Pilot-scale air toxics R&D assessment of creosote-treated and PCP-treated wood cofiring for pulverized coal utility boiler applications

This paper presents air toxics emissions test results from a pilot-scale cofiring study of pentachlorophenol- (PCP) and creosote-treated woods to provide data for pre-permitting requirements for utilities interested in biomass cofiring as a means of increasing renewable energy while reducing greenhouse gases and other emissions for pulverized coal-fired utility boilers. These PCP/creosote-treated wood cofiring tests included a comprehensive assessment of air toxics, including dioxins, furans, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metals (Hg, Sb, As, Cd, Cr, Co, Pb, Ni and Se), formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds, HCl, and particulates. This pilot-scale testing measured ‘uncontrolled’ emissions from the combustor (upstream of flue gas cleanup devices) and showed that PCP/creosote-treated wood could be successfully cofired at 10% heat input without increases in air toxic emissions as compared to a baseline eastern bituminous coal. Air toxics emissions were typically very low, and often near or below detection limits, largely as a result of the good air/fuel mixing and high furnace temperatures associated with pulverized coal combustion. One expected result was an increase in uncontrolled HCl emissions as a result of the higher chlorine content in the treated woods, although even at 10% cofiring levels, HCl emissions were within the range of other US coals. This paper is presented to provide independent data that industry, environmental groups, and regulators may consider in evaluating the opportunities for treated wood cofiring test burns and commercialization in full-scale coal-fired boilers in an environmentally acceptable manner.