11.01.2008 | Richard R. King, PE
In 2005, Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L), a subsidiary of Akron, Ohio – based FirstEnergy Corp., initiated a project to identify protection system improvements that could be made to proactively combat wind- and lightning-related weather...
10.15.2008 | Dr. Robert Peltier, PE
Entergy christened its Performance Monitoring and Diagnostic Center several years ago to leverage the expertise of its most senior operators and technicians across the company’s entire fleet of plants. The center also makes use of advanced software...
09.15.2008
WATER TREATMENT Tackling substandard water sources Boiler and cooling tower feedwater typically must be softened prior to use, usually with well-established processes for reducing water hardness. A growing problem for many power plant operators is...
07.15.2008 | Timothy E. Hurst, PE, Hurst Technologies
The human nervous system is one of the most complex systems in the human body. Though the nerves and brain are small in comparison with the mass of bones and muscles, without the work performed by the nervous system, nothing functions. The same goes for...
06.15.2008 | Andrew Bartels, Aegis Technologies Inc.
Five years ago this August, an extended blackout crippled virtually the entire U.S. Northeast and parts of Canada. According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, it was the largest in North American history, shutting down 62,000 MW of...
06.15.2008 | Stephen K. Storm, Storm Technologies Inc. and Jack Lyons, Orlando Utilities Commission
Spring training is when rookies and veterans alike are drilled on baseball’s fundamentals—throwing, catching, and hitting—regardless of the number of games or titles won in past years. Similarly, superior power plant performance is only...
05.15.2008 | David G. Daniels, M&M Engineering Associates Inc.
The operators of a new combined-cycle plant being run in two-shift mode (on 16 hours, off 8) had become used to the cation conductivity sample of the condensate pump discharge being in alarm for a while following each day’s start-up. Normally, after a...
05.15.2008 | By Donald S. Doan, SmartSignal Corp.
As new power plants have become harder to permit, maintaining the performance of plants that some would consider past their prime has become more important than ever. Like a vintage coupe at a car show, an old plant that has been well-maintained doesn’t...
04.15.2008 | Dr. Justin Zachary, Bechtel Power Corp.
Determining the relevance of power generation equipment’s field experience requires special expertise and dedicated research. The continuing evolution of technology, manufacturing processes, and quality control techniques demands updating the old...
04.15.2008 | By Timothy E. Hurst, PE, Hurst Technologies
For power plants, the unintended consequence of “going digital” is dealing with cyber security. Almost everything that makes today’s distributed control systems (DCSs) and software so powerful, convenient, and cost-effective also makes them...
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