12, January 2024
A study by the National Institute of Health (NIH) estimates that around 2 million deaths occur annually due to chronic respiratory diseases. Long exposures to outdoor air pollution and the toxic effects of biomass fuel are the major risk factors. Thus, an ongoing surge in emissions drives the demand for flue gas desulfurization across several industries like iron and steel, cement production, and power generation. Triton’s report estimates that the Global Flue Gas Desulfurization Market is likely to advance with a CAGR of 4.93% over the forecast years 2023-2030.
The pollution levels are rising, especially in emerging countries within Asia-Pacific. Due to rapid industrialization, coal combustion has become a huge source of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions. This boosts the demand for FGD systems. Accordingly, our analysis suggests that the Asia-Pacific flue gas desulfurization market is expected to witness the fastest growth at 5.42% CAGR during the forecast period 2023-2032.
Several governments have introduced stringent regulatory norms primarily centered on deploying these systems to target air pollution. With a sustainable energy vision, India has emerged as a major contender within the Asia-Pacific region.
Let’s dive deeper into examining the factors that derive its prominence.
As per Greenpeace (an environmental NGO), India is the largest emitter of SO2 in the world. It is contributing more than 15% of global anthropogenic emissions. Thus, it becomes imperative for India’s coal-based thermal power plants to adopt FGDs. In this regard, wet FGD systems are highly effective in removing sulfur dioxide and other pollutants from flue gases.
Given the rising prominence, Adani Group placed an order worth ₹6,163.20 crore for 5 FGD projects with Power Mech Projects Ltd in 2022. These projects are to be implemented at the coal-based power plants over the next 30 months. In order to achieve compliance with emission standards and mitigate the environmental impact of sulfur dioxide emissions, the market for flue gas desulfurization is rising.
The Union Environment Ministry in India specified stringent emission norms for coal-based power plants in December 2015. Adhering to them, a large number of India’s coal power plants aimed to install FGDs by 2022. However, less than 8% of those plants have successfully adopted these solutions, which led to an extension of the deadline until December 2027.
At present, as per the Press Information Bureau (PIB), 24 units having a total capacity of 10.6 GW have installed and operationalized FGDs in their facility. This highlights the growing potential of flue gas desulfurization technology for stakeholders in the coming years.
Limestone is the primary material required for FGD systems in power plants. India owns around 282 coal power plants, for which high-quality limestone (CaCo3 > 90%) is desirable. This fine-quality limestone is already being produced by India, especially for the steel and chemical industries.
Interestingly, India is one of the largest producers of limestone in the world, with 27% of the total resources found in Karnataka. Annually, the nation produces 338 million tonnes of limestone. As per CSE, a rough estimate shows that a 500 MW plant will need about 32,000 – 40,000 tonnes of limestone annually, which costs around ₹3 – ₹4 crore. As a majority of power plants are also located within 200 km of a limestone mine, accessibility becomes less challenging. Therefore, resource abundance and regional distribution significantly indicate the ease of FGD installation.
One of the multiple benefits offered by deploying limestone is the generation of gypsum as a key byproduct of FGD systems. Since it is a scarce resource in India, the adoption of FGD enables India’s power plants to produce about 12 – 17 million tonnes of gypsum. This will reduce the import burden and facilitate the use of synthetic gypsum. It will also help to meet the domestic demand for gypsum as an integral component of cement production. In the long term, power plants can, therefore, offset the cost of limestone by utilizing all the FGD gypsum produced or by selling it.
The need for flue gas desulfurization systems is witnessing a significant expansion due to several advancements by major Indian manufacturers like GE Power, Mitsubishi Power LTD, and Tata Consulting Engineers Limited. Technologies such as fuel switching, boiler modernization, catalytic convertors, fluidized bed combustion, etc, are used to mitigate SO2 emissions. In the evolving industrial landscape, the application of multi-pollutant technologies to control pollutants is essential. This also paves the way for stakeholders to explore opportunities emerging in the FGD market.
The optimum desulfurization temperature required is between 350° to 550°C.
Q.2) Who are the key end-users of FGDs?The key end-users are chemical manufacturing industries, petrol refineries, power stations, and mineral ore processing plants.
Q.3) What chemicals are used in flue gas desulfurization?In addition to limestone (calcium carbonate), calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide or sodium, magnesium carbonate, and ammonia are used.
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