Water Energy Nexus: Coal- Based Power Generation and Conversion – Saving Water Energy Working Group December 2016 APEC Project: EWG 08/2014 A Produced by DNV GL 16 Science Park Drive, DNV GL Technology Centre Singapore 118227 www.dnvgl.com For Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat 35 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Singapore 119616 Tel: (65) 68919 600 Fax: (65) 68919 690 Email: [email protected] Website: www.apec.org © 2017 APEC Secretariat APEC#217-RE-01.1 Page i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report was commissioned by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to compile and analyse information on technology developments, best practices and current policy measures related to water use for coal-power generation and clean coal technologies in APEC economies. Information was collected from publicly available policy documents, research papers, technical reports, trade publications and supplemented by DNV GL’s internal knowledgebase. The information from documents in the public domain was supplemented by contacting major utilities such as Enel and Eskom to get additional information on their publications. Modern energy and water systems are interdependent. Rapid urbanization, economic growth and anthropogenic climate change are expected to place further pressure on energy and water resources. More than half of the APEC economies generate a significant (>33%) portion of their electricity from coal. However, the focus on clean development will necessitate a change in the status quo use of both coal and water resources. The volume of water required for power generation depends on several factors, such as the generation technology, type of cooling deployed and site operating conditions. Cooling water use consumes the largest volume of water for a typical existing coal power plant, particularly ones using cooling towers. This is followed by wet Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) and boiler make-up water. It is also noted that newer low emission/high efficiency technologies, such as integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), circulating fluidized bed (CFB) and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) are not always more water efficient compared to conventional generation. The water used for these plants in turn consumes considerable amounts of energy as this water needs to undergo various physical and chemical treatment processes. Four emerging technology categories for reducing water use in coal power generation were covered. First, water vapour can be captured from exhaust flue gas. Here, liquid sorption is the process that gives the best output water quality but the use of heat exchangers (i.e., condensate cooling) is the most mature technology and is also more energy efficient. The use of membranes for vapour capture is also being investigated by industry players. Second, re-use of water and Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) can be implemented using effluent municipal wastewater or industrial third-party wastewater. This can realize water savings, but only when using stable water quality sources, such as Cooling Tower (CT) blowdown or Reverse Osmosis (RO) brine as raw water. DNV GL finds that ZLD is most often implemented by power stations where discharge is either too expensive or not permitted and thus alternatives were required. Third, cooling water requirements can be optimized through operational improvements. Cooling ponds can help improve power plant efficiency and lower overall emissions when compared to cooling towers but are often overlooked. The use of advanced anti-fouling coatings is well known for cooling water conduits and their application has also shown promise for use in condenser tubes and heat exchangers. Fourth, membrane technologies are being used for forward osmosis to produce make-up water at a lower operating cost. In areas of high water stress, power plants can adopt dry cooling technologies or deploy non-fresh water sources for cooling. Other water-saving approaches, like matching appropriate water quality to the desired end use, will also reduce water pinch, for example surface run-off water for reuse in emission control technologies, such as FGD. This report also highlights the research initiatives undertaken by APEC economies to address water use in coal technologies. Leading among these is the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center’s (CERC) Water- Energy Technology funding to develop new approaches to reduce water consumption and CO2 emissions from thermoelectric plants. The U.S. government is also supporting water efficiency research and Page iii demonstration projects through the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). In addition, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in the United States is supporting technology demonstrations as a member-funded organization of primarily U.S. electric utilities. Many APEC economies, such as Australia; China; Hong Kong, China; New Zealand; and the United States intend to diversify their power generation mix in the future to significantly reduce the use of coal. This may lead to a decline in the water consumption for electricity generation depending on the technologies adopted and the demand growth. However, in some economies, such as China, the expanding use of coal conversion (into liquid or gas) technologies will place further stress on water resources due to their high water consumption. Some APEC economies (Malaysia; Russia; Viet Nam etc.) also expect to have coal dominate the growth of their power generation mix. The importance of adopting clean coal technologies has been strongly emphasized in respective planning documents of these economies, but the same level of emphasis has not been placed on addressing water stress emerging from this transition. However, the same economies are also considering replacing coal-fired with gas-fired power generation because combined cycle gas power plants are usually less water intensive. In addition, recent technological advancements indicate a higher maturity level for ZLD technologies for application in gas-fired compared to coal-fired power plants. Page iii Table of Contents LIST OF ACRONYMS ......................................................................................................................... VI LIST OF EXHIBITS ............................................................................................................................ X 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Definitions 3 1.3 Report objectives and structure 4 2 COAL POWER GENERATION AND WATER USE ...................................................................... 5 3 WATER USE IN COAL POWER GENERATION ........................................................................... 8 3.1 Cooling Water Use 8 3.2 Process Water Production 22 3.3 Coal and Ash Handling 28 3.4 Boiler Cleaning 29 3.5 SOx removal - Wet and Dry Flue Gas Desulphurization 31 3.6 Wastewater Treatment 33 3.7 Water usage in carbon capture and storage 37 3.8 Water use in other coal Conversion Technologies 39 4 EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES FOR REDUCTION OF WATER USE.............................................. 46 4.1 Water Vapour Capture from Exhaust Flue Gas 46 4.2 Re-use of Water and ZLD technology 51 4.3 Tackling cooling water use 67 4.4 Membrane technologies 70 4.5 Case Studies 71 5 MEMBER ECONOMIES’ STATUS AND POLICY REVIEW ............................................................. 78 5.1 Australia 78 5.2 Canada 81 5.3 Chile 83 5.4 People’s Republic of China 85 Page iv 5.5 Hong Kong, China 93 5.6 Indonesia 94 5.7 Japan 97 5.8 Korea 100 5.9 Malaysia 103 5.10 Mexico 105 5.11 New Zealand 106 5.12 Philippines 107 5.13 Russia 110 5.14 Chinese Taipei 111 5.15 Thailand 114 5.16 United States 116 5.17 Viet Nam 124 5.18 Other APEC Economies 128 6 APEC INITIATIVES ........................................................................................................... 129 7 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 133 8 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................... 135 8.1 Appendix A - Summary of articles of gas-fired power plants applying ZLD 135 8.2 Appendix B - Directives on cooling water discharge in non-APEC economies 138 Page v LIST OF ACRONYMS New Energy & Industrial Technology CCPI Clean Coal Power Initiative, USA NEDO Development Organisation CCS Carbon Capture and Storage ACC Air-Cooled Condenser CCT Clean Coal Technologies AIF Annual Intake Flow CCTDP Clean Coal Technology ALARA As Low As Reasonably Achievable Demonstration Program, USA AMBIO Advanced Nanostructured Surfaces CCUS Carbon Capture Utilization and for the Control of Biofouling Storage APCO Air Pollution Control Ordinance CDS Circulating Dry Scrubber APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEP Conservation Efficiency and Productivity API American Petroleum Institute CERC U.S.-China Clean Energy Research APS Arizona Public Service Electric Center Company CERC-WET CERC Water-Energy Technologies APVMA Australian Pesticide and Veterinary Medicines Authority CFBC Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustion AS Fly Ash Stabilizer CFE Commission Federal de Electricidad, Mexico ASU Air Separation Unit CIC Central Interconnected System BAT Best Available Technology CIP Clean In Place BC Brine Connector CO Carbon Monoxide BCL Brown Coal Liquefaction COACH Cooperation Action with CCS China- BDP Biocidal Product Directive EU BFBC