Development of the advanced coolside sorbent injection process for SO{sub 2}

The goal of this work was to develop a low-capital-cost process capable of over 90% SO{sub 2} removal as an economically attractive option for compliance with the Clean Air Act. The Advanced Coolside Process uses a contactor to simultaneously remove fly ash and saturate the flue gas with water, followed by sorbent injection into the highly humid flue gas and collection of the sorbent by the existing particulate collector High sorbent utilization is achieved by sorbent recycle. The original performance targets of 90% SO{sub 2} removal and 60% sorbent utilization were exceeded in 1000 acfm pilot plant operations using commercial hydrated lime as the only sorbent. Process optimization simplified the process equipment, resulting in significant cost reduction. Recent accomplishments include completion of equipment testing and sorbent optimization, a waste management study, and a long-term performance test. An economic evaluation for the optimized process projects capital costs 55% to 60 % less than those of limestone forced oxidation wet FGD. The projected levelized control cost is 15% to 35% lower than wet FGD (25% lower for a 260 MWe plant burning a 2.5% sulfur coal), depending on plant size and coal sulfur content.