Delivering Integrated Environmental Solutions
Sargent & Lundy provides integrated environmental solutions that minimize your costs to comply with regulations by considering the impacts to each site as a whole. Our team consists of chemical, civil, geotechnical, and water resource and coastal engineers who successfully provide site development related design and engineering services. Our environmental services include:
Compliance Planning
One of the biggest challenges utilities face is planning for compliance, given multiple environmental regulations, regulatory uncertainty, and site-specific requirements. Whether for a single unit or for an entire fleet, compliance planning requires in-depth understanding of power plant operations, regulatory requirements, and technologies available for compliance. Sargent & Lundy’s environmental services team consists of regulatory specialists who focus on reviewing and understanding the regulations as well as process engineers, who focus on understanding the technologies that reduce air and water emissions. We draw upon extensive experience retrofitting air quality and water quality control systems at existing power plants and can help you achieve compliance evaluations with realistic capital and O&M costs and account for site-specific limitations. Additional information on example projects and services related to compliance planning is available below.
- Coal Combustion Residuals
- Effluent Guidelines
- Affordable Clean Energy Rule
- Regional Haze
- 316(b)
Emission Reduction Technology Experience
Sargent & Lundy is an industry leader in emission reduction retrofit projects for both air quality and water quality compliance. Our chemical engineering staff provides the process expertise to select the right technology for compliance and ensure it is designed to achieve emission targets while minimizing capital and O&M costs. We have extensive experience and knowledge in evaluating, specifying, and retrofitting air quality and water quality technologies, including:
- Acid gas emission reduction technologies such as wet and dry flue gas desulfurization (FGD) and dry sorbent injection
- NOx reduction technologies such as selective non-catalytic reduction and selective catalytic reduction
- Particulate matter reduction technologies such as electrostatic precipitator upgrades and fabric filters
- Mercury reduction technologies such as activated carbon injection, fuel additives, and FGD additives
- Carbon dioxide reduction technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration and oxycombustion
- Makeup water treatment technologies such as reverse osmosis, demineralization, and desalination systems
- Raw water treatment technologies such as clarification and filtration
- Wastewater treatment technologies such as physical/chemical and biological systems
- Zero-liquid discharge technologies such as byproduct fixation and stabilization, spray dryer evaporators, and evaporation and crystallization of wastewater
Sargent & Lundy’s experience retrofitting environmental technologies as part of an EPC team or by providing balance-of-plant detailed design and owner’s engineering services provides us with a varied perspective and thorough understanding of these projects from conceptual design through compliance testing.
Permitting
In addition to our engineering capabilities, Sargent & Lundy provides comprehensive environmental permitting and licensing services for power generating facilities, transmission lines, substations, and other power-related projects. On behalf of our clients, we have prepared permit applications for and successfully obtained the key types of permits and approvals necessary to site, construct, and operate power-related facilities. Recent projects include:
- Major source air construction permits for new natural gas combined-cycle power plants and air permits for new simple-cycle combustion turbines and gas-fired reciprocating engines
- Permits required to support coal-to-natural gas conversion projects
- Operating permit modifications for the installation of air pollution control systems
- Wastewater treatment and discharge permits
- Local zoning approvals
- Building permits
- Site development permits for earthwork, grading, and storm water management
- Rail road utility crossing and encroachment permitting
Read about our qualifications in permitting and licensing.
A benefit you will experience by using Sargent & Lundy for both detailed design and permitting support for projects is that a dedicated permit specialist is assigned to the engineering design team, eliminating information exchanges that occur between engineering companies and environmental consulting firms. In addition, our technical knowledge base supports establishing permit limits that include realistic margins to account for variations in operation, including startup, shutdown, and malfunctions.
Water Resources and Coastal
Sargent & Lundy’s water resources and coastal group provides services in hydrology, hydraulics, and coastal engineering to help clients find the optimal solution for all types of water-related projects. A multidisciplinary team with experience uniquely specialized in power plant projects can achieve the quality services for risk assessment, site evaluation, regulatory compliance, and detailed design that support complex engineering projects. The end results provide our clients both cost-effective and risk‐managed solutions.
Read our white paper on Storm Surge Protection
Sargent & Lundy provides water resources and coastal consulting services for hundreds of electric power plant projects with diverse challenges and in a variety of locations. Depending on each client’s needs, we provide services as stand‐alone projects or as an integral parts of our full scope of services from planning and detailed engineering design to plant operation. Our broad range of experience is based on present‐day methodology and tools, making us uniquely qualified to solve technical challenges and manage water‐related risks specific to power plant design and construction.