Economic Assessment of FGD Sludge Disposal Alternatives

The results of studies, both complete and underway, to evaluate the economics of waste disposal alternatives available to the utility industry are presented in this paper. Six disposal alternatives are considered in this paper. These are: (1) untreated ponding; (2) Dravo Corporation’s Synearth process; (3) IUCS’s Poz-O-Tec process; (4) Chemfix’s process; (5) physical stabilization of untreated sludge by mixing and blending with dry ESP collected flyash; and (6) gypsum produced by the forced oxidation of lime or limestone process sulfite compounds. A base case was established for the power plant, FGD system, and each disposal alternative. Case variations were considered for the six alternatives so that plant, FGD system, and coal variations could be evaluated. For each case variation the total capital investment and annual revenue requirements (operating costs) were estimated. Gypsum disposal had the lowest total capital investment and annual revenue requirements.