WEC Energy Group Combustion Product Beneficial Use April 26, 2017 - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

WEC Energy Group Combustion Product Beneficial Use April 26, 2017 Upper Peninsula Solid Waste Forum Marquette, MI Bob Meidl, WEC Energy Group, Combustion Products Team 1

Agenda n Intro: WEC Energy Group – Who are we? n Combustion Products – What are they? n Beneficial Use of Combustion Products – How? n Overcoming obstacles to utilization n Resources 2

Electric Natural Gas Distribution Electric Distribution Electric Generation Transmission 60% ownership 3

WEC Energy Group Service Territory Company Statistics 4.4 million customers n 1.6 million electric customers n 2.8 million gas customers n 60% ownership of ATC n 70,000 miles of electric n distribution 44,000 miles of gas n distribution 9,400 MW of power plant n capacity We Energies Michigan Gas Utilities Corporation Minnesota Energy Resources Corporation North Shore Gas Company The Peoples Gas Light and Coke Company Wisconsin Public Service Corporation 4

Steam to Turbine Generator Boiler Unit Coal Backpass Coal Unit Coal Trains Crusher Boiler Silos House Main Furnace Coal Feeders Coal Coal Pile Spray Pulverizers Dryer Absorber Lime/Reagent Addition Limestone/Reagent Addition Bottom Ash for use Fabric Filter or Precipitator FGD (Removes > 99.9% Scrubber Fly of the Fly Ash) Ash Silo Chimney Gypsum for use Fly Ash for use 5

Tail Wagging the Dog 6

Combustion Products Bottom Ash “Sand” Fl Fly Ash FGD G Gypsum 7

We Energies / WPS Combustion Products Approximate Annual Production (Tons) Plant Fly Ash Bottom Ash Gypsum n Weston 127,000 23,000 - n Pulliam 14,000 5,000 - n Presque Isle 44,000 9,000 - n Pleasant Prairie 182,000 40,000 64,000 n Elm Road 172,000 26,000 180,000 n Oak Creek 84,000 15,000 32,000 n Rothschild 13,000 18,000 - Total 636,000 136,000 276,000 *Production varies with Fuel sources and electrical demand 8

Waste or Resource? “A WASTE is not a waste until you waste it.” Dr. Tarun Naik (UWM Center for Byproducts Utilization) Better option is to find productive uses for materials that provide resources and benefits to society. 9

Be a positive impact - do not leave problems 10

Combustion Product Regulations n Federal – Coal Combustion Products (Residuals) n Non-Hazardous waste when going to disposal n Self implementing rules related to management of CCR in disposal setting (landfills and surface impoundments) n Ability for states to manage disposal permits n Language identifying beneficial use of CCR n State – Michigan, Wisconsin and other states n Most have rules allowing specific beneficial uses including ingredient in product (concrete, cement, wallboard), structural fill, stabilization agent, and some agricultural applications n Test byproducts to categorize for allowable uses Well thought out regulations are protective of the environment and help facilitate beneficial use. 11

Landfilling 12

Beneficial Use of Combustion Products n Goal is to maximize the productive beneficial use of combustion products and minimize the need to landfill materials -Improve sustainability practices -Reduce need for mining materials -Improve construction practices/products -Save money n National average for beneficial use of combustion products is approximately 52% 13

We Energies/ WPS Combustion Products* Production & Utilization (1980 - 2016) 1,200,000 1,000,000 800,000 Combustion Products (Tons) 600,000 400,000 CP Produced (Tons) 200,000 CP Utilized (Tons) 0 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 * Includes WPS starting in 2015 14

Bottom Ash Utilization Base/subbase/structural fill under roads, buildings, and parking lots Mineral ingredient in cement manufacture 15

Gypsum Utilization Gypsum wallboard Agricultural soil amendment 16

Calatrava Art Museum Fly Ash Utilization -Concrete -Cement production -Stabilization Marquette Interchange I-794 Miller Park 17

Fly Ash Use in Concrete n Replace a percentage of Portland Cement in mix designs n Reduce use of mined materials (conserve resources) n Improve durability of concrete structures and products n Lower cost of concrete n Improve sustainable practices (“Green Concrete”) 18

Roman Concrete Structures – Volcanic Ash 19

Green Concrete 20

Green Concrete 21

Common sense in design? 22

Industry Specifications Specification Title Application Asphaltic ASTM D242-04 Mineral Filler for Bituminous Paving Mixtures concrete Asphaltic AASHTO M 172 Mineral Filler for Bituminous Paving Mixtures concrete ASTM C593-06 Fly Ash and Other Pozzolans for Use with Lime Soil stabilization Practice for Characterizing Fly Ash for Use in Soil ASTM D 5239-04 Soil stabilization Stabilization Guide for Design and Construction of Coal Ash ASTM E2277-03 Structural fill Structural Fills Portland cement ACI 232.2R Use of Fly Ash in Concrete concrete Sampling and Testing Fly Ash or Natural Pozzolans Portland cement ASTM C311-05 in for Use in Portland-Cement Concrete concrete AASHTO M 295 Coal Fly Ash and Raw or Calcined Natural Pozzolan Portland cement ASTM C618 for Use as a Mineral Admixture in Concrete concrete Test Method for Flow Consistency of Controlled Low ASTM C6103-04 Flowable fill Strength Material (CLSM) ACI 229R Controlled Low Strength Materials (CLSM) Flowable fill Ball Drop on Controlled Low Strength Material to ASTM D6024-02 Flowable fill Determine Suitability for Load Application 23

Fly Ash Quality Assurance Testing n Ash handling and sales handled by LafargeHolcim n Fly ash regularly tested for loss on ignition, strength development, size, consistency, and conformance with specifications for use 24

Feedback Loop Key to success: n Results of Fly Ash quality testing are regularly shared with Plant Operating, Maintenance and Engineering Teams n When possible, Plant personnel consider byproduct quality impacts and balance multiple priorities of Plant operation with consideration for maintaining beneficial use of byproducts 25

Feedback Loop 26

Overcoming Obstacles: Presque Isle Fly Ash Quality Challenge Change to PIPP Unit operation resulted in development of rock like n material mixed in with fine powder fly ash While percentage of oversized material was small, it caused n problems for the main customer that was utilizing the ash (plugged lines and process) 27

Overcoming Obstacles: Presque Isle Fly Ash Quality Challenge n Customer looked to other sources of material to meet their needs n PIPP Plant Team and Combustion Products Team investigated options to improve quality, find other uses for the fly ash, or landfill the ash n Based on interest of satisfying and maintaining the ash customer, avoiding landfilling of the material and overall improved economics of beneficial use, the Team implemented a high capacity screening process that could handle large volume transfers 28

Overcoming Obstacles: Presque Isle Fly Ash Quality Challenge Success!! 29

Overcoming Obstacles: Winter Fly Ash Production Storage 30

Fly Ash Storage 31

When byproducts do not meet specifications for use – Beneficiate (Make them better) n Economics n Quality = Customer Satisfaction n Supplement Supply n Avoid Landfilling and Expense n Sustainability 32

Reburn High Carbon Ash 33

Ash Fuel Reburn Process Coal Energy Power Plant High Carbon Ash From Other Building Plants Materials 34

Reburn Ash – Recover Fuel Value and Produce High Quality Fly Ash 35

Reburn and Displaced Coal Annual Totals 140,000 120,000 Ash Reburned 100,000 80,000 Coal Displaced 60,000 40,000 20,000 0 Displaced more than 2,900 railcars of coal since 2000! 336,000 Tons coal equivalent Coal Combustion Products 36

Overcoming Obstacles: Invest in technology and process – Air Emission Control 37

Overcoming Obstacles: When things do not seem easy – Innovation may be the key 38

Demonstrate uses on in-house projects 39

Future Challenge and Opportunity n Production versus demand for materials Resource recovery: Develop safe and economical ways to recover previously landfilled materials for beneficial use in a resource constrained society. 40

Research n Recovery/production of rare earth elements and precious metals from combustion products (DOE project) 41

Keys to Success n Plant employee engagement – view materials as PRODUCTS n Bring stakeholders together and welcome variety of expertise (industry, regulators, marketers, customers and researchers) n Work to get past challenges and obstacles n Be active in and fund research and innovation efforts n Be active in industry associations and work groups 42

Beneficial Use of Byproducts – Can the tail wag the dog? 43

Resources - Questions http://www.we-energies.com/environmental/recycle_coalash.htm n 44