Aggressive Corrosion Damaging Coal Plant Scrubbers After 1 Or 2 Yrs On Systems Expected To Last 25 [View All]

[hatrack]

When American Electric Power installed a pollution scrubber at its Cardinal plant along the Ohio River in 2007, it was supposed to last 25 years. That might not happen.

About a year later, an inspection found that something was eating through its steel walls. "There were some areas in the tank vessel itself that ultimately corroded all the way through," said Bill Sigmon, AEP's senior vice president for engineering, projects and field services.

It wasn't a freak occurrence. The Electric Power Research Institute, which is funded by utility companies, is investigating reports of "aggressive" corrosion in scrubbers across the nation. "Our findings, so far, show it's fairly widespread through the industry," said John Shingledecker, senior project manager in the research institute's fossil materials and repair program.

Without a fix, corrosion threatens plant shutdowns and costly repairs, both of which could affect Ohioans' power bills. Scrubbers are key weapons in the fight to reduce pollution at coal-fired power plants. They were installed to help meet a federal mandate that coal-fired power plants cut 71percent of their sulfur-dioxide emissions by 2014.

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http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/07/11/aggressive-decay-eats-at-power-plants.html?sid=101