One of the highlights of this year's Power Plant Awards Banquet, held the night before the kickoff of the ELECTRIC POWER 2007 Conference ' Exhibition, was the presentation of the Powder River Basin Coal Users' Group (PRBCUG) 2006 Plant of the Year award to staff members of Westar's Lawrence Energy Center (Figure 1)
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1. Cream of the crop. The PRBCUG named Lawrence Energy Center its 2006 Plant of the Year at the ELECTRIC POWER 2007 Conference ' Exhibition. Courtesy: Westar Energy
The award was presented by Charles Kitchens, outgoing PRBCUG chairman, to John Bridson, plant manager (Figure 2). Following the presentation, Rocky Bleier, a key member of the four-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steeler teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s, regaled the audience with football stories and explained how hard work and teamwork can overcome obstacles in the business world as well.
2. Winners, all. John Bridson, plant manager of Lawrence Energy Center (third from right) receives the 2006 Plant of the Year award from outgoing PRBCUG Chairman Charles Kitchens. Also participating in the ceremony were (from L to R): Ed Noll, director of maintenance; Greg Patterson, electrical planner; Blake Nelson, fuel crew manager; and Walt Burgess, operations supervisor. Source: Leslie Claire, POWER magazine
Switching safely
Burning PRB fuel can be just as hazardous as lining up opposite Mean Joe Greene or Jack Lambert if the right protective measures and rigorous training routines aren't followed. Running a power plant isn't supposed to be a contact sport, but it occasionally is, which makes safety paramount.
According to the PRBCUG's selection committee, Lawrence Energy Center (LEC) was honored for its relentless focus on workplace safety during the recently completed, eight-year project to fuel-switch to PRB coal. This past February, the project passed the 1 million man-hours milestone without a lost-time accident (Figure 3). That's a very long time for a plant with a staff of only 117.
3. Safe and secure. The Lawrence Energy Center recently reached the milestone of 1 million man-hours without a lost-time accident. Courtesy: Westar Energy
LEC has three pulverized coal–fired units and a total generating capacity of 600 MW. Units 1 and 2, built in the late 1930s, have been retired. Unit 3, built in 1955, is powered by a Combustion Engineering (CE) boiler and a 60-MW GE turbine-generator. Units 4 and 5—each built in 1960 and rated at 130 MW and 410 MW, respectively—also have a CE boiler, but their electrons flow from a Westinghouse steam turbine-generator.
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