O&M

Power plants are inherently dangerous. Although safety is taken very seriously at most facilities, every year workers around the world are killed on the job by electrocution, falls, explosions, fires, and

Keeping combustion turbines spinning at power plants across Xcel Energy’s service territory is critical to maintaining reliability and minimizing costs. One of the challenges to meeting that goal is

Centrifugal pumps are one of the most popular types of pumps used both domestically and in industrial settings. There are various designs of centrifugal pumps (Figure 3), and they all work in a similar manner

The Electric Power Research Institute’s full spectrum of online monitoring-related research offers nuclear power plant operators guidance for monitoring program implementation. The research results are used

Power plants have been blowing soot using essentially the same method for decades. However, technological advances now offer boiler operators a much-improved technique. Rather than running sootblowing systems

GE and Exelon announced a multi-year agreement to deploy GE’s portfolio of Predix software solutions across the energy company’s six electric utilities to further enhance reliability and efficient service to its more than 10 million customers. Exelon’s six utilities will use these advanced analytics to further strengthen transmission and delivery systems. POWER Executive Editor Aaron […]

Utilities across the country are gearing up for an attack on the power grid November 15 and 16. Thankfully, it’s only a drill. But in the event of an actual emergency, a real physical and cyberattack on the U.S. electricity infrastructure, GridEx IV—a biennial exercise conducted by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC)—will help […]

It was less than a decade ago that the power industry was enthusiastic about the new Duplex Stainless 2205 Alloy being used in the construction of wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) vessels. The alloy appeared

As the sole nuclear generator in the hydro-rich Pacific Northwest region, the Columbia Generating Station’s mission to provide safe, reliable, cost-effective, and carbon-free power has never been more

Power plants are designed to operate at their highest efficiency. Once a plant goes into operation, however, real life takes over and sometimes design outcomes are not regularly realized. Improving plant

J-seals are an integral part of efficient steam turbine operation. The failure of a J-seal can cause significant damage to the turbine rotor as material migrates downstream. For that reason, plant staff should

Predictive analytics software offers many benefits when appropriately selected. However, finding the best solution for a given situation can be tricky. The tips provided here could help power companies avoid

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed a unique large-scale power converter that can swiftly switch between multiple energy sources to help

If recurrent problems are occurring at your plant, it could be an organizational issue rather than an equipment design deficiency. There are a number of reasons that root causes are overlooked. Understanding

Recently, two epic hurricanes—Harvey and Irma—struck North America with extremely destructive force. Harvey first made landfall in the U.S. near Rockport, Texas, about 30 miles northeast of Corpus Christi

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 […]

Most large power plants have continuous vibration monitoring systems installed on turbine generators and other critical equipment. The systems have evolved greatly since the 1970s. In this episode of The POWER Podcast, Steve Sabin, SETPOINT product manager for Brüel & Kjær Vibro, offers some tips to get the most out of these systems. He talks […]

New report highlights criticality of utilities. As more and more industries increasingly rely on information technology (IT), the ability to ensure IT systems stay up and running is more critical than ever. But which industries absolutely, positively must stay up and running? Which industries are most critical? That’s the question answered by a team of […]

The potential financial benefits from Industry 4.0 are apparent to plant owners in almost all sectors. The wind power industry is no exception, and existing vendors such as GE (Predix/Digital Windfarm)

Times have changed. Not long ago, baseload units came online and went straight to full load for days on end. Now, those same units are being asked to cycle operations to accommodate for variable renewable

Today’s construction boom in the combined cycle/cogeneration sector is great news for suppliers of gas turbines (GTs), heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs), and engineer-procure-construct (EPC) services. But before this boom advances from artist’s sketches (Figure 1) to first fires, the designers of all those next-generation combined cycles should pause to reflect on the lessons learned […]

The power industry has a critical need to measure the bin level inside fly ash hoppers under electrostatic precipitators (ESPs). The inherent problem associated with these hoppers is that they are usually

Winning POWER’s highest honor, the U.S.’s first and world’s largest commercial post-combustion carbon capture system at a power plant is distinctively both a globally significant environmental

The Glenarm Power Plant has been keeping the lights on around Pasadena, California, for more than 110 years. The historic site has expanded over time and has included a total of 17 different power generation

In water-strapped California, managing power plant water usage is more important than ever. Southern California Edison implemented novel closed circuit reverse osmosis systems at five of its gas-fired

The microgrid installation at the Ameren Illinois Technology Applications Center (TAC) near the University of Illinois campus in Champaign—designed, engineered, and constructed by S&C Electric Co. of

The challenge was to take a facility that was far off the grid, and move it forward as an energy self-sufficient complex while also turning an idea into a commercially viable product. That was the impetus

Self-contained, small islands of electric generation, storage and distribution inside the existing grid–microgrids–could be the next big thing in electricity. But some argue they may be just another

The energy sector has been hit with almost one-third of the cyberattacks against U.S. industrial facilities in recent years. It is among the top issues, along with reliability, environmental regulations, and

Coal, by its very nature, is a dusty fuel. That poses a serious risk at coal-fired power plants, because coal dust can be highly explosive. However, actions can be taken to reduce the risk. Implementing strict