Shaft collars are used as stops or locators on shafts in a wide variety of applications. There are two basic types. One uses a setscrew to lock the collar in place, while the other utilizes a clamp-type collar. Shaft Collar Designs Setscrew collars are the oldest type of shaft collar. These units function by gouging […]

Alliant Energy and its co-owners are investing $900 million to modernize the Columbia Energy Center with a new suite of air quality control equipment and plant improvements that will increase its output and efficiency while reducing emissions. The plant makeover ensures its continued operation for decades to come. In 2009, Wisconsin Power and Light Co., […]

Owner/operator: TNB Janamanjung Sdn. Bhd. Ultrasupercritical technology is the current gold standard for coal-fired plants, but Malaysian national utility Tenaga Nasional Berhad had some unique requirements for its newest, most efficient plant. With a client lacking an indigenous source of coal and needing wide fuel flexibility, Alstom delivered a state-of-the-art plant that can handle an […]

Before the official start of its Minds + Machines event in San Francisco this week, GE announced the launch of its “Digital Power Plant” during a briefing for the trade press. A formal announcement was to follow in the afternoon. Dick Ayres, general manager of software solutions, power generation services, explained that the company’s Predix […]

Researchers looking at “quantifiable differences in security performance” across industries from August 1, 2014, to August 1, 2015, found “challenging performance trends” in the critical energy and utilities sector. The third annual BitSight Insights Industry Benchmark report analyzed security ratings of nearly 10,000 organizations in six industries: finance, federal government, retail, energy and utilities, healthcare, […]

 Fort Montgomery, NY  – August 24, 2015 – IPERC (Intelligent Power & Energy Research Corporation), the industry leader in cybersecure, intelligent microgrid controls solutions for military and commercial applications, has announced that the Department of Defense (DoD) has accredited the company’s GridMaster™ control system at Camp Smith, Hawaii with Platform IT Risk Approval (PRA).  This is […]

Warren Buffett bought Nevada’s NV Energy two years ago, a move widely seen as a play for solar and renewable generation. That’s working out. But as the company transitions away from legacy coal and high-priced renewable contracts signed years ago, large customers are rebelling, and the company faces a challenge to keep its big dog […]

A subsidiary of Rosatom’s nuclear engineering division, Atomenergomash, says a new nickel-alloy steel grade developed for the VVER-TOI core shell will extend the service life of the reactor vessel up to 120

South Korea on July 24 put online its 24th nuclear power plant. Shin Wolsong Unit 2 (Figure 3) will be the last to use the domestically developed OPR-1000 reactor design. Originally called the Korean Standard

ABB Snags $450M Contract for Norway-UK Undersea Link. ABB on July 14 won a $450 million contract to supply high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converter stations at both ends of the North Sea Network (NSN), a

Power-strapped Egypt’s first fast-track natural gas–fired project was completed in a record 159 days from groundbreaking to commissioning this July. The 650-MW Attaqa Simple Cycle Power Plant near Suez

The French Parliament on July 22 finally adopted a law that caps nuclear power generation capacity at its current 63.2 GW. The measure will force utility EDF to shutter nuclear reactors before it starts up its

Many coal-fired power plants maintain fuel stockpiles for use when the normal delivery of coal to the plant is disrupted. It is not uncommon for a 30-day supply to be maintained in the pile. Most of these

Power plants use indicators to monitor process parameters such as pressure, flow, temperature, voltage, current, and vibration. Unless a facility is relatively new, it likely has analog panel meters; some

Emerging from decades of isolation, fragility, and conflict, Myanmar has, since 2011, ushered in a reformist government and embarked upon unprecedented political and economic reforms. Among those reforms has

Sharing borders with Saudi Arabia, Israel, Syria, and Iraq, Jordan sits in a very precarious part of the world. To make matters worse, the country’s economy is among the smallest in the Middle East. Chronic

The Turkish electricity market was opened to competition in 2001 when the Turkish Grand National Assembly passed the Electricity Market Law, which unbundled its generation, transmission, and wholesale power

In the early 2010s, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) was staring down the barrel of dangerously low reserve margins, a combination of growing demand and an energy-only wholesale market that

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is facing major population growth over the next several decades and, with it, rapidly growing electricity demand. In 2013, the country generated 292.2 TWh of electricity, which

On June 29, much of the power sector rejoiced when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule, finding that the EPA had

As with many areas in North America and Europe, electricity generation in the Canadian province of Alberta is in transition toward cleaner, more efficient, more water-wise power. According to statistics from

For decades, hydropower plants were mainly built and operated as a cost-efficient source of clean electricity. But despite more than a century of development, there is still scope for expanding generation from

There is a synergistic relationship among the three major cooling water treatment issues: corrosion, scale or deposit formation, and microbiological fouling. In order to control one, you need to control all

Though most power generators and states might have preferred to not deal at all with a new rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions, the final Clean Power Plan (CPP), released August 3, gives most of the power

It’s certainly no secret that for many years, the power industry has been a top target for hackers around the world. However, whereas in the past, many of these attacks were relatively easy to block using

The Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD) on July 13 disposed its first waste in a newly completed low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste disposal facility underground at Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang

In today’s digital world, an optimally run power plant relies on valuable and accurate data in order to ensure assets are running reliably and with minimal downtime. Streaming in from control systems, SCADA

2015 Pump Users Group Rotating Equipment Repair hosted the Pump Users Group Meeting on July 27, 2015. The day consisted of educational workshops, vendor presentations, a local foundry tour, and concluded with a tour of the Harley Davidson Museum with dinner at the Harley Davidson Motor Restaurant.  Rotating Equipment Repair would like to thank all […]

This week brought announcements from India and the state of Wisconsin regarding the repurposing of sites previously associated with coal-fired power generation for future solar power generation. In India’s capital of Delhi, the 240-MW coal-fired Indraprastha Power Station, which was closed in 2010, will be the site of a new 5-MW solar photovoltaic installation. As […]

The NeoBolt lockbolt fastener system delivers vibration resistance and structural strength with no pin break POP Avdel, the largest blind rivet supplier in the industry, is introducing NeoBolt, a non-breakstem lockbolt fastening system for heavy-duty structural applications.  The two piece NeoBolt fastener features a collar and a pin with fine pitch locking grooves that, when […]