New gas turbine at Central Plant to help Rice campus breathe easier

New
gas turbine at Central Plant to help Rice campus breathe easier
…………………………………………………………………

BY GREG OKUHARA
Rice News Staff

Rice University soon will be cutting
its emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), some of the chief contributors to smog
formation, with the installation of a new gas turbine engine in the Central
Plant, which produces both steam and electricity for the Rice campus.

The Department of Facilities and
Engineering is in the process of retrofitting the current turbine system, which
was installed in 1989, with the SoloNox DLE (Dry Low Emissions) system. The
new system will reduce NOx emissions from the turbine from 70 parts per million
(ppm) to less than 25 ppm.

“The system we’re installing
allows for a better mix of fuel and air, and that reduces the emissions,”
said Doug Wells, operations engineer for facilities and engineering, who added
that the gas turbine engine is responsible for about 90 percent of the plant’s
emissions. “It’s a more complicated, computer-based system. The fuel-air
mixture is critical to combustion within the unit. And better, more precise
mixing makes dramatic improvements in NOx emissions.”

The new system is part of steps Rice
is taking to comply with state-mandated pollution control measures aimed at
reducing NOx emissions. For 2003, Rice is allowed 96.4 tons of NOx emissions,
well above the 70.7 tons the power plant currently generates.

However, in 2004, the allowance will
drop to 75.9 tons. That allowance will continue to fall, with 54.6 tons allowed
in 2005 and, ultimately, 38 tons in 2008. However, efforts by other companies
in Texas and how well the area satisfies the goals of the new guidelines may
lead to further changes in the law. Initially, NOx emissions were significantly
lower, requiring a reduction to four tons by 2008 when originally mandated in
January 2001. The latest and current law was proposed in June 2002 and was adopted
this January.

“The upward trend (in relaxing
allowances) is not really indicative, I believe, of where we’re going to
end up,” Wells said. “If you talk with a lot of consultants and lawmakers,
they believe (the current plan) will get us most of the way to complying with
the federal Clean Air Act, but not all the way.”

Wells and his staff estimate the
power plant will produce about 30 tons of NOx emissions in 2008 if no other
emission improvements are made or no additional equipment is added.

“We think the SoloNox system
is the best, most prudent first step to preparing us for the future and possibly
carrying us beyond 2008,” Wells said. “This is the most dramatic bang-for-the-buck.”

He added that during the installation
process of the new turbine engine, the campus will not notice any disruption
in service.

The system, with a projected cost
of $450,000, was part of facilities and engineering’s capital budget. But
with the decrease in pollution, Rice will have emissions credits as a result
of the SoloNox system, which may in turn save money.

Under the current law, campus emissions
will be under their allowance in 2008, resulting in credits. These credits can
be sold to another institution or company that is over its allowance. In the
current market, before more significant reductions have taken effect, the selling
price of these credits is relatively inexpensive. However, Wells said he has
heard of 2008 credits selling for as much as $40,000 to $50,000.

Had Rice not purchased the SoloNox
system, the university would eventually be about 20 tons over its allowable
emissions if utilities were produced and purchased the way they are now. At
this projected cost, Rice would have had to purchase about
$1 million in emissions credits. But with the SoloNox, current projections forecast
Rice having excess credits that it possibly could sell to help pay for the new
system or other pollution-reducing measures. However, that is assuming nothing
changes.

“We won’t know that until
the city of Houston and the state get further down the road and see what happens
to NOx, pollution or ozone levels in the air the next few years,” Wells
said.

But in the meantime, the Rice campus
will be breathing a little easier, thanks to the new SoloNox system.