TXU funds NOx study

announced recently that it will fund a project at

to research and design a technology management system for reducing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.

The focus of the research will be to minimise NOx emissions by creating operational and management tools to maximise the performance of Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)-related technology.

‘Our objective is to provide reliable, affordable and cleaner power to consumers in Texas,’ said Mike Greene, chief executive officer, TXU Power. ‘This is another important step forward in meeting that objective.’

Any combustion process releases exhaust gases that contain NOx. SCR uses a chemical reaction to break down the NOx into elemental nitrogen and water. Ammonia is used to initiate the chemical reaction.

In April 2006, TXU announced plans to invest $10bn to build 11 new coal-fired generating units at nine existing plant sites in Texas. TXU also committed to offsetting all key emissions – NOx, sulphur dioxide (SO2) and mercury – from the new units and further reducing key emissions across TXU Power’s solid-fuel fleet by 20 percent from 2005 levels.