Some Environmental Bottlenecks to Coal Utilization for Power Generation in Nigeria and Their Corrective Actions

Abstract

Given the magnitude of the Nigerian coal reserves, the industrialization role coal played in the pre-petroleum era, and the resources conservation consideration dictating that some local resources be used so as to conserve and extend the depletion years of oil and gas, Enugu coal offers a promising alternative solution to Nigeria’s power generation. Unfortunately, emissions from coal combination chiefly impose some environ- mental bottlenecks to coal utilization for power generation. This article reviews the roles of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide emissions as acid gas, as well as the activities of carbon dioxide as both acid gas and greenhouse gas. The article also examines the impact of environmental concern and legislation on the control of combustion emissions. To ensure compliance with legislation and environmental concerns, this paper proposed fluidized bed combustion as the remedy for combustion emissions control. In this regard, two categories of FBC, namely bubbling fluidized bed and circulating fluidized bed combustors, were reviewed in conjunction with their modes of operation in the forms of: atmospheric fluidized bed combustion and pressurized fluidized bed combustion. The review showed that the bubbling fluidized beds are more viable for retrofit applications, while the circulating fluidized bed units are more applicable in new plants. Owing to the non inclusion of carbon dioxide parameters in the operating credentials of bubbling fluidized bed and circulating fluidized bed units, some of the known technologies for carbon dioxide scrubbing/removal were suggested as this article will show.