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

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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

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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

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Electric Distribution Electric Transmission

60% ownership

Natural Gas Distribution Electric Generation

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WEC Energy Group

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4.4 million customers

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1.6 million electric customers

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2.8 million gas customers

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60% ownership of ATC

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70,000 miles of electric distribution

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44,000 miles of gas distribution

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9,400 MW of power plant 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

Service Territory Company Statistics

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Coal Trains Coal Pile

Coal Crusher House

Unit Coal Silos

Coal Pulverizers

Unit Boiler Main Furnace

Boiler Backpass

Fabric Filter or Precipitator (Removes > 99.9%

• f the Fly Ash)

Bottom Ash for use Fly Ash Silo Chimney FGD Scrubber

Fly Ash for use

Spray Dryer Absorber Lime/Reagent Addition

Gypsum for use

Limestone/Reagent Addition Steam to Turbine Generator Coal Feeders

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Tail Wagging the Dog

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Bottom Ash “Sand”

FGD G Gypsum

Combustion Products

Fl Fly Ash

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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

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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.

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Be a positive impact - do not leave problems

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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.

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Landfilling

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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%

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200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000 1,000,000 1,200,000

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

Combustion Products (Tons)

We Energies/ WPS Combustion Products* Production & Utilization (1980 - 2016)

CP Produced (Tons) CP Utilized (Tons)

* Includes WPS starting in 2015

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Bottom Ash Utilization

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

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Gypsum Utilization

Gypsum wallboard Agricultural soil amendment

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Calatrava Art Museum Miller Park Marquette Interchange I-794

Fly Ash Utilization

• Concrete
• Cement production
• Stabilization

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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”)

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Roman Concrete Structures – Volcanic Ash

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Green Concrete

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Green Concrete

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Common sense in design?

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Specification Title Application

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

Industry Specifications

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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

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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

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Feedback Loop

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Overcoming Obstacles: Presque Isle Fly Ash Quality Challenge

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Change to PIPP Unit operation resulted in development of rock like material mixed in with fine powder fly ash

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While percentage of oversized material was small, it caused problems for the main customer that was utilizing the ash (plugged lines and process)

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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

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

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Overcoming Obstacles: Winter Fly Ash Production Storage

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Fly Ash Storage

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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

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Reburn High Carbon Ash

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Ash Fuel Reburn Process

Coal

High Carbon Ash From Other Plants

Power Plant Energy

Building Materials

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

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Coal Combustion Products

Reburn and Displaced Coal

Annual Totals

Displaced more than 2,900 railcars

• f coal since 2000!

336,000 Tons coal equivalent

20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 140,000

Ash Reburned Coal Displaced

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

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

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Demonstrate uses on in-house projects

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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.

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Research

n Recovery/production of rare earth elements and

precious metals from combustion products (DOE project)

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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

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

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http://www.we-energies.com/environmental/recycle_coalash.htm

Resources - Questions