Workshop on measurement of pollutants for implementing new emission norms for Thermal Power Plants

Apr 23, 2019

 

NEW DELHI, 23 April 2019: The new emission norms issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Govt. of India has made it mandatory for all the Thermal Power Plants to install Flue Gas Desulphurization (FGD) systems to restrict the levels of SO2 discharge in the environment. The power plants have to comply to these norms and implement the FGD systems by 2022.

 

FICCI organized an interactive workshop on 'Importance of SO2 Analysis system in FGD process and challenges in India context'. The objective of the Workshop was to deliberate and understand the issues and challenges in measurement of pollutants for complying to the new emission norms for thermal power plants.

 

It was highlighted during the workshop that the installation of FGD takes around 2.5 to 3 years, achieving the timely compliance to the new norm remains a serious challenge. It, therefore, calls for stakeholders' consultations to address various issues and challenges and explore the best suited technological options.

 

Dr. Rajeev Gautam, President, HORIBA India laid emphasis on significance of measurements and analysis in the area of process control applications, which would help in timely compliance to the new emission norms.

 

Dr. Gerhard Rosspeintner, P&E Segment Leader, HORIBA Europe explained about the various methods for SO2 measurement and overcoming challenges in Indian context.

 

Ensuring the optimal performance of FGD Technology in compliance to the new emission norms is dependent on accurate measurement of SO2 emissions which helps in controlling the overall operating cost of FGD. However, in the Indian context, high quality of sulphur in domestic coal coupled with high dust level in flue gas and the tropical climate makes it very difficult for measuring the accurate levels of emissions. There are other challenges like difficult operational conditions in thermal power plants, high PPM, high humidity and high ambient temperature and these demand customized instrumentation. Also many pollutants like SO3 have a presence post-FGD implementation and lack of proper instrumentation will make it difficult to analyse the presence.

 

These issues and challenges require the right addressal for ensuring the timely compliance to the new emission norms.

 

The workshop saw an active participation of over 50 experts from different sectors covering Developers, EPC companies, Hi-Tech analyzer manufacturers and Research Institutions.