Instrumentation & Controls

This year’s main course, as usual, was instrumentation and controls. Side dishes of digital nuclear plant controls, plant controller and IT security, corrosion monitoring, and model predictive control added their own distinctive flavors. There was something for every taste, from the theoretical to the practical.

Iberdrola is rapidly making a name for itself on the world stage for building large, very efficient combined-cycle plants and for being the largest owner and operator of wind power plants. The utility’s most recent achievement was the successful commissioning of the Arcos de la Frontera Group III project, which marks the commercial debut of General Electric’s Frame 9FB gas turbine.

Hydroelectric power plant managers face unique scheduling challenges. They have a finite amount of water in their reservoirs available for energy production, and they need to schedule generation according to market demand to maximize profits from their limited “fuel” supply. Hydro power plants are capable of producing products other than electricity. Among them are ancillary […]

Primary airflow has a major impact on the efficiency, capacity, and cleanliness of pulverized coal–fired generation. Inaccurate measurements that underestimate primary airflow levels can lead to negative operational outcomes that include increased boiler gas temperatures, flyash loss-on-ignition, excessive NO_x emissions, and higher-than-necessary fan power consumption. We remind you how to avoid those headaches.

Solving insidious vibration problems in rotating equipment may sometimes seem like a black art that requires the right incantation. But identifying the root cause of the vibration is actually a science. By using cutting-edge vibration measurement tools in concert with computer simulations, plant operators can arrive at a permanent, cost-effective solution to virtually any vibration […]

Desalination, Italian style; How to minimize DI operating costs; Advanced flow meter works with shorter pipe runs; Why tubing beats piping.

Understanding why stack emissions become opaque leads to better choices of systems for controlling SO3 and other pollutants, based on current and future plant operating configurations.

In 1500, Leonardo Da Vinci drew sketches of a device that rotated when hot air going up a chimney passed through a set of fan-like blades. Leonardo called his invention a "chimney jack," and although it only turned a roasting skewer, it gave birth to the idea of mounting blades on a shaft to convert […]

Remember the slogan, "Never trust anyone over thirty?" Chances are you’ve joined the ranks of the over-thirty generation and are dealing with your own personal "maintenance" issues—not unlike the fleet of generators at larger U.S. power plants, whose average age is about 30. Given the continuing growth in U.S. electricity demand and the cost and […]

Age is wreaking havoc on the U.S. generation industry, especially the coal-fired sector. Industry conferences are replete with hand-wringing over the "brain drain," the lack of skilled personnel, the meager number of students pursuing engineering degrees, and the accelerated retirement of the older workers who make up the industry’s experience base. On top of this, […]