By the end of 2010, China had approximately 650 GW of coal-fired electric generating capacity producing almost 75% of the country’s total electricity generation. As a result of the heavy reliance on coal for electricity generation, emissions of air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), are increasing. To address these growing emissions, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) has introduced new NOx emission control policies to encourage the installation of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technologies on a large number of coal-fired electric power plants. There is, however, limited experience with SCR in China. It is therefore useful to explore the lessons from the use of SCR technologies in other countries. This paper provides an overview of SCR technology performance at coal-fired electric power plants demonstrating emission removal rates between 65% and 92%. It also reviews the design and operational challenges that, if not addressed, can reduce the reliability, performance, and cost-effectiveness of SCR technologies. These challenges include heterogeneous flue gas conditions, catalyst degradation, ammonia slip, sulfur trioxide (SO3) formation, and fouling and corrosion of plant equipment. As China and the rest of the world work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from parasitic load and urea-to-ammonia conversion may also become more important. If these challenges are properly addressed, SCR can reliably and effectively remove up to 90% of NOx emissions at coal-fired power plants.
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