Marmaduke

Not everyone has to be an expert. Having a goal to do the right thing, listening to your team, and seeking experienced help often results in an expert solution. Wayne Fritz, the manager of a struggling ammonia

Negativity can push you off your course in life. This is when Marnie first pushed back. “Any signal, Maya?” asked Marnie Surfaceblow, vice president of Surfaceblow & Associates International, as she

Never forget the human factors that can impact safety and success at every level of a project. Marnie Surfaceblow, vice president of Surfaceblow & Associates International, watched the Maharashtra

Ultra-low loads may be necessary for large coal plant survival, but they represent uncharted territory for operations and maintenance staff. Stay informed on the latest trends for success and expect the

Every power plant requires diligence for safe, efficient, reliable, and economic operation—especially when you mix old and new technologies. Never neglect showing care and respect toward even your “old

When investigating any potential problem, keep your eyes and your mind open to other possible dangers. “I am starting to wonder if you accepted this assignment because of … that,” stated Maya Sharma

As new energy technologies are employed to solve today’s renewable energy challenges, think flexibly while relying upon established safety measures. “Is this your first time in the Philippines, ma’am?”

New technology requires new ways of thinking, especially because safety is paramount. This is even more true for any situation where an established industry experience base is lacking. “Did you have a good

A change in fuel can lead to several other changes in a power plant. Change can be good, except when it’s not. Operators and engineers must be alert to both positive and negative effects, and act to remedy

With her plant preparing to demonstrate a new selective catalytic reduction and desulfurization system to visiting VIPs, Maya identifies a serious problem and halts the work. See how stepping up for safety led

Long-time POWER readers may remember Marmaduke Surfaceblow, a fictional character whose engineering escapades were brilliantly portrayed in hundreds of stories published within POWER magazine’s pages over more than 30 years beginning in 1948. Today, the story continues through Marmy’s granddaughter, Marnie, who is an engineering wiz in her own right. Marmaduke Surfaceblow was a crusty […]

When facing the unknown, power professionals must use their skills, draw from their experience, and think creatively. Marnie and Maya do just that while off the clock at Marnie’s high school reunion. “Hi

Steadily increasing demands leading to excessive cycling and starts/stops can cause heat rate loss, poor unit performance, and increased plant outages. See as Marnie and Maya demonstrate that even relatively

Small problems can lead to large impacts on a long-term basis. Heat rate surveys, improved instrumentation, and utilizing real-time monitoring and diagnostics can help recover plant efficiency and save money

When seeking answers to critical operations problems, consider that multiple root causes may be at play—thus requiring many different solutions. Watch as our heroines track down the culprits! As they trudged

Incessant trivial alarms can drown out important warnings and cause headaches for control room operators. In this installment of Marnie Surfaceblow, our fearless heroine wades through all the noise to identify

Marmaduke Surfaceblow was a crusty character, providing POWER magazine readers with imaginative tales of engineering feats, and lending his name to one of our most-coveted awards. He might be fictional, but Marmaduke Surfaceblow became synonymous with POWER magazine, a colorful character with a distinctive way of finding solutions to engineering problems. Author Stephen Elonka introduced […]

Power plants are, with good reason, almost universally regarded as fixed assets to be operated, maintained, and retired on the spot where they were built. The idea of relocating something as large and

Steve Elonka began chronicling the exploits of Marmaduke Surfaceblow—a six-foot-four marine engineer with a steel brush mustache and a foghorn voice—in POWER in 1948, when Marmy raised the wooden mast of the SS Asia Sun with the help of two cobras and a case of Sandpaper Gin. Marmy’s simple solutions to seemingly intractable plant problems remain timeless. This Classic Marmaduke story, published more than 50 years ago, reminds us that even the most modern steam plant is only as good as its operators.

Te Mihi Power Station is a two-unit 166-MW geothermal plant currently undergoing commissioning on New Zealand’s North Island. It replaces the Wairakei Power Station constructed in 1958—but with a much smaller environmental footprint. The double flash technology selected produces ~25% more power from the same amount of geothermal fluid that is currently used at Wairakei. For its continuing commitment to renewable geothermal energy, Contact Energy Ltd.’s Te Mihi Power Station is the winner of POWER’s 2013 Marmaduke Award for excellence in power plant problem-solving. The award is named for Marmaduke Surfaceblow, the fictional marine engineer and plant troubleshooter par excellence.

Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) last week said it had completed a $3 billion five-year-long extended power uprate to add more than 500 MW to its Turkey Point and St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plants in Florida.

Steve Elonka began chronicling the exploits of Marmaduke Surfaceblow—a six-foot-four marine engineer with a steel brush mustache and a foghorn voice—in POWER in 1948, when Marmy raised the wooden mast of the SS Asia Sun with the help of two cobras and a case of Sandpaper Gin. Marmy’s simple solutions to seemingly intractable plant problems remain timeless. This Classic Marmaduke story, published more than 50 years ago, reminds us that an overhaul or startup may not go as planned, but it can still have a happy ending.

Combined Solar Technologies (CST) has designed, built, owns, and operates a water purification system located at the Musco Family Olive Co. facility in Tracy, Calif., that burns olive pits to purify highly saline wastewater through a distillation process while also producing electric power. For its pioneering approach, CST is the winner of POWER’s 2012 Marmaduke Award for excellence in plant problem-solving. The award is named for Marmaduke Surfaceblow, the fictional marine engineer and plant troubleshooter par excellence, whose exploits were chronicled in POWER beginning in 1948.

Steve Elonka began chronicling the exploits of Marmaduke Surfaceblow—a six-foot-four marine engineer with a steel brush mustache and a foghorn voice—in POWER in 1948, when Marmy raised the wooden mast of the SS Asia Sun with the help of two cobras and a case of Sandpaper Gin. Marmy’s simple solutions to seemingly intractable plant problems remain timeless. This Classic Marmaduke story, published more than 50 years ago, reminds us that an overhaul or startup may not go as planned, but it can still have a happy ending.

Steve Elonka began chronicling the exploits of Marmaduke Surfaceblow—a six-foot-four marine engineer with a steel brush mustache and a foghorn voice—in POWER in 1948, when Marmaduke raised the wooden mast of the SS Asia Sun with the help of two cobras and a case of Sandpaper Gin. Marmy’s simple solutions to seemingly intractable plant problems remain timeless. This Classic Marmaduke story, originally published more than 50 years ago, illustrates that although solutions may be easy to identify, the challenge is often in the implementation. Sometimes a little horse sense is all that is necessary.

Steve Elonka began chronicling the exploits of Marmaduke Surfaceblow — a six-foot-four marine engineer with a steel brush mustache and a foghorn voice — in POWER in 1948, when he raised the wooden mast of the SS Asia Sun with the help of two cobras and a case of Sandpaper Gin. Marmy’s simple solutions to seemingly intractable plant problems remain timeless. This Classic Marmaduke story, published 50 years ago, takes place during the Cold War at an Air Force Base in northern Greenland, where under-ice tunnels were constructed to move nuclear rockets around the facility unobserved. The miniature nuclear reactor was operated for almost three years before it was shut down and returned to the U.S., ending the Army’s nuclear program. Greenland officially became a separate county within the Kingdom of Denmark in 1953, and home rule was introduced in 1979.

Lamar Light and Power is a municipal utility that has been generating the southeastern Colorado city’s electricity since 1920. Rising natural gas and oil costs pushed LL&P to retire its steam plant five years ago and begin hunting for more economic power sources. The answer: repower the existing plant with a state-of-the-art coal-fired circulating fluidized-bed combustor and cross-connect old and new steam turbines. The $120 million project will stabilize the region’s electricity rates for many years to come and is the winner of POWER’s 2008 Marmaduke Award for excellence in O&M—named for Marmaduke Surfaceblow, the fictional marine engineer/plant troubleshooter par excellence.

Steve Elonka began chronicling the exploits of Marmaduke Surfaceblow—a six-foot-four marine engineer with a steel brush mustache and a foghorn voice—in POWER in 1948, when he raised the wooden mast of the SS Asia Sun with the help of two cobras and a case of Sandpaper Gin. Marmy’s simple solutions to seemingly intractable plant problems remain timeless. This Classic Marmaduke story, originally published more than 40 years ago, illustrates that finesse often overcomes brute strength when solving delicate construction problems.

The Northern Wood Power Project permanently replaced a 50-MW coal-burning boiler at Public Service of New Hampshire’s Schiller Station with a state-of-the-art fluidized-bed wood-burning boiler of the same capacity. The project, completed in December 2006, reduced emissions and expanded the local market for low-grade wood. For planning and executing the multiyear, $75 million project at no cost to its ratepayers, PSNH wins POWER’s 2007 Marmaduke Award for excellence in O&M. The award is named for Marmaduke Surfaceblow, the fictional marine engineer/plant troubleshooter par excellence.

Steve Elonka began chronicling the exploits of Marmaduke Surfaceblow—a six-foot-four marine engineer with a steel brush mustache and a foghorn voice—in POWER in 1948, when he raised the wooden mast of the SS Asia Sun with the help of two cobras and a case of Sandpaper Gin. Marmy’s simple solutions to seemingly intractable plant problems remain timeless. This Classic Marmaduke story, originally published in 1958, illustrates that big problems often have simple, but ingenious, solutions.