Washington, D.C. — An innovative technology that could
potentially help some coal-based power generation facilities
comply with anticipated new mercury emissions standards was
successfully demonstrated in a recently concluded milestone
project at a Michigan power plant. Under a cooperative agreement
with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Energy
Technology Laboratory (NETL), WE Energies demonstrated the
TOXECON(TM) process in a $52.9million project at the Presque
Isle Power Plant in Marquette, Mich. TOXECON is a relatively
cost-effective option for achieving significant reductions in
mercury emissions and increasing the collection efficiency of
particulate matter while maximizing the use of coal combustion
by-products. The technology, which resulted from NETL research
and was patented by the Electric Power Research Institute
(EPRI), involves the injection of sorbents between an existing
particulate control device, such as an electrostatic
precipitator, and a pulsed-jet baghouse, capturing pollut