🚀 go-pugleaf

The following press release was issued by the South Coast Air Quality
Management district on November 17, 1995:

"Contact: Bill Kelly or Sam Atwood  (909)396-3456

COMPANY BEATS YEAR 2010 POLLUTION CONTROL GOAL WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY

     A Vernon company that supplies refrigeration and electricity has
already
surpassed its 2010 pollution control reduction requirement through an
innovative new technology that makes it one of the cleanest power
generators
in the world running on fossil fuel.
     Sunlaw Energy Corporation. -- which supplies refrigeration service
for
two large cold storage facilities that keep food fresh before going to
market
-- developed the new pollution control technology that reduces emissions
by
more than 80%.
     Starting with the help of co-funding from the South Coast Air Quality
Management District's Technology Advancement Office in 1990, Sunlaw set
out
to reduce nitrogen oxides emitted by its two 29-Megawatt natural-gas
powered
turbines.  Nitrogen oxides -- produced as a byproduct of burning any
fossil
fuel -- are a chief component of both the ozone and fine particle
pollution
that blankets Southland skies.
     The turbines run run refrigerators and freezers used by U.S. Growers
and
Federal Cold Storage -- also in Vernon -- and provide electricity to
Southern
California's power grid.
     "We both wanted to demonstrate new technologies that could reduce
their
emissions without using ammonia, which is a toxic gas that can form a
lethal
cloud if accidentally released," said Andy Abele, manager of technology
advancement for AQMD.  Many facilities around the area use ammonia to
reduce
nitrogen oxide emissions in a process called selective catalytic
reduction.
     "While the original work focused on injecting water into the gas
turbine, the company subsequently developed a catalyst that is as
effective
in reducing nitrogen oxides as the ammonia-based process, but without the
toxic hazard," Abele said.  "In addition, it has the added benefit of
reducing carbon monoxide emissions."
     The Sunlaw carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide (SCONOx) system uses a
self-regenerating proprietary catalyst to reduce emissions of nitrogen
oxides
from 25 parts per million to 4 parts per million.  It also reduces
emissions
of carbon monoxide and eliminates ammonia emissions normally associated
with
with selective catalytic control equipment.
     "We wanted to do what was right for the environment, " said Sunlaw
President Robert Danziger.  "We were concerned anout toxic ammonia
emissions
and the chance a leak could occur, particularly because there is a school
nearby.  We would have needed to store some 10,000 gallons of ammonia on
site
for selective catalytic reduction."
     "We had to invest a lot to develop this new technology, but we have
found it cost competitive with selective catalytic reduction."
     Sunlaw now is hoping to market the new catalyst to other industrial
energy suppliers and users.