On-site activated carbon production demonstration successful.
Tests at one site showed performance comparable to commercial activated carbons.

Testing of the sorbent activation process (SAP) prototype unit located at Dynegy’s Hennepin station (75 MWe baghouse, PRB coal fired) was successfully concluded in December. The SAP is a joint development of Programs 71 and 75 and produces activated carbon for pollutant capture on site using the coal being burned by the host plant. At this site, EPRI determined the performance of activated carbons produced from both Powder River Basin (PRB), and Illinois bituminous coal, with calcium bromide added during portions of the PRB test.

Overall, the system operated as expected, and the SAP activated carbon’s mercury capture performance was comparable to that of a commercially available product. Depending on coal source, use of bromine, and feed rate, the SAP carbon achieved up to 92% mercury removal in this baghouse-equipped power plant. EPRI plans to move the current SAP unit to another host site for further testing and development this year. In addition, EPRI is seeking to form a collaborative of power generation companies, commercializers, and host sites to demonstrate the long-term performance of a more robust and more automated full-scale SAP unit. For more information, contact Ramsay Chang (rchang@epri.com, 650-855-2535) or Cassie Shaban (cshaban@epri.com, 650-855-2345).