Knocking the SOx
Knocking the SOx Off Emissions
Adam Klepacki, Energoprojekt Katowice SA; Trey Walters, P.E., Applied Flow Technology, June 2012
Curbing SOx emissions from thermal power plants remains a challenge for operators but a project involving the refurbishment of the flue gas desulphurisation installation at a Polish power plant offers a way forward.
Power plants built in Poland from the 1960s to the 1980s were not equipped with flue gas after-treatment systems (except for dedusting installations) as the contemporary environmental regulations did not require them. Over the years, however, the situation has changed and power plants were obliged to carry out environmental projects that reduce emissions such as SOx and NOx.
The hydraulic calculations for this problem can always be done using hand calculations because a careful engineer must first have a feel for these issues and, second, know the theoretical foundations of hydraulic calculations to accurately interpret the results.
However, in the era of computers, one can use a specially designated software less complex than three-dimensional programmes. Commercially available programmes for conducting this type of calculation in a more straightforward way include AFT Arrow, developed by American company Applied Flow Technology. The main goal of this paper is to present results of numerical simulations of flue gas system in the GDF Suez Połaniec power plant carried out in AFT Arrow and to compare them with measurements collected during actual plant operation.
