Chinese Coal-fired Power Plants Research Articles

CO2 capture modelling for pulverised coal-fired power plants: A case study of an existing 1 GW ultra-supercritical power plant in Shandong, China

China is building more than 1GW of advanced coal-fired power plants every week. This interdisciplinary study investigates the technical and economic performance of retrofitting a 1000MW ultra supercritical pulverised coal-fired (USCPC) power plant locating at Shandong province in China. An ASPEN simulation model is designed to estimate the energy output penalty at different levels of capture. The retrofitted system consists of the conventional power generation unit, the additional post-combustion unit and other associated extra equipments. The ASPEN simulation results show that the efficiency penalty is approximately 8.6% for a 90% capture rate and 6% for a 50% capture rate in this retrofitting study. In addition, the simulation result of the process model is applied to analyse the value of retrofitting flexibility and the economic-viable chance of retrofitting the underlying project through a real option analysis model. The economic model reveals that the value of retrofitting option in the 1GW USCPC power plant reaches US$76 million and that a 40% economic viable possibility of retrofitting to capture CO2 in its remaining 26years lifetime under the hypothetical baseline scenario. The significant economic benefits of retrofitting an existing USCPC plant to CO2 capture implies the urgency to conduct a detail survey on the retrofitting prospect of Chinese coal-fired power plants and develop a guideline to maintain their retrofitting options open.

The necessity of distinguishing weak and strong disposability among undesirable outputs in DEA: Environmental performance of Chinese coal-fired power plants

Different from previous efficiency researches, which normally assume a uniform disposability for all undesirable outputs in a production process, this paper proposes a model that distinguishes weak and strong disposability assumptions among various undesirable outputs based on their respective technical features. The paper illustrates the approach using a research sample covering 582 base-load Chinese coal-fired power plants in 2002. The final results show that imposing the technically correct disposability features on undesirable outputs makes a significant difference to the final efficiency evaluation. This suggests the necessity of properly distinguishing disposability features among undesirable outputs in a production process in efficiency models.

Establishment of a database of emission factors for atmospheric pollutants from Chinese coal-fired power plants

Field measurements and data investigations were conducted for developing an emission factor database for inventories of atmospheric pollutants from Chinese coal-fired power plants. Gaseous pollutants and particulate matter (PM) of different size fractions were measured using a gas analyzer and an electric low-pressure impactor (ELPI), respectively, for ten units in eight coal-fired power plants across the country. Combining results of field tests and literature surveys, emission factors with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by boiler type, fuel quality, and emission control devices using bootstrap and Monte Carlo simulations. The emission factor of uncontrolled SO 2 from pulverized combustion (PC) boilers burning bituminous or anthracite coal was estimated to be 18.0S kg t −1 (i.e., 18.0 × the percentage sulfur content of coal, S) with a 95% CI of 17.2S–18.5S. NO X emission factors for pulverized-coal boilers ranged from 4.0 to 11.2 kg t −1, with uncertainties of 14–45% for different unit types. The emission factors of uncontrolled PM 2.5, PM 10, and total PM emitted by PC boilers were estimated to be 0.4A (where A is the percentage ash content of coal), 1.5A and 6.9A kg t −1, respectively, with 95% CIs of 0.3A–0.5A, 1.1A–1.9A and 5.8A–7.9A. The analogous PM values for emissions with electrostatic precipitator (ESP) controls were 0.032A (95% CI: 0.021A–0.046A), 0.065A (0.039A–0.092A) and 0.094A (0.0656A–0.132A) kg t −1, and 0.0147A (0.0092–0.0225A), 0.0210A (0.0129A–0.0317A), and 0.0231A (0.0142A–0.0348A) for those with both ESP and wet flue-gas desulfurization (wet-FGD). SO 2 and NO X emission factors for Chinese power plants were smaller than those of U.S. EPA AP-42 database, due mainly to lower heating values of coals in China. PM emission factors for units with ESP, however, were generally larger than AP-42 values, because of poorer removal efficiencies of Chinese dust collectors. For units with advanced emission control technologies, more field measurements are needed to reduce emission factor uncertainties.

Incorporating both undesirable outputs and uncontrollable variables into DEA: The performance of Chinese coal-fired power plants

There are two difficulties in doing an objective evaluation of the performance of decision making units (DMUs). The first one is how to treat undesirable outputs jointly produced with the desirable outputs, and the second one is how to treat uncontrollable variables, which often capture the impact of the operating environment. Given difficulties in both model construction and data availability, very few published papers simultaneously consider the above two problems. This article attempts to do so by proposing six DEA-based performance evaluation models based on a research sample of the Chinese coal-fired power plants. The finding of this paper not only contributes for the performance measurement methodology, but also has policy implications for the Chinese coal-fired power sector.

Greener plants, grayer skies? A report from the front lines of China's energy sector

This article presents findings from the MIT China Energy Group's first-of-its-kind, independent nationwide survey of Chinese coal-fired power plants. It is well understood that developments in China's energy sector now have global environmental implications. It is also well understood that this sector has in recent years experienced rapidly rising fuel costs. The MIT survey, by delving into technology choice, pricing, fuel sourcing, and environmental cleanup at the firm level, provides insights into how the Chinese power sector as a whole responds, and what the environmental implications are. The findings suggest rapid uptake of advanced combustion technologies across the system, largely in response to rising fuel costs. Environmental cleanup systems, particularly for sulfur dioxide, have also spread rapidly, in large part due to regulatory enforcement. Yet, operationally, plants pollute substantially. Price hikes encourage them to source low-grade fuel and idle cleanup systems. On the whole, the Chinese system infrastructurally has a proven capacity for rapid technological upgrading in the face of new market and regulatory pressures. Operationally, however, in part due to exposure to market forces, and in part due to limited state capacity for monitoring operations, even the most advanced power plants remain major polluters.

The Leaching Behavior of Cadmium, Arsenic, Zinc, and Chlorine in Coal and Its Ash from Coal-Fired Power Plant

The leaching experiment of feed coal (C) and its laboratory high-temperature ash (HA), fly ash (FA), and bottom ash (BA) from a Chinese coal-fired power plant were carried out using column leaching under different pH conditions (pH = 2.0, 4.0, 6.0, and 7.5, respectively) and different leaching durations (up to 80 h). The leaching behaviors of As, Cd, Zn, and Cl were investigated. The results showed that the elements occurring in water-soluble, ion-exchangeable, and Fe–Mn oxide phases are potentially leachable, whereas those in association with organic matter and silicate are less likely to be leached. The cumulative percent of Zn, As, Cl, and Cd leached from C and ash samples increase with decrease in pH. The leaching rate of As and Cl in C and ash samples are higher in comparison with Zn and Cd. However, the maximum concentrations of Cd in the leachate from C, HA, FA, and BA are in excess of or very close to the maximum standard concentrations permitted in the Chinese Standards for Drinking Water and Surface Water. The ultimate concentrations of As, Cd, and Cl in the leachates did not attain equilibrium after the leaching of 80 h; therefore, longer leaching experiments are necessary to evaluate the impact of these hazardous trace elements on aqueous environment.

00/02980 The proposals for the sustainable development of Chinese coal-fired power plant

00/02980 The proposals for the sustainable development of Chinese coal-fired power plant