Greg Marshall (gmarshall@devcon.com) is FGD market development manager of ITW Futura Coatings, headquartered in St. Louis, MO, a manufacturer of high-performance polyurethane coatings, elastomers and structural resins for FGD systems and other industrial applications.
Adding flue gas desulfurization units (FGDs) to clean or “scrub” the exhaust gases can reduce SO2 emissions by as much as 98%. As a result, more than 300 FGD systems are expected to be built in the U.S. by the year 2010. However, the environment in which these systems operate is extremely harsh. With each FGD unit costing several hundred million dollars, use of the right linings and coatings, as well as high-quality application processes, is crucial to optimizing a plant’s investment.