Instrumentation & Controls

Regulatory agencies are becoming more and more critical of phosphorus-based water treatment chemicals because they can have a negative impact on lakes and waterways. In the past, treating cooling water with

Coal proponents and climate skeptics often cite China’s current and future reliance on coal power to bolster talking points. What is little discussed is the recent, massive transformation of China’s vast

Proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control is one of the most common types of automatic control used in the power industry. A PID controller continuously calculates an error value as the difference between

New technology is being used throughout the power industry to improve plant efficiency, predict trouble with degrading equipment, forecast weather trends, and train workers. A recent conference hosted by POWER

Continuous condition-based monitoring of electrical conductors and insulation is an effective way to reduce required plant maintenance activities, cut operating costs, and prevent unplanned shutdowns

Small hydro is becoming big business as ongoing technological advances make more small sites economic to exploit. Older plants can also see substantial output and efficiency gains by upgrading from decades-old

What it means to have a secure energy generating facility has changed in recent years as the threat of cyberattacks grows. As the nation’s energy sector becomes increasingly interconnected, it is more

Technology advancements and new regulatory requirements could reshape how power plant owners operate and maintain large power transformers. Experts outline emerging strategies and call attention to overlooked

Remote and online monitoring of plant performance parameters is an important step toward a fully connected plant, but alone it’s not enough to exploit the real value in the Industrial Internet of Things, speakers at POWER’s inaugural Connected Plant Conference on February 15 in Dallas said. Randy Bickford, president and CTO of software firm Expert […]

Background burner control is critical for power and industrial plants because it affects emissions, energy costs, and process efficiencies. For natural gas burners, variations in gas composition can have a

A magnetic level gage may be an excellent addition to a power plant boiler’s drum-level instrumentation. However, before any changes are made, owners must first understand the specific minimum requirements for water level instrumentation defined by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. The code requires a functional water gage […]

China, which continues to build more new coal plants than any other nation, is also on the forefront of deploying the most advanced coal plant technologies. However, these advanced units could face

As installed capacity in the U.S. continues its breakneck growth, the solar photovoltaic sector is poised for another leap forward with a variety of new technologies—if increasingly ill-suited regulations and rate designs can be updated to keep pace. The global solar market has moved beyond its early, uncertain days. The luxury of behaving like start-ups […]

Like so many other power plant functions these days, regulatory and standards compliance can be automated. Know what you want an automated system to do before you make a vendor decision. As North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) enforcement deadlines and audit dates loom—notably, CIP-003-6 in April 2017, which addresses the […]

High-speed turbine rotor balancing was once rare because of the costs and logistical challenges involved in doing it during an outage. That’s begun to change as economic options emerge, and experience is showing that high-speed balancing can pay big dividends in reliability and maintenance costs. To a maintenance engineer or fleet manager, unwanted vibration in […]

Asset data is crucial in the power generation industry. Without it, utilities are forced to speculate about how long their assets will last, when they will need repair, and which strategies will maximize plant efficiency. With it, plant owners have the tools to drive down operational and maintenance costs while ensuring highly reliable power delivery. […]

When gas-fired plants are required to cycle more than they were designed for, added stress on plant components isn’t the only consequence. You also need to pay closer attention to turbine catalyst systems. Traditionally, many combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant units were designed and permitted for a baseload or similar operating profile. Startups […]

As power plant reporting requirements for emissions regulations increase in number and complexity, yesterday’s data collection and reporting systems can make the job harder than it needs to be. The electrical power generation sector is reportedly the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. As such, it is the focus of the Environmental […]

Power plants are familiar with using continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) to monitor pollutants, but these devices also may be able to measure heat rate—which could be handy for future compliance with the Clean Power Plan. Continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) are used to monitor power plant flue gas emissions as a means to comply […]

Projections that coal utilization will decline faster than previously forecast have spurred Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (B&W) to shed 200 jobs and restructure its traditional power business that serves coal-fired power generation in a bid to reduce overhead and improve efficiency. The Charlotte, N.C.–based energy and environmental technology and service company said on June 28 […]

An industry rooted in tradition is facing unprecedented changes and challenges, and meeting them requires “thinking big” and embracing disruptive technologies that will change how we think about electricity generation and delivery. That was the message from the keynote session at ELECTRIC POWER 2016.  Two senior power sector executives opened the 2016 ELECTRIC POWER Conference […]

Ensuring the reliability of the power system is the responsibility of many industry participants. In this POWER exclusive, one regional reliability entity, the Midwest Reliability Organization, explains its role. In response to the 2003 Blackout—which affected parts of the U.S. Northeast and Midwest, plus portions of the Canadian province of Ontario—the U.S. Congress mandated adoption […]

What are distributed energy resources (DERs)? For many people, rooftop solar is the first thing that comes to mind, but when you ask that question of an independent system operator (ISO)—the folks who

In the information technology world, open-source platforms and software, as an alternative to proprietary ones, have long been commonly accepted. In process controls, not so much. That could be changing if some large customers have their way. For decades, the norm with industrial plant distributed control systems (DCS) has been that you buy a proprietary […]

Although the December attack on Ukraine’s power infrastructure mostly affected the distribution grid, generators are just as vulnerable to cyberattack, in part because they tend to rely more on outside contractors working remotely. Here’s the latest on the attackers’ path and methods, areas in generation that are potentially vulnerable, and recommendations to address the vulnerabilities.  […]

Upgrading automation systems can often extend the life of power generation facilities by decades while reducing downtime, improving operations, and reducing required maintenance. The Maggotty plant in Jamaica offers one such example. Many power generation facilities have equipment in good running order with many years or even decades of potential service life remaining, but operation […]

When management decided to purchase and install a new, vented lead-acid battery system at the Dogwood power plant, decision-makers also investigated the benefits of adding a continuous battery-monitoring

It’s not being overly dramatic to say that the power industry is at its biggest inflection point to date. Even ignoring the effects of environmental regulations and (in North America, at least) cheap natural

Two senior power sector executives opened the 2016 ELECTRIC POWER Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans April 19 with a message that generators need to “think big” and embrace possibilities of disruptive technologies—or risk being run over on the road to the future. Leo Denault, chairman and CEO of Entergy Corp., delivered the opening keynote […]

The owner and management company of the Berkshire Power Plant—a 252-MW natural gas–fired combined cycle plant located in Agawam, Mass.—agreed to plead guilty on March 30 to felony charges that the companies violated and conspired to violate the federal Clean Air Act. The indictments against Berkshire Power Co. (BPC), the owner of the plant, and […]