NEWS RELEASE                                                                                                                   JULY 2012                                

Power Plant Air Pollution Orders to Exceed $21 Billion This Year

Thousands of air pollution projects will be initiated this year at the 7,000 coal-fired boilers which are generating electricity around the world. The total order value will be $21.9 billion as displayed in the McIlvaine Utility Environmental Tracking System.

2012 Power Plant Air Pollution Projects Worldwide

These are large orders ranging up to more than $100 million in some cases.  There are large differences in lead time, so flue gas desulfurization (FGD) orders let in 2012 will not be installed until 2015.  Since the McIlvaine system tracks the startup date, the date of placement of the purchase order can be calculated. In fact, the actual P.O. date is often not precise. Utilities place “letters of intent” or commitments for just the preliminary engineering and later place orders for the balance of the project.

Many FGD systems have reached old age. The corrosive atmosphere ensures that the life of components is shortened to less than twenty years.  Substantial upgrades are being undertaken in Europe and the U.S. Most of the new FGD projects are in Asia.

In the U.S., architect engineers such as Sargent & Lundy, Bechtel and Black & Veatch are preparing specifications and assisting the end user make selections. Elsewhere in the world, the end users are more likely to deal directly with the systems suppliers such as Alstom, Doosan, Hitachi, Babcock & Wilcox and Siemens.

The number of electrostatic precipitator projects greatly exceeds those employing fabric filters. This makes the power industry unique.  Cement, incineration and steel plants have all shown preferences for fabric filters.

There are a number of NO_x control projects in the bidding stage. Most of the power projects involve selective catalytic reduction (SCR) instead of selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR). The projects in Asia mostly involve new power plants. The projects in the U.S. and Europe are mostly retrofit projects to meet changing regulations.

For more information on Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System, click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/energy.html#42ei