Coal-fired Power Plant In Malaysia Research Articles

The Antecedents of Workplace Injuries at Sultan Azlan Shah Power Station, TNB Janamanjung Sdn. Bhd.

Today, workplace injuries have become a major concern to an organization. Workplace injuries can cause minor injuries, major injuries (non-permanent disability or permanent disability), and would face financial loss or death. Being the largest coal-fired power plant in Malaysia, the employees in Sultan Azlan Shah Power Station (SASPS) are exposed to various workplace injuries. Many factors contribute to workplace injuries that expose employees to risk, for example fatigue, lack of training, condition of machineries, design of workplace, stress, dehydration, slips, trips and falls. TNBJ workplace injuries statistics among employees showed an increasing trend and needs to be investigated. The main objective of this study is to identify the determinants of workplace injuries among the employees including contractors at SASPS, Seri Manjung, Perak. This research used online and hardcopy questionnaire surveys that were collected conveniently from 320 respondents in SASPS. Multiple regression analysis was performed to test the hypotheses. Based on the statistical analysis, it was found that all independent variables (fatigue, lack of training, machineries and tools, and design of workplace) were positively significant to workplace injuries. Machineries and tools turned up as the main factors of workplace injuries in TNBJ. Using these findings, TNBJ managers should take actions to minimize both unsafe acts and unsafe conditions that contributed to workplace injuries.

Temperature Profile Assessment of Sub-Bituminous Coal by Using a Single Burner Combustion Test Facility

This paper presents a thermogravimetric analysis and combustion test for different coals used in a coal-fired power plant in Malaysia. The main objective is to investigate the suitability of adopting a newly-introduced sub-bituminuous coal in an existing boiler furnace commonly firing standard design coals. In order to ensure that the new coal will not give an adverse effect to the boiler, detail analytical and thermal performance of the new coal is investigated, together with design and other limiting coals. The combustion test was performed in a scaled down, 150kW, single swirl burner combustion test facility available in TNB Research Sdn. Bhd. In the study, combustion gas temperature at different sectors downstream of burner region is measured to determine the peak temperature for all tested coals. Based on the investigation, it was noted that coal with the highest fixed carbon content gives the highest temperature measure at all sectors. Similarly, coal with the lowest fixed carbon gives the lowest temperature. The temperature profile for the newly tested coal was found to be comparable to the design and limiting value coals. Even though it was observed that the temperature given by the new coal is the highest slightly downstream of the burner, the temperature was observed to be decreases as combustion gas flow downstream of the combustor rig. Based on the observation it can be said that the new coal is suitable to be used by the existing boiler furnace.

Health Assessment and Biomonitoring of Workers in a Coal-Fired Power Plant in Malaysia

Coal fired thermal plants generation of electricity is an interesting choice for Malaysia that has historically depended on oil and natural gas for energy. For power generation, the country cannot ...

Evaluation of Radiological Hazards of Particulates Emissions From a Coal Fired Power Plant

Abstract Natural minerals may contain radionuclides of natural origin of Uranium-238 (238U) and Thorium-232 (232Th) decay series. Similarly, coal like any other minerals found in nature contains trace amount of such naturally occurring radionuclides including Potassium-40 (40K). The generation of electricity by coal fired power plant (CFPP) releases particulates emission to the atmosphere and deposited on the surrounding area that may increase the natural background radiation level within the facility. This paper presents an evaluation of the natural radioactivity concentration found in the particulates emission from a typical CFPP in Malaysia. Standard Gaussian dispersion model approach was used to predict the potential radiological hazards arising from the particulates released from the stack. The predicted maximum ground level particulate (Cmax) concentration and downwind distance (X) was 52 µg m–3 and 1,600 m of away from the CFPP, respectively. The air dispersion modelling results recorded that the calculated Cmax released from the CFPP was found lower than the national and international ambient air quality limits, which means that radiological hazards due to inhalation of natural radionuclides in particulate released to the environment is insignificant. The findings revealed that, this activity does not impose any significant radiological risk to the human population at large and the operation is in compliance with the national legislation and international practice.

Decision analysis of multi-pollutant control strategy for coal-fired power plant in Malaysia

The promulgation of Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulations 2014 on emissions from coal-fired power plants in Malaysia has prompted power plant operators to adopt emission control strategy that complies with the new emission limits. Currently, various emission control strategies are available to achieve the desired emission level. Each strategy offers unique advantages and disadvantages, depending on the objective of emissions control, process nature, and constraints on the resources incurred. To address this challenge, a proper decision-making analysis needs to be performed. In this paper, a systematic decision analysis methodology is proposed to select the most effective multi-pollutant control strategy that is compatible for coal-fired power plants in Malaysia. The methodology includes: (1) identification of pollutant emission from the plant under study and comparison with the stipulated emission limits, (2) establishment of emission factors, (3) selection of multi-pollutant control strategy, (4) identification of emission reduction factor for the pollutants and control technologies of interest, (5) determination of emission level from the selected multi-pollutant control strategy, and (6) prediction of ground-level concentration of pollutants. The decision analysis methodology is applied to a real case study of coal-fired power plant in Malaysia, which also currently faces a dilemma to comply with the additional and more stringent emission limits stipulated in the Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulations 2014. The proposed method is applicable for both the process concept under the design phase as well as the existing process plant.

Land reclamation & soil improvement works for a coal-fired power plant in Malaysia

Land reclamation & soil improvement works for a coal-fired power plant in Malaysia

Comparison of pollutant ambient concentration from two air pollution control (APC) strategies in coal-fired power plant

n this paper, ambient concentrations of Hg and dioxins/furans from two air pollution control (APC) strategies are compared. The strategies include the existing APC strategy at the studied coal - fired power plant (CFPP) and the proposed APC strategy for compliance with parameters in the Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulations (CAR) 201 4. The former system consists of electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) which are commonly employed in CFPP in Malaysia, whereas the latter consists of activated carbon injection (ACI), fabric filter (FF) and FGD. It was found that the emissions under the proposed APC strategy of ACI + FF+ FGD have higher margin of limits compared to the existing APC strategy of ESP + FGD. The emissions values were then used as input in AERMOD to predict the ambient concentrations of pollutants . The findings show that the ambient concentrations of Hg and dioxins/furans from both strategies are well below the ambient guideline values, with those emitted from the proposed APC strategy are so low to the point that they are negligible.

Health risk assessment of emissions from a coal-fired power plant using AERMOD modelling

Current electricity generation mix in Malaysia consists of 58% gas, 33% coal and 9% hydro. It is anticipated that by year 2019, the generation mix will be at 64% coal, 32% gas and 4% hydro. Due to the increase in coal consumption for power generation, there is a critical need to evaluate the health risks for the population living in the vicinity of a coal-fired power plant in Malaysia. To date, such study related to the plant in Malaysia has never been published. In this study, health risk assessment (HRA) for air emission from a coal-fired power plant in Malaysia was carried out. Two pollutants from the Proposed New Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulation 201X (Draft) (i.e. SO2 and Hg) were assessed for non-carcinogenic health risk, and two trace elements (i.e. As and Cr) were assessed for carcinogenic health risk. Both short-term and long-term health effects were evaluated. Air dispersion modelling (AERMOD) was used to predict the ground level concentration (GLC) within 10km radius of the emission source. Based on the HRA, different health risks were identified for short-term and long-term dispersion of the studied pollutants. The findings indicate that a detailed assessment on the short-term and long-term health effects of the emissions from coal-fired power plant in Malaysia with meteorological factor as one of the significant factors influencing the emissions level is needed.

Understanding selected trace elements behavior in a coal-fired power plant in Malaysia for assessment of abatement technologies

The Proposed New Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulation 201X (Draft), which replaces the Malaysia Environmental Quality (Clean Air) 1978, specifies limits to additional pollutants from power generation using fossil fuel. The new pollutants include Hg, HCl, and HF with limits of 0.03, 100, and 15 mg/N-m3 at 6% O2, respectively. These pollutants are normally present in very small concentrations (known as trace elements [TEs]), and hence are often neglected in environmental air quality monitoring in Malaysia. Following the enactment of the new regulation, it is now imperative to understand the TEs behavior and to assess the capability of the existing abatement technologies to comply with the new emission limits. This paper presents the comparison of TEs behavior of the most volatile (Hg, Cl, F) and less volatile (As, Be, Cd, Cr, Ni, Se, Pb) elements in subbituminous and bituminous coal and coal combustion products (CCP) (i.e., fly ash and bottom ash) from separate firing of subbituminous and bituminous coal in a coal-fired power plant in Malaysia. The effect of air pollution control devices configuration in removal of TEs was also investigated to evaluate the effectiveness of abatement technologies used in the plant. This study showed that subbituminous and bituminous coals and their CCPs have different TEs behavior. It is speculated that ash content could be a factor for such diverse behavior. In addition, the type of coal and the concentrations of TEs in feed coal were to some extent influenced by the emission of TEs in flue gas. The electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and seawater flue gas desulfurization (FGD) used in the studied coal-fired power plant were found effective in removing TEs in particulate and vapor form, respectively, as well as complying with the new specified emission limits.Implications:Coals used by power plants in Peninsular Malaysia come from the same supplier (Tenaga Nasional Berhad Fuel Services), which is a subsidiary of the Malaysia electricity provider (Tenaga Nasional Berhad). Therefore, this study on trace elements behavior in a coal-fired power plant in Malaysia could represent emission from other plants in Peninsular Malaysia. By adhering to the current coal specifications and installation of electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and flue gas desulfurization, the plants could comply with the limits specified in the Malaysian Department of Environment (DOE) Scheduled Waste Guideline for bottom ash and fly ash and the Proposed New Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulation 201X (Draft).