Hierarchical Criticality Analysis of Clean Technologies Applied to a Coal-Fired Power Plant

Abstract

Mineral coal is the main source of energy generation in the world. In Brazil, this energy source has a smaller share in the internal energy supply, 5.5% of the total. Despite this, issues of energy security, stable and low prices make coal a strategic source. Due to this source's importance, this work aims to evaluate the clean technologies used to mitigate the emission resulting from the combustion of coal from a thermoelectric plant that applies low quality coal in Brazil using an analytical hierarchy process to classify the viable technological alternatives for the production process. The articulation of the environmental management system was adequate to meet the environmental demands and the energy efficiency of the thermoelectric plant. However, the results suggest that the investment in a coal processing plant would increase the fuel quality, a critical factor in the reduction of operating milling costs, in the ash circuit, and the treatment of gaseous emissions.