Notes from Site Visit at Duke Energy’s Edwardsport IGCC Station on March 15, 2011

EPA conducted a site visit at Duke Energy’s Edwardsport Integrated Gasification Combined 

Cycle (IGCC) Station (Edwardsport) located in Edwardsport, IN on Tuesday, March 15, 2011 to 

learn about the operations at the plant, specifically the IGCC unit. Table 3, located at the end of 

these notes, identifies the site visit participants. The presentation that the Edwardsport personnel 

gave during the site visit is provided as Attachment 1 to these notes. 

These notes describe the information collected during the site visit.

Plant Overview

These notes focus on operations at the Edwardsport IGCC Station. Attachment 1 contains

process flow diagrams for the gasification process, including the syngas cleaning operations and 

the slag handling operations, overall water balance diagram for the IGCC plant, and process flow 

diagrams for the grey water treatment system. Attachment 2 contains more detailed process flow 

diagrams for the grey water treatment system.

• Edwardsport retired the three coal-fired generating units located on the plant site 

on March 1, 2011. These units had a capacity of approximately 160 MW. 

• Edwardsport is in the process of constructing the IGCC unit which will use 

Illinois Basin coal as the fuel source. The unit will have a gross capacity of 

approximately 780 MW and a net capacity of 618 MW. The unit will have two 

combustion turbines with gross capacity of 230 MW each and one steam turbine 

with a gross capacity of 320 MW.

• The table below contains some general information for the IGCC generating unit.

Table 1. Summary of IGCC Generating Unit Operations

Unit Installation 

Date

Gross 

Capacity 

(MW)

Unit Type Fuel Type

GT1 2012. Projected 

Commercial

Date: Mid 2013

236.5

( MW net)

Integrated Gasification 

Combined Cycle 

(IGCC) – base load

Syngas generated from 

coal or natural gas

GT2 2012. Projected 

Commercial 

Date: Mid 2013

236.5

( MW net)

Integrated Gasification 

Combined Cycle 

(IGCC) – base load

Syngas generated from 

coal or natural gas

Steam 

Turbine

2012. Projected 

Commercial 

Date: Mid 2013

331.5

(MW Net)

Heat Recovery from 

GT1 and GT2

• The Edwardsport plant comprises over 118 acres and is expected to employ

approximately 130 people once commercial operations begin.
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• The Edwardsport plant currently has approximately 2,500 construction workers 

on site to install the IGCC unit.

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• Cooling water for the plant will be supplied by both the White River and 

groundwater. Plant personnel estimate that approximately 70% of the water will 

be pulled from the White River, while the other 30% will be pulled from 

groundwater.

• The raw intake water consisting of both river water and groundwater, 

approximately 10,000 gpm, will be softened and filtered prior to use. 

Additionally, 2,000 of the 10,000 gpm will be further treated using demineralizers 

for use in the steam/water cycle.

Gasification Process Operations

• The gasification technology used at Edwardsport was designed by General 

Electric (GE).

• Edwardsport plans to use Illinois Basin coal as the fuel source for the gasifier. 

Plant personnel stated that the plant could use a blend of coal and petroleum coke 

or only petroleum coke; however, they plan to use coal for at least ten years 

because of tax incentives.

• Plant personnel noted that the unit can operate on natural gas, but would not be 

able to reach the full 618 MW capacity because there is no steam generated from 

the gasification process, via the radiant syngas cooler (RSC).

• Edwardsport is building a grey water treatment system to handle the grey water 

generated by the plant. Plant personnel noted that the treatment system was 

designed based on estimated characteristics of the grey water and they do not yet 

know the actual characteristics. Plant personnel also stated that they do not know

if the grey water characteristics would be different depending on whether coal or 

petroleum coke is used, but they do not believe that it would impact the grey 

water treatment system or cause any permit limit exceedances.

• Edwardsport will receive Illinois Basin coal from a mine approximately 50 miles 

away. The coal will be delivered via rail, but the plant will also have the 

capability to receive coal via truck.

• The coal will be stored on the coal pile, where Edwardsport plans to store 

approximately 30 to 45 days worth of coal. During the operation of the unit, 

Edwardsport plans to process approximately 6,000 tons of coal per day.
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• Edwardsport will transfer the coal from the coal pile to the two coal bunkers, each 

with a capacity of 3,000 tons, which then feed to the grinding mill. Treated intake 

water is added to the grinding mill to create the coal slurry that is fed to the 

gasifier, which is approximately 60% solids. 

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Gasification Wastewater Treatment

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Table 2: Grey Water Treatment System Equipment Cost

Equipment Percent of Total Equipment Cost (%)

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Edwardsport Water Treatment

• As described above, the treated grey water will be transferred to the Southeast 

Pond, along with cooling tower blowdown, site storm water, water treatment 

concentrates, and treated sanitary effluent.

• The overflow from the Southeast Pond will be transferred to the Final Settling 

Pond, which will also receive coal pile runoff pond effluent, runoff from the 

intermediate slag storage area, and legacy station coal pile drainage. The 

overflow from the Final Settling Pond will be discharged to the White River via 

Outfall 002.
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Table 3. Site Visit Attendees

Name Organization (Representing) Telephone E-mail

Jon Arbo Duke Energy 812-735-8579 jon.arbo@duke-energy.com

Richard Baker Duke Energy 704-604-0116 richard.baker@duke-energy.com

Phil Behme Duke Energy 812-735-8944 phil.behme@duke-energy.com

Rob Burch Duke Energy 317-838-2209 robert.burch@duke-energy.com

Nathan Craig Duke Energy 704-315-8187 nathan.craig@duke-energy.com

Bill Kennedy Duke Energy 980-721-7626 william.kennedy@duke-energy.com

Howard Lewis Duke Energy 317-838-1661 howard.lewis@duke-energy.com

Debbie Nispel Duke Energy 317-838-7957 debbie.nispel@duke-energy.com

Mike Dubayeh General Electric 832-295-7847 michael.dubayeh@ge.com

Adam Edwards HPD 815-609-2121 adam.edwards@veoliawater.com

Bill Murray HPD 815-609-2131 bill.murray@veoliawater.com

Richard Hamblin IDEM 317-232-8696 rhamblin@idem.in.gov

Ron Jordan EPA/Office of Water 202-566-1003 jordan.ronald@epa.gov

TJ Finseth ERG (Contractor to EPA) 703-633-1698 thomas.finseth@erg.com