air pollution control devices (APCDs) and water pollution control devices (WPCDs) are critical to reducing these impacts. This work sampled pulverized CFPPs owned and operated by Louisville Gas & Electricity – Kentucky Utilities (LGE-KU) during baseload and cycling conditions. Next, an open-source and easy-to-implement trace element partitioning model was developed using publicly available datasets, literature studies of trace element partitioning, and sampling data to estimate trace element partitioning in APCDs to the gas, liquid, and solid phases exiting CFPPs. These estimates of the liquid phase trace element concentration in FGD wastewater were then used to estimate trace element behavior in WPCDs and evaluate treated wastewater effluent concentrations for compliance with the Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG) for the Steam Electric Generating Sector. Finally, cost estimates were developed for established and emerging wastewater treatment trains to identify the most cost-effective approaches for ELG compliance.
The project work conducted under DOE award DE-FE0031678 was comprised of three overarching project goals: (1) evaluate the performance of Saltworks’ Flex EDR Selective process for treating wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater, (2) conduct bench-scale testing of wastewater encapsulation as a byproduct management technology for the EDR generated brine, and (3) develop a dynamic water balance model encompassing the results of the aforementioned testing.
Steam electric energy generation typically results in the discharge of one or more effluent streams. Coal-fired energy plant air quality regulations have had the effect of transferring pollutants previously in the flue gas to water by means of the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system. Combined physical-chemical and biological treatment solutions are currently the most economical approach for treating FGD wastewater. Multi-effect evaporators are significantly higher cost but can meet potential upcoming regulations that are more stringent.
The primary objective of this project is to characterize coal contaminants in coal-fired power plant wastewater as a function of coal type, unit configurations, and unit operation profile with uncertainty analysis. This project was in response to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solicitation DE-FOA-0001842. The project duration was between September 01, 2018, and December 31, 2021 (no-cost extension filed, due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, and approved). Field and lab test program was conducted with the main goal to characterize coal contaminants in coal-fired power plant wastewater as a function of coal type, unit configurations, and unit operation profile with uncertainty analysis. In this project, the team of Lehigh University (prime recipient) and Western Kentucky University identified two suitable Thermoelectric Power Plants (TTPs) firing bituminous and sub-bituminous coals respectively, designed test plans, and performed sample collection. Sampling included coal from each TTPs power generation units, Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization (WFGD) slurry material and waste-water samples taken from the outlet of the water treatment tank prior to discharge and other pertinent locations. Coal samples are dried, crushed, and pulverized according to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) methods. The prepared coal samples are analyzed for normal proximate and ultimate analysis tests in addition to the toxic metals and anions according to ASTM methods. The FGD slurry materials are analyzed for toxic metals and anions according to Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) or Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) methods, as appropriate. The wastewater samples from the water treatment tank outlet are analyzed for toxic metals and anions according to EPA methods. The effluent species analyzed include mercury, arsenic, selenium, nitrate/nitrite, bromide, and chlorine. This project provided results of effluent conditions as a function of coal type, unit configuration, and unit operation profile, and identified the levels of uncertainty in the effluent results.
Selenium is released into the environment via anthropogenic activities such as coal combustion. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Effluent Limitation Guideline (ELG) Rule limits the release of selenium species into U.S. waterways. To meet the ELG limit for selenium, coal-fired power plants must treat the wastewater produced by the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. Selenium removal is of interest because small changes of the concentrations of selenium in the environment can cause detrimental ecological consequences. Biological treatment is used to remediate this wastewater, but little is known about the individual species in the microbial consortium that reduce toxic water-soluble selenium oxyanions to insoluble elemental selenium. To optimize current biological treatment capabilities of this water, the selenium-reducing capabilities must be leveraged. In order to do so, the selenium-reducing bacteria (SeRB) in biological treatment systems must be characterized. This study will be the first to characterize the microbial consortia from a real FGD WW biological treatment system and provide insights on how to better achieve selenium removal via biological treatment. This work will provide insights into the microorganisms predominantly responsible for the reduction of selenium oxyanions in FGD wastewater biological treatment systems, which can be used to better optimize more efficient biological treatment strategies of this industrial waste.
The goal of this final project report is to summarize the work conducted on project DE-FE0031555. In accordance with the Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO), the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (UK CAER) (Recipient) developed a hybrid electrochemical-membrane technology for treating wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) blowdown from coal-fired power generation plants that (1) removes government-regulated species and total suspended solids (TSS) via electrocoagulation with solid/liquid separation to avoid further treatments by a biological method specifically for selenium, and (2) reduces total dissolved solids (TDS) in a nanofiltration unit to promote water recycle and reduce freshwater intake. Additional technological configurations were pursued, including (1) nanofiltration combined with zeolite dewatering for a near-zero liquid discharge (ZLD) scenario, and (2) polishing discharge from zeolite dewatering using capacitive deionization (CDI) with 90+% salt rejection to produce water with less than 100ppm TDS for more beneficial use. Project results verified that UK CAER’s hybrid approach addressed the complexities of WFGD blowdown with simplified unit operation at relatively low capital investment by demonstrating: (1) an effective in-situ generated solid sorbent material, green-rust (GR), that specifically removes regulated dissolved species in WFGD blowdown, including selenium, arsenic, and nitrates; (2) a low-cost, high flux nanofiltration treatment that removes both monovalent and divalent species at >80% rejection to adequately provide water recycle and extend the life of FGD equipment by mitigating chloride aided pitting corrosion mechanisms; and (3) a solidification and stabilization process using pozzolanic agents that retain regulated species and satisfy the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) leachate requirements. UK CAER proved electrocoagulation with GR to be an intensified solution for effluent limit guidelines (ELG), and based on preliminary techno-economic analysis (TEA), in comparison to DOE’s Case 1 for Biological Wastewater Treatment that had a purchased equipment cost (PEC) of $\$$5.26 million and a Total plant cost (TPC) of $\$$30.0 million, the EC process had a PEC of $\$$2.67 million and the TPC of $\$$17.0 million. While the electricity consumption for Case 1 was 53 kW, it was 110 kW for the EC process due to dissolving iron for a three-stage reaction design. However, electricity consumption for the EC process could be significantly reduced by adopting a counter-current reactor design for at least a 6-stage chemical reaction operation.
This project sought to evaluate the technical and economic viability of the Aquapod©, a transformational low energy (<200 kJ/kg water) waste heat coupled forward osmosis (FO) technology, to manage effluents, meet cooling water demands, and achieve water conservation in a coal-fired power plant environment. The Aquapod© process is innovative because it is heat-driven, avoids the evaporation of water, and uses no toxic chemicals such as ammonia or amines. The Aquapod© process accomplishes this using an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) coupled FO process. The evaluation revealed that the Aquapod© process offers a pathway to exploit waste heat resources within a power plant to achieve flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater volume reduction and water recovery with minimal pretreatment. Water recovery of 80% from FGD wastewater was achieved with minimal pretreatment, exceeding the project target of 50%. The estimated electrical energy of 2.16 kWh/m 3 of water produced for the Aquapod© process met the project target of < 3.6 kWh/m 3 . The heat required for the process operation was approximately 186 kJ/kg of produced water, which was slightly lower than the project target of 200 kJ/kg. The estimated treatment cost for installing and operating the Aquapod© process in conjunction with a spray dryer evaporator to achieve zero-liquid discharge (ZLD) of the 100 gpm FGD wastewater was $13.24/m 3 over a 30-year lifetime. As a point of reference, this study’s host power plant currently incurs a cost of $3.70/m 3 – $8.87/m3 on a discharged volume basis to discharge its wastewater into the publicly owned treatment works (POTW) after physical-chemical treatment. Therefore, the Illinois power plant would incur an incremental cost increase of $4.37/m 3 – 9.54/m 3 to achieve ZLD using the Aquapod© and spray dryer combination. Ample opportunities exist to further lower the ZLD capital and operating costs in the next design iteration to attain pipe parity at the higher end of the site treatment costs.