O&M

American Electric Power (AEP) has opted to retire—instead of refueling with natural gas—its 585-MW coal-fired Muskingum River Plant Unit 5 in Beverly, Ohio, in 2015.

At the average coal-fired power plant, the battle to reduce net heat rate is complicated by skin-tight maintenance budgets, staff reductions, and—for some—the switch from baseload to mid-peaking service. The most fruitful approach to improving a plant’s heat rate is to optimize combustion in its boiler, particularly by minimizing the amount of “stealth” air in-leakage.

Understand how to best use a new tool-in this case, the measurement of oxidation-reduction potential—and avoid another on-line gadget.

Cycling is a fact of life for most gas plants. But do you really understand the true costs of cycling operation? Not having a full picture risks leaving substantial money on the table.

Recent studies have shown that system oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) is not only an important factor for predicting wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) absorber chemistry but also may be a predictor of process equipment corrosion and wastewater treatment requirements.

A vital part of any coal-fired unit is its fuel delivery system (FDS). A newly formed subcommittee of the ASME Research Committee on Energy, Environment, and Waste has investigated potential FDS upgrades on three typical 500-MW wall-, tangential-, and cyclone-fired boilers. The subcommittee has produced a series of suggested upgrades that have a simple payback of no more than two years.

Transformer fires are fearsome events, perhaps the most dangerous common threats to human life—both onsite and beyond the boundaries of a power plant—that can hit an electric utility.

There are many reasons to anticipate that the use of wireless instrumentation in industrial settings will increase dramatically in the next few years.

Operators familiar with the unique requirements of burning Powder River Basin (PRB) coal will tell you that it’s not a case of “if” you will have a PRB coal fire, it’s “when.”

Every piece of equipment that transports or processes coal creates some level of particulate matter. Having a strategy for coal dust management in your plant is essential.

Electric motors are the largest energy consumer within a typical industrial plant. Motors also present the greatest opportunity to reduce auxiliary loads, particularly those with high usage factors.

Los Angeles sits alongside the world’s largest body of water, and naturally the city’s Department of Water & Power (LADWP) placed its generating stations along the shoreline to take advantage of that abundant resource for cooling. The LADWP built three coastal generating stations that provide the city with 2,162 MW, about 35% of the peak annual demand.

The LM6000 is the most widely used aeroderivative combustion turbine (CT) in the world, with more than 1,000 installations. As with all CTs, power output and heat rate degrade markedly during warm weather. The ARCTIC (Absorption Refrigeration Cycle Turbine Inlet Conditioning) system eliminates this deficiency.

URS recently performed a combined cycle repowering study to determine the feasibility and economics of repowering an existing steam turbine that went into service in the 1950s. The competing option was building a new combined cycle unit. The results of the study provide insight for others considering the same alternatives.

My career began as a results engineer testing large utility boilers. Ever since that first assignment, I have remained interested in the details of how the measurement and control of the furnace fuel and air inputs can make a huge difference in overall boiler performance. Given that plant operations and maintenance (O&M) budgets are slimmer today than in recent memory, my experience is that targeted performance testing can provide important feedback for prioritizing maintenance expenditures. The combination of plant testing and targeted O&M expenditures provide the best opportunity for efficient and reliable plant operations. I call this approach to plant efficiency improvement “performance-driven maintenace.”

The proliferation of battery technologies in modern industry is presenting fire professionals with new sets of challenges. Confusion exists as to the correct approach for protecting industrial batteries from fire, whether that be in battery manufacturing, battery storage, or battery-powered applications.

Microbial inhibition, as part of a robust cooling water treatment program, presents a special challenge because of the variability in makeup water sources, plant processes, and discharge permits. Failure to maintain a proper microbial inhibition program will affect your bottom line as a result of heat rate degradation.

Three workers were injured by an arc flash while working in the switchyard at the Callaway Energy Center in Missouri on April 2. Ameren Missouri said the accident, which happened outside the nuclear plant’s protected area, did not affect power generation.

Does your power plant use a chiller for combustion turbine inlet air cooling or other processes that reject heat? If so, there is a good chance you also have an auxiliary cooling tower or a wet surface air cooler to cool these systems.

Paradise Fossil Plant Unit 2’s record-setting performance of 259+ days of continuous operation for a cyclone-fired boiler is attributed to excellence in plant operations and maintenance processes, a diligent and well-trained staff, and leadership that places high value on both. The Paradise experience proves that plants can’t help getting older, but they don’t have to get old.

Steam turbine rotors bend during operation, but the bearing and supports are designed to keep the static and dynamic forces under control. However, bending can cause impact between stationary and rotating parts—often cascading impacts. An operator of many utility-scale steam turbines shares its extensive field experience identifying the root cause of failures as well as […]

Dispatch competition between U.S. coal and natural gas plants has been a prominent feature of power markets since 2009. Gas prices have strengthened significantly over early 2012 levels, working to take pressure off coal plants for the upcoming year, according to a new analysis by SNL Energy.

Feedwater heaters are used to preheat boiler feedwater by condensing steam extracted from several stages of the steam turbine. Feedwater heaters enhance the thermal efficiency of the power plant by reducing the amount of fuel burned in the boiler to produce a specified power. At the same time, the steam energy extracted from the turbine by the feedwater heater helps to reduce the rate of energy rejection to the environment via the condenser.

Steam turbine blade cracking often suggests the need for an upgraded blade design. Follow the process of reversing engineering a failed blade to produce a more reliable and efficient design.

Why do some HRSG economizers and feedwater preheaters seem to suffer tube failures more frequently than others? If frequent failure is your problem, the cause may not necessarily be your heat exchanger’s design or how often you cycle your plant. Don’t forget to carefully check your feedwater controls—they may be cycling more than your HRSG.

Improper layup practices are a major contributor to boiler tube failures and to steam turbine pitting and cracking in U.S. fossil plants. EPRI’s research into identifying damage mechanisms, utility best practices, and innovative new methods to protect plant equipment during outages will aid plant operators in achieving a successful layup.

Fuel for power generation will account for about 55% of demand-related energy growth through 2040, ExxonMobil forecasts in its latest annual energy forecast. Like several other forecasters, the Irving, Texas–based oil and gas company also predicts that natural gas will emerge as the leading source of electricity generation by 2040.

The world’s first supercritical pulverized coal–fired low mass flux vertical tube Benson boiler is Jinzhushan 3, located in the Hunan Province of the People’s Republic of China. The 600-MW Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group Inc. once-through boiler burns Chinese anthracite using downshot pulverized coal (PC) technology. Part 1 of this three-part article presented a summary of the project design features. Part 2 discussed the boiler technology. This third and final part reviews the plant’s performance test results.

Proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules and a greater reliance on newer generation technologies have put the nation’s aging fossil-fueled generation units at risk of retirement. The numbers demonstrate that the U.S. power generating fleet is older than you may believe.

A report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergence Response Team (ICS-CERT) reveals that infected USB drives spread common and sophisticated malware in the control systems at two power plants in separate incidents late last year.