Hydrogen Chloride (HCl) Emissions from Maryland Utility Boilers

Foreword

The Maryland Power Plant Research Program funded the preparation of this report to provide a preliminary assessment of potential emissions of hydrogen chloride (HCl) emissions from utility boilers operating in Maryland. HCl is one of the 188 listed hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) regulated under the Clean Air Act, and is one of the listed extremely hazardous substances (EHS) regulated under the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) program of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

This report presents a review of potential HCl emissions resulting from coal and fuel oil combustion in utility boilers in Maryland, and compares these estimates with emissions of other acid gases (sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides).

Executive Summary	Exec-1
1.0 Overview	1
1.1 HCl Regulatory Initiatives	1
1.2 PPRP Study of HCl Emissions from Maryland Sources	3
2.0 Chloride Levels in Fossil Fuels	5
2.1 Coal	5
2.2 Fuel Oils	8
3.0 Fate of Chloride in Fossil Fuel Combustion Units	10
3.1 Coal Combustion	10
3.2 Fuel Oil Combustion	11
4.0 Comparison of SO2, NOX and HCl Emissions from Maryland Utility Boilers	12
4.1 Coal Combustion	12
4.2 Fuel Oil Combustion	17
5.0 Comparison of HCl Emissions from Selected Combustion Sources	20
5.1 Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Model Unit	24
5.2 Sewage Sludge Incineration Model Unit	24
5.3 Medical Waste Incineration Model Unit	25
5.4 Utility Boilers Model Units	25
5.5 Summary of Findings	26
6.0 Conclusions	29
7.0 References	31