Dribs and Drabs #2The operating costs for a typical 2 MW fuel oil burner have been compared with a 2 MW air plasma torch by Pyrogenesis [33]. As can be seen in the table 2.1 below, there is a significant potential for reduction of operating costs. A cost reduction of around 23% is achieved in this example. Cost reductions become even higher when considering applications such as iron ore pelletization, cement kilns and metallic ore roasters since these type of plants can have a large number of burners.
Table 2.1: Annual operating costs for a 2 MW fuel oil burner and air plasma torch.
Costs Fuel Oil Burner Plasma Torch
fuel oil cost ($.05/l) $923 000 $0
electricity cost (.03/kWh) $9 000 $600 000
replacement parts costs $0 $38 000
Total Cost $932 000 $638 000
Replacing fossil fuels with electricity represents a great potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the degree of reduction depends on how the electricity is produced. Electricity produced by renewable energy sources such as hydro, wind and solar power have very low emissions, while electricity produced in coal or natural gas power plants have much higher. A fuel oil burner emits around 115 kg CO2eq per GJ of heat while a plasma torch powered by electricity produced by hydropower only emits around 1 kg CO2eq per GJ. Retrofitting a 2 MW plasma burner in place of fuel oil burner leads to a yearly reduction of over 7 000 tonnes of CO2eq in this case. For a pelletizing plant with a thermal input of around 40 MW, a reduction of over 140 000 tonnes would be possible.
Okay I'm done. Bye.