Air pollutant control and strategy in coal-fired power industry for promotion of China’s emission reduction

Abstract

Coal-fired power industry has always been the major power source in China. As coal-fired power industry consumes around a half of China’s coal production, it is always thought to be a big air pollutant emission source. As more and more strict legislations in coal-fired power industry have been issued by the government, the emission performance in coal-fired power industry has been drastically reduced recently. Based on a brief review of the development of emission control in China’s coal-fired power industry, the affecting mechanism among the development of installed capacities of emission control device, pollutant emission, and emission performances in coal-fired power industry is studied. According to a systematic study on the development of emissions of classified categories, the role of coal-fired power industry as a pollutant source is reevaluated. It is found that, coal-fired power industry has contributed the most to China’s emission reduction, and the barycenter of air pollutant emission has been transformed to other high energy consumption industries, like heat, iron/steel, and cement. Then some development strategies are suggested, such as maintaining the current emission standard in coal-fired power industry; expending the coal-fired power emission standards to categories of heat generation and supply, nonmetallic mineral production and ferrous metals smelting and processing; and controlling other heavy metal by consulting the method of Hg control.

Keywords

coal-fired power industry / energy intensive industries / pollutant emission control / NO_x / SO₂ / soot

References

[1] National Bureau of Statistics of China. China Statistical Yearbook. Beijing: China Statistical Press, 2016 (in Chinese)

[2] Han S, Chen H, Long R, Cui X. Peak coal in China: a literature review. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 2018, 129: 293–306

[3] Zhang D, Zhuang Y, Zhu R, Ultra-low air pollutant control technologies for coal-fired flue gas and its economic analysis. Electric Power Construction, 2015, 5: 125–130 (in Chinese)

[4] National Bureau of Statistics of China. China Energy Statistics Yearbook 2015. Beijing: China Statistics Press, 2016 (in Chinese)

[5] Kanada M, Dong L, Fujita T, Fujii M, Inoue T, Hirano Y, Togawa T, Geng Y. Regional disparity and cost-effective SO₂ pollution control in China: a case study in 5 mega-cities. Energy Policy, 2013, 61: 1322–1331

[6] China Electricity Council. Annual Development Report of China Power Industry. Beijing: China Market Press, 2015 (in Chinese)

[7] Wang S, Liu J. Investigation of near-zero air pollutant emission characteristics from coal-fired power plants. Proceedings of the CSEE, 2016, 36(22): 6140–6147 (in Chinese)

[8] Shi W, Yang M, Zhang X, Ultra-low emission technical route of coal-fired power plants and the cooperative removal. Proceedings of the CSEE, 2016, 36: 4308–4318 (in Chinese)

[9] State Planning Commission of the People’s Republic of China, Basic Construction Commission of the People’s Republic of China, Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China. Industrial “Three Wastes” Emission Standards Trial Edition (GB J4–73). Standardization Administration of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, 1973 (in Chinese)

[10] National Environmental Protection Agency of the People’s Republic of China. Emission Standards of Air Pollutants for Coal-fired Power Plants (GB 13223–91). Standardization Administration of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, 1991 (in Chinese)

[11] National Environmental Protection Agency of the People’s Republic of China. Emission Standard of Air Pollutants for Thermal Power Plants (GB 13223–1996). 2nd ed. Standardization Administration of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, 1996 (in Chinese)

[12] State Environmental Protection Administration of the People’s Republic of China, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China. Emission Standard of Air Pollutants for Thermal Power Plants (GB 13223–2003). 3rd ed. Standardization Administration of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, 2003 (in Chinese)

[13] Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China. Emission Standard of Air Pollutants for Thermal Power Plants (GB 13223–2011). 4th ed. Standardization Administration of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, 2011 (in Chinese)

[14] National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China, Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China, National Energy Administration of the People’s Republic of China. Action Plan on Upgrading and Reconstruction of Coal-fired Power Industry for Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction (2014–2020). 2014, No.2093 (in Chinese)

[15] Zhou H, Zhao L, Chen C, Li M. Research on the technical route and industrial application of near-zero emission of coal-fired power plants supplied with Shenhua Coal. Electric Power, 2015, 48: 89–92 (in Chinese)

[16] Wang S, Song C, Chen Y, Technology research and engineering applications of near-zero air pollutant emission coal-fired power plants. Research of Environmental Sciences, 2015, 28: 487–494 (in Chinese)

[17] Guan W.“Near-zero” emission should not be applied in coal-fired power plant. China Power Enterprise Management, 2014(19): 29–31 (in Chinese)

[18] Wang Z. “Near-zero” emission in coal-fired power plant does not make sense. China Energy News, 2014 (in Chinese)

[19] China Electricity Council. Annual Development Report of China Power Industry (2016). Beijing: China Market Press, 2017 (in Chinese)

[20] Chang S, Zhuo J, Meng S, Qin S, Yao Q. Clean coal technologies in China: current status and future perspectives. Engineering, 2016, 2(4): 447–459

[21] Yang L. Field Test and Estimation of Mercury Emission from the Coal-fired Power Plant. Dissertation for the Master’s Degree. Beijing: North China Electric Power University, 2016 (in Chinese)

[22] Zhuo J K, Chen Q, Yao Q. Clean Coal Technology. 2nd ed. Beijing: Chemical Industry Press, 2016 (in Chinese)

[23] Ochoa-González R, Díaz-Somoano M, Martínez-Tarazona M R. Influence of limestone characteristics on mercury re-emission in WFGD systems. Environmental Science and Technology, 2013, 47(6): 2974–2981

[24] Sun C, Snape C E, Liu H. Development of low-cost functional adsorbents for control of mercury (Hg) emissions from coal combustion. Energy & Fuels, 2013, 27(7): 3875–3882

[25] China Electricity Council. Annual Development Report of China Power Industry. Beijing: China Market Press, 2018 (in Chinese)

[26] Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China. Emission Standard of Air Pollutants for Boiler (GB 13271–2014). 4th ed. Standardization Administration of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, 2014 (in Chinese)

[27] Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China. Emission Standard of Air Pollutants for Steel Smelt Industry (GB 28664–2012). 4th ed. Standardization Administration of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, 2012 (in Chinese)

[28] Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China. Emission Standard of Air Pollutants for Cement Industry (GB 4915–2013). 4th ed. Standardization Administration of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, 2013 (in Chinese)

[29] Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China. Emission Standard of Air Pollutants for Flat Glass Industry (GB 26453–2011). 4th ed. Standardization Administration of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, 2011 (in Chinese)

[30] Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China, General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China. Emission Standard of Air Pollutants for Petroleum Chemistry Industry (GB 31571–2015). 4th ed. Standardization Administration of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, 2011 (in Chinese)

[31] Dong C. Anthropogenic Atmospheric Mercury Emissions Inventory and Analysis in China. Dissertation for the Master’s Degree. Xi’an: Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, 2015 (in Chinese)

[32] Yi Q, Xue Z, Song K, The research of heavy metal emission and control in flue gas from coal-fired power plants. Environment and Sustainable Development, 2015(05):118–123

[33] Zhao Y, Xue F, Wang H, Estimation of mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants in China during the 12th Five-Year Period. Electric Power, 2014(02):135–139 (in Chinese)

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2017M620758), Special Funds of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (L1522032), and the Consulting Project of Chinese Academy of Engineering (2015-ZCQ-06).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2019 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature