The Babcock & Wilcox Company Signs Licensing Agreement with AEP Subsidiary for Emissions Technology
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BARBERTON, Ohio, October 12, 2006 - The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) has signed a licensing agreement with AEP ProServ, Inc., a subsidiary of American Electric Power (AEP), for AEP's sulfur trioxide (SO3) mitigation technology designed to reduce stack emissions from coal-fired power plants.
The nonexclusive agreement allows B&W to sell, engineer, design, manufacture, construct, start up and service AEP's technology for its dry sorbent injection system to utility customers who either are adding new boilers that will burn medium-to-high sulfur coal or to those who have existing boilers equipped with selective catalytic reduction systems (SCRs) and wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems.
Through the SO3 mitigation technology, a naturally occurring mineral chemically known as sodium sesquicarbonate (the raw material for soda ash), is injected in dry form into the flue gas stream. The dry sorbent injection reduces the SO3 emitted from the stack, thus reducing the blue plume normally visible when high SO3 levels are present.
AEP has successfully installed the technology on two scrubbed units that were retrofitted with B&W supplied FGDs. In addition to substantially reducing SO3, the sorbent system also enhanced the performance of the dry electrostatic precipitator (ESP). B&W is currently the only company approved by AEP to supply the mitigation technology.
"We are pleased to have been chosen by AEP to make its innovative, proven SO3 mitigation technology available to our utility customers through this licensing agreement," said B&W's Environmental Products and Services Vice President Walter Nischt. "The technology is a natural complement to our current 'toolbox' of cost-effective environmental solutions for reducing emissions, lowering maintenance and improving efficiency - whatever our customers' diverse needs may be."
American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation's largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 36,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S.
The Babcock & Wilcox Company is a subsidiary of McDermott International, Inc., a leading worldwide energy services company. McDermott subsidiaries manufacture steam-generating equipment, environmental equipment, and products for the U.S. government. They also provide engineering and construction services for the offshore oil and natural gas industry.
