Corporate Profile
Fuel Tech is a leading technology company engaged in the worldwide development, commercialization and application of state-of-the-art proprietary technologies for air pollution control, process optimization, combustion efficiency, and advanced engineering services. These technologies enable customers to operate efficiently in a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable manner.
Fuel Tech operates as a fully integrated company with a capital projects business to leverage its Air Pollution Control (APC) technologies, and a specialty chemicals business which builds upon its proprietary FUEL CHEM® processes. Both segments rely heavily on the Company’s unique ability to inject chemicals in combustion units, in precise concentrations and locations, to achieve a desired outcome.
Company Information
Incorporated in 1987, Fuel Tech has over 175 employees, of which more than 25% of its full-time staff holds advanced degrees. The Company maintains Corporate Headquarters in Warrenville, Illinois, with additional domestic offices in Durham, North Carolina and Stamford, Connecticut. International offices are located in Milan, Italy and Beijing, China. Fuel Tech’s Common Stock is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. under the symbol "FTEK."
As a key participant in the air pollution control and fuel treatment chemicals industries, Fuel Tech is a member of the following organizations:
Technologies
The Company’s nitrogen oxide (NOx) reduction technologies include advanced combustion modification techniques including low NOx burners and overfire air systems, along with post-combustion NOx control approaches, including NOxOUT® and HERT™ Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) and Rich Reagent Injection (RRI) systems. Fuel Tech’s Advanced Selective Catalytic Reduction (ASCR) system utilizes the combination of combustion systems and SNCR to provide a cost effective alternative to high capital cost, stand alone conventional SCR systems while providing similar NOx reductions. The ULTRA™ system generates ammonia on-site for SCR systems using safe urea reagent. These technologies have established Fuel Tech as a leader in NOx reduction, with installations on over 700 units worldwide, where coal, fuel oil, natural gas, municipal waste, biomass, and other fuels are utilized.
The Company’s FUEL CHEM® technology revolves around the unique application of chemical injection programs improve the efficiency, reliability, fuel flexibility and environmental status of combustion units by controlling slagging, fouling, corrosion, opacity and acid plume, as well as the formation of sulfur trioxide, ammonium bisulfate, particulate matter (PM2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and carbon dioxide (CO2). Fuel Tech uses its patented TIFI® Targeted In-Furnace Injection™ processes to apply specialty chemical programs to units burning a wide variety of fuels including coal, heavy oil, biomass, and municipal waste. These TIFI® programs incorporate design, modeling, equipment, reagent, and service to provide a complete customized on-site programs designed to improve plant operations and provide a return on investment beyond helping meet and emission regulatory requirements.
Many of Fuel Tech's products and services rely heavily on the Company's exceptional Computational Fluid Dynamics modeling capabilities, which are enhanced by internally developed, high-end visualization software. These capabilities, coupled with the Company's innovative technologies and multi-disciplined team approach, enable Fuel Tech to provide practical solutions to some of our customers' most challenging problems.
Market Opportunities
APC
Fuel Tech develops, licenses and markets technologies and systems tailored to meet regulatory requirements mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with state and local agencies, as well as foreign governmental authorities.
Other NOx removal systems can have much higher capital costs, thereby improving the economic attractiveness of the Company's suite of low capital cost NOx removal technologies, in particular the ASCR™ Advanced SCR process. Existing coal-fired units are focused on cost-efficient operations, and flexible, low capital cost emission control solutions are critical to future operation.
Beyond regulatory emissions requirements, Fuel Tech's ULTRA™ technology offers the Company new domestic and international opportunities. This process, which converts urea, a non-hazardous material, to ammonia for on-site use in Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) systems, permits a lower risk approach to NOx reduction for utility and industrial customers worldwide.
Internationally, conditions exist for robust growth in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The PRC is the world's largest producer and consumer of coal, with approximately 70% of its electricity generation provided by coal-fired power plants. Moreover, the anticipated growth in electricity demand will require the construction of hundreds of new coal-fired power plants by 2020. Due, in part, to its heavy reliance on coal, severe air pollution problems continue to plague many regions of the PRC.
In addition to Fuel Tech’s established presence in Europe, growing markets in India and South America add to the areas of opportunity. For all international markets, Fuel Tech can provide emission control solutions such as Flue Gas Conditioning technology to help improve particulate capture, along with the suite of NOx reduction and combustion system technologies.
Fuel Chem
The combination of slagging coals and SO3-related issues represents strong market potential for Fuel Tech. Fuel Tech can provide flexibility for plants to use a wide range of fuels and to address the operational needs of each fuel type.
Within the United States, there are several distinct coal-producing regions, each with coal having particular characteristics. Western coals mined in the Powder River Basin (PRB) are characterized by low sulfur content and are desirable due to lower SO2 emissions. However, they contain high levels of slag-forming constituents, such as sodium, which can impair the operating performance of boilers not designed to burn such coals. Coals produced in the Illinois Basin region are characterized by high sulfur content and high energy content, along with high levels of slag-forming constituents such as iron. Lignite is a low energy content coal with high slagging tendencies produced largely in North Dakota and Texas. Coals mined in the Eastern United States, including Appalachian coals, can have varying characteristics, with some containing high levels of sulfur and most benefiting from high heat content.
In recent years, higher sulfur coals had been out of favor in the electric utility industry due to regulations governing SO2 emissions. With a further tightening of these regulations, many plants are now deploying, or plan to deploy, flue gas desulfurization units (scrubbers) as part of their SO2 compliance strategy. With scrubbers in place to reduce SO2 emissions, plants can now return to burning lower cost, higher sulfur coals. The use of high sulfur fuels also generates SO3, which is not captured by the scrubbers. The use of SCR systems to reduce NOx can also add SO3 to the flue gas stream, creating other potential Fuel Chem opportunities.
In Mexico, heavy fuel oils containing vanadium and nickel are the primary source for electricity production, including the estimated 17,000 megawatts generated by the Mexican national utility, CFE. The presence of these metallic constituents promotes slag build-up, and the fuel properties may result in SO3 emissions in local combustion units. Fuel Tech has successfully treated such units with its TIFI® technology.
New market opportunities are also being pursued in the Asia-Pacific region, including the PRC and India, where high-slagging coals are fueling a large and growing fleet of power plants. Fuel Tech is operating TIFI® systems in China and India, where these vast markets are focusing on energy efficiency improvements in combination with reduced air emissions with a particular focus on lower CO2 emissions.
