NEWS RELEASE                                                                                                    JANUARY 2015

Boom in Industrial Purchases of Pollution Control Equipment in the U.S.

Chemical plants, refineries, pulp mills and cement plants are expanding and upgrading facilities in the U.S. They are also investing heavily to meet the latest environmental regulations.  These activities are continually tracked in N032 Industrial Emitters published by the McIlvaine Company.

The shale boom has resulted in lower energy costs for U.S. industry.  The result has been fewer imports and greater exports of chemicals, cement, steel and other products of heavy industry. The steep fall in oil prices over the last few months has eliminated some of the doubts relative to the long-term competitive position for the U.S. and will ensure a continuation of expansion plans.

TheAmerican Chemistry Councilpredicts that U.S. chemical output will increase by 3.7 percent in 2015. Growth is expected to reach 3.9 percent in 2016, and the consensus of the ACC's year-end report is that U.S. output will continue to expand well into the second half of the decade, exceeding that of the overall U.S. economy.

The air toxic regulations affecting industrial boilers, cement plants and incinerators will have a significant impact on 2015 outlays. Deadlines for compliance were 2016 with the potential for extensions into 2017.  The extent of the outlays is exemplified by Archer Daniels Midland who is completing a program to install thermal treatment systems consisting of 34 RTO/RCOs and 6 flares. Scrubber purchases will result in a 60 percent SO₂ reduction on 5 boilers and 20 additional scrubbers have been purchased for other processes.  Eleven SNCR systems have been purchased for NO_x reduction.

One of the big challenges is to purify and move gas produced in the U.S. to industrial plants.  This is increasing the market for air pollution control for the gas turbines used with pipeline compressors. There is also a need for additional VOC recovery equipment.

The U.S. cement market grew close to 8 percent in 2014. The strong economy and the MACT regulations will contribute to growth in pollution control outlays in 2015.

For more information on Industrial Emitters, click on: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/databases/2-uncategorised/93-n032