G'K'Pandey, Advisor,

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MANAGEMENT OF THERMAL POWER PLANTS IN INDIA
G.K.Pandey, Advisor, Ministry of Environment
Forests, (Govt. of India) S.K.Tyagi,Scientist,
B.Sengupta,Member Secretary Central Pollution
Control Board, New Delhi (INDIA)
Paper presented at BAQ 2006 at
Yogykarta,Indonesia

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COAL AND ENERGY SCENARIO IN INDIA

• Coal, oil, gas and hydroelectric potential
  constitute the conventional sources of
  electricity generation. Total installed
  capacity of electricity generation in India is
  approx. 98,668 MW.
• India ranked third in the world with 7 percent
  coal reserves of the total world reserves.
• Coal production increased from 30 million
  tonnes to over 348 million tonnes in 1999.
  Expected to increase to 427 million tonne in
  2010.
• Seventy percent of the total coal produced
  is consumed for power generation. Steel
  cement are other major consumers.

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Summary Table of Electric Power Generation
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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN COAL BASED POWER
GENERATION
Air Pollution - High particulate
matter emission levels due to burning of
inferior grade coal which leads to
generation of large quantity of
flyash Emissions of SO2, NOx Green house
gas (CO2) are also matter of concern Water
Pollution - Mainly caused by the effluent
discharge from ash ponds, condenser cooling
/cooling tower, DM plant and Boiler blow
down. Noise Pollution - High noise
levels due to release of high pressure steam
and running of fans and motors Land Degradation
- About 100 million tonnes of fly ash is
generated by use of coal far energy
production. The disposal of such large
quantity of fly ash has occupied
thousands hectares of land which
includes agricultural and forest land too.
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ISSUES IN POWER SECTOR

• Seventy one per cent of electricity production is
  based on coal and gas in the country.
• 83 coal based thermal power plants with total
  generation capacity of 62880.9 MW (as on July,
  2003)
• 27 gas/naphtha based power plants with total
  generation capacity of 11299.6 MW (as on July,
  2003)
• More than 240 million tonnes of coal with ash
  content 35-45 is consumed annually by the
  Thermal Power Plants.
• 3715 MT/day of SO2 is emitted from coal based
  power plants,which is 89 of total emission of
  SO2 from industries in India
• Nearly 100 million tonnes per annum coal ash is
  generated.
• More than 25,000 hectares of land has been
  occupied for conventional disposal of ash.
• More than 630 million M3 water is required for
  disposal of coal ash as in slurry form per annum
  

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POLLUTION LOAD FROM COAL BASED THERMAL POWER PLANT
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Emission Estimates
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Share of Sulphur Dioxide Load (Tonnes / day) By
different categories of Industries (Total Load
3715 Tonnes / day)
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EMISSION STANDARDS FOR THERMAL POWER PLANTS
Power Generation Capacity
Particulate Matter Emission
lt 210 MW
350 mg/Nm3
gt 210 MW
150 mg/Nm3
Depending upon the requirement of local
situations, which may warrant stricter standards
as in case of protected areas the State Pollution
Control Board within the provisions of the
Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986, may be
prescribed limit of 150 mg/Nm3 irrespective of
the generation capacity of the plant
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STACK HEIGHT REQUIREMENTS
For the proper dispersion of SO2 emission from
thermal power plant, stack height criteria have
been adopted in country. However, for larger
capacities boilers (500MW and above) space
provision for installing FGD system has been
recommended.
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Status of Pollution Control in Thermal Power
Plants in India
Total number of power plants 81   Air
Pollution          Power plants complying with
emission 43 standards        
Power plants not complying with emission 35
standards         Power plants closed
03   Water Pollution           Power
plants complying with ash pond 49
Effluent standards         Power plants not
complying with ash pond 29 Effluent
standards         Power plants closed 03
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REASONS FOR NON-COMPLIANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL
STANDARDS IN THERMAL POWER PLANTS

•  
•         Inconsistent supply of coal
•         High resistivity of coal
•         Inefficient operation of ESPs
•         Delay in supply of ESPs
•        Low Specific Collection Area (SCA) of ESPs
  
•         Inefficient management of ash ponds
•         Large quantities of ash generation

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CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGIES (CCTS)

• Need for adoption of CCTs
• To meet in creasing demand of power with minimal
  environmental impact for sustainable development,
  adoption of clean coal technologies with enhanced
  power plant efficiency, fuel switching, use of
  washed coal, efficient pollution control
  systems and proper by-product and waste handling
  utilization, is necessary.
• Classification
• Pre-combustion Technologies Ash, sulphur and
  other impurities (coal benefaction) ca n
  be reduced from the coal before it is
  burned
• Combustion technologies Generation of
  emissions of SO2, NOx
• (FBC CBFC, AFBC,PFBC, and CO2 can be
  minimised by
• IGCC)
  adopting improved combustion
  technologies
• Post combustion technologies End of pipe
  treatment (installation pollution control
  equipments such as ESP, DENOx De SOx
  systems)

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USE OF BENEFICIATED COAL

• In order to minimise fly ash generation, it was
  recommended to use beneficiated coal in the power
  plants. A Gazette notification has been issued
  under EPA, 1986, stating that
• On and from the 1st day of June 2002, the
  following coal based thermal power plants shall
  use beneficiated coal with ash content not
  exceeding thirty four percent, namely
• Power plants located beyond 1000 km from the pit
  head and
• Power plants located in urban area or sensitive
  area or critically polluted area irrespective of
  their distance from the pit head except any pit
  headed power plants.
• The power plants based on FBC (CFBC, PFBC AFBC)
  and IGCC technologies are exempted to use
  beneficiated coal irrespective of their
  locations.

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ADVANTAGES OF BENEFICIATED COAL

• Implementation of use of beneficiated coal in
  thermal power plant w.r.t. June 30, 2002, shall
  yield following benefits during 2002-03

Out of 81 coal based thermal Power plants, 39
plants are required to use beneficiated coal not
containing ash more than 34 w.r.t. June 30, 2002.
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GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES

• Ministry of environment and forests has issued
  following directions under section 3 5 of
  Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 vide a Gazette
  notification no. GSR . 763 (E) dated
  14/09/1999
• Use of flyash, bottom ash or pond ash in the
  manufacture of bricks and other construction
  activities
• Utilisation of flyash by thermal power plants
  and
• Specifications for use of flyash based products
  by Government agencies

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Action Plans for utilisation of Flyash by Thermal
Power Plants
Submission of action plans by the power plants

• New Power Plants
• 30 flyash utilisation within 3 year
• 100 flyash utilisation within 9 years

• Existing Power Plants
• 20 flyash utilisation within 3 year
• 100 flyash utilisation within 15 years

• Out of 81 power plants, 52 power plants have been
  submitted their action plans remaining have been
  asked to submit action plans immediately.

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Conclusions

• Existing coal based power plants being monitored
  by the regulatory agencies and directions are
  issued
• Use of Beneficiated Coal in Thermal Power Plants
• Emphasis on clean technology for new plants
• Emphasis on utilisation of fly ash
• Emphasis on non-carbon/low carbon based
  technologies for power sector
• Emphasis on on cogeneration

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Thank you