China is operating 379 000 MW of scrubbers compared to only 130 000 MW in the USA. China has these FGD scrubbers on 67% of coal-fired plants, which is a higher percentage than the US.
Fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) products are ideal for many applications at power plants, particularly with respect to the corrosive environment in FGD processes.
China is also the largest supplier of many types of air pollution control equipment, McIlvaine reports. Several Chinese companies are the world's leading suppliers of electrostatic precipitators. In recent years, suppliers of FGD systems have grown rapidly and 10 of these companies are among the 20 largest FGD companies in the world.
China is the world's largest cement and steel maker and its air pollution investments in these industries are significant and growing. China has embraced the waste-to-energy concept for dealing with municipal garbage and has recently spent more on air pollution equipment for these plants than has the USA. Despite a temporary slowdown, the Chinese economy is now gaining momentum. This is in contrast to Europe and the USA, where the recession continues.