When decreasing emissions of sulfur dioxide from coal-fired power facilities, there is an evident environmental benefit. The flue gas desulfurisation process produces high-quality FGD gypsum.
Compared to mined natural gypsum, the industrially produced gypsum is purer, therefore offering a wide range of environmentally friendly applications. This turns the output of flue gas desulfurisation into a basic material for industries around the world. From agriculture for soil improvement to panel products in construction, cement production, water treatment or glass making.
Cost-effective operation
Turning the production of FGD gypsum into a cost-effective operation does, however, present strong challenges at operational plant sites.
The wet output from the desulfurisation installation needs to be transported to a facility where it can be dewatered. From there on, the FGD gypsum needs to be stored at another facility and ready to be loaded into trucks. This requires ground space that is usually unavailable. Also, operators, power shovels and transport are needed. The main issue is how to achieve cost and space-saving logistics for this by-product of desulfurisation.
The all-in-one Eurosilo concept
To answer these challenges, we have developed a compact solution that has been adopted by numerous coal-fired power plants. The Eurosilo concept incorporates three functions into one unit, requiring only a third of the ground space. Dewatering, storage and loadout are all located in one building with a fully automated silo system. This is a huge advantage.
Instead of a separate dewatering, storage and load-out facility, there is a single cost-effective solution. In addition, the specially designed reclaim mechanism based on the slotted central column offers high-reliability in handling FGD gypsum or other cohesive material. Compared to conventional mass flow silos with a discharge plow feeder system, the Eurosilo increases the storage period from a few days to over three months without the risk of block ups.
Technical information
ESI Eurosilo Jaap PJ Ruijgrok discusses the proven concept for non-free flowing bulk materials such as FGD gypsum in a detailed paper called ‘How to Handle Poor Flow Characteristics of FDG Gypsum’. For more information, please fill in the enquiry form.