For years, scientists and power companies have looked for ways to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants.
The companies have installed scrubbers. But they don’t take care of some of the emissions, such as mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide.
The owners of the Milton R. Young power station near Center are trying something new to help cut down on those emissions. As Prairie Public’s Dave Thompson reports, the new technique uses chemicals to reduce emissions.
Minnkota Power Cooperative of Grand Forks owns the Young plant. President and CEO MacMcLennan says Minnkota has already spent $450-millions on pollution control technology – scrubbers -- and was trying to find a lower cost way of cutting back emissions further. Then a Colorado power plant technology and research company proposed a new technique, where chemicals are used to treat the coal.
“We are the first lignite-based, cyclone-fired boil to use Cy-Clean technology in the country," McLennan said at a ceremony at the plant.
Dr. Mike Durham is the director of Clean Coal Solutions. He says the company installed the “Cy-Clean” system at the Young station late last fall, and it was tested for three months.
“And so what they’re seeing is a result of our chemical and our technology, and their efforts to use this," said Durham. "We’re seeing reduced emissions of NOX and Mercury. We’re seeing improved combustion. And all of this comes down to greater reliability and lower costs of operations.”
Minnkota has now begun using the technology in its day-to-day operations.
“From my perspective, the early indications are that the real advantages are that we will be able to significantly reduce mercury and significantly reduce the impact of NOX emissions through this clean coal project," said McLennan. “We have to find solutions, like the one we’re talking about today, to be able to continue to use this great resource, hundreds of years’ supply, right here in the region.”
Durham says this could turn out to be a marketable technology. “And the important lessons that we’ve learned here at M. R. Young will help us apply this to other lignite plants in North Dakota, as well as plants burning other coals throughout the country.”
