Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd has concluded an agreement with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd under which MHI will license its flue-gas desulphurization technologies to BHEL. The licensing agreement covers MHI's EPC technologies for limestone/gypsum-based and seawater-based flue-gas desulphurization systems for coal-fired boilers used in power generation applications and for industrial boilers. The agreement will pertain to BHEL’s Boiler Auxiliary Plant located at Ranipet, Tamil Nadu.
The event marks the first time a Japanese company is to provide flue-gas desulphurization technologies to a licensee in India, a release by MHI noted. The Japanese conglomerate, in 2007, had licensed to BHEL technologies relating to various pumps used in thermal power plants.
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What is FGD? |
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Flue-gas desulphurization systems clean the flue gas emitted during the combustion of coal and other fuels by removing the sulphur dioxide (SOx) contained in such gas. MHI's desulphurization technology is distinguished by the adoption of a liquid column tower that improves the efficiency of contact between the flue gas and the absorption liquid, resulting in outstanding SOx absorption performance.
MHI first achieved commercial viability of a process for treating flue gas emitted by thermal power plants back in 1972. Since then, the company has amassed a track record of more than 220 deliveries of its flue-gas desulphurization equipment worldwide. |
In India, today more than 60 percent of the country's electric power (or around 100 GW) is produced by firing coal. But in tandem with economic development, in its XII Five Year Plan India plans to introduce additional coal-fired power plants to generate some 80 GW more. Presently the country's SOx regulations have not come fully into force and installations of flue-gas desulphurization equipment are limited. However, as India's air pollution problems are becoming increasingly serious, a move towards tightening the nation's environmental regulations is underway. Demand for flue-gas desulphurization equipment is thus expected to expand.
It is also believed that India will need to import more coal to meet its domestic requirements as local supplies are falling short. Imported coal, experts point out, has higher sulphur content, warranting the need for efficient FGD technologies.