Flue-gas desulphurisation products from Polish coal-fired power-plants

Many desulphurisation installations were constructed in the Polish power industry in recent years, so SO2 emissions were reduced by a half to 1.04×106 tonnes in 2000, while SO2 capture increased to 43.7% in 2000. FGD gypsum, obtained by the most important wet-limestone desulphurisation method, is recognised as a substitute for natural gypsum. Its production in Poland started in 1994, and amounted to 1.1×106 tonnes in 2000. It is currently fully used in gypsum binders, plasters and plasterboard manufacture, as well as an additive in the production of Portland cement. Other FGD materials—obtained in dry and semi-dry methods of desulphurisation—have variable phase and chemical compositions, so they do not find industrial applications and are mainly stockpiled in underground mines or open pits. The sulphate-calcium ashes from an AFBC process will probably be used in the cement industry simultaneously as a pozzolanic additive and setting-time regulator, provided that their compositions are constant. Their total supply amounted to ca. 1.5×106 tonnes in 2000, but within 5 years, it should achieve 4.0×106 tonnes.