http://www.powermag.com POWER Mag en-us 2010 Sun, 14 Mar 2010 19:47:14 EDT Concentrated sulfuric acid is often used to prevent calcium-based scale formation on condenser and heat exchanger tube surfaces in power plant evaporative cooling water systems. Unfortunately, the chemical’s price has jumped more than 300% over the past three years. If the rising cost of water treatment has you under the budget gun, here are some alternative strategies that can reduce or even eliminate your sulfuric acid usage.... http://www.powermag.com/water/2509.html Mon, 1 Mar 2010 0:00:00 EST The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory is pursuing a new integrated energy-water R&D program that addresses water management issues relative to coal-fired power generation that takes into account the major impacts of CCS on water use. The goal of this research is to promote more efficient use of water in power plant operations and increase the availability of heretofore unusable waters for power plant use. Those practices can mitigate the impacts of CCS on power plant water use and allow for continued development of energy resources.... http://www.powermag.com/water/2510.html Mon, 1 Mar 2010 0:00:00 EST The atmospheric vortex engine exploits the natural energy content of the vortex produced during upward heat convection in the atmosphere. The heat source can be solar energy, warm sea water, warm humid air, or even waste heat rejected in a cooling tower. When mature, the technology — currently in the small-scale testing phase — promises to be an efficiency game-changer for fossil-fired power plants.... http://www.powermag.com/water/2511.html Mon, 1 Mar 2010 0:00:00 EST The race is on to claim the title of "most efficient coal-fired power plant" on the planet. However, it’s tricky identifying finalists because of the widespread misuse of the term "efficiency" and all those nagging assumptions. Let’s first establish clear definitions and then identify the title contenders.... http://www.powermag.com/water/2432.html Mon, 1 Feb 2010 0:00:00 EST There are a number of reasons why your plant might be looking at new water pretreatment equipment in the near future. One common reason is the addition of new generating capacity. Regardless of the type of new generation, you can be sure that it will require additional high-purity water for processes ranging from direct steam generation to power augmentation, NOx control, and washing the blades of the combustion turbines.... http://www.powermag.com/water/2118.html Tue, 1 Sep 2009 0:00:00 EDT One key area at the 800-MW Michoud power station where O&M excellence is evident is in maintaining plant water quality.... http://www.powermag.com/water/2145.html Tue, 1 Sep 2009 0:00:00 EDT In 2007, Duke Energy’s W.H. Zimmer Station set out to advance the overall performance of its flue gas desulfurization (FGD) dewatering process. The plant implemented a variety of measures, including upgrading water-solids separation, improving polymer program effectiveness and reliability, optimizing treatment costs, reducing solid waste sent to the landfill, decreasing labor requirements, and maintaining septic-free conditions in clarifiers. The changes succeeded in greatly reducing solid waste generation and achieving total annual savings of over half a million dollars per year.... http://www.powermag.com/water/2062.html Sat, 1 Aug 2009 0:00:00 EDT ASME’s latest revision of its Recommended Practices for the Prevention of Water Damage to Steam Turbines Used for Electric Power Generation: Fossil-Fuel Plants, ASME TDP-1-2006, contains much important design and operating advice that is proven to protect steam turbines. However, many in the industry are not as familiar with the update as they should be. This article provides a concise overview of this critical design standard.... http://www.powermag.com/water/2065.html Sat, 1 Aug 2009 0:00:00 EDT The gas-rich Persian Gulf state of Qatar in May commenced construction of the region’s largest power and water plant, a massive project comprising eight gas turbine generators, eight heat-recovery steam generators, four steam turbine generators, and 10 desalination units.... http://www.powermag.com/water/2013.html Wed, 1 Jul 2009 0:00:00 EDT In the wake of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling related to cooling water intake practices at large power plants, many utilities are relieved to be off the hook as far as implementing expensive control upgrades to protect fish and other aquatic organisms.... http://www.powermag.com/water/1931.html Mon, 1 Jun 2009 0:00:00 EDT