Coal

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday granted PNM a 90-day stay in the effectiveness of the federal plan that would force the Albuquerque, N.M.–based utility to install pollution controls at its 1,800-MW San Juan Generating Station by September 2016 to meet visibility requirements of the Clean Air Act in New Mexico.

The primary considerations in slurry valve selection are reliability in function and design, abrasion resistance, and ease of maintenance. In addition, valves with a straight-through, unobstructed flow minimize the effect of abrasion and therefore reduce the need for maintenance.

Santee Cooper’s Cross Station has implemented a catalyst optimization program that reduces catalyst replacement cost while maximizing catalyst performance. This case study illustrates the economic advantages of taking a holistic approach to optimizing unit catalyst performance by controlling slag, fouling, sulfur trioxide, and ammonium bisulfate—key factors that lead to premature shortening of catalyst life. With catalyst costing $2 million a layer and up, there is plenty of economic motivation to find ways to improve its life.

India’s long-term annual economic growth rate is projected at over 7%, and the country is investing in its hydroelectric, nuclear, and renewable resources. However, the primary fuel used to produce electricity remains coal, and the government has ambitious plans to significantly increase coal-fired capacity. Those plans have been challenged by a number of unexpected factors that threaten to stifle India’s economic growth. India’s long-term annual economic growth rate is projected at over 7%, and the country is investing in its hydroelectric, nuclear, and renewable resources. However, the primary fuel used to produce electricity remains coal, and the government has ambitious plans to significantly increase coal-fired capacity. Those plans have been challenged by a number of unexpected factors that threaten to stifle India’s economic growth.

Panelists at the ELECTRIC POWER Keynote and Roundtable Discussion in Baltimore in May wrestled with a range of issues. But despite calls for a “balanced portfolio,” an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy, and predictions of “more changes in the next 10 years than in the last 100,” the focus of attention appears to be the decidedly mundane displacement of coal by natural gas.

As U.S. utilities seek to increase the percentage of carbon-neutral biomass used in their generation portfolios, they must deal with a number of complex challenges unique to this fuel source. Several breakthrough technologies are poised to help promote greater use of biomaterials.

Efforts by power producers to meet clean air rules mean that wastewater effluent streams now face revised EPA regulations. A skirmish involving a New Hampshire power plant could set the tone for the next battle over regulations.

The season’s blockbuster includes white-hatted heroes, good-natured regulatory sidekicks, bar fights, and a lurking menace named Fugitive Dust.

A two-year project begun this April by Southern Co. and a consortium of partners including boiler vendors Alstom, Babcock & Wilcox, Foster Wheeler, and Riley Power; the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI); and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory will gather data on the performance of alloy materials under advanced ultrasupercritical (USC) temperatures of about 1,400F. […]

Practically everyone would agree that the energy policy of the U.S. is in a great state of flux. Not since the introduction of commercial nuclear power some five decades ago has our country come to such an energy crossroads. No matter what your political ideology, no one can refute that conventional coal-fired power plants are being paralyzed by recent and potential U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations designed to cut the nation’s reliance on coal.

Denmark’s parliament in late March agreed to a new energy strategy seeking to wean the country off oil and gas. It could result in the Nordic country cutting its greenhouse gas emissions 34% by 2020, compared to 1990 levels, and decreasing energy consumption by more than 12%, compared to 2006.

Oxyfuel technology has been retrofitted at a 700-MW coal-fired power plant in Queensland, Australia, and is now capturing carbon dioxide from one of the plant’s six steam boilers.

The March 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami that destroyed a number of Japanese power plants—most notably, four nuclear units—hit quickly. Almost as speedy were calls to take all other nuclear units out of service for safety reviews. What will take much longer is developing a new, sustainable energy plan to fill the generation gap left by a potential total lack of nuclear power.

Coal generation, as a percentage of total power output in the U.S., declined steadily to 39% at the end of 2011 from about 51% in 2002, while generation from natural gas–fired combined cycle plants grew to more than 20% from 10% over the same period, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said in late April, as it released its annual assessment for U.S. energy markets.

Two Environmental Protection Agency rules are facing legal challenges. The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards is being challenged by half the U.S. states, while a decision in a case concerning the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule could be reached as soon as this summer.

Coal combustion products often can be recycled into a variety of construction and building materials. However, first you must be able to retrieve the wet ash from a holding pond before the ash can be dried and sold.

Advanced ultrasupercritical (A-USC) is a term used to designate a coal-fired power plant design with the inlet steam temperature to the turbine at 700C to 760C. In Part I of this three-part report, we introduced the A-USC boiler. In this segment, we look at the metallurgical advancements required for the A-USC boiler to operate at such high temperatures. The final report will explore the A-USC boiler’s unique design challenges.

Trying to assess the potential for coal-to-gas switching in today’s environment is something of an art form. Suppose for a moment that one were able to devise an economic model that truly replicates real-world generation dispatch for plant operators. A model is only as good as the inputs that go into it, and, let’s face it, future natural gas prices are a critical component.

In late March, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed its first-ever carbon pollution standard for new power plants, limiting carbon dioxide emissions from new fossil fuel–fired power plants. However, the technology options for complying wiith the proposed rule remain few and expensive, as recent developments demonstrate.

Integrys Energy Group subsidiary Wisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS) on Monday filed for a Certificate of Authority (CA) from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW) to install Regenerative Activated Coke Technology (ReACT) at its 321-MW Weston 3 plant.

India, a country that plans to fuel its current level of gross domestic product growth of between 8% and 9% with massive, mostly coal-fired power capacity additions over the next decade, in March commissioned an 800-MW supercritical unit at the first of India’s government-envisioned ultra-mega power plants (UMPP).

Patterns of coal trade have been shifting in recent years as demand surges in Asian countries. Whereas Japan and the European Union (EU) have long been the world’s largest hard coal importers, China and India are now emerging as top importers. This surge has shifted the center of gravity in international coal trade to the […]

In 2009, the North Carolina Asheville Regional Airport Authority (Airport), with partners Progress Energy Carolinas Inc. and Charah Inc., began development of the Westside Development Fill Project (Westside Project), a long-term infrastructure strategy located in the southwest quadrant of the Airport’s property. The project included phased construction of a developable pad for general aviation and commercial use, a new taxiway running parallel to the existing runway, and a major expansion of the existing runway.

Europe’s continuing drive toward sustainable energy does not rule out a new generation of coal power plants to replace those scheduled to close by 2015.

India has been besieged by a coal shortage of unprecedented severity that has forced privately owned and money-strapped state-owned coal-fired power plants alike to rely on expensive imports from Indonesia and South Africa to replenish woefully inadequate stocks.

FirstEnergy Corp., AEP, and GenOn have all announced coal-fired plant closures, totaling over 13 GW, caused by the recently finalized Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.

A proposed rule issued in late February by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will not change the greenhouse gas (GHG) permitting thresholds for the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Title V Operating Permit programs. However, it includes revisions to the permitting program that would provide some flexibility in how compliance is achieved with GHG emission caps.

A new report released in early March by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) found that loss of reactive power was the most likely outcome from a severe solar storm that was centered over North America. Significant losses of reactive power could lead to voltage instability, and, if not identified and managed appropriately, power system voltage collapse could occur, the report concludes.

It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. However, photos of the conflagrations that have resulted from ignition of minor lube oil leaks on a typical steam turbine room floor will leave you speechless. Full-scale physical simulations of oil fires by the insurance company FM Global leave no doubt that power plant fire prevention and mitigation is a judicious blend of art and science.

This unconventional technique for removing slag from solid fuel-fired boilers, used for more than two decades, has exploded in popularity. But the risks are very real, and not all blasters are created equal.