Russia’s new nuclear navy;Russia’s old nuclear navy; First LMS100 fired up by Basin Electric;More Jenbacher gensets to Hungary; A baseload-size wind farm?; EEI bestows Edison Awards; POWERnotes
 

New York City has an insatiable appetite for power, but supplying that power from plants inside the city’s five boroughs (where 80% of its peak demand must come from) is tough. So it’s nothing short of miraculous that a 500-MW combined-cycle plant in Astoria, Queens, began commercial operation at the end of 2005. What did it take to bring this plant on-line? The largest state-owned power organization in the U.S.—The New York Power Authority.

The latest benchmarking study by the EUCG examines the engineering and technical staffing of 62 plants, 92% of which burn coal. If you benchmark your units, plants, or fleet, the results may raise some eyebrows. But they also may help justify your plea for more intellectual capital during the upcoming budgeting cycle. Though the detailed results of the study are proprietary to EUCG member companies that participated in it, POWER was given access to the complete findings. If you want details at the plant/unit level, you’ll have to join the EUCG and participate in the study, which is ongoing.

We tend to forget that today’s super-sized power plant designs began life as small prototypes that grew in size only as fast as technology and economics allowed. Arizona Public Service, a long-time leader in solar energy development, has invested in the development of one such technology that is compatible with the sunny Southwest and certain to become more cost-competitive in the near future. This successful demonstration of a 1-MW concentrated solar power, trough-style energy system is the first to have put power on the grid since 1988. But it certainly won’t be the last.

This year’s main course, as usual, was instrumentation and controls. Side dishes of digital nuclear plant controls, plant controller and IT security, corrosion monitoring, and model predictive control added their own distinctive flavors. There was something for every taste, from the theoretical to the practical.

Beer drinkers know and love Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s dedication to bottling premium beers, and that commitment has earned it numerous tasting awards. But it would also win awards on the basis of using clean, high-tech brewing technologies. Sierra Nevada has chosen to minimize its environment footprint by investing in a reuse/reduce/recycle beer-making process. The company has found a way to make its "closed-cycle brewery" a good corporate citizen without compromising bottom-line results.

Participants in the CEO Roundtable at Electric Power 2006 raised a plethora of issues affecting decisions on future electric power generation. Representing a cross section of power producers, the industry leaders made clear that, although globalization has lost its luster in the power generation sector, its impact on the domestic industry remains profound. Ten years […]

If coal is to be “America’s energy future” (see p. 42), the work of the Powder River Basin Coal Users’ Group (PRBCUG) will have a lot to do with making it so. Since 1999, the PRBCUG (see sidebar) has fostered the safe, efficient, and cost-effective use of the fuel as it watched its membership swell […]

The third annual meeting of the Combined Cycle Users’ Group (CCUG) was held May 2–4 in Atlanta at Electric Power 2006, in cooperation with the ASME Power Division Combined Cycles Committee and other industry groups. The CCUG’s leadership (Figure 1) drives the group to address issues involving the major components of a combined-cycle plant and […]

Five years ago, San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s Unit 3 turbine experienced substantial damage after the supply of oil to its bearings failed. Because the turbine coasted down without oil after it tripped, its bearings, journals, and steam path needed extensive repairs. A follow-up investigation revealed lube oil system vulnerabilities that were subsequently corrected. The lessons learned might also improve your turbine-generators’ lube oil reliability, saving you many millions in lost revenues.

Today’s utility business models re-emphasize utilities’ traditional mission—producing and delivering reliable, affordable power. Tracking how well that mission is executed is the raison d’être of modern plant performance benchmarking.

Hydroelectric power plant managers face unique scheduling challenges. They have a finite amount of water in their reservoirs available for energy production, and they need to schedule generation according to market demand to maximize profits from their limited “fuel” supply. Hydro power plants are capable of producing products other than electricity. Among them are ancillary […]

Although fluid monitoring technology has come of age in recent years, its level of sophistication varies widely across industries. Some users of bulk chemicals, fuels, and other fluids use state-of-the-art systems with bells and whistles like automated data gathering and transmission. At the other extreme, some tank farms still “stick the tanks.” Although 95% of large […]

Richard Nixon was the master of the “big lie” in politics. Once, when his cronies expressed concern about some “liberal” statements he had made, he told them to “ignore what I say and watch what I do.” That insight into an elected representative’s true state of mind is as useful today as it was a […]

The pressure on power producers to supply reliable electricity is unyielding. Forced outages, which usually are caused by unexpected component failure or systemic problems, can prove very costly to both bottom line and reputation. To reduce the frequency and duration of unscheduled outages, many gencos are implementing comprehensive predictive maintenance (PdM) programs. Such is the […]

The Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades near Philadelphia has been training power plant operations professionals for 112 years, and its graduates hold top positions at many major gencos, refineries, equipment suppliers, and design and construction companies. Testimonials indicate that it provides one of the best models for training tomorrow’s plant operators.

In April 2005, U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman asked the National Coal Council to develop a “report identifying the challenges and opportunities of more fully exploring our domestic coal resources to meet the nation’s future energy needs.” The council has responded with eight specific recommendations for developing and implementing advanced coal processing and combustion technologies to satisfy our unquenchable thirst for energy.

Between 1998 and 2002 the U.S. experienced an unprecedented power plant construction boom that consisted mostly of gas-fired, combustion turbine – based power plants. This surge in power plant construction had several driving forces, including electric power deregulation, the emergence of non-utility power producers, a sustained period of plentiful and inexpensive natural gas, and the […]

St. Johns River Power Park (SJRPP) is a two-boiler, 2 x 660-MW station jointly owned by JEA (formerly Jacksonville Electric Authority) and Florida Power & Light (FPL). JEA is the plant operator. The Foster Wheeler boilers went into commercial operation in 1987 and 1988. Each boiler has seven OEM vertical spindle pulverizers (mills) and 28 […]

In the late 1980s, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in conjunction with industry and state agencies, started the Clean Coal Technology (CCT) program. The aim of the CCT program was to develop technologies, increase efficiency, and reduce the environmental effects of burning coal in power plants. Today, pollution controls for new and existing plants […]

Demand for energy in America continues to grow. So too does the challenge of generating it in a reliable, affordable, and an environmentally sensitive manner. Given the U.S.’s abundant coal reserves, the nation’s electric utilities are pursuing a variety of strategies to keep coal a key fuel source for generating electricity. Developing Technologies One approach […]

The Mission of the National Coal Transportation Association (NCTA) is to provide education and facilitation for the resolution of coal transportation issues in order to serve the needs of the general public, industry, and all modes of transportation. This is accomplished through the sponsoring of educational forums and by providing opportunities for the lawful exchange […]

History has shown that the proper deployment of automation on new construction projects can make the difference between a moderate performer and an industry-leading unit, between average financial results and accelerated profitability. Given the magnitude of a new coal-fired plant construction project, automation is often viewed as just one of the many components essential to […]

In the U.S. electric power industry, coal is making a comeback as a fuel of choice for new generation projects. During the construction boom that occurred from 1999 to 2003 about 90% of new electric generation utilized natural gas – fired combustion turbines. Unfortunately, over the past few years natural gas supplies have tightened and […]

Is the U.S. supply of coal sufficient to meet the increased demand for coal-fired generation? With the increasing demand for coal to generate electricity, the big question is, How reliable is the supply and transportation of the fuel? Currently, Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is tracking 185 new coal-fired power projects, and if all were to […]

Kansas City Power & Light Installing SCR at La Cygne Generating Station Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L), a subsidiary of Great Plains Energy, has awarded The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) a contract for the installation of new emissions control equipment on Unit 1 at its La Cygne Generating Station. When completed, the selective […]

The first power plants were built about 130 years ago. Coal was then, and is still today, the major fuel used for power generation. Currently, about 1,400 pulverized coal – fired units, with an average age of more than 30 years, generate over 50% of U.S. electric power. The use of low-sulfur coal and improved […]

Understanding why stack emissions become opaque leads to better choices of systems for controlling SO3 and other pollutants, based on current and future plant operating configurations.

Primary airflow has a major impact on the efficiency, capacity, and cleanliness of pulverized coal–fired generation. Inaccurate measurements that underestimate primary airflow levels can lead to negative operational outcomes that include increased boiler gas temperatures, flyash loss-on-ignition, excessive NO_x emissions, and higher-than-necessary fan power consumption. We remind you how to avoid those headaches.

Three years ago, an article in POWER described how Cheng Power Systems, by modifying the combustors of several popular gas turbines, had used steam injection to lower the units’ NOx output to about 5 ppm—but some models had substantial CO levels without combustor modifications. Since then, the company has developed new combustor nozzles that recently […]