South Africa Coal-Fired Plant Uses Filter Bags With Fortron PPS From Ticona To Reduce Emissions
For the first time, filter bags made with staple fibers based on Fortron polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) from Ticona Engineering Polymers are helping a coal-fired power station in South Africa effectively reduce its particulate emissions and meet environmental requirements.
ESKOM, Africa's largest electricity supplier, installed a flue gas filter system in its Hendrina Power Station in South Africa that has an annual capacity of about 2,000 MW. Installed by Bateman Howden of South Africa, the system uses 8,000 filter bags produced from Nexylene PPS staple fibers based on Fortron PPS from Ticona. The bags measure 12.7 centimeters in diameter and 8.095 meters in length, and were chosen by Bateman Howden and ESKOM to help the plant comply with the emission regulations as efficiently as possible.
"The use of high-efficiency filter systems makes it possible for operators of both old and new plants to act in an environmentally responsible way because the level of particulate emissions is effectively reduced," said Ed Hallahan, Fortron technical marketing manager. "By installing Fortron PPS-based filter bags, new and existing coal-fired power stations, refuse incineration units and chemical plants can proactively fulfill the requirements of environmental legislation."
There are thousands of coal-fired power stations worldwide and new plants are planned. The same applies to refuse incineration plants, combined heat and power stations and cement factories, where dust, heavy metals and other particulates also need to be effectively reduced.
The new Nexylene PPS staple fibers, with fineness values of 1.3 and 2.0 dtex (1 decitex = weight of a fiber 10,000 meters long in grams), enable filter bags to be made with excellent filter efficiency and long service life.
Nexis Fibers supplied the staple fibers for the needlefelt filter, which is used for dust separation. It is cleaned at regular intervals by a jet pulse system, which is the most popular type of bag house made today. The filters have to withstand temperatures varying temperatures and chemistry swings during the course of operation.
Fortron PPS-based filter bags are successfully demonstrating their excellent filtration properties via many years of continuous operation. They exhibit very good resistance to gases and acids, even at high temperature, filter particulates reliably, have excellent chemical and hydrolysis resistance, and are also inherently flame retardant.
Fortron PPS is a high-performance polymer that is suited for the production of filaments, staple fibers and nonwovens. As a result, it is possible to produce mono- and multifilaments, staple fibers and nonwovens with outstanding properties: high continuous service temperatures of up to 192 degrees Celsius, inherent flame retardancy, very good chemical resistance, optimum processability and excellent resistance to hydrolysis. The wide range of Fortron PPS grades supplied covers many different applications in the automotive, chemical, papermaking and food industries.
About Ticona and Celanese
Ticona, the engineering polymers business of Celanese Corporation, produces and markets a broad range of high performance products, and posted net sales of $1.03B in fiscal 2007. Ticona employs approximately 2,000 individuals at production, compounding and research facilities in the USA, Germany, Brazil and China.
As a global leader in the chemicals industry, Celanese Corporation makes products essential to everyday living. Our products, found in consumer and industrial applications, are manufactured in North America, Europe and Asia. Net sales totaled $6.4 billion in 2007, with approximately 70% generated outside of North America. Known for operational excellence and execution of its business strategies, Celanese delivers value to customers around the globe with innovations and best-in-class technologies. Based in Dallas, Texas, the company employs approximately 8,400 employees worldwide.
About ESKOM
The South African electricity supply company Eskom was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM). It was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). The company is Africa's largest electricity producer and one of the world's largest power generators. Eskom operates a number of large power stations, including the Kendal Power Station, which is the world's largest coal-fired power station by capacity, the Hendrina Power Station and the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, the only nuclear power station on the African continent.
About Nexis Fibers
Nexis Fibers produces PPS staple fibers under the brand name NEXYLENE at its plant in Neumünster (Germany). In addition, the company manufactures a wide range of polyamide staple fibers under the brand name NEXYLON for many different industrial applications. Headquartered in Emmenbrücke (Switzerland), the Nexis Fibers Group operates five production plants in western and central Europe and generated sales of €220M worldwide last year. The company is a leading producer of monofilaments, industrial yarns and staple fibers for challenging markets such as paper machine clothing, hot gas filtration, filtration, screen printing, airbags, tires, weaving, MRG, and ropes and nets.
About Bateman Howden
Bateman Howden South Africa, established in 1992 helps enable the South African power generation industry to meet its emissions obligations cost effectively. The company provides fabric filter plant, flue gas conditioning plant, precipitator upgrade technology, environmental management services and various other emissions control technologies. Bateman Howden has built a considerable number of reference plants for the power generation industry. Among the services the company offers are application engineering, environmental risk analysis, turnkey project management, maintenance management, and comprehensive after sales service.
SOURCE: Ticona Engineering Polymers