Consider a 400-MW, 32 percent efficient coal-fired power plant that uses cooling water withdrawn from a...

Consider a 400-MW, 32 percent efficient coal-fired power plant that uses cooling water withdrawn from a nearby river (with an upstream flow of 10-m³/s and temperature 20 °C) to take care of waste heat. The heat content of the coal is 8,000 Btu/lb, the carbon content is 60% by mass, and the sulfur content is 2% by mass.

How much electricity (in kWh/yr) would the plant produce each year?
How many pounds per hour of coal would need to be burned at the plant?
Estimate the annual carbon emissions from the plant (in metric tons C/year).
Convert the carbon emissions to g C/kJ of energy produced. Compare your answer to that in Problem 2.7 of Homework 3 for petroleum combustion, and Example 2-3 for methane combustion. Comment on why coal is considered the “dirtiest” fossil fuel!
If the cooling water is only allowed to rise in temperature by 10 °C, what flow rate (in m³/s) from the stream would be required? Is this sustainable? What would you recommend?
What would be the river temperature if all the waste heat was transferred to the river water assuming no heat losses during transfer? Would that be a problem? Why or why not.
Estimate the hourly SO₂ emissions (in kg/h) from the plant assuming that all the sulfur is oxidized to SO₂during combustion.
What would be the problem in releasing SO₂ to the atmosphere? Is sulfur dioxide a regulated priority pollutant? If yes, report the NAAQS?
How would you propose to remove sulfur dioxide at the power plant?
Report on the required efficiency (in removal %) of the SO₂ scrubber, if the plant is only allowed to emit the legal limit of 0.6 lb SO₂ per million Btu of heat input.
How much particulate matter could be released (in kg/year particulates) if the plant met New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) that limit particulate emissions to 0.03 lb per 10⁶ Btu heat?
Comment on the sources of particulates in the plant emissions? We have seen a dramatic decrease in particulate emissions since the 1970 Clean Air Act. How are particulate emissions controlled at stationary sources?

Expert Solution

Ally Wells answered 11 months ago

1. Consider a 400-MW, 32 percent efficient coal-fired power plant that uses cooling water withdrawn from...

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