A study of hazardous air pollutants at the Tidd PFBC Demonstration Plant

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Clean Coal Technology (CCD Program is a joint effort between government and industry to develop a new generation of coal utilization processes. In 1986, the Ohio Power Company, a subsidiary of American Electric Power (AEP), was awarded cofunding through the CCT program for the Tidd Pressure Fluidized Bed Combustor (PFBC) Demonstration Plant located in Brilliant, Ohio. The Tidd PFBC unit began operation in 1990 and was later selected as a test site for an advanced particle filtration (APF) system designed for hot gas particulate removal. The APF system was sponsored by the DOE Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) through their Hot Gas Cleanup Research and Development Program. A complementary goal of the DOE CCT and METC R ampersand D programs has always been to demonstrate the environmental acceptability of these emerging technologies. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) have focused that commitment toward evaluating the fate of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) associated with advanced coal-based and hot gas cleanup technologies. Radian Corporation was contacted by AEP to perform this assessment of HAPs at the Tidd PFBC demonstration plant. The objective of this study is to assess the major input, process, and emission streams at Plant Tidd for the HAPs identified in Title III of the CAAA. Four flue gas stream locations were tested: ESP inlet, ESP outlet, APF inlet, and APF outlet. Other process streams sampled were raw coal, coal paste, sorbent, bed ash, cyclone ash, individual ESP hopper ash, APF ash, and service water. Samples were analyzed for trace elements, minor and major elements, anions, volatile organic compounds, dioxin/furan compounds, ammonia, cyanide, formaldehyde, and semivolatile organic compounds. The particle size distribution in the ESP inlet and outlet gas streams and collected ash from individual ESP hoppers was also determined