Gas

Germany’s E.ON laid the foundation stone in late March for a 433-MW combined-cycle power plant in Gönyü (Figure 6), a power-stricken region in northwestern Hungary. The power plant, expected to begin operation in 2011, will operate with a net efficiency of more than 58% — making it one of the most efficient power plants in […]

News items of interest to power generation professionals.

Combustor design simulation requires the resolution of complex geometry, turbulent flow patterns, heat transfer, and detailed chemistry. Although computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can simulate the reacting flow in realistic geometries, it requires the use of severely restricted chemistry models that are too simple to accurately simulate emissions and operational stability. A new simulation tool is now available that eliminates this CFD shortcoming while significantly reducing computing time.

Though Canada is rich in fossil fuels, nuclear power may fuel a significant portion of the nation’s future electrical generation needs, especially in provinces that have traditionally relied on hydropower and fossil fuels.

India has become a global business power even though hundreds of millions of its citizens still live in poverty. To sustain economic growth and lift its people out of poverty, India needs more — and more reliable — power. Details of government plans for achieving those goals demonstrate that pragmatism may be in shorter supply than ambition and political will.

Gas hydrates, a form of natural gas that forms when methane from the decomposition of organic material comes into contact with water at low temperatures and high pressures, could play a role — even if a small one — in future fuel supplies, researchers attending a March meeting organized by the American Chemical Society suggested.

The conversion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to pipeline-quality gas requires large quantities of low-grade thermal energy that may be available from industrial waste streams, steam power plants, or ocean water at the point of discharging LNG from the tanker. Alternatively, heat may be provided by the combustion of LNG or another fuel. In either case, the large temperature differences between these heat sources and the temperature of the LNG can be used to operate an engine that will offset or eliminate the pumping or fuel costs incurred.

For the past 26 years, Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) has hosted an annual conference in Houston that is world-renowned for its high-profile speakers and attendees’ willingness to exchange ideas and share industry forecasts. The consensus this year was that the power industry remains strong but market and political forces, often working at cross-purposes, make bringing any new power generation to market more problematic than ever.

Renewable energy, though still accounting for a comparatively small portion of overall supply, generates a larger portion of the world’s electricity each year. Combining many of the available solar energy conversion technologies with conventional fossil-fueled technologies could reduce fuel costs while simultaneously helping utilities that are struggling to meet their renewable portfolio goals.

The Sri Lankan government in December commissioned the first phase of the 300-MW Kerawalapitiya Thermal Power Plant, the nation’s biggest combined-cycle power plant project. The $300 million plant in the western part of the country commenced operations by generating 200 MW (Figure 7). In its second phase, it will expand to 300 MW. Per government estimates, power produced by the plant is priced at about 20 rupees or $0.18/kWh.

The U.S. power industry’s story in 2009 will be all about change, to borrow a now-familiar theme. Though the new administration’s policy specifics hadn’t been revealed as POWER editors prepared this report, it appears that flat load growth in 2009 will give the new administration a unique opportunity to formulate new energy policy without risking that the lights will go out.

Chances are you have endured the tedious process of removing fuel piping when maintaining just about any gas turbine, especially aero-derivative engines that are usually swapped out rather than repaired in place. One of the most time-consuming jobs after reassembling the fuel piping is checking for leaks at all the flanges. In a large frame-size turbine, that means sealing up to 64 flanges and then removing the seals after the leak testing.

Enbridge Inc., a Canadian pipeline and energy distribution and services company, and FuelCell Energy Inc. opened what they say is the "world’s first" direct fuel cell – energy recovery generation (DFC-ERG) power plant in Toronto, Ontario, this October. The innovative 2.2-MW project harvests high pressure that is used to channel natural gas over long distances […]

This summary of power generation projects is a web-only supplement to the November 2008 special report titled “Whistling in the dark: Inside South Africa’s power crisis.”

In the 1980s, Houston wildcatter George Mitchell drilled the first well into the Barnett Shale formation that stretches through north and central Texas. He tapped into what would turn out to be one of the most prolific and valuable onshore natural gas reserves in the United States.

Power supplies are looking brighter these days in the Land of the Midnight Sun now that the Kårstø combined-cycle power plant has begun commercial operation. Kårstø is Norway’s first commercial onshore gas-fired combined-cycle plant. Combining Scandinavian savvy with German engineering, this 420-MW plant showcases maximum efficiency coupled with minimal emissions.

We Energies’ Port Washington Generating Station Phase 2 is recognized as a 2008 POWER Top Plant for its design innovation and strong teamwork among the owner, contractor, and craft personnel that ensured project completion on time, on budget, and with a stellar safety record. While staying true to its historical roots, the plant will remain a good neighbor and a reliable provider of intermediate-load power to the region for many years to come.

South Korea, one of the “Four Asian Tigers” known for their aggressive economies, is boosting its electrical capacity with the recent addition of the Bugok II Power Plant. Ranked as the top plant in South Korea because of its efficient, environmentally friendly operation, the 565-MW plant is powered by combined-cycle units that burn natural gas. Part of this project’s success derives from the fact that Bugok I and II were the first projects awarded to a foreign company by a South Korean independent power producer.

At 564 MW, Sierra Pacific Resources’ Frank A. Tracy Combined Cycle Plant is the largest power project constructed in northern Nevada in 24 years and will reduce the state’s dependence on expensive power purchases from out-of-state suppliers. The project achieved a significant safety milestone by expending 1.5 million safe work hours during construction with zero lost-time accidents.

With greenhouse gas caps on the horizon, more U.S. utilities now have another reason–besides tightening air pollution limits–to consider replacing some of their old coal-fired plants with less-carbon-intensive gas-fired capacity. Even local residents are pleased with the results of an Xcel Energy project to do just that in St. Paul, Minnesota. For Xcel, the key ingredient in the recipe for its recently commissioned High Bridge plant was hiring an EPC contractor smart enough to overcome formidable site constraints.

It is rare indeed to witness, at an otherwise staid industry forum, the public rebuke of the country’s most prominent supplier to the electric power industry. But at the Keynote session and Power Industry CEO Roundtable of the 2008 ELECTRIC POWER Conference & Exhibition in Baltimore this May, Milton Lee, general manager and CEO of […]

Yucca Mountain plan sent to NRC/ CPV cells get cooling chips from IBM/ StatoilHydro to pilot test first offshore floating wind turbine/ U.S. rivers next massive power source?/ Siemens delivers 500-MW gasifiers/ Algae: A green solution/ POWER digest

Artificial photosynthesis for solar power? / Poultry litter to fuel 55-MW N.C. plan / First fuel cell-powered plane takes flight / First HTS transmission cable energized / PTC powers wind power industry / Renewing Greensburg / GAO deems coal-to-gas switch impractical / Assessing the Congo River’s power potential / POWER digest / Corrections

Tenaska proposes first new coal-fired plant with carbon capture/ Concerns raised over growth of China’s CO2 emissions/ Sandia, Stirling Energy Systems set new world record/ Indonesia orders first Wärtsilä Gas Cubes/ First wind turbines on Galapagos Islands cut oil imports/ Harnessing waste heat for electricity/ POWER digest/ Correction

The new, 424-MW Castejon 2 combined-cycle plant designed and built by Alstom was recently given its provisional acceptance certificate. Alstom used its “Plant Integrator” approach to fast-track delivery of a plant just like Castejon 1, which averaged 98% availability during its first three years of operation. That kind of performance is crucial to generators operating in the Spanish merchant power market—or any market.

DOE scraps FutureGen / U.S. nuclear plants have record year / Westinghouse wins TVA contract / UniStar Nuclear to file for COL / AEP ranks second in U.S. construction / China moving to the driver’s seat / New solar cycle poses risks / Dutch favor power from natural gas / POWER digest / Corrections

Developing power projects has become less a technical challenge and more an exercise in developing good relationships among all the stakeholders. If a community understands the need for a new plant and is involved in its development process, the odds of a successful project increase.

Hot reheat steam bypass actuators are some of the most critical, yet least understood components in a typical combined-cycle plant. If you’re using pneumatic actuators to stroke your main steam or hot reheat bypass valves in a cascading bypass system, you’re behind the times. Here’s a way to get better control of the bypass process, shorten unit start-up and train blending times, and decrease your plant’s heat rate—all at the same time.

Predicting combined-cycle system longevity and determining optimal maintenance intervals at the same time is difficult: It requires balancing repair costs against the risk of trying to squeeze that last bit of life out of some component before it fails. One solution to the problem is to extend coverage of an equivalent operating hours (EOH) preventive management program for turbines to the entire plant.