Aaron Larson

In July 2016, a coal silo collapsed at an Indiana power plant. The root cause was identified as cracking of the cone-to-skirt weld. Warnings to inspect this vulnerable weld were published widely in conference proceedings and trade journal articles. Nevertheless, coal silos continue to fail at an alarming rate (Figure 1), which suggests that the […]

October 10, 2018 EPA Advances Proposed Changes to Mercury Rule The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed it has submitted proposed changes to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) to the White House for review, despite urging by the industry… Read More Sponsored Content Don't Let Your Efficiency Evaporate Corrosive environments. Costly blowdowns. Hidden costs. […]

A handful of nuclear power projects around the world completed notable achievements recently: Rostov 4 entered commercial operation, Tianwan 4 achieved first criticality, the Akademik Lomonosov floating nuclear power plant completed fuel loading, Leningrad II-1 received its commissioning permit, and the dome was installed on Karachi 3. Rostov 4 Rostov Unit 4 was placed into […]

GE announced that H. Lawrence Culp Jr. has been named chairman and CEO of the company replacing John Flannery effective immediately. GE’s board of directors voted unanimously on the decision, and it also appointed Thomas W. Horton as lead director. In a press release, GE specifically cited weak performance in the GE Power business for […]

More than 35,000 visitors from 100 nations were expected to attend the vast Global Wind Summit, which began Tuesday, September 25, in Hamburg, Germany’s Exposition Center. The expo is one of the world’s largest wind energy events. Held every two years and organized by WindEurope, the Global Wind Energy Association, and VDMA Power Systems, it […]

September 24, 2018 BREAKING: Owners Vote to Continue Vogtle Nuclear Project Owners of the beleaguered Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project have voted to continue construction of two new AP1000 reactors at the site near Waynesboro, Georgia. Directors of the Municipal Electric… Read More How the Vogtle Nuclear Expansion’s Costs Escalated The project to expand the two-unit […]

Lead analyst Stephen Tusa lowered J.P. Morgan’s rating on GE stock after “checks on two initial U.S. installations revealed failures of the first stage blade of GE’s H-frame gas turbine,” thestreet.com reported on September 20. Tusa—who has long been critical of GE’s prospects—reportedly wrote, “The impact on ‘asset value’ from a failure at GE’s U.S. […]

September 19, 2018 Select Boiler Chemistry in the Design Phase of Project Life On many combined cycle projects, the major decisions about boiler chemistry are left until after the plant has been designed, equipment is procured, and construction is well underway. However, the… Read More Sponsored Content GE’s H-class turbines are fueling the world on […]

As a vote by owners on the fate of the Vogtle nuclear expansion project hangs in the balance, the City of Jacksonville, Florida, and JEA—the city’s municipal utility that serves about 458,000 electric customers—filed a complaint in the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida on September 11 asking for declaratory judgment on a power purchase […]

September 12, 2018 EPA Schedules One Hearing on Proposed ACE Rule The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on September 10 announced it will hold one hearing to get input from the public and stakeholders on its Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule,… Read More Sponsored Content See $500,000 in Savings With a 1% Reduction in Heat […]

It is safe to say that all electricity customers want reliable and resilient power service. One way that some end-users are ensuring they get it is by investing in distributed energy resources and building microgrids. But rather than simply using these systems as emergency backups, more and more owners are finding ways to capture economic […]

Advantech-DLoG, a leading industrial and rugged computer provider, is pleased to announce its AIM-68 10″ industrial-grade tablet with compact and lightweight design, as well as multiple I/O ports (PresseBox) (Germering, 05.09.18) Powered by an Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8750 processor with support for dual OS, AIM-68 is aimed at diverse applications in various vertical markets. AIM-68 also […]

New explosion isolation flap valves from IEP Technologies, part of the HOERBIGER Group, are a reliable and cost effective way to mitigate the risk of dust explosions propagating to upstream equipment. IEP Technologies announces the introduction of the IFV and IFV-M Isolation Flap Valves. These self-actuating devices are cost effective, easy to install, and reliable. […]

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) interdisciplinary study found that nuclear power has the potential to contribute greatly to the achievement of deep decarbonization goals, yet despite its promise, cost hinders the expansion of nuclear power. “The Future of Nuclear Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World” was released on September 3. It is the eighth in […]

PRUFTECHNIK single-laser technology – the key for easy and high accuracy measurement Ismaning, September 2018 – The world market leader of laser alignment instruments PRUFTECHNIK proudly announces the launch of the new OPTALIGN touch system. The OPTALIGN touch by PRUFTECHNIK is the equipment of choice for simple, fast and precise daily alignment jobs – a tool […]

Valmet has signed an automation agreement with Jyväskylä Energy Group in Finland for the delivery of its district heat network optimization solution. The delivery will cover the entire district heating network of the company’s both CHP production plants, Keljonlahti and Rauhalahti. The scope of the delivery scope also includes a Valmet DNA Information Management system […]

Düsseldorf, September 3, 2018 – GEA supplies Saint-Gobain with two Waste Heat Recovery Systems (WHRS) each for the utilisation of waste heat from the float glass production lines in Pisa, Italy and Sriperumbudur, India. Commissioning is planned for the first half of 2019. GEA technology makes it possible to generate electricity and compressed air from […]

On many combined cycle projects, the major decisions about boiler chemistry are left until after the plant has been designed, equipment is procured, and construction is well underway. However, the best time to make these chemistry decisions is in the design phase of the project. That enables the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor to […]

Two VECO-Drives will replace the existing boiler water feed pumps speed control in the NanSha thermal power plant Significant improvement of overall efficiency and reduction of energy consumption as well as greenhouse gas emissions Guangzhou, China. On August 27, 2018, Voith and Guangzhou China Resources Thermal Power Co., Ltd. signed an order for two VECO-Drive […]

Clarke Energy to Deliver Four of GE’s Jenbacher J320 Gas Engines to Power Trigeneration Plant at Djamaâ el Djazaïr Mosque being Built in Mohammadia, Near Algiers Jenbacher Trigeneration Units to Supply Reliable, Lower-Emission Power, Heating and Cooling Project Highlights Growing Industrial Demand for Advanced Trigeneration Technologies ALGIERS, ALGERIA—August 30, 2018—GE’s Distributed Power business (NYSE: GE) […]

Two back-to-back links with a transmission capacity of 500 MW each ensure a reliable electricity supply of Bangladesh’s population and growing economy HVDC Classic technology helps stabilize the connected systems in the event of grid disturbances The high capacity power link helps to avoid transmission bottlenecks In June 2018, Siemens has fully commissioned the second […]

FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. (FES) notified PJM Interconnection, the regional transmission organization (RTO), of its plans to deactivate four fossil-fuel generating plants in 2021 and 2022. In a press release issued on August 29, the company said it “is closing the plants due to a market environment that fails to adequately compensate generators for the resiliency […]

Munich / Boston, 2018-Aug-27 Successful strategic alliance with Bentley Systems, which started in 2016, to be further expanded Joint investment initiative extended by an additional €50 million, totaling €100 million Ambition to further accelerate joint business In the companies’ latest Alliance Board meeting, Bentley Systems and Siemens decided to further strengthen their strategic alliance. The […]

Product launches emphasize commitment to deliver innovative, software-enabled solutions to help customers navigate the shifting energy landscape Exciting product innovations to help customers meet evolving challenges include eLuminaTM HVDC Control System, 72.5kV compact Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS), new “Digital Twin” for Power Transformers, Intelligent Digital Substations, Asset Lifecycle Management Services and advanced Energy Management System (EMS) […]

With its output of 4,500 kWel, the TCG 2032B V16 is one of the most powerful MWM gensets. The units are mainly used in power plant projects of independent power producers with an output of up to 50 MWel. More than 740 power gensets with an output of approximately 2,850,000 kWel have already been installed […]

On August 8, Georgia Power announced that its revised capital and construction cost forecast for its share of the Plant Vogtle expansion project had increased from $7.3 billion to $8.4 billion, based on a revised cost-to-complete estimate from Southern Nuclear. The news was softened somewhat by Georgia Power’s declaration that significant construction progress had been […]

The power market is changing. It’s being driven more and more by the retail side of the business, according to Roy Palk, Esq., president of New Horizons Consulting. Palk will give a presentation titled “The Rise of Distributed Energy — New Challenges Bring New Opportunities” during the Distributed Energy Conference, which will be held at […]

August 21, 2018 BREAKING: Trump Emissions Plan Aims to Boost Coal-Fired Power The Trump administration has proposed an overhaul of U.S. power plant emissions rules, unveiling a plan that would allow individual states to determine how they will regulate pollutants. The proposal,… Read More A Brief History of the Clean Power Plan The Environmental Protection […]

Innovative single pass frac sand drying minimizes airflow requirements and the need for complex controls. Simple straight-through design reduces weight, while dual feeds improve throughput and deliver a cooler product. MISSION, KANSAS — Industrial Accessories Company (IAC), one of the largest EPC contractors for the Frac Sand industry, has developed a state-of-the art advanced Frac […]

It’s no secret that the gas turbine market in the Americas has been tough in recent years. Across the industry, there have been reports of shrinking orders, forcing drastic measures to cut costs, including restructuring of businesses and cutting large numbers of jobs. The story from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems has been markedly different. In […]