Clean Coal Technology III (CCT III): 10 MW demonstration of gas suspension absorption. Technical progress report, fourth quarter, FY 1991 (10/01/91--12/31/91)

In response to the third Clean Coal Technology Program solicitation, AirPol Inc. submitted a proposal for the design, installation and testing of the Gas Suspension Absorption (GSA) system at Tennessee Valley Authority`s (TVA) Shawnee Test Facility (STF). This low-cost retrofit project will demonstrate the GSA system which is expected to remove more than 90% of the SO{sub 2} from coal-fired flue gas, while achieving a high utilization of reagent lime. The host site facility will be the STF located at the Shawnee Fossil Plant in West Paducah, Kentucky. Over the past 15 years, the STF has served as a testground for flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems. At the present time a semi-dry process employing 10 MW capacity spray dryer is being tested at the facility. Upon completion of the current spray dryer test, the GSA system will be tested for a period of eleven months. The GSA system brings coal combustion gases into contact with a suspended mixture of solids, including sulfur-absorbing lime. After the lime absorbs the sulfur pollutants, the solids are separated from the gases in a cyclone device and recirculated back into the system where they capture additional sulfur pollutant. The cleaned flue gases are sent through a dust collector before being released into the atmosphere. The key to the system`s superior economic performance with high sulfur coals is the recirculation of solids. Typically, a solid particle will pass through the system about one hundred times before leaving the system. Another advantage of the GSA system is that a single spray nozzle is used to inject fresh lime slurry