NEWS RELEASE                                                                                        AUGUST 2013        

Stationary NO_x Catalyst Market to Reach $2 Billion in Next 4 Years

The rapid growth of the SCR market for Chinese power plants is resulting in double digit annual increases in the catalyst market. Much of the needed capacity is being added in China. This is the conclusion reached in McIlvaine’s NO_x Control World Markets.

China has developed a NO_x catalyst manufacturing capability in the last decade and now can produce catalyst with a value of $462 million per year.

Chinese Catalyst Manufacturing Revenues

Presently, the top supplier can produce catalyst valued at $94 million/yr. Unlike some other products catalyst in China sells at the world prices and in some cases even higher. The third ranked supplier was the first manufacturer and was a result of the relocation of KWH from Germany.

There is substantial import of catalyst as well as some export. There is some difference in performance. In general, plate catalyst designs require more volume to achieve the same efficiency as honeycomb designs. But this is only one parameter.

Originally the only concern was NO_x reduction. However, as DeNO_x systems began to be applied to high sulfur coal burning power plants, it was discovered that conventional catalyst converts 1 percent of the SO₂ to SO₃. The SO₃ is a worse pollutant than the SO₂. To address the problem, catalyst manufacturers developed low conversion catalysts. They achieve the NO_x reduction with less SO₂ conversion to SO₃ but are more expensive.

It was also learned that the NO_x catalyst can have a beneficial effect of converting elemental mercury vapor to mercury chloride or other oxidized forms. The oxidized mercury can then be captured in a downstream scrubber. Catalyst manufacturers have developed a range of catalysts which address NO_x, SO₃ and mercury. In general, the better the catalyst in reducing all three pollutants, the more expensive the product.

For more information on NO_x Control World Markets, click on: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/markets/2-uncategorised/104-n035