5 IMN 57 ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY John C. Frye, Chief ILLINOIS MINERALS NOTE 57 ELECTRIC UTILITY PLANT FLUE-GAS DESULFURIZATION: A Potential New Market for Lime, Limestone, and Other Carbonate Materials Ramesh Malhotra and Robert L. Major URBANA, ILLINOIS 61801 JUNE 1974 ELECTRIC UTILITY PLANT FLUE-GAS DESULFURIZATION: A Potential New Market for Lime, Limestone, and Other Carbonate Materials Ramesh Malhotra and Robert L. Major INTRODUCTION Difficulties in obtaining sufficient quantities of low-sulfur fuels to meet current and proposed air-quality emission standards of the Federal En- vironmental Protection Agency for steam-electric power plants have created a strong impetus to develop processes capable of removing sulfur oxides from flue gases of plants burning high-sulfur fuels, including the coal found in most East- ern and Midwestern coal deposits. Because the technology for removing the sul- fur from the coal itself by gasification, liquefaction, or solvent refining has not yet been perfected, one of the most promising methods for significantly re- ducing sulfur oxide emissions at the present time is a process of wet "scrub- ing" the flue gas. In the scrubbing process flue gases react with chemically active materials to form a sulfur compound that can be recovered, disposed of, or possibly used for some beneficial purpose. Among the many processes under consideration, wet scrubbers that use lime, limestone, and other carbonate materials as the reactant appear to be the most advanced and to offer a potential temporary solution. A recent report by the Sulfur Oxide Control Technology Assessment Panel (SOCTAP, 1973) assessed the future of wet scrubbers as follows : - 1 - - 2 - In the United States during the 1973-1980 period, electric utilities will probably continue the current pattern in selecting wet scrubbers systems, with the majority of orders probably for wet lime/limestone scrubbers producing a throwaway sludge. There probably will be a limited number of orders for regen- erative processes using reagent liquors based on magnesium, sodium, and other compounds . Despite unresolved waste disposal problems, scrubber systems are be- ing installed at a number of utility plants. Two of the most advanced of these projects are at Duquesne Light Company's F. Phillips station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and at Louisville Gas & Electric Company's Paddy's Run Station in Louisville, Kentucky. Duquesne Light has installed a UoO-megawatt capacity SO2 scrubber system designed by Chemico (Hesketh, 197*0. Louisville Gas & Electric is using Combustion Engineering Company's lime scrubbing system retrofitted to its Paddy's Run Plant, and the utility has indicated that it intends to install nine more scrubber systems by 1980 at its other units, provided that the tests on the No. 6 unit at the Paddy's Run Plant are successful (Hesketh, 197*+) • This report (a) estimates the approximate size and location of poten- tial new markets for lime, limestone, and other carbonate materials that could develop from the widespread installation and use of wet scrubber systems on steam-electric power plants, and (b) evaluates the potential impact of these in- stallations on the lime and limestone industries. SULFUR EMISSIONS According to the U.S. Bureau of Mines , 367 million tons of coal (1973c, p. 66, 71) » *+36 million barrels of residual oils, 68 million barrels of distil- late oils (U.S. Bur. Mines, 1973d, p. 11), and 3.98 trillion cubic feet of nat- ural gas (U.S. Bur. Mines, 1973b, p. 8) were burned at utility plants in the United States during 1972. The natural gas burned was essentially sulfur-free and therefore caused no air-pollution problems. Most of the distillate oil burned was sufficiently low in sulfur to meet air-quality standards as expressed in emissions per million Btu of heat input. The amount of sulfur emitted from the burning of coal has been calcu- lated on a state-by- state basis (table l) by using the average sulfur content of coal burned by utilities in each state and by assuming that all of the con- tained sulfur was actually emitted. Detailed data on the sulfur content of re- sidual fuel oil burned by utilities on a state-by-state basis was not available. For the purpose of this report, the amounts of sulfur emitted in each state from utility plants using such fuels in 1972 has been estimated (table l) from U.S. Bureau of Mines data ( 1973d, p. 11 ) on sales of residual oil to utilities in each state and from Federal Power Commission data ( 1973a, 1973b) on sulfur con- tent of fuels burned by electric utilities during the last two quarters of 1972. According to our estimates, in 1972 the burning of high-sulfur fuels at utility plants in the United States resulted in flue gases that contained approximately 10.6 million tons of sulfur. - 3 - As none of the states' air-quality standards for utility plants re- quire zero discharge of sulfur oxide in flue gases, the amount of sulfur to be removed by scrubber treatment will not be equal to the amount emitted. On the basis of the most stringent air-quality regulations to go into effect in 197 5 > Padgett (1972, p. 26, 28) has grouped the states according to the maximum sul- fur that can be burned by utility plants in these states. The sulfur limits in effect in the various categories (table l) are as follows: Category Percent sulfur I < 0.8 II 0.8-1.6 III 1.6-2.5 IV > 2.5 To determine the amount of sulfur that must be removed by scrubber treatment to meet 1975 EPA standards, the following sulfur levels were used as the basis for calculation: Category Percent sulfur I 0.8 II 1.6 III 2.5 IV 3.0 On the basis of these assumptions, 8l percent of the coal (296 million tons averaging 3.0 percent sulfur) and U2 percent of the residual oil (l82 mil- lion barrels averaging 1.8 percent sulfur) burned in 1972 would have required scrubber treatment, and 56.1 percent of the total sulfur emitted (10.6 million tons) would have had to be removed to comply with 1975 standards. In Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Wash- ington, only a very limited amount of the fuels burned in 1972 would have required scrubber treatment, but in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Illinois most of the utility fuels burned in 1972 would have required scrubber treat- ment. On the average, 70 percent of the emitted sulfur in flue gases in these states would have had to be removed to meet the 1975 EPA air-quality standards. RAW MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS The amount of lime (CaO) , limestone (CaC03) or carbonate materials such as marl, shell, or chalk that would be required in a wet scrubber system to clean up flue gases would largely be determined by the quantity of sulfur that must be removed and on the effective reactivity of the reagent used. Based on chemical re- actions involved in the wet scrubbing systems, at 100 percent stoichiometry 1.75 tons of lime (100 percent CaO) are required to remove one ton of sulfur (2 tons of sulfur dioxide) from flue gases. Although it is theoretically possible to get 100 percent removal efficiency with 100 percent stoichiometry, such high levels of efficiency are not achieved in actual operation, and therefore a higher stoi- chiometry is used to obtain the required level of cleaning. At 120 percent stoi- chiometry the requirement increases to 2.10 tons of lime per ton of sulfur removed. If limestone (100 percent CaC03) or other carbonate materials are used in place of lime, the amount of reactant required to remove one ton of sulfur from flue gases increases considerably, for example, at 100 percent stoichiometry - k - TABLE 1— POTENTIAL NEW MARKETS FOR LIME, LIMESTONE, Fossil fuels burned in 1972 and amounts of sulfur emitted Air-quality regulations and amount of sulfur to be removed COAL OIL 1975 Air-quality regulations for existing plantst Total sulfur emitted ( tons ) Amount of sulfur to be removed to meet 1975 air- quality standards* (tons ) District Total coal burned ( 1000 tons) Amount of sulfur emitted ( tons ) Total oil burned (1000 bbl) Amount of sulfur emitted (tons ) and state Coal- fired Oil- fired NEW ENGLAND Massachusetts Connecticut Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont MIDDLE ATLANTIC New York New Jersey Pennsylvania EAST NORTH CENTRAL Ohio Indiana Illinois Michigan Wisconsin WEST NORTH CENTRAL Minnesota Iowa Missouri North Dakota, South Dakota Nebraska, Kansas SOUTH ATLANTIC Delaware, Maryland District of Columbia Virginia West Virginia North Carolina South Carolina Georgia Florida EAST SOUTH CENTRAL Kentucky Tennessee Alabama Mississippi WEST SOUTH CENTRAL Arkansas Louisiana, Oklahoma Texas Arizona Colorado Utah Montana Nevada New Mexico Wyoming Oregon Washington California ALASKA AND OTHERS 26 54 1,229 5,790 1,259 35, "*80 42,238 26,090 32,294 21,424 10,885 6,674 5,429 13,714 5,295 2,303 5,408 146 4,894 22,752 19,696 5,480 10,8701+ 6,124/ 23,460 18,894 18,807+ 581* 3,655 592 753 6,844 4,903 2.597 456 1,134 40,557 173 , 694 33,541 837,075 1,281,354 1,038,213 983,206 669,293 392.509 133,913 158,912 537,182 36,011 70,420 143,844 1,848 50,316 531,978 216,462 60,280 482 , 072 754,105 171.155 658,245t 20,335 46,284 27,963 10,429 79,855 41,193 20,055 825 397 7,139 5,862 610 751 78 341 246 459 4,162 4,673 24,171 643 4,048 1,385 3,572 64,050 333 1,244 2,08l 105,882 54,776 41,429 187,195 59.885 28,570 2,392 1.087 20,330 16,332 1.672 3,215 334 985 743 1.293 11,980 12,803 103,472 1.762 17,329 4,265 14,250 205,092 912 3,407 10,311 386 TOTAL 367,026 — 959 1.314 — 506 2.075 936 2.305 21,930 484 1,326 4,144 1.272 3,433 6.777 16 43 — 75 205 41,064 396 705 29,4l8 ill 304 _ 17 23 38,955 60 164 2.702 47,340 30.327 63.748 9,623,179 435,348 987,348 I I I I I II I II I IV II III III I I III II I I II I II I IV III III I I II II I I rv 11 1 in in 1 1 11 11 1 1 IV 11 1 106,338 55,9io 81,986 I 360,889 I 93.426 I 865,645 II 1,283,746 II 1,039,300 II 1,003,536 I 685 , 625 II 394,l8l II 137,128 II 159,246 III 538,167 IV 3 6,754 II 71.713 I 155,824 I 14 , 65 1 III 153,788 II 533,740 I 233,791 I 64,545 II 701,414 II — I 755,017 II 171,155 II 658,245 IV 23,742 10,311 1,314 2.075 2.305 23,256 7,577 6,820 205 41,769 29,722 23 39.119 63.748 2.702 10,610,527 43,362 17,173 56,607 204,982 28,161 559,148 939.806 836,709 510,328 506,815 221,649 86,096 214 183,709 285 31,232 106,363 7,084 33,111 212,636 68,984 18,591 8,808 27,790 568,116 271,177 405,216 602 1,189 663 137 163 1,297 5,958,203 0.8-1.6 percent sulfur; III 1.6-2.5 percent sulfur; and * 5.84 barrels = 1 ton of residual fuel oil. + Category I - less than 0.8 percent sulfur; II IV - over 2.5 percent sulfur (Padgett, 1972). t Estimated. Sources: U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1973c; U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1973d; Federal Power Commission, 1973a. - 5 - AND OTHER CARBONATE MATERIALS BY DISTRICT AND STATE Quantity of lime and limestone or other carbonate materials required to desulfurize flue gases, 1972 Limestone or carbonate materials Lime 1.0 Stoichiometry 1.2 Stoichiometry 1.5 Stoichiometry 1.0 Stoichiometry 1.2 Stoichiometry District and 3. 1 ton/ton of S 3.75 ton/ton of S 4.7 ton/ton of S 1.75 ton/ton of S 2.10 ton/ton of S state 135,723 53,751 177.179 641,593 88,144 1,750,133 2,941,592 2,618,899 1,597.326 1,586,330 693,761 269,480 670 575,009 892 97,756 332.916 22,172 103,637 665,550 215,920 58,189 27,569 86,983 1,778,203 848,784 1,268,326 1,884 162,607 64,398 212,276 768,682 105,603 2,096,805 3,524,272 3,137,658 1,913,730 1,900,556 831,183 322,860 802 688,908 1,068 117,120 398,861 26,565 124,166 797,385 258,690 69,716 33,030 104,212 2,130,435 1,016,913 1.519,560 2,257 203,801 80,713 266,052 963,415 132,356 2,627,995 4,417,088 3,932,532 2,398,541 2,382,030 1,041,750 404,651 1,006 863,432 1,339 146,790 449,906 33',294 155,621 999,389 324,225 87.377 41,397 130,613 2,670,145 1.274,531 1,904,515 2,829 75,883 30,052 99,062 358,718 49,281 978.509 1,644,660 1,464,240 893 , 074 886,926 387,885 150,660 374 321,490 499 54,656 186,135 12,397 57,944 372.113 120,722 32,534 15, 4 14 48,632 994,203 474,559 709,128 1,053 91,060 36,063 118,874 430,462 59,138 1,174,210 1.973,592 1,757,088 1,071,688 1,064,311 465,462 180,801 450 385,788 598 65,587 223,362 14,876 69.533 446,535 144,866 39,041 18,497 58,359 1,193,043 569,472 850,953 1,264 NEW ENGLAND Massachusetts Connecticut Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont MIDDLE ATLANTIC New York New Jersey Pennsylvania EAST NORTH CENTRAL Ohio Indiana Illinois Michigan Wisconsin WEST NORTH CENTRAL Minnesota Iowa Missouri North Dakota, South Dakota Nebraska, Kansas SOUTH ATLANTIC Delaware, Maryland District of Columbia Virginia West Virginia North Carolina South Ca-rolina Georgia Florida EAST SOUTH CENTRAL Kentucky Tennessee Alabama Mississippi WEST SOUTH CENTRAL Arkansas Louisiana, Oklahoma Texas 3,721 2,075 429 510 4,458 2,486 513 611 5,588 3,116 644 766 2,080 1,160 240 285 2,496 1.392 288 342 Arizona Colorado Utah Montana Nevada New Mexico Wyoming 4,059 4,863 6,096 2,269 2,723 Oregon Washington California ALASKA AND OTHERS 18,648,495 22,342,449 27.953,542 10,426,845 12,512,182 - 6 - 0.20 o 0.10- Stoichiometric levels 150% Limestone ^carbonate materials (100% CaCO^ 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 Percent of sulfur in flue gases to be removed to meet 1975 air quality standards * 5.84 barrels of residual oil = I ton Fig. 1 - Amount of limestone or other carbonate materials or lime required to desulfurize electric utility plant fuel at various stoichiometric levels. 3.13 tons of limestone is needed to remove 1 ton of sulfur. The weight required increases to 3.75 tons of limestone, if higher stoichiometry of 120 percent is needed to achieve the desired level of cleaning. In most cases it has been found that a stoichiometric level as high as 150 percent, or h.'JO tons of limestone, was needed to meet the desired level of efficiency. The relation between the percentage of sulfur to be removed from flue gases, the stoichiometry used, and the amount of lime, limestone, and other car- bonate materials required are shown in figure 1. From these nomographs, the amount of lime, limestone, or any other carbonate materials required at various levels of stoichiometry to desulfurize 1 ton of fuel containing X amount of sul- fur above the level allowed can be approximated. For example, if a utility plant is burning a fuel containing k percent sulfur and if air-quality standards allow emissions the equivalent of only 1 percent sulfur, three-fourths of the sulfur emitted in the flue gases will have to be removed. The amount of lime, limestone, or other carbonate materials the plant would require (fig. l) would be O.lU tons of limestone or other carbonate material (at 150 percent stoichiometry) or 0.065 tons of lime (at 120 percent stoichiometry) per ton of fuel burned. For most of the systems now under consideration, definite specifica- tions for reactant material are not available. At the plants where the Babcock and Wilcox limestone scrubbing system is being tested, it is reported that a finely ground limestone (< 325 mesh), which is high in calcium carbonate (> 95 percent CaC03) and low in magnesium carbonate (< 1 percent MgC03), is being used. Low magnesium carbonate content minimizes the formation of soluble magnesium sulfate and potential water pollution problems associated with its runoff from disposal sites (Gifford, 1972, p. 2U7). In the Chemico lime scrubber system, - 7 - the use of commercial-grade slaked lime preferably containing over 95 percent CaO is recommended (J. F. Kane, Chemico, personal communication, 197M • For the Chemico lime system, which has been installed at the Duquesne Light Company's F. Phillips plants, a special type of lime, Thiosorbic Lime, prepared by the Dravo Corporation is being tested for scrubbing purposes (D. C. Slack, Dravo Corp., personal communication, 197M . Detailed information about this special lime has not yet been announced. The Combustion Engineering Company's scrubber system, "which has been installed at the Paddy's Run Station of Louisville Gas and Electric Company, utilizes waste lime generated in the manufacture of car- bide (Campbell and Ireland, 1972, p. 83). As the amount of reactant needed varies with the stoichiometric level required in a given scrubber system, the chemical and physical properties of limes, limestones, and other carbonate rocks and their effects on the reactiv- ity in scrubber systems are being studied at several institutions. It has been found that for a few particular limestones, the reactivity increases with de- creasing particle size. Therefore, to achieve a high level of reactivity, a limestone should be ground to a particle size of < 325 mesh. The minor differ- ences in chemical composition of relatively pure limestones have not been found to affect strongly a limestone's reactivity in a system. However, it has been observed that in the limestones tested mineral impurities such as dolomite, clays, feldspar, and quartz essentially remained chemically inert during the scrubbing process and did not contribute to the SO2 removal reaction (Drehmel and Harvey, in press). In carbonate materials, physical features, including grain size (crys- tallite size), pore volume, pore size, surface area, and sodium oxide trace con- tent have been found to correlate with the materials' rate of dissolution. On the basis of these findings, Harvey, Frost, and Thomas (1973; 197*0 have sug- gested that lake marl, chalk, shells, and carbonate-rich waste sludge could al- so be used for flue-gas desulfurization. Advantages of using these other car- bonate materials instead of limestone are their ease of production and much lower grinding costs. Little information has been published about differences in re- activity of various types of lime in scrubber systems , but it is generally known that different types of quicklime have different reactivities. POTENTIAL NEW DEMAND The quantity of lime, limestone, or other carbonate material required for flue-gas desulfurization for a particular plant would, as discussed earlier, largely depend on the amount and the sulfur content of the fuel burned, the type of scrubber system utilized, and, most important of all, the level of sulfur ox- ides emissions permitted in a given air-quality region under 1975 EPA standards. By assuming 100 percent stoichiometry and using pertinent 1975 air-quality emis- sion standards, we estimate that if all utilities that burned high-sulfur fuels in 1972 had been equipped with lime scrubbers, at least 10. h million tons of lime would have been required to remove 6.0 million tons of sulfur to bring the plants into compliance with the 1975 standards. Even with these conservative estimates, the market for lime used for scrubbing purposes would have been equal to the combined current sales of the three largest markets for lime — the steel industry, the chemical industry (for alkalis), and water purification. - 8 - - 9 - On the other hand, if all utility plants that burned high-sulfur fuels in 1972 had been equipped with limestone scrubbers (with high-calcium limestone or other carbonate materials as the reactant), the reactant requirements would have been 18.7 million tons (equivalent to about 10 percent of the total high- calcium limestone and carbonate materials* produced in the United States in 1972) Since a higher stoichiometric level will be required in actual operations to bring many plants into compliance with 1975 standards, the amount of sulfur to be removed would be larger than the amount assumed in these calculations. Hence, it is possible that the demand for these reactants would be considerably higher than our estimates. The estimated potential demand in 1972 for lime, limestone, or other carbonate materials for scrubber purposes , on a state by state basis , is shown in table 1 and figure 2. The states where the main potential demand for these reactants would have concentrated (fig. 2) are as follows: Market demand (percent) Ohio 15.8 Indiana 1^.0 Kentucky 9 • 5 Pennsylvania 9«^ Illinois 8.6 Michigan 8.5 Alabama 6 . 8 Tennessee h:6 Sub-total 77.2 Other states (less than h% per state) 22.8 TOTAL MARKET 100.0 Because fossil fuel requirements for electric power generation have been projected (Jimeson, 1972, p. 3^5) to grow to ^25 million tons of coal and 565 million barrels of oil by 1975 and to 500 million tons of coal and 6^0 million barrels of oil by 1980 , the amount of sulfur emitted from the burning of these fuels is also expected to increase. On the basis of the 1972 ratio of fuel burned to sulfur emitted, we estimated that the amount of sulfur emit- ted from the burning of these fuels could amount to 10.8 million tons in 1975 and 12.7 million tons in 1980. As mentioned earlier, only 63 percent of the total sulfur emitted in power plant flue gases during 1972 would have required removal to meet 1975 EPA air-quality regulations. In 1980 , if the same pro- portion of sulfur must be removed, the amount of sulfur requiring elimination will range between 7 and 8 million tons . * Includes calcareous marls and shells, - 10 - An increase in the market demand for lime, limestone, and other car- bonate materials that will actually develop between now and I98O will largely be determined by (a) the number of wet scrubbers installed, (b) the type of re- actant material selected for use in the installed systems, and (c) the amount of low-sulfur coal and low-sulfur oil available for utility use to replace or blend with high-sulfur fuels. In the SOCTAP report (1973, p. 77-85), a forecast of the amount of electric generating capacity that will be outfitted with sulfur oxides (SC X ) control equipment during each of the years between 1975 and 1980 was estima- ted. According to the panel's more realistic ("one year delay scenario") fore- cast (fig. 3), the electric generating capacity so outfitted in 1975 would be 10,000 megawatts and would increase to l6l,000 megawatts in 1980. In order to estimate the potential demand for lime, limestone, or other carbonate materials that could develop if this forecast proves true, we have converted this esti- mated capacity into coal equivalents (250,000 tons = 100,000 megawatts) and have made the following assumptions: (a) that all of the sulfur oxides control equipment installed at utility plants will be of the wet scrubber type using lime, limestone, or other carbonate materials as the reactant; (b) that the average sulfur content of the fuels burned will be 2.7 percent; (c) that at least 63 percent of the total emitted sulfur will have to be removed to meet the EPA 1975 air-quality regulations. The potential growth in the market for lime, limestone, or other car- bonate materials that could develop between 1975 and 1980, if these assumptions prove correct, is shown in figure 3. According to figure 3, if all scrubbers installed by I98O use limestone or other carbonate materials as the reactant, the demand for these materials could amount to 32.1 million tons. If, instead, wet scrubbers using lime are installed exclusively, then the potential demand for lime by 1980 could amount to lU . U million tons. In view of the energy crisis, the relatively slow progress in demon- strating successful systems, the waste disposal problems, the large capital re- quirements, and the time lag involved in the manufacture and installation of scrubber systems, it is very likely that the growth in potential market indica- ted in figure 3 for the period 1975-1980 may develop somewhat more slowly than the figures show. POTENTIAL IMPACT ON INDUSTRY Widespread installation of wet scrubbing systems at utility plants would have a definite impact on the lime and limestone industries. One way to evaluate this impact is to assume that the potential demand for lime, lime- - 11 - 30- o 15- 1978 1979 1980 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 Cumulative capacity 10,000 24,000 48,000 80,000 117,000 161,000 (megawatts) of power plants equipped with SO2 removal systems* Coal equivalent 25 60 120 200 293 4-02 (million tons ) Sulfur emittedt 675 1,620 3,240 5,4-00 7,9H 10,854 ( thousand tons ) Sulfur to be removedt 4-25 1,026 2,04-1 3,402 4,893 6,838 (thousand tons) Percentage of total 6 25 75 capacity of power plants equipped with SO2 removal systems* * Source: Sulfur Oxide Control Technology Assessment Panel (S0CTAP) Report, 1973. t Assuming an average sulfur content of 2.7$ in all fuels burned. + Assuming that 63$ of sulfur emitted must be removed in order to bring plants into compliance with 1975 air-quality standards. Fig. 3 - Estimated growth in market for lime, lime- stone, and other carbonate materials for flue-gas scrub- bing purposes be- tween 1975 and 1980, based on the S0CTAP forecast of instal- lation of sulfur ox- ides removal systems, - 12 - stone, and other carbonate materials for scrubbing purposes will not be consid- erably higher in I98O than the demand shown in the estimates for 1972 (table l) . If all utilities were to install limestone scrubbers using high-cal- cium limestone or other carbonate materials, the increase in demand for such materials (depending on the stoichiometric level achieved) would be between l8.7 and 28.0 million tons, or about 10 to 15 percent above the 1972 level of output of these materials. To meet this increase in demand would require the opening of the equivalent of 50 new high-calcium limestone quarries and/or other carbon- ate materials operations, each with an average capacity of 500,000 tons per year, The development of high-calcium limestone quarries and other carbonate materials operations would be determined largely by the availability of resources. The location of electric power plants vis-a-vis counties in which lime- stone and/or dolomite has been produced in recent years is shown in figure h. Power plonts having installed capacity of 200 Mw or more Active or recently active limestone and/or dolomite-producing counties Pig. k - Location of power plants in relation to limestone and/or dolomite-producing counties. - 13 - • Sample locations Upper Cretaceous chalk outcrops Georgia Florida Niobrara Chalk Austin Chalk Areas too small to outline Mississippi and Alabama: Chalk formations in Selma Group Tertiary chalk and chalky limestone outcrops Vlcksburg Group and Chickasawhay Limestone (Oligocene ) Vicksburg Group and Chickasawhay Limestone (Oligocene) and Jackson Group, including Ocala Limestone (Eocene) Ocala Limestone (Eocene) Ocala Group and Avon Lime- stone (Eocene) and the Olig- ocene Series of formations Fig. 5 - Location of samples of chalk, chalky linestone, and lake marls tested as poten- tial sources of scrubbing material. (Modified from Harvey, Frost, and Thomas, 1973- ) Although most electric power plants are located near available limestone re- sources, some plants would depend on reactant materials from more distant sources, In those areas where high-calcium limestone deposits are not available, it may be possible to use other carbonate materials (fig. 5). Where both high-calcium limestone and other carbonate materials are available, the marls, chalks, and chalky limestones may be the more economical to use because they cost less to grind. In localities such as New England, where limestone or other carbonate rocks are unavailable in sufficient quantities, carbonate waste sludge from paper mills and other types of industrial plants could be used as the reactant in scrubbing systems. In spite of all these options, some power plants may need to bring in reactant materials from distant sources and pay the resulting - lU - high transportation costs. In these cases, it may prove more economical to use a regenerative (noncarbonate) sulfur oxide removal system when they have been proved feasible. Although the tonnages of high-calcium limestone and other carbonate materials required to meet this potential market demand are quite large, their impact on the over-all stone industry is likely to be relatively small, because it already is operating at the level of 800 to 900 million tons per year. As a result, the scrubber market would add only 3 to k percent to the total demand. If, on the other hand, because of economic and operating advantages (Burchard, 1972, p. 91-128; Slack, 1973) it is decided to choose lime as the reactant in all the wet scrubbers that are installed, the impact on the lime industry could be very significant. To meet this new demand for lime — a mini- mum of 10. h million tons — the lime capacity in the United States would need to be significantly increased. This increase in capacity could require the con- struction of the equivalent of 50 new lime plants, each with an average capac- ity of 200,000 tons per year. To produce raw material (20 to 30 million tons of high-calcium limestone or other carbonate materials) needed for these plants, the equivalent of 50 quarries, each with an average capacity of 500,000 tons a year, would have to be developed. In other words, the potential increase in demand for limestone or other carbonate material would remain approximately the same even if lime scrubbers are chosen instead of limestone scrubbers. The location of existing lime plants in relation to large utility plants with an installed capacity of 200 megawatts or more is shown in fig- ure 6. In a number of cases the capacities at the existing lime plants (fig. 6) might be expanded to meet nearby utility plant needs. However, to serve the demand at numerous utility plants that are located at some distance from existing lime plants, it may be feasible to construct new lime facilities to meet new markets in those deficient areas. Several problems could influence how quickly the lime industry could respond to an upsurge in demand for lime for use in flue-gas scrubber systems. Currently, the industry is thought to be operating near capacity, and, therefore, construction of new plants would be necessary to meet the increased demand. The history of low return on in- vestment may make it difficult to attract new capital to the industry. More- over, the lime industry is energy-intensive t The current fuel shortages and rising fuel prices may put a special burden on any attempt by the industry to increase its capacity rapidly. Even if we assume that only 25 percent of this potential market for lime scrubbers actually develops within the next 7 years, the United States' demand for lime in 1980 would be increased by approximately 12 to 18 percent over the demand that existed in 1972. This could make flue- gas scrubbing the second largest single market for lime in 1980, exceeded only by the amount of lime used in basic oxygen steel furnaces. Potential impact of flue-gas scrubber installations on the lime and limestone industry in various states is shown in table 2. It is evident that in several states the widespread installation of wet scrubbers, using lime, limestone, or other carbonate materials, will considerably increase the exist- ing demand for these materials, and, as a result, some utilities in these states may have difficulties in securing sufficient raw materials for proposed scrubber systems . - 15 - co < EH CO >H pq >H « EH CO Q o Eh CO B CO o l-H g EH CO pq o CO (in O EH o W EH O Ph OJ 3 4) -~ u a) tH o> C at 42 p ■H 42 o u - — - 3 a> 10 fn s P «■ 2 a rt P o to a) S 0) id p rH a> Q> Fi p 01 C P rt Fl •H o 3 F o -P p x: c to o to 0> 0) fl p o % Ph H o 01 o al rH •H o -p O 01 p 1 to •H TI h fl a> u Fl rH o M £ 0) <1> o £ ■H ■rH e P n to w rH p 01 — O E O o> to cd (D — . r. 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O c> fl ■H £ U E to c > o 3 01 co rt o c CO •H al o >H o r; aj fl X ci ■H al £ 4-i c o -P •H 0) a> •H <1) •H O o> rt ■H a) s < Eh 3 3: 2 s Q s 3 a S > s CO C o ■a -p CO to rl ■H C>H • 3 o r-1 o* a) > p -P cu T) 42 10 cu 01 o fl o 3 rH T5 e •H O 01 ■H a ■t G p rH 3 cu •H al C (U u g o • «* Ch o o +3 c P ■in o (0 O 0) >a H 9 rH -P 42 rl P al R i o CU O E o to Fi ^ o fl ft 5 ■H al o 3 fl •H o 0) p o >5 c t>> •p « al al rt 6 to LA al C ft E O Fi • a) O 2 rH • S =M >-5 r-\ rH O o al al P> CU •H Ti 10 o al fn c g • — Q 3 •rt o 01 -P p KN 0) to o S 1 f- E 0) a! o ON •H C > 3 C £ 73 CJ s rl al CU p > -P CU E rH Tl • o 42 u 3 ■H to • 0) fl a) o <-\ £ to -p a) in 3 o 3 cu o > m Ol pq ■p to •H T) 0) 01 -3 to E o rl rH p C • O ft P CU p a) CO 00 o Fi Fi to fl o p P • rH ■d ft Q P •H ol to C c CU fl to 3 P CD o o p> o cu a) '3 ■H cu al 3 -a a) Q 3 to o TJ £= to 3 -P rH to g CU •rl rH al 1 O •H 3 to P Fi O P c E o al to o a • M OJ co pq W «h H 1 < =*fc 3 S - 16 - 1 • 1 • rs/i^ / \ *r^ •1 r • • If y • y • ( • 1 1 ,# v 1 \ • r • * T \ *" t • *• / *r ) / • o y • • • y • • • '•f. °o • • • * • V** • / • • /°° • »^. • • • ? • — \ •«/ • >#»■' •• y' # • r \ 9 plants within New York City limits • T . ••V •1 • • i • \ 1 • o\ • \ • 1 • ( ■ /• _/Vj o°X. • Power plants having installed qenei •ating \« «s capacities of 200 M w or more s •• o High-calcium lime plants X «5 Fig. 6 - Location of high-calcium lime plants in relation to power plants. (Sources: K. A. Gutchick, Natl. Lime Assoc, personal communication, 197^5 M. W. Kellogg Company, 1972.) CONCLUSIONS (l) The widespread installation of wet scrubber systems on steam- electric power plants would create a large market for lime, limestone, and other carbonate materials. (2) Over 75 percent of this potential demand, if it is assumed that the quality of fuel burned at the electric utility plants does not considerably change by 1980, would be concentrated in the following eight states: Ohio (15.8 percent), Indiana (lU.O percent), Kentucky (9«5 percent), Pennsylvania (9.^ per- cent), Illinois (8.6 percent), Michigan (8.5 percent), Alabama (6.8 percent), and Tennessee (U.6 percent). - IT - (3) If, as the SOCTAP report predicts, l6l,000 megawatts of electri- cal capacity can be equipped with flue-gas scrubber systems by 1980 , and if all utilities select wet scrubbers using limestone or carbonate materials as the reactant, then the new demand for these raw materials could amount to 32.1 mil- lion tons. If all of the utilities that install scrubber systems by 1980 select lime wet scrubbers, 1^.^ million tons of lime would be needed. {k) The impact of wet scrubber installations on the lime and limestone industry would be substantial. It is estimated that even at 1972 levels the in- stallation of limestone scrubbers could have required up to 28.0 million tons of high-calcium limestone or other carbonate materials — equivalent to about 15 per- cent of the total high-calcium limestone and other carbonate materials produced in the United States in 1972. If, on the other hand, lime scrubbers were in- stalled, the potential demand would have amounted to at least 10. h million tons of lime — 51»3 percent more than the amount produced in the United States during 1972, (5) It is more likely that both lime and limestone scrubbers will be installed. The widespread use of lime scrubbers would not significantly change the quantity of limestone and other carbonate materials required because 2 tons of limestone or other carbonate materials would be required to produce 1 ton of lime. However, the widespread use of limestone scrubbers would reduce the de- mand for lime. (6) The development of lime scrubber installations to any significant size would require additional lime capacity because there is little current ex- cess capacity in the lime industry. Expansion of existing plants and/or con- struction of new plants may be affected by a number of problems, including low return on invested capital, rising fuel prices, time lags involved in the con- struction of new capacity (which may be as long as 2 to 3 years), and local shortages of high-calcium limestone or other carbonate material deposits that can be recovered economically. In light of these problems, some utility com- panies may have difficulties in securing sufficient raw materials for proposed scrubber systems. - 18 - REFERENCES Burchard, J. K. , 1972, Some general economic considerations of flue gas scrubbing for util- ities, in Sulfur in utility fuels: The growing dilemma: Electrical World Technical Conf. Proc, Chicago, October 25-26, p. 91-128. Campbell, I. E., and J. D. Ireland, 1972, Status report on lime or wet limestone scrubbing to control SO- in stack gas: Eng. and Mining Jour., December, p. 78-85. Drehmel, D. C, and R. D. Harvey, in press, Carbonate rock properties required by desulfu- rization processes: 10th Ann. Forum on Geology of Industrial Minerals Proc, April 17-19, Columbus, Ohio, 17 p. Federal Power Commission, 1973a, A staff report on monthly report of cost and quality of fuels for steam-electric plant: FPC Form 4-23, data for 3rd quarter of 1972, Bureau of Power, February, Washington, D.C., 40 p. Federal Power Commission, 1973b, A staff report on monthly report of cost and quality of fuels for steam-electric plant: FPC Form 423, data for 4th quarter of 1972, Bureau of Power, May, Washington, D.C., 24 p. Gifford, D. C, 1972, Will County unit 1 — Limestone wet scrubber, in Sulfur in utility fuels: The growing dilemma: Electrical World Technical Conf. Proc, Chicago, October 25-26, p. 247. Harvey, R. D., R. R. Frost, and Josephus Thomas, Jr., 1973 » Petrographic characteristics and physical properties of marls, chalks, shells, and their calcines related to de- sulfurization of flue gases: Final Rept. to the Control Systems Lab. of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under Contract no. 68-02-0212, September, 114 p. Harvey, R. D., R. R. Frost, and Josephus Thomas, Jr., 197^» Lake marls, chalks, and other carbonate rocks with high dissolution rates Survey Environmental Geology Note 68, 22 p. carbonate rocks with high dissolution rates in SO -scrubbing liquors: Illinois Geol. Hesketh, H. E., 197*+» SO2 scrubbing systems: Commercial availability: Coal Mining and Processing, February, p. 38-39* Jimeson, Robert, 1972, Remarks, _in Sulfur in utility fuels: The growing dilemma: Elec- trical World Technical Conf. Proc, Chicago, October 25-26, p. 345. Kellogg (M. W.) Company, 1972, Availability of limestone and dolomites. Task 1, final re- port: M. W. Kellogg Company, Research and Eng. Devel. Rept. RED-72-1265, p. 24. Padgett, Joseph, 1972, Characterizing the new regulations, in Sulfur inutility fuels: The growing dilemma: Electrical World Technical Conf. Proc, Chicago, October 25-26, p. 26, 28. Slack, D. C., 1973, Cost engineering considerations in selecting lime for sulfur removal: Soc Mining Engrs . Fall Mtg. and Exhibit, Preprint 73-H-341, Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania, September 19-21, 12 p. - 19 - Sulfur Oxide Control Technology Assessment Panel (SOCTAP), 1973, Final report on projected utilization of stack gas cleaning systems by steam-electric plants: Sulfur Oxide Control Technol. Assessment Panel, April 15, Washington, D.C., 93 p. U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1973a, Lime in May 1973: U.S. Bur. Mines Mineral Industry Surveys Lime Monthly, July 20, Washington, D.C., 5 p. U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1973b, Natural gas production and consumption, 1972: U.S. Bur. Mines Mineral Industry Surveys, Natural Gas Ann., September 7, Washington, D.C., 14 p. U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1973c, Coal — bituminous and lignite in 1972: U.S. Bur. Mines Min- eral Industry Surveys, Coal — Bituminous and Lignite Ann., November 15, Washington, D.C, 77 p. U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1973d, Sales of fuel oil and kerosine in 1972: U.S. Bur. Mines Min- eral Industry Surveys, Fuel Oil Sales Ann., October 10, Washington, D.C, 14 p. SELECTED LIST OF SURVEY PUBLICATIONS MINERAL ECONOMICS BRIEFS SERIES 5. Summary of Illinois Mineral Production in 1961. 1962. 11. Shipments of Illinois Crushed Stone, 1954-1964. 1966. 12. Mineral Resources and Mineral Industries of the East St. Louis Region, Illinois. 1966. 13. Mineral Resources and Mineral Industries of the Extreme Southern Illinois Region. 1966. 17. Mineral Resources and Mineral Industries of the Springfield Region, Illinois. 1967- 19. Mineral Resources and Mineral Industries of the Western Illinois Region. 1967- 20. Mineral Resources and Mineral Industries of the Northwestern Illinois Region. 1967- 22. Mineral Resources and Mineral Industries of the Northeastern Illinois Region. 1968. 26. Evaluation of Fuels — Long-Term Factors and Considerations. 1969. 27. Illinois Mineral Production by Counties, 1968. 1970. 29. Directory of Illinois Mineral Producers. 1971. INDUSTRIAL MINERALS NOTES SERIES 13. Summary of Illinois Mineral Industry, 1951-1959. 1961. 17. Pelletizing Illinois Fluorspar. 1963. 19. Binding Materials Used in Making Pellets and Briquets. 1964. 20. Chemical Composition of Some Deep Limestones and Dolomites in Livingston County, Illinois. 1964. 21. Illinois Natural Resources — An Industrial Development Asset. 1964. 23. Limestone Resources of Jefferson and Marion Counties, Illinois. 1965. 24. Thermal Expansion of Certain Illinois Limestones. 1966. 26. Binders for Fluorspar Pellets. 1966. 27. High-Purity Limestones in Illinois. 1966. 29. Clay and Shale Resources of Clark, Crawford, Cumberland, Edgar, Effingham, Jasper, and Vermilion Counties. 1967. 30. Lightweight Bricks Made with Clay and Expanded Plastic. 1967. 31. Clays as Binding Materials. 1967. 32. Silica Sand Briquets and Pellets as a Replacement for Quartzite. 1968. 34. Neutron Activation Analysis at the Illinois State Geological Survey. 1968. 35. Computer-Calculated Lambert Conformal Conic Projection Tables for Illinois (7-5-Minute Intersections), 1968. 38. Kankakee Dune Sands as a Commercial Source of Feldspar. 1969* 39« Alumina Content of Carbonate Rocks as an Index to Sodium Sulfate Soundness. 1969. 40. Colloidal-Size Silica Produced from Southern Illinois Tripoli. 1970. 41. Two-Dimensional Shape of Sand Made by Crushing Illinois Limestones of Different Textures. 1970. 42. An Investigation of Sands on the Uplands Adjacent to the Sangamon River Floodplain: Possibilities as a "Blend Sand" Resource. 1970. 43. Lower Mississippi River Terrace Sands as a Commercial Source of Feldspar. 1970. 44. Analyses of Some Illinois Rocks for Gold. 1970. 45. Clay and Shale Resources of Madison, Monroe, and St. Clair Counties, Illinois. 1971. 46. Sideritic Concretions in Illinois Shale, Gravel, and Till. 1972. 47. Selected and Annotated List of Industrial Minerals Publications of the Illinois State Geological Survey. 1972. ILLINOIS MINERALS NOTES SERIES (The Illinois Minerals Notes Series continues the Industrial Minerals Notes Series and incorporates the Mineral Economics Briefs Series) 48. Illinois Mineral Production by Counties, 1970. 1972. 49. Clay and Shale Resources of Peoria and Tazewell Counties, Illinois. 1973. 50. By-Product Gypsum in Illinois— A New Resource? 1973. 51. Illinois Mineral Production by Counties, 197 1. 1973- 52. Fuels and Energy Situation in the Midwest Industrial Market. 1973. 53. Coal Resources of Illinois. 1974. 54. Properties of Carbonate Rocks Affecting Soundness of Aggregate— A Progress Report. 1974. 55. The Energy Crisis and Its Potential Impact on the Illinois Clay Products Industry. 1974. 56. Commercial Feldspar Resources in Southeastern Kankakee County, Illinois. 1974.