POWER

Following safety rules is the foundation to eliminating injuries. Commonly, a safety presenter will say that safety rules are “written in blood.” At one time, such dramatic statements were a way to get attention and illustrated the seriousness of following safety rules. Today, more highly educated workers demand less drama and more facts.

This is the fifth in a series of predictive maintenance (PdM) articles that began in the April 2011 “Focus on O&M” in which the essentials of PdM were introduced. In the May and June 2011 issues, we explored specific PdM techniques, such as motor-current signature analysis and oil analysis. In the November 2011 issue, we introduced the value of thermographic analysis and its routine use. This installment focuses on ultrasonic and vibration analysis.

Europe’s continuing drive toward sustainable energy does not rule out a new generation of coal power plants to replace those scheduled to close by 2015.

Lakeland Electric’s C.D. McIntosh, Jr. Power Plant is a microcosm of the entire power generation industry. On a single site is a once-baseload coal-fired plant that is now operating fewer hours plus a peaking gas-fired combined cycle plant that has swung to baseload operation. A complete controls upgrade of the gas-fired plant last year prepared the plant for its expanded role in producing electricity for this 108-year-old public power provider.

Natural gas–fired fleets comprising diverse turbine unit types are operating their units more these days because of the historic low price of natural gas. With increased operating hours, fleet owners are challenged to find the best ways to manage their SCR catalyst systems.

The operation of solar thermal power plants differs substantially from that of fossil-fired plants, as the sun determines the generation rather than market demand. However, design of the power island to minimize water usage is very similar to that of a fossil plant. This renewable technology requires renewed thinking of its water systems’ design.

The year 2012 represents a turning point for the smart grid. Many foundational elements have been tested; several have been successfully deployed. Now the serious work of integration and value-generation begins, even though the challenges remain substantial.

India, a country that plans to fuel its current level of gross domestic product growth of between 8% and 9% with massive, mostly coal-fired power capacity additions over the next decade, in March commissioned an 800-MW supercritical unit at the first of India’s government-envisioned ultra-mega power plants (UMPP).

Unpredictable periods of operation are one of the disadvantages of wind and solar technologies. If there were an economic means of storing the energy from the time of production to the time of demand, the value of renewable energy sources would greatly increase. Here are some ideas for how to bridge that gap.

For years, tensions have been brewing between Russia, which provides about a quarter of the natural gas consumed in the European Union (EU), and neighboring Ukraine, a country through which 80% of those exports travel via pipeline.

The commercial development of nuclear power began immediately after the Second World War ended and the Manhattan Project secrets were released to the public. As the headline—also the title of a new book—implies, the development path was not always straight or even clearly marked. In this POWER exclusive, the first chapter of Too Dumb to Meter begins a serial presentation of the book.

Close on the heels of its recent upgrades of the GT26 and GT24 gas turbines for 50-Hertz and 60-Hertz power markets, Alstom in March launched its next-generation GT13E2 gas turbine, a medium-sized gas turbine of the 200-MW class.

Magnalight.com announced the addition of the EPL-QP-1X150-100—a quad-pod mounted light tower designed to provide operators in hazardous locations with a powerful lighting solution—to its extensive line of explosion-proof lighting equipment. The portable tower and removable lamp assembly design of this tower provides versatile operating options, and a simple halogen lamp provides effective yet economical illumination. […]

A new technology promises major advantages for coal-fired power plants, steel mills, and other industries that produce flue gases—and it could quell concerns about the increased use of arable land and food prices related to the production of ethanol.

Siemens Industry Inc. introduced two new SIMATIC Burner Management Systems (BMS) to give end users greater flexibility to cost-effectively comply with revised 2011 burner standards. Designed with TUV-certified hardware and customizable software, the compact BMS300F and BMS151F systems comply with NFPA, IEC, and ANSI/ISA standards for single- or dual-fuel applications with single or multiple burners. […]

Exploiting the difference in salt concentrations between the freshwater runoff from river mouths at the point where they meet saltwater reservoirs such as seas and oceans to harness power isn’t a new thing.

Spade drill bits are routinely used by electricians who do wiring and cabling, especially for drilling holes in wood for conduit runs. But traditional spade bits sometimes vibrate badly and dull after just a few uses. The new IDEAL Power-Spade spade bit helps eliminate these problems to provide an increased level of performance, whether the […]

It promises to be the most widely and easily distributed power generation technology to date: heat, captured in fabric. Work at Wake Forest University in North Carolina has led to the creation of a thermoelectric fabric called Power Felt that can turn theoretically any form of heat (body heat, waste heat from a car, or heat from any other source to which the material can be attached) into sufficient electrical current to help power devices or the systems the material is in contact with.

What do iPads, flat screen TVs, Chevrolet’s plug-in Volt, and Raytheon’s Tomahawk cruise missiles have in common? Each uses one or more of the 17 rare earth elements in their manufacture, and over 95% of those elements come from China.

Three South Korean Firms Opt for MHI’s J-Series Turbines. Japanese firms Marubeni Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) on March 22 said they had been jointly awarded orders for three large-scale combined cycle electric power projects in Korea totaling 3,800 MW. The plants are the 950-MW 2nd Pyeongtaek Combined Cycle Power Plant, the 1,900-MW Dongducheon […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., 28 April 2012 — A vexing problem faces those who advocate massive global political and economic responses to a warming climate allegedly marred by mankind’s insatiable appetite for goods and services that produce carbon dioxide. The data to justify climatastrophism are mighty thin. As Woody Guthrie put it in a […]

Activity kicked up in Washington in the past week, where members of the House of Representatives introduced a number of energy bills and passed a key amendment that could give states—not the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—control over coal ash regulation.

The Mississippi Public Service Commission (PSC) on Wednesday voted 2–1 to approve Mississippi Power’s $2.4 billion integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) project proposed for Kemper County, saying it continued to find that the 582-MW project was the “best alternative” to meet the state’s future power demand. The state’s Supreme Court had reversed the PSC’s previous approval of the plant in March, ruling that it did not cite detailed evidence for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on Wednesday approved primary contract terms of power purchase agreements (PPAs) for Ocean Renewable Power Co.’s (ORPC’s) 4-MW Maine Tidal Energy Project in Washington County and directed three investor-owned utilities to negotiate 20-year PPAs with ORPC. Those deals could be the first long-term PPAs for tidal energy in the U.S.

During the Clean Energy Ministerial in London over the next few days, the U.S. and the UK will agree to collaborate in the development of floating wind technology designed to generate power in deep waters currently off limits to conventional turbines, but where the wind is much stronger, the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced this week.

PPL Montana on Monday filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to block it from releasing information about its 2,094-MW coal-fired Colstrip power plant to environmental groups that had requested the data via the federal Freedom of Information Act.

An agreement reached on Tuesday by Public Service Co. of Oklahoma (PSO) and the Environmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma State, and the Sierra Club will force the American Electric Power (AEP) subsidiary to eventually retire two coal-fired generating units at its Northeastern Station in Oologah, Okla.

About 46% of power company executives in Europe and North America recently surveyed by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) predict an increased risk of blackouts up until 2030, citing worries about the affordability and the pace of infrastructure investment, and future energy security.

Coal generation, as a percentage of total power output in the U.S., declined steadily to 39% at the end of 2011 from about 51% in 2002, while generation from natural gas–fired combined cycle plants grew to more than 20% from 10% over the same period, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said on Friday as it released its annual assessment for U.S. energy markets.

The latest in a string of nuclear plants beset by technical troubles is PPL Corp.’s Susquehanna Nuclear Plant in northeastern Pennsylvania. The company said on Tuesday that a follow-up inspection of the Unit 1 main turbine at that two-reactor facility revealed “indications of cracks in blades” that are similar to damage discovered and repaired in 2011.