John da Silva, CEO, Cosira group

19 July 2012 - The wet flue gas desulphurisation (WFGD) system being installed at Kusile power station in South Africa by the Cosira Group/Alstom Consortuim is the first of its kind in the country. The WFGD will dramatically reduce the sulphur dioxide (SO2) content from the power plants flue gases. SO2 exists in flue gases as a result of burning fossil flues during power generation and is the foremost contributor towards acid rain.

While wet flue gas desulphurisation has been a popular choice for flue gas scrubbing on the international market, South Africa has chosen, until now, to utilise other methods of decreasing sulphur dioxide from gas emissions. “Although other methodologies exist to reduce SO2 from flue gas emissions, proven technology such as wet flue gas desulphurisation processes are adopted to improve on the limits set by international committees,” John da Silva, CEO of the Cosira group, says.

“WFGD has been a popular choice for fossil-fuelled power stations for over 25 years in Europe and the United States. The technology is set to become a standard in developing countries as awareness of its benefits increases. There is no doubt that, the WFGD is the preferred environmentally friendly choice as it removes at minimum 95% of sulphur dioxide gases from the emissions,” Richard De Arruda, Cosira WFGD project director says.

“Sensors interconnected with the WFGD plant’s control systems continually record fuel gas emissions. These sensors provide the control systems with accurate monitoring information necessary to ensure that emissions are kept to the performance levels of the plant. Should emissions exceed the acceptable levels; alarms will trigger control mechanisms which adjust the plant’s inputs to correct the levels,” De Arruda says.