Update Irene Kim

Breaking Ground on the

Fuel Cell Frontier
uel cells offer promises of near-

F
Figure 1. Zero-emission
zero emissions, renewable-fuel Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses,
powered by Ballard fuel-cell
usage, and high-efficiency energy engines, transport commuters
for mobile and stationary applications in London, U.K., and Madrid.
— the question is just when these bene- Spain. These and eight other
fits will materialize. “I see a lot of cities throughout Europe (the
others are Amsterdam,
progress, but we were expecting some- Barcelona, Hamburg, Stuttgart,
thing to happen by now, and it seems Luxembourg, Porto,
unrealistic to expect something in Stockholm, and Reykjavik)
2004,” says director of energy research participate in the European
Fuel Cell Bus Project, which
Atakan Ozbek at ABI Research (Oyster puts 30 buses powered by
Bay, NY; www.abiresearch.com). A re- Ballard fuel cells on the road.
port from the National Academy of
Engineering and National Research chlor-alkali process, and will be ex-
Council (both in Washington, DC; power,” he continues.
Fuel cell technology that was devel- panded during the summer months,
www.nationalacademies.org) suggests provided its viability in an industrial
that the Bush Administration’s goal of oped for automobiles can be transferred
fairly easily to stationary applications, setting is proven.
making H2-powered fuel-cell cars prac-
tical and cost-effective by 2020 may be where the fuel cells’ efficiency and op-
overly optimistic, and that the H2 econ- erating life (about 40,000 h) are more Catalytic converters
omy is several decades away. important than their power density and H2, the U.S. Administration’s fuel of
Against this backdrop, chemical en- ability to respond to load changes. choice, is required at high-purity levels
gineers are helping to bridge the gap Ballard, for instance, is introducing a 1- for PEM fuel cells, since catalyst and
between fuel cells’ promise and reality. kW residential cogeneration system for membrane materials are easily poi-
Proton-exchange membrane (PEM) the Japanese market this year through a soned or deactivated by sulfur and car-
fuel cells own the largest share of the joint venture with EBARA Corp. bon monoxide. But even at its cheapest
market, accounting for half the current (Tokyo; www.ebara.com) and Tokyo — when it is produced from natural gas
installations, according to the Freedonia Gas (Tokyo; www.tokyo-gas.co.jp). — H2 costs four times as much as gaso-
Group (Cleveland, OH; www.freedo- The stationary market appeals to fuel- line. But, chemical engineers are work-
niagroup.com) (see Table). In these sys- cell makers for several reasons, includ- ing on making H2 a commodity.
tems, a H2-containing fuel passes over ing higher threshold costs for mass- The removal of sulfur from fuel is
the anode, releasing electrons; the H2 market penetration (e.g., crucial in H2 production for fuel cells.
ions pass through a polymer-membrane $3,000-3,500/kW for stationary vs. But while desulfurization is old hat to
electrolyte and combine with oxygen at $100/kW for autos), points out Frost & refiners, fuel cells raise the performance
the cathode to form water. Operating at Sullivan (San Jose, CA; www.frost. bar. “For most refinery or other fuel-
about 80°C, PEMs are attractive for au- com) analyst Ravi Krishnaswamy, processing applications,‘low-sulfur fuel’
tomotive, stationary and portable pow- adding that “ the considerable experi- means 15–30 ppm,” points out Ke Liu,
er-generation applications. ence and data they gain from their sta- former task leader at HydrogenSource
Some PEM manufacturers are fo- tionary prototypes can be carried over (S. Windsor, CT; www.hydrogen-
cusing their product development ef- to the automotive segment.” source.com), a joint venture between
forts on the automobile market, which One example of this technology UTC Fuel Cells (S. Windsor, CT;
poses the toughest challenges. “This transfer is the 75-kW PEM fuel cell www.utcfuelcells.com) and Shell Oil
low-cost, high-volume application has made by auto giant General Motors Co. (Houston, TX; www.shellus.com)
to be very reliable and durable,” says (Detroit; www.gm.com/company/gma- focused on developing fuel-processing
Michael Rosenberg, corporate relations bility/adv_tech/index.html), which was technologies. “PEM fuel cells need sul-
manager at Ballard Power Systems installed this past February at Dow fur at ppb levels,” he stresses.
(Burnaby, BC; www.ballard.com). Chemical Co.’s (Midland, MI; Options include passive adsorption
“We must deal with vibration, dust, www.dow.com) Freeport, TX, site and hydrodesulfurization (HDS),
different operating temperatures, and (CEP, March 2004; p. 14). The system which uses recycled H2 in the presence
continuously ramp from low to full uses H2 produced by Dow’s onsite of a catalyst to convert sulfur to H2S,

8 www.cepmagazine.org June 2004 CEP

 gen blanketing. “But fuel-cell applica-
Reformate to
Water–Gas Shift tions mean putting this in people’s
Liquid Fuel basements or cars,” adds Liu. He says
( Not part of
old system)
that HydrogenSource’s patented
Recuperator Bypass
process, which uses noble-metal WGS
Reformate
Recuperator
technology from Süd-Chemie, solves
the space and safety issues of tradi-
Combustion

Steam
Water
Primary Startup Exhaust
tional WGS processes (Süd-Chemie is
also developing non-pyrophoric base-
Fuel

Air Inlet
metal WGS catalysts).
This technology is used in
Startup HydrogenSource’s 150-kW fuel-pro-
Combustion

Air
Vaporizer
Reformer
Zone

cessing system, which employs HDS,

Mixer

Exhaust
Air Recuperator followed by a proprietary CPO re-
former, WGS and preferential oxida-
tion (PrOx, in which the remaining
CO is converted to CO2). “The chal-
Spark
Plug Port lenge of developing fuel processing
Pre-warmed Air for such a big scale is the turndown
ratio, which is 7:1,” says
Figure 2. Flow schematics for the Rapid Start reforming system. Previous systems utilized a combustion HydrogenSource’s senior systems en-
catalyst to provide the ignition source, which required a ramping of air and fuel flows during a cold start
and thus, introduced a lag between initial ignition and full combustion gas flow. Rapid Start features a gineer Jingyu Cui. “In less than a
spark ignition system, which provides rapid ignition as soon as fuel enters the combustion chamber. Red minute, we can ramp up from 30 kW
items are active only during the startup transient. Blue items operate only during steady-state operation. to 150 kW.” (A 7:1 H2 turndown in
the fuel processor translates to a 5:1
which is adsorbed. Engelhard Corp.’s the proportions of CPO and SR used
power turndown in the fuel cell.)
(Iselin, NJ; www.engelhard. com) se- in ATR, as well as space velocity —
` The CPO and noble-metal WGS
lective catalytic oxidation (SCO) so, the amount of precious metal can
technology formed the basis for
process combines fuel with air in the be optimized for operating conditions
HydrogenSource’s 50-kW, 75-L on-
presence of a catalyst to selectively and required performance.
board gasoline fuel processor for cars.
oxidize sulfur to SOx, which are ad- Another important step in H2 pro-
“You basically put a H2 plant under-
sorbed downstream. duction is water-gas shift (sometimes
neath the hood,” says Liu, who was the
The researchers found that sulfur conducted in separate, high-tempera-
system lead for the program. The
removal of more than 99.9% for both ture- and low-temperature-shift steps),
processor ramps up to full capacity in
natural gas and liquefied propane gas in which CO is reacted with water to
less than 4 min, during which time the
(LPG) occurs when the oxygen:carbon produce H2 and CO2, reducing CO be-
car runs on stored battery power (fuel-
ratio is 0.03:1.0, and fuel-inlet temper- low 1%. WGS is nothing new to in-
cell vehicles are all hybrids at present).
ature is 250–270°C, with space veloci- dustry — the ammonia industry, as
ties below 6,000/h. Unlike passive ad- Liu points out, has
sorption and HDS, SCO does not use been using Cu-Zn Table. U.S. fuel-cell demand ($ millions).
or generate any toxic or hazardous WGS catalysts for
substances, uses much less adsorbent, over 50 years —
and does not require H2 recycle. but fuel cells have Item 1998 2003 2008 2013
After desulfurization, H2 can be new requirements. Total fuel-cell 540 1,230 3,550 7,500
generated via: catalytic partial oxida- Traditional cata- spending
tion (CPO), in which air is catalytical- lysts, with typical % commercial 9.6 8.9 31.0 61.3
ly combined with fuel; steam reform- gas-hour space ve- Commercial fuel-cell 52 110 1,100 4,600
ing (SR), which combines fuel with locities below demand by market (total)
steam, or autothermal reforming 4,000/h, require Electric power 27 62 730 2,250
(ATR), a combination of the two. huge reactor vol- generation
Süd-Chemie’s (Louisville, KY; umes and are py- Military/aerospace 21 22 45 170
www.sud-chemie.com) ATR catalyst rophoric — sim- Motor vehicles 3 17 60 290
comprises a platinum-group metal ply a nuisance in
Portable electronics neglig. 4 130 1,140
supported on an alumina washcoat ammonia plants,
Other 1 5 135 750
containing rare-earth oxides, applied which shut down
Source: The Freedonia Group, Inc.
to a ceramic or metallic monolith. fairly infrequently
Catalyst performance is affected by and can use nitro-

CEP June 2004 www.cepmagazine.org 9

Update

at selectivities of greater than 98%,

which can be sequestered or used for
enhanced oil recovery,” adds Andreas
Matzakos, Shell staff research engi-
neer. The reactor can operate at tem-
2 4
peratures as low as 450°C. Shell pre-
dicts that a reactor with 10 m2 area and
0.27 m3 of catalyst can produce up to
3,700 kg/d of H2, when membrane per-
3 meance reaches its full potential.
“The membrane combines the func-
tions of a steam reformer, high-tem-
1 perature shift, low-temperature shift,
PrOx, and H2 separation into one oper-
ation,” says chemical engineering pro-
fessor Yi-Hua Ma at Worcester
1
Polytechnic Institute (Worcester, MA;
4 Number Description www.wpi.edu), leader of the group
1 1 Combustion gas flow
that developed the membrane. “You
5 2 Combustor
save a lot of materials and operating
3 Recuperator
4 Reforming gas flow cost, and save room for mobile appli-
5 Reforming reactor cations.” The membrane comprises a
palladium alloy on a porous stainless-
Figure 3. The conventional steam-reforming reactor, shown at the left, has been modified to incorporate a steel support; because high-tempera-
new panel configuration (right) with very short flow distance for the heating gas. The flow can be ture operations can cause intermetallic
substantially increased during startup without incurring high pressure drop on the combustion gas side.
diffusion, the researchers developed an
in situ technique for creating an oxide
Consolidation strategies during startup without incurring a layer on the support before applying
Rapid startup was also the idea be- high pressure drop, thereby enabling the precious metal.
hind Pacific Northwest National a more rapid startup,” Whyatt con-
Laboratory’s (PNNL; Richland, WA; tinues, adding that the design also Fuel economy
www.pnl.gov) onboard steam re- minimizes the mass of components Molten-carbonate fuel cells
former, which starts up to produce re- that require heating prior to refor- (MCFCs), whose electrolyte consists
formate in 12 s (Figure 2, p. 8). During mate production. of carbonate salts (usually a mixture of
startup, a significant amount of excess Shell International Exploration & lithium carbonate and potassium car-
steam is generated to heat a down- Production’s (Houston; TX; bonate), operate quite differently from
stream WGS reactor, while reducing www.shell.com) integrated membrane PEMs. At the anode, H2 releases elec-
CO levels until the WGS reactor steam reforming reactor (MSR; Figure trons and combines with carbonate
reaches operating temperature. 4) improves considerably on current ions ((CO3)–2) to form water and CO2;
The reformer and water vaporizer SR processes, which typically require at the cathode, oxygen and CO2 com-
are configured as thin panels (Figure 3, high-temperature (800–1,000°C) oper- bine with electrons to produce carbon-
right), allowing high combustion flow ations, leading to expensive materials ate ions (CO2 is recycled from the an-
with low pressure drop. “Flow within of construction, NOx formation, and ode exhaust to combine with the
the heating gas microchannels is lami- furnace volumes of greater than cathode feed stream). The systems op-
nar so that a high heat transfer coeffi- 10,000 ft3 at the refinery scale (for a erate at 600–650°C.
cient can be obtained despite the de- 150 kW processor, suitable for sta- The high temperature allows for in-
crease in velocity,” explains Greg tionary or mobile H2 production, re- ternal reforming, so the fuel cell can
Whyatt, staff engineer at PNNL. former volumes are approximately 5 directly use fuels such as natural gas.
Previous systems (Figure 3) had a ft3), and low thermal efficiencies (typ- In addition, MCFCs can function in
lower flow cross section and greater ically < 80%). combined heat and power applications
flow distance for the combustion gas The SMR shifts reaction equilibri- to provide overall energy efficiencies
flow. The pressure drop limited the um in favor of H2 production by con- of 75% (electrical efficiency is about
extent to which combustion flow tinuously removing pure H2 as fuel 47%). Fuel Cell Energy (FCE;
could be increased during startup. and steam flow through the catalyst Danbury, CT; www.fuelcellenergy.
“By reducing the pressure drop for bed. “In addition, the process achieves com) has also developed a hybrid fuel-
normal operation to 1 in. H2O, the fuel conversions above 90%, and gen- cell/turbine generator that offers total
flow can be substantially increased erates concentrated, high-pressure CO2 electrical efficiencies of 70–75%, ac-

10 www.cepmagazine.org June 2004 CEP

 5
MORE ABOUT FUEL CELLS
■ U.S. Dept. of Defense’s fuel-cell programs; www.dodfuelcell.com
4
■ U.S. Dept. of Energy’s (DOE)
Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure Technologies Program
www.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells
13 ■ U.S. Fuel Cell Council (USFCC); www.usfcc.com
13
6 6 ■ Exhaustive information on fuel-cell installations; www.fuelcells.org/charts.htm
14
■ National Academy of Sciences’ report, “The Hydrogen Economy:
9 Opportunities, Costs, Barriers, and R&D Needs,” available now from the National
9 Academies Press;Tel: (202) 334-3313 or (800) 624-6242; or visit www.nap.edu
to request a copy.
Note: All above organizations’ headquarters are located in Washington, DC.
2
1 ■ AIChE’s 2004 Spring National Meeting (April 24–27; www.aiche.org) proceedings.
Call (800) 482-4788 or e-mail [email protected] to place an order.
1 Contact name: Crystal

8 Figure 4. Conceptual drawing of the membrane steam reforming (MSR) reactor: 1. FDC
heating section; 2. H2 permeate section; 3. Catalyst section; 4. Natural gas/steam inlet;
3
5. Sweep steam inlet; 6. Pre-heated air inlet; 7. Pd-alloy membrane; 8. Catalyst; 9.
7
FDC fuel tube; 10. Flue gas outlet; 11. H2/sweep steam outlet; 12. CO2/steam outlet;
10
13. Fuel inlet; 14. Inert solids. Courtesy of Shell International Exploration & Production.

FCE is one of several are largely due to resistance, explains

12 fuel-cell developers in- Maru, many developers adopted planar
volved in the U.S. Dept. configurations that allowed them to use
of Energy’s (DOE; very thin films. “That cut back the
Washington, DC; ohmic resistance significantly, allowing
www.doe.gov) Solid higher-power-density operation; this al-
11 State Energy Conversion lows the use of lower temperatures
cording to CTO Hansraj Maru. While Alliance (SECA; without a marked increase in resistivi-
most of its fuel cells are targeted for www.seca.doe.gov), a program aimed ty,” he adds. Operating at lower tem-
stationary applications, FCE is also de- at lowering stationary fuel-cell costs peratures allows FCE to use many of
veloping a liquid-fuel system for ships. to $400/kW (DOE; estimates current the same materials used by its MCFCs.
MCFC materials of construction costs at about $4,500/kW). Another One challenge for high-tempera-
tend to be relatively inexpensive: the prominent SECA technology is solid- ture fuel cells, says Maru, is being
catalysts are based on nickel; the oxide fuel cells (SOFCs): At the an- able to use a wider range of fuels (e.g.,
plates separating the reducing and ox- ode, H2 releases electrons and com- diesel, landfill gas, propane, ethanol),
idizing gases are made of stainless bines with oxygen ions (O–2) to which would allow operation in re-
steel, as is most of the balance-of- generate water; at the cathode, oxy- mote locations . Another challenge is
plant equipment. Challenges include: gen combines with electrons to pro- a perennial chemical engineering is-
corrosion of metallic components; duce oxygen ions. SOFCs, which sue. “We have several heat exchang-
stability of porous materials used to work at 600–1,000°C, are appealing ers in our system, and gas-to-gas heat
contain the liquid electrolyte; stability for their energy efficiency (about exchangers can be very bulky,” says
of catalysts, which are in contact with 60%) and ability to tolerate relatively Maru. “So we are always looking for
the electrolyte; and thermal-manage- impure fuels (they can directly use very compact, efficient heat exchang-
ment issues attendant with high-tem- unreformed CO as fuel). ers that would withstand our service
perature processes. “Then, you have While SOFCs can have a tubular requirements at high temperatures and
to put all this together to get some configuration (the tube consists of elec- have long service times.” CEP

meaningful voltage,” Maru says, trolyte sandwiched between the cath-

adding that FCE combines four hun- ode and anode materials), much atten- IRENE KIM is a contributing editor with over 12
years of experience writing about the chemical
dred 0.75-V fuel cells in one stack to tion has been on planar SOFCs. process industries.
generate 300 V. Because SOFCs’ performance losses

CEP June 2004 www.cepmagazine.org 11

Update

6,622,519). One configuration ENVIRONMENTAL

proposed for liquefying ap-
proximately 16,000 lb/h of Dredging Up a New
natural gas uses three sets of Ingredient for Cement
rectangular microchannels The Gas Technology Institute (GTI;
(MC), with 50,000–150,000 Des Plaines, IL; www.gti.com), in col-
microchannels/set. The first laboration with the U.S. Environmental
and second sets are stacked Protection Agency (EPA; Washington,
one above another to roughly DC; www.epa.gov), the State of New
5 m in height and arranged in Jersey Dept. of Transportation and
parallel along the length (1 m) Unitel Technologies (Brisbane,
of the exchanger, respectively Austrailia; www.unitel.com.au), has
carrying countercurrent developed a technology called Cement-
Velocys' microchannel heat exchanger is designed for high streams of high- and low- Lock that converts material dredged
heat flux and low pressure drop.
pressure refrigerants. In the third from the bottoms of harbors and water-
PROCESS TECHNOLOGY set, natural gas flows countercurrently ways into a substance that can be made
with the refrigerants through 2.85-m into construction-grade cement. “This
Microchannels Raise the Bar for wide × 0.41-mm high channels, ex- technology will help to increase the
Heat Transfer Efficiency changing heat with the second set of health of many U.S. harbors and water-
Velocys, Inc. (Plain City, OH; microchannels. ways, which are contaminated by met-
www.velocys.com) has developed a During operation, the mixed refrig- als and pollutants from sewer overflow
new approach to cryogenic heat that erant (containing10% N2, 24% systems and industrial operations,”
improves the productivity of liquefac- methane, 28% ethylene and a balance says Keith Jones, an environmental sci-
tion processes by up to 20%, while re- of C3+) is compressed to 330 psig and entist at Brookhaven who took part in
ducing the footprint of liquefied natural 153°C, condensed and fed to the first Cement-Lock’s development.
gas (LNG) plants. Current single-train set of microchannels as a vapor-liquid GTI is demonstrating Cement-Lock
LNG liquefaction cycles include refrig- mixture at 29°C and 323 psig. It exits at the 400-yd3 scale using a 10-ft-dia. ×
erant compression and flow through a as a liquid at –154°C, is expanded to 30 30-ft long rotary kiln melter. In the
spiral-wound or brazed aluminum heat psig, and flows through the set of sec- process, dredged material from New
exchanger (together known as a sin- ond microchannels, exiting as a vapor Jersey’s upper Newark Bay and modi-
gle”train”). Their capacity is limited by at 27.75 psig and 20.9°C. The refriger- fying minerals are loaded into the kiln
the compression equipment, the maxi- ant flows back to the compressor, and heated to 2,400–2,600°F, creating a
mum size of the liquefaction heat ex- where the cycle starts again. Natural molten material. The high temperature
changer, or both. gas enters the third set microchannels causes some contaminants to break
Velocys’ microchannel heat ex- at 635 psig and 32.2°C, and exits as a down into environmentally safe compo-
changer (MHE) technology uses large liquid at 5 psig and –155.3°C. “The use nents that are vented to the atmosphere.
numbers of parallel channels to of stainless-steel construction elimi- Contaminants that do not break
achieve the desired capacity. “The nates axial heat conduction, resulting in down are incorporated into the melt.
channels’ hydraulic diameters are heat fluxes of 5 W/cm3 vs. 0.5 W/cm3 The resulting material, called Ecomelt,
10–20 times smaller than those of when aluminum, the material of choice is ground to a powder and blended with
plate-fin heat exchangers (PFHEs), for PFHEs, is used,” notes Simmons. cement, where it plays a role in the
which decreases the refrigerant pres- Velocys’ microchannel technology hardening process of concrete (a mix-
sure drop from about 10 psi to 0.3 psi, is also being groomed by Velocys, ture of cement, sand, gravel, and water).
for a single mixed-refrigerant process, Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, MI; EPA and NJDOT will work with GTI
thus lowering compressor power re- www.dow.com) and Pacific Northwest to develop a commercial kiln that can
quirements by 18–22%,” says Wayne National Laboratory (PNNL; treat up to 500,000 yd3/yr of sediment.
Simmons, Velocys’ chief exectutive Alberquerque; NM; www.pnl.gov) for
officer. He adds that the ratio of the an oxidation process to make ethylene R&D UPDATE
surface area of the microchannel walls and other olefins. This 3-yr, $3.2 mil- Nanotreating Contaminated Soil
to the fluid flow volume is greater than lion project, chartered by the U.S. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon
1,500 m2/m3, vs. 500–1,600 m2/m3 for Dept. of Energy (Washington, DC; Univ. (CMU; Pittsburgh, PA ;
aluminum PFHEs. www.doe.gov), will focus on design www.cmu.edu) and Idaho National
Recently, Velocys was issued a and operation of a bench-scale reactor. Engineering and Environmental
patent on MHE design for liquefying The next phase will involve scale up to Laboratory (Idaho Falls; www.inel.gov)
natural gas (U.S. Patent No. commercial volumes. are developing a process that uses tar-

12 www.cepmagazine.org June 2004 CEP

REGULATORY UPDATE egory. For the non-Hg metallic HAP, EPA selected particulate
matter (PM), such as flyash, as a surrogate. Most, if not all,
It All Boils Down to the Right Surrogate
non-Hg metallic HAP emitted from combustion sources will
oilers and process heaters are ubiquitous, generating
B warmth in our homes and serving as the backbone of re-
fineries, chemical and manufacturing plants. But they are not
appear on flue gas flyash. Therefore, the same techniques that
are used to control the PM may be used to control non-Hg
metallic HAP. It is worth noting that PM was chosen as the
always environmentally friendly. On February 26, the surrogate instead of specific metallic HAP because not all fuels
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; Washington, DC; emit the same type and amount of metallic HAP (although
www.epa.gov) announced a new rule requiring owners or op- most do emit PM). The use of PM as a surrogate also elimi-
erators of boilers and process heaters to upgrade their facilities nates the cost of performance testing that is needed to comply
by installing maximum achievable control technology with numerous standards for individual metals.
(MACT). EPA estimates that the rule will affect 58,000 exist- Some sources burn fuels that contain very little metal. Yet,
ing boilers and process heaters, as well as 800 new systems they emit high enough levels of PM to require control under
that will be built each year over the next five years. the PM provisions of the BMR. In such cases, PM would not
The boiler MACT rule (BMR) will substantially reduce be an appropriate surrogate for metallic HAP. Thus, the BMR
emissions from these facilities with respect to a number of includes a metals-emission limit with which the source may
toxic air pollutants (TAPs), including HCl, Mn, Pb, As and choose to comply as an alternative to the PM limit to meet the
Hg, by 50,600 ton/yr in the fifth year after the rule takes ef- final MACT standard.
fect. In addition, EPA suggests that the rule will reduce SO2 For inorganic HAP, EPA chose HCl as a surrogate. The
emissions by 49,000–113,000 ton/yr and particulate matter emissions test information indicates that the primary inorganic
(PM), measured as coarse particulate matter, by HAP emitted from boilers and process heaters are acid gases,
547,000–562,000 ton/yr. with HCl having the highest concentration. Other inorganic
The BMR defines a process heater as an enclosed device HAP are found in much smaller quantities, but would be effec-
(other than a boiler) that uses a controlled flame to primarily tively controlled by the same technologies that reduce HCl
transfer heat indirectly to a process material, or to heat a trans- emissions.
fer material for use in a process unit, rather than using the heat Finally, for organic HAP, such as dioxins, EPA chose CO
to generate steam. In contrast, a boiler is an enclosed device as a reliable indicator of incomplete combustion, because there
that uses controlled flame combustion to recover heat in the is a direct correlation between CO emissions and the formation
form of steam or hot water. Sources affected by the BMR in- of organic HAP.
clude existing industrial, commercial or institutional boilers In addition, CO-monitoring equipment is readily available.
and process heaters located at a major source*, and new or re- Also, CO emissions are easier and less expensive to measure
constructed industrial, commercial or institutional boiler and and monitor than emissions of each organic HAP. EPA then
process heaters located at a major source. set emission limitations based on whether a unit burns solid,
Boilers and process heaters can emit a wide variety of haz- liquid or gaseous fuel and whether a unit is large, small or of
ardous air pollutants (HAP), depending on the material burned. limited use. The Agency also provided several compliance al-
Due to the disparity in the quantity and quality of emissions in- ternatives in the final rule, including a demonstration of com-
formation available, the EPA uses several surrogates to control pliance based on the fuel’s pollutant content and, in certain cir-
multiple HAP in the BMR. First, it groups the HAPs into four cumstances, on emissions averaging. Because of the intricacies
categories: Hg, non-Hg metallic HAP, inorganic HAP and or- and breadth of this rule, readers are referred to
ganic HAP. In general, the pollutants within each group have www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t1/ fr_notices/icibph_fr.pdf for more
similar characteristics and can be controlled with the same information. The BMR will take effect 60 d after publication
techniques. Next, EPA identified compounds that could be in the Federal Register.
used as surrogates for all the compounds in each pollutant cat-
* The Clean Air Act defines a “major source” as one that emits 10 Regulatory Update is prepared by William A. Shirley, P.E., J.D., a chem-
ton/yr or more of a single toxic air pollutant, or 25 ton/yr or more of a ical engineer and attorney in private practice in St. Louis, MO; Phone:
combination of toxic air pollutants. (888) OSHA-LAW; E-mail: [email protected].

geted nanoparticles to clean up environ- Led by CMU environmental engi- added to the particle at the nanoscale
mental toxins that resist conventional neering professor Greg Lowry, investi- level. An outer, hydrophilic shell en-
remediation methods. Their 3-yr study, gators start with a core reactive iron ables particles to move easily through
funded by a $1.7 million grant from the that quickly breaks down chlorinated pores within the soil to the pockets of
U.S. Department of Energy organic solvents into harmless byprod- TCE. At the water-TCE interface, an
(Washington, DC; www.doe.gov), is ucts. The iron-containing molecules inner hydrophobic shell makes the par-
currently focused on soil that is contam- are coated with two polymer shells us- ticles stick there, thereby allowing the
inated with trichloroethylene (TCE), a ing atom transfer radical polymeriza- particle’s reactive core to break down
carcinogenic solvent used widely to re- tion, which allows different structural the toxic residue. Field testing will be-
move grease from metal parts. and functional components to be gin next year.

CEP June 2004 www.cepmagazine.org 13