z.
I
t benefits my country to help Eastern European nations overcome their air pollution problems. More than 50% of our air pollution comes from Eastern Europe,” Jukka Valtasaari, Finland’s ambassador to the United States, told a World Bad-Finnish Embassy seminar on energy and the environment in Eastern Europe in late May. He blames much of his country’s “imported” air pollution on the inefficient use of fossil fuels in Eastern Europe for power generation and heating. One goal of Finland’s technical assistance, perhaps financed partly by World B a d loans to Eastern European nations, is to make these countries’ use of fossil fuels more efficient, in part by improving the combustion efficiency of fossil fuels. Initial steps will include modernizing urban district heating and cogeneration. Other efforts would entail the installation of flue gas desulfurization and NO, abatement systems, and fluidized-bed combustion (FBC) systems. Increased use of biomass energy would follow. Valtasaari points out that to meet Finland’s own needs, Finnish research organizations and companies have developed the expertise for increasing energy efficiency and using biomass-based fuels in cold climates, thereby improving the environment. Moreover, as Taisto Turunen, a director-general of Finland’s Ministry of Trade a n d Industry (MTI), points out, Finland can provide know-how and assistance because of its long experience in working with East European and former Soviet nations. Cogeneration Part of Eastem Europe’s pollution load results from inefficiency in the fossil-fueled production and distribution of energy. Among its causes are the use of old technology, transmission losses, and the uncontrolled combustion of “dirty” fuels such as the region’s abundant brown coal, lignite, and oil shale. Energy pricing is another factor: government subsidies that allowed individual, residential, and industrial users access to energy at artificially low prices provided little incentive to conserve and efficiently produce and distribute energy. Con-
verting to modem, efficient technology for power generation and “reali s t i c ” energy p r i c i n g w o u l d substantially reduce future loadings and “exports” of pollution in and from Eastern Europe. One example of old technology is power plants based on condensation, in which the steam that drives the generators is run through once and condensed, and the condensate
could be curtailed by about onethird.
So, and NO, control Conversion to cogeneration is only a part of the planned pollution reduction effort. In addition, fossilfueled power plants will be retrofitted with SO, and NO, controls. Some Finnish technology for such flue gas cleaning may be transferable to Eastern Europe. For example, IVO has developed NO, reduction technology such as DIMAC low-NO, burners, which manage combustion by constantly monitoring and controlling the intensity and shape of flames to curtail the generation of nitrogen oxides. Other technology the company markets uses catalytic systems to reduce NO,. These systems are used with flue gas desulfurization (FGD). In 1991, N O installed low-NO, burners, as well as electrostatic precipitators and FGD systems at power plants in Ink00 and Naantali, Finland. A plant at Meri-Pori, Finland, now under construction, will have low-NO, burners and catalytic NO, reduction systems that are expected to reduce NO, emissions by up to 80%. In addition, electrostatic precipitators and FGD systems will cut particulate and SO, emissions by >99.5% and >go%, respectively. Kallio says that the demand for SO, control and FGD equipment in Eastern Europe is “huge.” It is sorely needed in Poland, where SO, emissions are about 3.2 million metric tons per year and NO, emissions are 1.3 million metric tons per year (Table 1). The necessary technology transfer has started. For exis discarded. Pentti Kallio of Ima- ample, IVO has delivered one selectran Voima Oy (IVO, Vantaa, Fin- tive noncatalytic reduction plant for land), southern Finland’s electric NO, abatement to the Czech Repubutility, told the seminar that con- lic for that country’s Otrocovice densation systems must give way to power plant. cogeneration, which he calls “comIn other cases, FBC, rather than bined heat and power.” postcombustion control systems, In a power plant or other indus- for SO, and NO, may be the way to trial facilities, cogeneration means go. Kai Hyviirinen of A. Ahlstrom that exhaust heat is recycled for pro- (Varkaus, Finland, and San Diego, cess or steam heat. Kallio says that CA)says that his company’s subsidsuch a plant can be 85-90% effi- iary, Ahlstrom Pyropower, a supcient, compared with a maximum of plier of circulating fluid-bed com40% for a plant that uses condensa- b u s t i o n (CFBC) b o i l e r s a n d tion only. Also, he estimates that if bubbling fluid-bed combustion cogeneration were applied as (BFBC) boilers, has delivered more widely as is practical and economi- than 100 CFBC plants (up to 160 cally feasible, emissions of SO,, MW,) that are able to bum coal, ligNO,, and CO, in Eastern Europe nite (brown coal),wood waste, or almost any carbonaceous or refuse-
Eonverting to efficient technology for power generation would suhstantially reduce loadings and “exports” of pollution in and from Eastern Europe,
B Y JULIAN JOSEPHSON
Environ. Sd. Technol.. Vol. 27, No. 9,1993 1747
0, and NO, emissions in Eastern Europe housand metric tons per year) and cleanup cost estimates
I ~
SO*
t. Petersburg (Russia)
Poland
Slovak Republics
Czech and
urce: Presentation b
NOr
260 276 250
107 I20
3200 2500
1300 1100
75
Investments needed lo clean llue qas, 1991-hMO (million US
100-300 300-1 000 100-400 3000-8000 1000-4000
y 1993.
derived fuel. SO, emissions are reduced by up to 95% by limestone injection, and NO, emissions are curtailed with or without ammonia injection as the particular circumstances of combustion require. FBC, including BFBC and CFBC, works by burning the fuel with a calcium sorbent to adsorb SO,, suspended in the air. NO, formation is curtailed because BFBC and CFBC combustion temperatures (800-900 “C) are lower than those of conventional boilers (1500-1800 “C). Fluid-bed technology eliminates the need for postcombustion gas cleaning for SO, and NO,, but particulates can be caught by electrostatic precipitators or fabric filters. Hyv3rinen says that current CFBC technology eventually will be available to power plants rated up to 400 MW,. Also, Tampella Power (Tampere, Finland, and Williamsport, PA) is working on projects in BFBC of “difficult fuels” such as pulp and paper mill sludges and biomass. Some are in Finland, and onewhich uses bark, sludge, and natural nas or fuel oil-is under wav in Shddon, TX. The status of FBC is discussed in the 500-page proceedings of a conference on FBC technology, held in Cambridge, MA, in late September 1992.The conference covered atmospheric and pressurized FBC as well as advanced concepts such as CFBC and BFBC. The proceedings were published in April 1993 (see end of article for ordering information). Using indigenous resources Another technology transfer project will consist of reducing Eastern European countries’ dependence on fossil fuels and increasing their use of indigenous resources, primarily renewable forest-derived biomass and peat. Finland considers peat to be biomass, whereas in the United States, peat is consid1748 Environ. Sa. Technoi., Vol. 27, No. 9. 1993
ered fossil fuel. Peat mostly is used for agricultural purposes, such as fertilizer, in the United States. “Biofuels don’t generate SO,, they consist of 0.035% sulfur,” Dan Asplund, director of the Combustion and Thermal Engineering Laboratory of Finland’s National Technical Research Center (Jyvaskyla, Finland: Finnish abbreviation, VTT), reminded t h e seminar. “What’s more, they generate no net CO,,” he adds. Not all Eastern European countries, however, have abundant forest resources; Russia does [ESbT1992,26,18921,but the forests of the Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have been depleted. Finnish forest managers have demonstrated that depletion can be reversed. Since World War II, Finland’s forested land area has grown by 20% [ESbT1992,26,18921.Describing the current situation, Asplund says, “Finland could sustainably use 80 million cubic meters per year of wood from the tree trunks alone. The tops, branches, needles, and roots furnish an additional 50 million cubic meters of biomass. We use only 60 million cubic meters, so we have a surplus.” The key to maintaining this wood surplus is that nothing from a tree goes to waste. Wood that cannot be used for pulp and paper is used for energy (perhaps 6 0 4 5 % of the wood is made into pulp and paper). Asplund’s laboratory is testing ways to use the whole tree even more efficiently. Approaches include classifying wood and bark, thereby improving the efficiency of combustion and conserving wood. NO, emissions from wood burning would be curtailed with low-NO, burners. If VTT succeeds, its technology could be transferred to the Baltic nations to help them reverse the depletion of their forests, and to Russia to aid in maintaining and expanding its forest areas.
Another ongoing project is the improvement of peat harvesting and combustion technology. Peat is an abundant indigenous resource in Finland, Russia, and the Baltic countries (especially Estonia). Finland has 10 million hectares (ha) of peat reserves, of which 50,000 ha is being harvested commercially. Estonia, a small country, has as much as 1 million ha. Russia has many millions of hectares of peat land. Asplund explains that new methods of extracting and milling peat can increase the yield by 5 0 4 0 % with less disruption of the peat lands. After harvest, the lands from which peat is taken may be restored as wetlands or used as forest land. Net heat values for coal, peat, and bark are shown in Figure 1. Asko Ojaniemi of VAPO Oy (Jyvaskyla), a state-owned maker of peat and wood energy systems and peat fertilizer, believes that Finnish peat technology will help improve Eastern Europe’s environment, especially in the Baltic countries. Not only would the extraction minimize land disruption, but the use of FBC to burn peat would reduce NO, and SO, emissions. (Peat normally is a low-sulfur fuel, so SO, abatement equipment usually is unnecessary.) Moreover, peat could replace some of the high-sulfur fuel oil now in wide use in the Baltic countries, thereby cutting sulfur emissions even more. In properly harvested and restored peat lands, peat eventually forms again. Cutting heat losses
One major example of inefficient energy use in some Eastern European cities is heat losses in district heating, Sakari Oksanen of Ekono Energy points out. St. Petersburg, Russia, and Tallinn, Estonia, are examples of cities with district heat-
source: IN0 Internabbna.
ing, by which steam heat from a single source i s supplied to homes and businesses in a portion of a city. Oksanen estimates that energy consumption could be cut 3 0 4 5 % just by repairing leakages, fixing water taps, and insulating buildings. Power should be cogenerated with efficient heat exchange. In the United States, district heating currently i s not inuse: a system tried in Nashville proved uneconomical and was closed down during the mid-1970s. One major problem with district heating in some Eastern European and Russian cities i s that the same pipes carry hot water for home taps and for district heating. Oksanen says that water treatment cannot keep up with use and that impurities get into the system and cause pipe corrosion. The water runs through at 75-125 “C: sometimes live steam shoots out when the tap i s opened! Moreover, because piping systems are old, heat and hot water losses can range 1040% (in Finland, the average loss is near the economic optimum of 8%). Oksanen says that the biggest expenditure of funds for modernizing dist r i c t heating, “ w h i c h makes environmental good sense,’’ would be to separate municipal district heating pipe systems from drinking water pipe systems. “In Tallinn or St. Petersburg, you see much steam leaking when you walk on almost any street,” says Oksanen. “Simply stopping the leaks will pay back all of t h e costs [of such repairs] in up to 1year. Improving water quality and insulating buildings would have a 1-2year payback. Installing cogeneration would pay for itself in 10-15 years.” Still another cause of inefficiency in energy use in Eastern Europe i s consumer pricing. In Russia, for instance, it costs about 5 2 a month to heat a 50-mZ apartment, Oksanen explains. This figure i s included in t h e rent, so the user has no incentive to conserve energy. This l o w price i s a result of a subsidy to energy users by t h e Russian government. In Finland, on the other hand, energy i s not subsidized and i s metered separately: for a similar apartment, the cost of heat could be at least $70 a month. That price, Oksanen believes, gives the apartment dweller much incentive to conserve energy. Finland and Eastern European countries are looking to World Bank loans to finance some of the im-
provements in energy efficiency that would lead to lower pollution loadings. The World Bank, however, will expect certain conditions to be met, according to Richard Stern, Director of the Energy and Industry Department, because the Bank attaches great importance to economic efficiency in addressing environmental problems and in meeting energy demands. Stern says that before granting any loan, t h e World Bank will require a statement on energy use strategy, pricing policies (foremost among which i s pricing for efficiency), and the use of modern p o l l u t i o n abatement technologies at the lowest cost. These concerns are especially cmcia1 for Eastern Europe, in Stern’s view. As for Finland’s o w n efforts to promote energy efficiency and to
use more indigenous sources such as biomass, “We have a carbon tax [levied earlier t h i s decade] which i s 6-7% of t h e price of fuel to t h e consumer,” Turunen says. “So far, it’s t h e highest such tax in the world. Also, our energy taxes w i l l keep going up. Russia’s energy prices are too low. Russia needs to raise i t s energy prices substantially i f energy i s to be conserved.” Additional reading FBC technology conference proceedings (EPRI TR-101816)can be ordered from the Electric Power Research Institute Distribution Center, P.O. Box 23205, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523; (510) 934-4212. The price for nonmembers of EPRI is $200.
Julian Josephson is an associate editor on the Washington staffof ES&T.
Nuclear power problems dustry about his country’s plans to build a fifth nuclear reactor. Originally, Finland‘s Parliament was to vote on it in May 1993. In early June, the Parliament’s economic affairs committee voted 9 to 8 against it. The debate and vote in the full Parliament have been postponed to autumn; currently indications are that the vote will be “extremely tight,” a Finnish embassy official told ES&T. Among the motives for proposing the plant is the creation of jobs during a period of high unemployment and the importation of about 900 MW a year of electric power from Russia. “Opponents of the plant argue that alternative solutions, such as biomass energy, will aenerate more emolovment.” said The official. The United States also is assisting countries of the former Soviet Union in upgrading the safety of Soviet-designed nuclear power plants. This is being done under multilateral agreements such as the Lisbon Nuclear Safety Initiative and Support for Eastern European Democracies. The U.S. Department of Energy is leading this effort through the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL, Upton, NY), which is carrying out the energy-related parts of the two programs. The aim is to install Western nuclear safety systems. In July, BNL contracted the architecturelengineering phases of the project to a team consisting of Ebasco (New York, NY), Westinghouse, and Atomenergoexport, the Russian import-export agency for nuclear technology developed in the former Soviet Union. I
“There are eight [Chernobyl-type] nuclear power reactors about 150 km from our borders that must be repaired or replaced,” said Finlands Ambassador Valtasaari. “We have the know-how to help. Two of our four reactors were based on the Soviet technology, and we learned how to retrofit them to meet safety standards.” Examples include adding early fault detection, improved core and performance monitoring, and a safety parameter display system comparable with those made by firms such as Westinghouse or ABB-Combustion Engineering. ”We can update reactors in Russia so that they will run at optimum efficiency 90% of the time,” Valtasaari added. One such retrofitted plant is located in Loviisa, Finland. €S&J asked Taisto Turunen of Finlint++ Miniatrv nf Trxle and In-
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