Local and International Concerns
In March 1989, the Krakow City Council declared the city to be a special economic area. Goals were established to reduce energy consumption and to tighten emissions standards to reduce the notorious pollution levels in the region. Following Poland's election of a non-Communist majority in its April 1989 parliamentary elections, extensive international economic assistance was made available to the country. In July 1989, U.S. President George Bush visited Poland and designated $15 million of a $ 120 million aid package to be used for reductions in air and water pollution and other environmental improvements specifically for the city of Krakow. Recently, even more U.S. and international aid has been promised to Poland.World Bank experts studying opportunities for pollution control improvements in Poland recommended that investments be made in the Krakow system because it offered the greatest return on investment among Poland's metropolitan areas. Their study recommended that sulfur dioxide, dust, and other pollutant levels be reduced. It observed that improved energy management at the main city power plants and reduced energy consumption throughout the distribution system could result in a reduction in coal and savings that could be used to further finance the cost of pollution control devices (Socha 1989).
Emissions
Emissions from the Krakow coal-fired heating and power plants include particulates, such as dust and ash, and acid gases, such as sulfur dioxide (SO2, nitrogen oxides, etc.)Coal contains sulfur in the form of iron sulfide (pyrite), organic sulfur, and sulfates. The primary combustion product of sulfur compounds is sulfur dioxide (SO2), an acidic gas emission. In the atmosphere SO2 combines with water vapor to form sulfuric acid; other- acid gases react similarly. A major effect of this is the acid rain that has been linked to adverse affects on forest growth and on fish populations in lakes (Clarke 1987). The deterioration of the forests and of buildings and monuments caused by acid rain and particulates is increasingly a major concern to the community.
Particulate and acid gas emissions can be controlled by removal of the emissions from the flue gas by desulfurization and particulate removal. Relevant equipment includes cyclone collectors, electrostatic precipitator, fabric filters (bag house), wet and dry scrubbers, scrubber/electrostatic precipitator combinations, scrubber/fabric filter combinations, and gravel bed filters. Pre-combustion control techniques are generally limited to use of low- sulfur fuel sources, as is done at the Leg plant.
Electrostatic precipitators are used at the Leg plant and at the Lenin Steel Works for particulate removal. They have a theoretical efficiency of 95% to 99.8%, depending on particulate sizes. Because of inadequate maintenance and prohibitive repair costs (replacement parts must be imported, demanding hard currency, or be fabricated on site), the best performance Leg engineers report they achieve is around 80% particulate removal. For instance, #3 fuel oil, used to start the boilers, and fly ash deposit a film on the precipitators when the plant starts up, degrading their performance. Electrostatic precipitators, furthermore, are largely ineffective for removing gaseous emissions.
Improvements are being made, however, in emissions control. The Lenin Steel Works reported that, as of 1988, emissions are 50,100 tons of coal dust and 24,500 tons of SO2 per year, down from prior years' peaks by 52% and 67%, respectively. Fluorine emissions, at 96,300 tons, are down 81%. Further reductions of coal dust to 9,900 tons per year and of SO2 to 9,500 tons per year are planned, based on installation of modern equipment to decrease emissions from boilers, agglomerating plants, and blast furnaces and on construction of plants that utilize metallurgical slag, dust, and ash as raw materials. These improvements, as of the time of this report, are planned to be complete by 1995 (Lenin Steel Works 1989). While the reported levels are still very high by North American and Western European standards, the changes represent real, badly needed accomplishments.