Abstract
Anhui is one of the highest provincial emitters of air pollutants in China due to its large coal consumption in coal-fired plants. In this study, the total emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter (PM) from coal-fired power plants in Anhui were investigated to assess the impact of control measures on the atmospheric emissions based upon continuous emission monitoring systems (CEMS). The total NOx, SO2 and PM emissions significantly decreased from 2013 to 2017 and they were estimated at 24.5 kt, 14.8 kt and 3.0 kt in 2017, respectively. The emission reductions of approximately 79.0%, 70.1% and 81.2% were achieved in 2017 compared with a 2013 baseline, respectively, due to the application of high-efficiency emission control measures, including the desulfurization, denitration and dust-removing devices and selective catalytic reduction (SCR). The NOx, SO2 and PM emission intensities were 0.125 g kWh−1, 0.076 g kWh−1 and 0.015 g kWh−1 in 2017, respectively, which were lower than the average of national coal-fired units. The coal-fired units with ≥600 MW generated 80.6% of the total electricity amount while they were estimated to account for 70.5% of total NOx, 70.1% of total SO2 and 71.9% of total PM. Their seasonal emissions showed a significant correlation to the power generation with the maximum correlation found in summer (July and August) and winter (January and December). The major regional contributors are the cities along the Huai River Basin and Yangtze River Basin, such as Huainan, Huaibei, Tongling, Maanshan and Wuhu, and the highest emission occurred in Huainan, accounting for approximately 26–40% of total emission from all the power plants. Our results indicated that the application of desulfurization, denitration and dust-removing devices has played an important role in controlling air pollutant emissions from coal-fired power plants.
Highlights
The coal-fired power plants are an important industrial source for atmospheric pollutants, including nitrogen oxides (NOx ), sulfur dioxide (SO2 ) and particulate matter (PM) [1,2,3,4,5]
We developed an emission inventory based on continuous emissions monitoring system (CEMS) data from the coal-fired power sector in Anhui Province during the period from 2013 to 2017
The NOx, SO2 and PM emissions from coal-fired power plants had decreased from 116.9 kt, 49.4 kt and 16.0 kt in 2013 to 24.5 kt, 14.8 kt and
Summary
The coal-fired power plants are an important industrial source for atmospheric pollutants, including nitrogen oxides (NOx ), sulfur dioxide (SO2 ) and particulate matter (PM) [1,2,3,4,5]. To control the emissions of gaseous pollutants from coal-fired power plants, multiple policies on energy conservation and emission abatement have been implemented, including the evolution of policy instrument choice [7,8], the closure of small and inefficient boilers, the improvement in techniques [9,10,11,12] and the effectiveness of national air pollution. Understanding the current status of air pollutant emissions from coal-fired power plants is vital for decision makers to assess the effectiveness of control measures and establish future regional policy [14,15]. Satellite observation and unit-based inventory have been widely used to estimate NOx , SO2 and PM emissions from coal-fired power plants in China, which have indicated a recent reduction in NOx or SO2 at a national level or for a few specific cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai [2,16,17,18].
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