Current air quality regulations in the United States require SO2 scrubbing for most coal fired plants, which results in the formation of Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) wastewaters. These wastewaters often contain significant concentrations of a variety of metals and anions causing interferences with current analytical methods for toxic metals analysis by ICP/MS.
TestAmerica Laboratories, working in conjunction with Agilent Technologies, developed a new SOP for the Analysis of Flue Gas Desulfurization Wastewaters for the US EPA. This presentation will provide an understanding of the analytical challenges to this wastewater matrix and the analytical method developed to overcome the interferences.
Topics the presentation will cover:
- What is Flue Gas Desulfurization?
- Why is it an issue?
- Interferences to existing analytical methods
- New SOP Method highlights
- Data Quality
Who should attend?
- Coal Industry stakeholders
- Consultants
- Engineers
- Regulators
Register for this free Flue Gas Desulfurization webinar
TestAmerica's Ask the Experts Webinar Series is a Winner of the 2011 EBJ Industry Leadership Award!
About TestAmerica
TestAmerica is the leading environmental testing firm in the United States, with over 90 locations providing innovative technical expertise and comprehensive analytical testing services. Specialty analyses include source, ambient and indoor air, water quality and aquatic toxicity, compliance, desalination, shale gas, specialty organics, emergency response, industrial hygiene, dioxins, drinking water, sediments and tissues, PPCPs and emerging contaminants, explosives, Federal/DoD, and radiochemistry and mixed waste testing.
TestAmerica affiliate companies include EMLab P&K, the leader in analytical microscopy and indoor air quality; QED Environmental Systems, Inc., the leading supplier of groundwater sampling equipment and remediation pumping systems; and TestAmerica Air Emissions Corp. (METCO Environmental), specializing in air emissions testing. TestAmerica currently employs nearly 2,800 professionals dedicated to exceptional service and solutions for our clients’ environmental testing needs.
Application Note
Authors:
Richard Burrows – TestAmerica Laboratories Inc. USA
Steve Wilbur – Agilent Technologies Inc. USA
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is in the process of revising effluent guidelines for the steam electric power generating industry, due to increases in wastewater discharges as a result of Phase 2 of the Clean Air Act amendments. These regulations require SO2 scrubbing for most coal-fired plants resulting in “Flue Gas Desulfurization” (FGD) wastewaters. The revised effluent guidelines will apply to plants “primarily engaged in the generation of electricity for distribution and sale which results primarily from a process utilizing fossil-type fuel (coal, oil or gas) or nuclear fuel in conjunction with a thermal cycle employing the steam water system as a thermodynamic medium. “ [1]. This includes most large scale power plants in the United States. Effluents from these plants, especially coal-fired plants, can contain several hundred to several thousand ppm of calcium, magnesium, manganese, sodium, boron, chloride, nitrate and sulfate. Measurement of low ppb levels of toxic metals (including As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb Se, Tl, V and Zn) in this matrix presents a challenge for ICP-MS, due to the very high dissolved solids levels and potential interferences from matrix-based polyatomic ions. Furthermore, FGD wastewater can vary significantly from plant to plant depending on the type and capacity of the boiler and scrubber, the type of FGD process used, and the composition of the coal, limestone and make-up water used. As a result, FGD wastewater represents the most challenging of samples for ICP-MS; it is very high in elements known to cause matrix interferences, and also highly variable. To address this difficult analytical challenge, in 2009 the EPA commissioned the development of a new ICP-MS method specifically for FGD wastewaters. This method was developed and validated at TestAmerica Laboratories Inc. using an Agilent 7700x ICP-MS equipped with an Agilent ISIS-DS discrete sampling system.
Review the White Paper on this new method here >>>>
