Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) System Installation and Commissioning at the Chow II Power Plant in Chowchilla, California

Lean burn, natural gas, reciprocating engines are becoming widely utilized for stationary industrial applications due to their high efficiency and low emissions. However, despite the low engine emissions, some locations still require exhaust after-treatment to meet the local emissions requirements. Due to the high oxygen content (greater than 4%) in the exhaust of lean burn engines, 3-Way (non-selective) catalysts are not suitable to reduce NOx. Selective catalytic reduction (SCR), which utilizes a consumable reductant to reduce NOx over a catalyst, is very effective at reducing NOx and is becoming an accepted technology for large, stationary engine applications. In the summer of 2001, Stewart & Stevenson installed 16 Deutz TGB632V16 natural gas fired engines for NEO Corporation at the Chow II power plant. MIRATECH SCR provided and commissioned 16 selective catalytic reduction systems for these engines using a 40% urea solution as the reductant. This paper describes the installed SCR systems and reports some of the emissions testing results and costs. With the SCR systems in place, the engines were successfully able to meet the permitted exhaust emissions requirements of 0.07 g/bhp-hr of NOx, 0.1 g/bhp-hr of CO, and 0.15 g/bhp-hr of VOC’s (volatile organic compounds) with less than 10 ppmvd of ammonia slip @ 15% O2. Additional measurements were made of formaldehyde and acrolein. Very low levels of these emissions were found after the SCR.