Resin-Bonded Filter Cartridges Maximize Performance Pentair Industrial has introduced its Resflex Series Resin Bonded Filter Cartridges, with a unique, proprietary two-stage design. The cartridges’ outer spiral wrap efficiently removes large particles and agglomerates. This prefilter wrap provides increased surface area and intensifies cartridge strength, while eliminating residual debris. Resflex’s inner layers provide superior particle removal […]

Chances are you have endured the tedious process of removing fuel piping when maintaining just about any gas turbine, especially aero-derivative engines that are usually swapped out rather than repaired in place. One of the most time-consuming jobs after reassembling the fuel piping is checking for leaks at all the flanges. In a large frame-size turbine, that means sealing up to 64 flanges and then removing the seals after the leak testing.

Meeting growing energy demand while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is one of the most critical challenges facing our world today.

Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association (WHCEA) is an electric distribution utility located in Rockford, Minn., that has been serving Wright County and western Hennepin County near Minneapolis with electricity since 1937. WHCEA is a not-for-profit, member-owned energy and service cooperative dedicated to enhancing the quality of life of its members and providing reliable services. Its field operations department consists of 35 fleet members who focus on building and maintaining electric power lines.

Why is it that so many of our New Year’s resolutions are focused on self-enrichment, yet they are the first promises we break? The typical resolutions — "get more exercise" or "stop smoking" — are recycled yearly. Surveys find that most resolutions are abandoned or forgotten by, appropriately, Ground Hog Day. I believe it’s time to reboot our resolution-setting software and refocus on others instead of ourselves.

News items of interest to power industry professionals. GE Hitachi Nuclear Trade Delegation to India Postponed. In late November, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) announced that its president and CEO, Jack Fuller, would lead a 50-member U.S. trade mission to India Dec. 2–9. It was to be the first civilian nuclear energy delegation to visit […]

Conventional pump mechanical seals, lip/contact seals, and packing as sealing methods work well when you’re pumping clean liquids, but operators eventually find shaft fretting and wear on the sleeves and shaft when pumping high-solids liquids. To solve this problem, Inpro/Seal Co. recently released its new Water Mizer Shaft Seal, which uses water to maintain the […]

Though an abundant supply of freshwater has been taken for granted in many parts of the world, its availability is becoming less certain, even in North America. Water is a valuable resource and commodity that needs to be efficiently managed to minimize waste, reduce energy consumption, and control cost, especially for power generation. The industry must respond by seeking out more efficient ways to use water, such as by implementing water recycling and reuse strategies, especially for critical equipment like cooling towers.

HD Electric Co.’s new FT-1 Fuse Tool assists in the removal and installation of most cutout-type overhead fuse links. The Fuse Tool has a 7-inch fuse receiver that provides increased safety and greater control by keeping the fuse link securely in place during removal and installation. The built-in switch hook is then used to close […]

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed an executive order expanding the state’s renewables portfolio standard (RPS) requirement to 33% by 2020. The executive order formalizes what has been generally assumed for some time: A 33% RPS requirement will be needed for California to achieve its ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals.

A pneumatic saw and universal pipe trolley kit that eliminates the need for heavy, clamshell saws for cutting all types of alloys and concrete-lined pipe are available from ESCO Tool of Holliston, Mass. The Esco APS-438 Air-Powered Saw and WrapTrack let users cut 6-inch to 60-inch outer-diameter pipe accurately without a heat-affected zone and are […]

The U.S. power industry’s story in 2009 will be all about change, to borrow a now-familiar theme. Though the new administration’s policy specifics hadn’t been revealed as POWER editors prepared this report, it appears that flat load growth in 2009 will give the new administration a unique opportunity to formulate new energy policy without risking that the lights will go out.

With its advanced point infrared combustible gas – sensing element, the new Model IR400 Infrared (IR) Point Combustible Gas Detector from General Monitors delivers reliable protection against explosive hydrocarbon gases with a low-power (4.8 W) design that requires no routine calibration. The detector measures the absorption of infrared radiation passing through a volume of gas […]

The power industry will be challenged in the coming year to chart its strategic direction and meet investor expectations, although business conditions should take a turn for the better going into 2010.

Tungsten inert gas and plasma welding require tungsten electrodes with perfectly ground and polished tips. The improved Techweld TEG – 3 Tungsten Electrode Grinder, from British company Huntingdon Fusion Techniques Ltd. uses a diamond wheel to grind tungsten electrodes longitudinally and produce the same tungsten points every time. This prevents arc flicker or wander caused […]

Many opponents of climate change policies and regulations argue that it is unfair to penalize some sectors — like power generation — more heavily than others when it’s difficult to prove precisely where specific greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are coming from, where they’re going, and what effect they are having. Toward the ends of scientific understanding and sound public policy, scientists are making progress in isolating GHG sources and sinks.

Though the resurgence of interest in nuclear power in recent years has spurred development of an assortment of reactor designs, emphasis has mostly been on those with capacities to produce thousands of megawatt-hours of baseload power, as is the case with designs from General Electric, AREVA, Westinghouse, and Mitsubishi that are under active review by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Power projects using any of those designs will be developed at the cost of many billions of investment dollars.

In an effort to more than double its power capacity by 2030, the Brazilian government in November approved construction of a controversial $3.9 billion hydroelectric dam on the Madeira River, in the Amazon. When completed in 2013, the Jirau hydroelectric plant could add 3,300 MW to the country’s already massive 59 GW hydroelectric capacity.

South Korea will reportedly invest 37 trillion won ($28.5 billion) over the next 13 years in several new nuclear, coal, and natural gas power plants to improve fuel efficiency and cut emissions.

Nearly a 100 projects around the world—with more than 80 of them in the U.S.—are assessing various aspects of carbon capture and storage (CCS), a database released last week by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) shows.

Demand response and advanced metering programs have made significant progress in serving more consumers across the country, says a new Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) report that charts the expansion of these energy-saving programs since 2006.

Power plants in Pennsylvania must be prepared to meet the ozone and fine particulate emissions standards established by the newly reinstated Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) as of Jan. 1, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PDEP) said Monday.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has vowed to clean up the 5.4 million cubic yards of wet coal ash—enough to flood more than 3,000 acres one foot deep—that spilled last week when the earthen retaining wall of an ash pond at the Kingston Fossil Plant, about 40 miles west of Knoxville, failed.

French nuclear reactor builder AREVA and machinery giant Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) announced early last week they would join forces with others to design, develop, fabricate, and supply nuclear fuel to Japanese customers, while confirming their intent to jointly invest in a dedicated U.S. nuclear fuel fabrication facility.

By Kennedy Maize At a pleasant Christmas dinner with friends last week, a smart diner posed a question: when should the government or the market have known that the U.S. (and the world’s, as it turns out) financial system was in life-threatening peril? After pausing to scratch my head, I proffered an idea: it all […]

Two days before Christmas, the Federal Appeals Court for the District of Columbia reinstated (PDF) the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) makes changes to it. Judge Judith W. Rogers said, "The parties’ persuasive demonstration, extending beyond short-term health benefits to impacts on planning by states and industry with respect to […]

By Kennedy Maize Some of my friends on the left have been lamenting the Cabinet choices of president-elect Barack Obama. One of them wrote in an email recently, “As the new government was put together, brick by brick, a disturbing pattern emerged. Time and again, those who had braved the perils of the Clinton… threat […]

By Kennedy Maize Here’s an interesting new wrinkle on wind power, from a researcher at the University of Illinois. According to Somnath Baidya Roy, turbulence from large wind farms can harm growth of crops in the local countryside. Baidya Roy notes that in recent years, wind power has moved from small, isolated turbines to large […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week admitted it would not finalize two air pollution rules that would have eased restrictions on coal power plants before the incoming administration takes office on Jan. 20.

Steven Chu, the 1997 Nobel physics laureate who now directs the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, will be President-elect Barack Obama’s energy secretary. Lisa Jackson, chief of staff for New Jersey’s governor, will head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Nancy Sutley, deputy mayor of Los Angeles, will lead the White House Council on Environmental Quality.