News

News items of interest to power industry professionals.

The ATL-5000 — a new, fully automated water jet system from NLB Corp. — cleans tube bundles three times faster than manual methods and features an adjustable lance stroke that allows the system to be configured for bundles of various lengths, up to 30 feet. The diesel-powered system has five rigid lances, each with a […]

Martin Engineering introduced the Carryback Capture System, a scavenger conveyor system that transfers belt-cleaning residue back into the material stream, avoiding cleanup labor, injury potential, and dust hazards associated with buildup. The 13-inch-high system’s modular design uses an electrically driven hydraulic cylinder to push a steel cleaning blade — or, in a longer scavenger, a […]

The updated E2200 Portable Combustion Analyzer from E Instruments is an all-in-one unit for boiler, burner, engine, turbine, furnace, and other combustion applications. Precalibrated and field-replaceable sensors allow for easy diagnostics and replacements to reduce downtime and costly repair charges. The analyzer includes sensors for oxygen (0% – 25%), carbon monoxide (0 – 8,000 ppm), […]

Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Jim Webb (D-Va.) on Monday introduced a climate and energy bill that proposes to spend $20 billion over the next 20 years to fund a series of nuclear-oriented provisions. These include nuclear loan guarantees, workforce development, and reactor-lifetime extensions.

The current sluggish U.S. economy is now being reflected in the country’s overall production of electricity. On Nov. 13, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released a report that concludes net generation of electricity in the U.S. was down for the 13th consecutive month compared to the same calendar month in the prior year.

On Monday in his speech at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ annual convention, Exelon Chairman and CEO John W. Rowe said that current legislative proposals on climate will minimize costs to consumers while addressing the looming threat of global warming.

Held in New Orleans from Monday through Wednesday, the Brownfields 2009 Conference is the largest conference in the U.S. focused on environmental revitalization and economic redevelopment of contaminated land, which are known as brownfields. This year’s conference focused several sessions on the topic of placing renewable energy projects such as wind farms and solar energy facilities on brownfields and old mining sites in order to make these sites productive again.

On Nov. 12, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced projects selected for more than $24 million in grants to research and develop technologies to produce biofuels, bioenergy, and high-value bio-based products. For this program, the DOE plans to invest up to $4.9 million and the USDA intends to contribute up to $19.5 million. Advanced biofuels produced through this funding are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% compared to fossil fuels.

On Friday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) cleared 564 enforcement cases submitted in an omnibus filing by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Commission-approved reliability organization.