Article Highlights
- Power plants face the challenge of meeting growing electricity demands while ensuring environmental sustainability.
- A new ion chromatographic method has been proposed by researchers from the National Institute of Clean-and-Low-Carbon Energy (NICE) in Beijing for precise detection of corrosive anions in power plant wastewater.
- The method employs large volume injection ion chromatography and was optimized for accurate analysis, showing excellent separation and reliability in detecting both cations and anions.
- This method offers potential for improving environmental monitoring and water quality assessment, particularly in mitigating the impact of power plant wastewater on the environment.
Power plants play a pivotal role in energy production and distribution, generating multiple energy sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal energy. However, a challenge facing power plans today, is their ability to meet the growing demands for electricity, supporting economic growth, technological advancements, and improving quality of life (1).
To generate the electrical energy necessary for society, power plants often excrete significant waste, including water. Much of that often contains corrosive or hazardous chemicals that are deleterious to the environment and to human health. As a result, it is important that detection methods can properly analyze power plant waste to help preserve the environment and ensure the efficient operation of the power plant is environmentally sustainable.
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In a recent study published in the Journal of Chromatographic Science, researchers from the National Institute of Clean-and-Low-Carbon Energy (NICE) in Beijing, China, proposed a new ion chromatographic method for precise detection of corrosive anions in power plant wastewater (2). This method helped determine corrosive anions at sub- to low-μg/L levels (2).
In this study, the researchers established a simultaneous determination method for both cations and anions in water samples obtained from power plants. The method employed large volume injection ion chromatography, which was a technique optimized for accurate analysis (2). To achieve optimal results with their method, the researchers adjusted several key variables, including the elute concentration, separation column, and suppressor current (2).
Under the optimized conditions, the researchers demonstrated that their method demonstrated excellent separation. Calibration curves for all analytes exhibited linearity with coefficients of determination (r²) exceeding 0.997 (2). Moreover, the mean recoveries for all analytes fell within the range of 75.62% to 118.58%, with relative standard deviations (RSD) ranging from 0.07% to 4.83% (2).
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The newly established method was put to the test with real wastewater samples collected from coal-fired power plants. Coal power plants generate significant energy, especially in developing economies like China, India, and Indonesia; in fact, roughly 60% of electricity in these three countries comes from coal power plants (3). However, coal power plants also generate significant greenhouse gas emissions and toxic waste. Despite this, the coal industry remains a heavily subsidized industry, with it receiving $18 billion in subsidies in 2020 (4).
As a result, the researchers tested their method where it could have the greatest impact. The accuracy of their method was verified against established techniques, such as inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and electrometric titration (2). The relative deviation between methods was found to be below 6.72%, indicating the reliability of the ion chromatography method (2).
Therefore, the research conducted by the team at NICE offers a roadmap on how to improve environmental monitoring and water quality assessment. By providing a precise and rapid means of detecting both cations and anions in environmental water samples, this method could significantly enhance efforts to monitor and mitigate the impact of power plant wastewater on the environment (2).
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References
(1) A. Atkins and M. Escudier, A dictionary of mechanical engineering. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
(2) Liu, C.; Kong, D.; Zhao, S.; et al. Determination of Cations and Anions in Desulfurization Waste Water of Coal-Fired Power Plant by Ion Chromatography. J. Chromatogr. Sci. 2024, 62 (2), 127–131. DOI: 10.1093/chromsci/bmad023
(3) Birol, F.; Malpass, D. It’s critical to tackle coal emissions. Available at: https://www.iea.org/commentaries/it-s-critical-to-tackle-coal-emissions (accessed March 13, 2024).
(4) OECD, OECD Work on Support for Fossil Fuels. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/fossil-fuels/ (accessed March 13, 2024).
