Power engineers are in a predicament: Technology is advancing at a dizzying pace, but we are unsure how to mine information from disparate sources or predict the next big thing. Becoming expert at finding technology hones your competitive edge in both the workplace and the marketplace. Bring your pick and shovel, and we’ll show you where to start digging.

Successful exporting of goods and services is essential for U.S. companies seeking to exploit the increasingly open world economy. In the export business, the challenge is learning the ropes without getting hung out to dry when entering a potentially lucrative but unfamiliar market. Take advantage of the significant experience of the U.S. Commercial Service—its people really are here to help.

Thermal power plants are required to use fish protection technologies or make changes in plant operation to protect aquatic organisms. We intuitively understand that some organisms in the water drawn in to cool a power plant can be injured or killed when they hit a screen or enter the circulating water system. You have options for compliance with EPA rules; some are extremely expensive and burdensome, whereas others are brilliant in their simplicity. This article debunks several fish impingement myths and gives practical advice for successful compliance.

The term "water hammer" encompasses a handful of hydraulic and thermohydraulic mechanisms. They include water hammer in steam and water piping, water piston, water induction, flash condensation and evaporation, and shock waves generated by transonic flow. All can lead to failures of steam and water cycle components and put plant operators and workers at risk. Proper design and O&M practices can keep water hammer and similar phenomena under control.

With domestic reserves of natural gas declining and demand for gas rising, imported liquefied natural gas will increasingly fill the shortfall in U.S. pipeline supply. More than 40 LNG receiving/regasification terminals on three coasts are in various stages of development. Yet many questions about the operational and emissions impacts of the "hotter" LNG imports on today’s cleaner-burning gas turbines remain unanswered.

A century ago, boiler explosions were an all-too-familiar event. But with the universal adoption of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Codes in 1914, explosions caused by poor design or manufacturing became relics of history. Electrical classification codes had the same effect on safety. This article explains how designers and operators practically apply those standards. Code details and samples of area classification drawings for a gas turbine plant are included in an online supplement (see end of story).

The 2005 amendment to the 1978 Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act created some unique challenges for the design of cogeneration plants in general and combined-cycle cogeneration plants in particular. Because utilities are no longer obligated to buy electricity at "avoided cost" from qualifying facilities, plant owners must simultaneously balance power and thermal demand efficiently and economically. Here’s a prescription for your next plant design.

ELECTRIC POWER 2007, sponsored by POWER magazine, will be presented at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., May 1 through May 3, 2007. A full agenda of preconference workshops and tutorials is scheduled for Monday, April 30.

March 1886 POWER reported on the latest development of a new and improved engine: "The chief feature of the Corliss engine [from Kendall & Roberts, Cambridgeport, Mass.] is the valve gear, which consists of four cylindrical valves, two each for admission and exhaust, operated from a central swing or stud plate; the steam valves being […]

As David Wojick explains in his article, "Mapping technology chaos," on page 36, power engineers are under the gun to innovate. The president and Congress are calling for dramatic new advances in power technology. They are even considering legislating progress in areas such as efficiency and emissions control. Turning data into information Power engineers know […]

As gencos seek to improve plant reliability and availability, many are turning to on-line condition monitoring for help. Huge advances in the capabilities of on-line diagnostics have occurred over the past five years. By using this technology, plant personnel can spot early warning signs of impending equipment failure and take action to correct the underlying […]

Using a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system to reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from a coal-fired power plant is rapidly becoming the norm, rather than the exception. But for many plants, adding an SCR system has unintended consequences: greater oxidation of sulfur dioxide (SO2) to sulfur trioxide (SO3), and a rise in stack […]

Dominion Generation (DG) has installed selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems on many of the large coal-fired generating units it operates. The catalyst used has an SO2 to SO3 oxidation rate of about 1%, which roughly doubles the SO3 concentration at the outlet of the boiler economizers. The magnitude of the increase was proportional to the […]

Flyash and condensed sulfur trioxide (SO3) are the major components of flue gas that contribute to the opacity of a coal plant’s stack emissions (stack opacity). Estimates are that 75% to 85% of bituminous coal-fired plants with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and/or wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems are likely to produce enough SO3 vapor […]

This month’s photo was submitted by David Carter, power generation supervisor at Springerville Generating Station. Readers of POWER may recall that Springerville Unit 3 — the first pulverized coal – fired unit built in the U.S. in more than a decade — was that magazine’s 2006 Plant of the Year. Located in northeastern Arizona, the […]

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) have elbowed their way into the nation’s lexicon with the rise in concern over climate change. But few of the journalists who are hyping global warming have taken the trouble to learn the ins and outs of producing affordable electricity from coal. Citizens of the industrialized world now wring their […]

The big buzz still echoing through world of coal-fired generation is the move by two big-bucks private equity investors to take TXU Corp. off the public market, including scuttling announced plans for eight new pulverized coal – fired plants. That leaves alive plans for three new units at TXU’s existing Sandow and Oak Grove sites. […]

In the last issue of COAL POWER, I urged readers to give coal handling the priority it deserves. The coal yard warrants as much attention as boilers and combustion systems, turbine-generators and auxiliaries, and postcombustion emissions control — the other three "zones" within the plant perimeter — because it is an equally valuable business unit. […]

A systematic, performance-driven maintenance program for optimizing combustion can achieve great results. The challenge for an O&M staff is deciding which proven strategy and tactics for reducing NO_x and improving plant reliability to adapt and implement. The structured approach presented here has proven its worth at several plants that have wrestled with problems similar to yours.

The welds on superheater and reheater headers are arguably the most stressed parts of a modern steam plant. For that reason, it’s surprising that they also may be the most under-inspected. Cracks are rare, but they can be repaired if found early. One plant avoided a long forced outage to replace a reheater outlet header by using the correct condition assessments and welding techniques.

Part I of this three-part series (POWER, October 2006) explored the negative impacts of sulfur trioxide (SO₃) on the operation and maintenance of back-end plant equipment. In this issue, we list and quantify the likely and potential benefits of limiting the concentration of SO₃ in flue gas to 3 ppm at the entrance to the air heater. Part III—to appear in the April 2007 issue—will describe the characteristics of an optimal SO₃ removal technology and present the technical details and operating experience of one patented process that has worked successfully at a half-dozen plants for up to three years.

Environmentally benign disposal of coal combustion products/by-products (CCPs) such as flyash and bottom ash has been a problem since the first coal-fired power plant went on-line. In recent years, ways have been developed to recycle CCPs into useful commercial products like bricks and roadbase. This article describes an innovative State of Maryland program that is putting CCPs to yet another use: stabilizing abandoned mines to permanently sequester acids and harmful metals.

As emissions caps drop, technological solutions must become increasingly effective and efficient. Researchers, equipment vendors, and plant operators are exploring alternatives to SCR and SNCR, with a view to reducing the overall costs of NO_x reduction. They’ve also achieved 95% to 99% removal of SO₃, with no visible plume opacity.

February 1885 The cover story examined the latest in reciprocating engine technology: the Greene automatic cut-off engine (Figure 1). Here is how the editors described it: "The engine has a girder frame; guides case separate and dowelled and bolted to the bed plate; four-part main boxes; Porter governor. There are two steam and two exhaust […]

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order No. 689, issued on Nov. 16, 2006, established requirements and procedures for granting permits to build transmission facilities within "national interest electric transmission corridors" designated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). After summarizing the statutory and regulatory background, this opinion piece addresses jurisdictional conflict between FERC and states, […]

The January call for a national policy on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by a coalition that includes some of America’s largest companies and electric utilities—GE, Alcoa, Dupont, Duke, FPL, and PG&E—makes clear that carbon management is now as much of a raison d’être for CEOs as it has been for environmentalists. The momentum to reduce […]

China to buy four AP1000 reactors / Midwest Gen, Blagojevich reach pollution deal / Behold, the carpet gasifier / AREVA casks green-lighted by NRC / Brookfield Power upgrades Oswego Falls / Korea fires up 50-MW landfill gas project / Alstom lands big Russian deal / POWER digest / Correction

The compliance clock is ticking / First-class maintenance in a developing country / Bypass losses squander big bucks / Revised operating procedures

The financing of power generation projects increasingly depends on the execution of a long-term power-purchase agreement (PPA). A common prerequisite for considering a PPA to be "effective" is a "final and nonappealable" regulatory order approving it. Purchasing utilities justifiably insist on such certainty to immunize their PPAs from after-the-fact regulatory scrutiny and possible penalty. Unfortunately, […]

Arc flash is arguably the most deadly and least understood hazard faced daily by plant personnel. Research indicates that even the best safety plan, training regimen, and protective equipment may be no match for the heat and blast effects of an arc flash. Consider this article a wakeup call to retrofit every switchgear cubicle in your plant with a properly designed remote racking system. Forewarned is forearmed.