Energy minister Mike O’Brien this week inspected EDF Energy’s West Burton power station in Nottinghamshire, which is being brought back online after it was fitted with the flue gas desulphurisation equipment.
The FGD technology, which is undergoing final reliability and performance tests, will remove over 90% of the sulphur dioxide emissions from the 2,000MW station.
FGD is a process where the flue gases pass through precipitators and are then diverted through an absorber, where they are mixed with a limestone slurry spray. A chemical process takes place where the sulphur dioxide reacts with the limestone to produce gypsum (calcium sulphate), which is dried and sold to the building products industry. The flue gases are emitted via the chimney, with over 90% of the sulphur dioxide removed.
The improvements are also being made at the Cottam station, which is 10km away. This represents an investment of around £200m and a reduction in SO2 emissions by 90,000 tonnes per year at each station.
