Posts Tagged ‘EPA’

SWAPSOL SHARES LOW-COST LANDFILL GAS CLEANUP PROCESS DISCOVERY AT JANUARY EPA/LMOP CONFERENCE

Monday, January 17th, 2011

Operators given novel choice: Eliminate H2S and reduce CO2, or turn H2S into fuel

EATONTOWN, N.J. (Jan. 17, 2011) – SWAPSOL Corp. executives will be in Baltimore, Md., to explain how the Stenger-Wasas Process (SWAP) can give landfill operators a cost-effective solution to turn their sites into sources of clean, affordable power.  They will also discuss their latest research on directly converting hydrogen sulfide (H2S) into hydrogen (H2) for fuel. SWAPSOL will exhibit at the 14th Annual LMOP Conference and Project Expo at the Baltimore Hilton Jan. 18-20.

“Landfill gas cleanup may likely be the easiest application of the SWAP to implement quickly. This type of cleanup is expected to experience significant growth in the future as a renewable energy option,” said Wolf Koch, Ph.D., SWAPSOL director of planning and development. “Each landfill is normally a standalone application close to an urban location and requires little integration activities with existing processes.”

The SWAPSOL Sulfur Cycle

The SWAPSOL Sulfur Cycle

The SWAP
The SWAP is a suite of hydrocarbon (HC) processing applications independently verified to convert H2S with three possible reaction paths and may be applied to cleaning landfill, sour, flue, and other industrial gases. The process may be used to eliminate NOx, SOx, O3, CO, COS, and stoichiometrically reduce CO2 by using H2S. Alternatively, air may be used to react with H2S. Laboratory work has shown that the SWAP has the ability to also convert H2S into H2 for fuel. The SWAP reacts CO2 in the presence of H2S, forming water, sulfur, and carbon-sulfur polymers (carsuls). The alternate reactions produce sulfur and either water or hydrogen. The SWAP has been shown in the laboratory to eliminate H2S to below detectable limits.

No pre-separation required: Landfills early adopters
A variant of the SWAP has the ability to destroy most common HC wastes via a reaction with sulfur, producing additional H2S and carsuls. As landfills accept large quantities of construction and demolition (C&D) debris along with regular municipal solid waste (MSW), they generate increasing amounts of H2S. The SWAP eliminates the need for pre-separating the H2S, lowering operating costs for gas cleanup.

“We’re very excited about applying this technology in the waste management sector,” Koch said. “Not only can the SWAP clean landfill gas in ongoing operations, but operators may also use the technology to generate power from capped sites.”

Engineering & cost studies toward pilot construction
An independent engineering and comparative cost analysis is being completed to form the blueprint for pilot development. Work is underway to identify potential partners in establishing the first commercial landfill application in mid-2011. Koch said he hopes the successful demonstration will lead to the SWAP’s further implementation into the natural gas and coal-fired power generation industries.

“The SWAP is not a CO2 capture process, but a CO2 elimination process,” Koch said. “The SWAP vision is to enable carbon-emitters to profit by not polluting, to substantially lower their carbon penalties, and to earn carbon credits.”

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EPA submits Greenhouse Gas rules to White House

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

It will be interesting to watch how the recently submitted EPA rules to the White House drive new dialogue among business leaders on how reporting requirements will affect bottom lines.  How will the new “tailoring rules” ultimately apply?

The Wall Street Journal reports: “EPA officials say the agency wants to finalize the rule by the end of April, but that timetable may slip into May. The EPA said earlier this year that the first phase would likely target facilities that emit more than 75,000 to 100,000 tons of carbon-dioxide equivalent a year starting in 2011. The agency hasn’t yet made clear the exact first-phase threshold.”

Landfills may be particularly impacted and would present a valuable opportunity  for municipal leaders to explore how the SWAP could be implemented to safely and cheaply process landfill gas (LFG) for power.  A recent article from the New York Times delves into the broad potential impact of these rules.

In the United States alone, there were more than 3,500 landfills in operation as documented by the EPA in 1995.  In 2003, we generated 236.2 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW), an increase of 15 percent above 1990 levels and 168 percent above 1980 levels.  The number of landfill gas projects that generate electricity on-site, supply industrial gas-fired boilers, or produce substitute natural gas rules, such as compressed natural gas (CNG) jumped from approximately 400 in 2005 to 519 in 2009.

Many landfills are now accepting large quantities of construction and demolition debris in addition to MSW, which in sufficient quantities results in landfill gases with relatively high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide (H2S).  H2S is generally the byproduct of bacterial decomposition of construction wastes, particularly drywall containing calcium sulfate.   There is an interesting article from Environmental Leader on H2S and potential reporting requirements this month.

Landfill gas cleanup is likely to experience significant growth in the future as a renewable energy option.  Each landfill is normally a stand-alone operation close to an urban location.  Integrating SWAP technology at these locations, it is believed, would require minimal interface activities with existing processes.

www.swapsol.com

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EPA proposes oil and gas to report emissions

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

Late last year at the Global Refining Strategies Summit in Houston,  major industry executives talked about new Washington rules on CO2 emissions not in terms of “if,” but “when.”  If you aren’t in the oil and gas business and blinked during the last three weeks during the healthcare battle on Capitol Hill, you might have missed the news:

March 4, 2010 WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency intends to require that power plants, refineries and other major sources of global-warming pollution get permits beginning in 2011 that would require them to cut emissions, the agency’s leader said Wednesday.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the EPA wants to regulate sources emitting more than 75,000 tons a year of polluting gaseous oxides (CO2, etc.) over the next three years.  Exactly how the EPA intends to monitor and regulate these emissions is the singular issue not lost on the environmental and industry lobbies in D.C.  Get ready for a knock-down drag out over what the country’s enviro-political landscape will or should look like for years to come.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson

But stepping back, here’s what the EPA has done: it has proposed that oil, gas and other entities that emit CO2 and related pollutants be added to an existing list of companies that report their emissions levels yearly.  One pollutant cited by the EPA is methane, a gas generated by the petroleum industry that traps 20 percent more heat than carbon and is considered a major factor in climate change.  Another area the EPA is interested in is CO2 injection or “flooding” – a method used by producers to push oil out of the ground.

“Gathering this information is the first step toward reducing greenhouse emissions and fostering innovative technologies for the clean energy future,” said Jackson.

The industries cited will be asked to begin recording their emissions for a report submitted in 2012.

Research & Development

SWAPSOL Sulfur Cycle

SWAPSOL Sulfur Cycle

Swapsol Corp. may have a potential solution that may make the worry over CO2 emissions a thing of the past.

SWAPSOL is developing commercial processes around a newly discovered chemical reaction verified to reduce hydrogen sulfide (H2S) below detectable levels while reacting with carbon dioxide (CO2) to form water, sulfur and carsuls, a carbon-sulfur polymer.

The Stenger-Wasas Process (SWAP) stands to fundamentally simplify sulfur removal technology as it consumes carbon dioxide in an exothermic reaction under relatively mild process conditions.

SWAPSOL will again present its science to the international oil and gas industry at the Global Refining Summit May 17-19  in Rotterdam.  It returns to Houston October 26-27 to meet with industry at the Global Refining Strategies Summit.

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Will EPA move hurt business in effort to stop global warming?

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in April quietly dropped a bombshell on business  – carbon dioxide will soon be declared a dangerous pollutant.

In a move that could have momentous implications for environmental and energy policy, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson recently told reporters that a formal “endangerment finding,” triggering federal regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, would probably “happen in the next months.” (SF Chronicle 9/1)

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson

According to EPA scientists, greenhouse gases contribute to global warming by trapping heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. By declaring CO2 a dangerous pollutant, the EPA would have the ability to weigh heavily on Congress to move ahead with climate legislation.

A formal endangerment finding would enable the agency to regulate greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act – even if Congress doesn’t pass a final climate change bill.

Energy industry leaders have acknowledged the need for CO2 regulation, but decried the current U.S. Climate Bill as a dramatic blow to the petroleum industry itself.  Even so, they have largely favored Congressional action over EPA-imposed limits.

Valero Energy Corp. has said that the U.S. Climate Bill in its current form would cost the company $7 billion annually. The House of Representatives narrowly passed the bill in June.

“How would we be able to operate?” asked Jim Greenwood, vice president for governmental affairs at Valero, quoted in a recent news article. “I don’t know. If they can make some breakthroughs, especially with carbon capture and sequestration, you can halve carbon emissions.” (Reuters 8/28)

So, what’s the bottom line? Carbon legislation is coming, and it is, once again, imperative that American enterprise rise to meet the challenge of finding ways to maintain productivity and profitability while adapting to imminent energy policy.

www.swapsol.com

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