Cabot Corporation and Westmoreland Coal say they plan to increase activated carbon manufacturing capacity in North America, doubling the capacity of their Bienfait, Saskatchewan manufacturing facility to meet the future demand for mercury removal products for use in the coal-fired utility market.
The jointly owned facility will produce an additional 35 million pounds of powdered activated carbon. The Bienfait plant will continue to be served from a co-located mine that is operated by Westmoreland. The additional capacity will be commissioned in 2016.
The expansion will produce Cabot’s Darco Hg family of mercury removal products. Cabot will be responsible for the marketing of these products as well as the technology package, while Westmoreland continues to be the operator of the plant.
The need for new mercury control technology in coal-fired power plants, driven by the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standard, will be a major driver of growth in the activated carbon market, says Friedrich von Gottberg, president of Cabot Purification Solutions.
The company expects “significant” demand increases over the next three years as US coal-fired utilities comply with the MATS rule.