We spoke to Harry Wong, President & CEO of EnergyLink International, one of the leading suppliers of Noise Controls and SCR systems.
- GTW: What are some of the biggest challenges ahead for your company?
Harry: It’s becoming clearer that decarbonization will not happen overnight. The energy transition we’re in poses new challenges as we replace combustion processes and the equipment tied to it – but as the carbon-burning industry transitions, we will change with it. As a company, we have a role in carbon capture, SCR, noise abatement, and UE Compression for hydrogen blending. Our business fluctuates over which side does more revenue, in the past year it’s been noise abatement.
- GTW: are regulations a driver of EnergyLink’s business? Would more stringent regulations increase EnergyLink’s business?
Harry: Regulations underpin what we do. The governing regulations over NOx and noise are there to protect the public, and these regulations aren’t likely to go backwards. If anything, NOx emissions regulations will likely become more stringent over time – so we help customers plan for the future.
With acoustic abatement, we don’t expect new regulations – in many places, regulations are often stringent enough, but they’re not always enforced. In the US, noise violators are sometimes hit with warnings and occasionally small fines – which is just a rap on the knuckles. By contrast, Australia has some of the most stringent noise regulations in the world, and regulators shut down plants that are not compliant. The stakes are high when operators are faced with the threat of assets being shuttered.
- GTW: In which markets have you seen an increase in activity?
Harry: Our business has been driven by an increase in demand for peaking power, in many cases in support of renewables. Backup power will be essential in the future low carbon market. Backup via gas turbines is still the most advanced and widespread — battery storage/backup is still more expensive. We’re seeing activity with aeroderivatives in the 40–60 MW range, but we’re even seeing large gas turbines now used for backup power.
The Texas grid operator, ERCOT, has a high demand for peaking power to stabilize the grid. Renewables capacity has been added that needs support. We see Texas as a backup power market, which is a strong market for us. High demand for peaking power increases the need for catalyst systems and noise abatement.
- GTW: Has there been an uptick in activity for post-combustion Carbon Capture?
Harry: This is a very vibrant side of our business and has been growing. It’s why we invested in UE compression: C02 has to be pressurized (to a pipeline transmission level) to get it up to a point of usage or sequestration. Our compression units are also used in hydrogen blending or pipeline transmission.
- GTW: What innovations have you seen in SCR Technology in the past few years?
Harry: We are in the patent process with a new Direct Injection SCR design that has been tested on a full-scale LM6000 commercial gas turbine, and have model tested different gas turbines and operating systems. The EnergyLink design injects liquid ammonia directly into the exhaust flow at specific locations to use the turbulence and heat of the exhaust to vaporize and mix the ammonia evenly in the exhaust stream. Our design does this better than the conventional SCR ammonia injection systems and can achieve 90+% NOx removal at 5 ppm Ammonia slip or less. This patented-pending design offers clear benefits in efficiency, lower capital cost due to the simplicity of the design, smaller footprint, and lower parasitic loads allowing greater electricity sales. EnergyLink’s Direct Injection system provides benefits for all size gas turbines.
- GTW: What advice can you give to someone considering starting a project?
Harry: Become familiar with the permitted requirements of the site. Make sure the company you use is providing compliant systems that are reliable and offer high performance. Hire an experienced team. Get competitive bids. We also say: don’t just think for today, think for the future.
- GTW: Why EnergyLink?
Harry: In the past 3 years, we’ve become leaders in supplying the most SCR systems in the world, including the largest single fleet with over 50 units in the Houston area. We are one of the lowest cost providers for projects and offer some of the best options – a clear value proposition. We offer low-cost engineering, flawless project execution, and systems designed for ease in assembly and construction. We support our products and have over 50 SCR systems contracted for annual inspections and maintenance.
We are one of the few companies who offer guarantees of acoustic performance – we guarantee acoustic mitigation of the products we install. We’ll analyze 100s if not 1000s of noise points in a plant, systematically rank them, and determine the most cost-effective solution. We call this “balanced design”: fine-tuning into the lowest-cost mitigation solution. And we’ve never failed a noise inspection. So we not only design mitigations for regulatory compliance, we design with cost-savings in mind.
Our acoustic guarantee is to “make good” – if it doesn’t work, we’ll replace it. In this way we take the risk of compliance off the EPC company’s or owners’ books. We partner with our clients in the business of abatement – whether reducing noise or NOx emissions.
And we’re confident that if we’re included in bids, we’ll be at the negotiating table in the end.
For more information on emissions control or Noise Management Systems, Turnkey Design & Construction, contact EnergyLink International.
