Plant Design

  • Flexibility, Efficiency, and Low Emissions Make Repowered Facility a Success

    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

  • FP&L Seeks State Exemption to Build New Florida Plant

    Florida regulators next week will consider whether to support an exemption to a state rule, a move that could speed the approval process for a new 1,163-MW natural gas-fired power plant on the state’s Atlantic coast. Florida Power & Light (FPL), the nation’s third-largest electric utility, has proposed the $888 million power plant for Broward […]

  • Researchers: Power Plant Carbon-Capturing Calcium Carbonate Looping Technology Almost Market-Ready

    A novel demonstration underway at Technische Universität Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt), a research university in Darmstadt, Germany, has shown a calcium carbonate looping (CCL) technology retrofitted at existing

  • Improved Maintenance Strategy and Excellent Planning Turns Coal Plant into a Top Performer

    Southern Co.’s Plant Scherer was chosen as the 2017 Powder River Basin Coal Users’ Group Plant of the Year based on a rigorous selection criteria, including safety, fire protection, and risk reduction

  • Retrofitting Electrostatic Precipitators to Meet Current Emission Limits

    Electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) offer a tried-and-true technology for particulate matter control. However, existing ESPs can be challenged to meet the latest regulatory requirements. Retrofitting power

  • Humboldt Bay Generating Station: A Case Study in Emissions Control Troubleshooting

    It can be a challenge to keep emissions in check while operating dual-fuel reciprocating engine technology during low-load conditions. However, doing so is especially important under California’s strict

  • MISO: Avoiding the Mess Facing Other Wholesale Competitive Electric Markets

    The Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s (MISO’s) geographic footprint extends down the middle of the U.S. Because of the structure of its market, MISO has artfully avoided some nasty policy and

  • How China Is on the Leading Edge of Environmental Technologies

    Coal proponents and climate skeptics often cite China’s current and future reliance on coal power to bolster talking points. What is little discussed is the recent, massive transformation of China’s vast

  • Proposed Wisconsin Gas-Fired Plant Would Aid Utilities’ Renewable Initiatives

    Minnesota Power and Wisconsin’s Dairyland Power Cooperative announced plans to co-develop a combined cycle natural gas–fired power plant, a 550-MW facility designed to provide backup power for the utilities’ efforts to expand their use of renewable energy sources. The Nemadji Trail Energy Center would be built along the Nemadji River in Superior, Wis., a location […]

  • How to Prevent Circulating Water Flow Reversal

    Flow reversal in piping systems can degrade equipment performance and cause significant water hammer, potentially resulting in catastrophic failure. Power plant condenser cooling water systems—or circulating

  • Inlet Air Cooling Systems Improve Gas Turbine Performance

    An inlet air cooling (IAC) system offers one of the most cost-effective ways to improve gas turbine (GT) performance—especially during the peak hours of hot summer months. After all, GT output depends on

  • Newly Designed Deluge Valve Improves Functionality

    Stanwell Power Station, a 1,460-MW coal-fired power plant located in Queensland, Australia, faced a dilemma. The reliability of its fire protection system was questionable. Many of the plant’s multiple jet

  • Who Has the World’s Most Efficient Coal Power Plant Fleet?

    A comparison of coal power plant fleets from China, the European Union (EU), Japan, and the U.S. by the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) Clean Coal Centre yields surprising insights into efforts these

  • New Construction Milestones for AP1000 Units

    Construction of four AP1000 units—the first new nuclear reactors in the U.S. in decades—is moving along at Vogtle 3 and 4 in Georgia and at the V.C. Summer nuclear power plant in South Carolina. In January, Westinghouse, which is spearheading construction of the units, marked a key milestone as it placed the first steam generator […]

  • Don’t Just Connect Your Plant—You Need to Model It, Experts Say

    Remote and online monitoring of plant performance parameters is an important step toward a fully connected plant, but alone it’s not enough to exploit the real value in the Industrial Internet of Things, speakers at POWER’s inaugural Connected Plant Conference on February 15 in Dallas said. Randy Bickford, president and CTO of software firm Expert […]

  • CHP 2.0: New Fuels and New Business Models

    A variety of approaches have been used to capture new benefits from combined heat and power (CHP) facilities. Some owners have transitioned to new fuels or added renewables to the mix, while others have implemented unique business models to spur development. As district heating systems are brought into the 21st century, the CHP sector seems […]

  • District Power and Heating from a Wastewater Plant

    A wastewater treatment plant in the Danish city of Aarhus is reportedly producing enough power to cover all of the energy used for the whole water cycle in its catchment area—from water production and water

  • Global Developments Giving CHP a Much-Needed Boost

    According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global power production from combined-heat-and-power (CHP) technologies has stagnated since 2000, lagging far behind growth in conventional power technologies and commercial heat generation. Despite having an average efficiency of 59%, CHP’s share of global generation in 2013 stood at just 9% (Figure 1), the bulk of it at […]

  • New Solar Roads Unveiled

    Solar roadways—roads that incorporate embedded photovoltaic cells—have piqued interest for several years. A few examples are finally being rolled out, though their practical applications are still being evaluated. On December 20, global transport infrastructure group Colas completed installing a solar panel paving system it calls “Wattway” (Figure 5) over 50 square meters (m2) at the […]

  • Counterfeit Parts: Why Authenticity Is Imperative

    When it comes to running a power plant, it’s easy to take the little things for granted. Yet it’s the little things that often have the greatest impact on plant managers’ ability to deliver reliable service for their customers. Take power, for instance. Plant managers are focused on bringing power to their customers. But are […]

  • New Options in Industrial CHP Boost Efficiency and Returns

    Combined heat and power (CHP) has long been a popular option for industrial self-generation, but new technologies and business partnerships are taking the sector well beyond the traditional boilers and diesel gensets. The Erving Paper Mill in the western Massachusetts town of the same name has operated for more than 100 years. Once part of […]

  • Gas Chromatographs Offer New Technology for Power Plant Burner Control

    Background burner control is critical for power and industrial plants because it affects emissions, energy costs, and process efficiencies. For natural gas burners, variations in gas composition can have a

  • Advanced Furnace Draft Pressure Control Using Electraulic Damper Drives

    Pneumatic furnace damper drives may be more common, but electro-hydraulic actuators provide several advantages to the more traditional control scheme. One fossil-fired plant in Taiwan achieved more consistent and accurate furnace draft pressure control by retrofitting its dampers with Electraulic actuators, optimizing combustion and increasing boiler availability in the process. Fossil fuel–fired power plants worldwide […]

  • Understanding Boiler Code Compliance and Magnetic Level Gages

    A magnetic level gage may be an excellent addition to a power plant boiler’s drum-level instrumentation. However, before any changes are made, owners must first understand the specific minimum requirements for water level instrumentation defined by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. The code requires a functional water gage […]

  • TOP PLANT: Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant Unit 4, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia

    Owner/operator: Rosenergoatom Fast-neutron reactors are pivotal to Russia’s ambitious nuclear power plans. The successful construction, grid-connection, and testing of the country’s first BN-800 reactor at its Beloyarsk nuclear plant is a major achievement in the right direction. Since the Soviet Union began its first experimental nuclear power projects in the 1940s, Russia has embraced nuclear’s […]

  • Advanced CFB Technology Gains Global Market Share

    Circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology is taking a growing share of the international coal-fired power generation market, particularly in the Pacific Rim and China. Indigenous designs are also growing in

  • Pushing the Ultra Envelope: Advanced Power Technologies Are Mainstream in China

    China, which continues to build more new coal plants than any other nation, is also on the forefront of deploying the most advanced coal plant technologies. However, these advanced units could face

  • Crescent Dunes: 24 Hours on the Sun

    Dreams of a future of round-the-clock dispatchable solar energy may have become reality at the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project in Nevada.

  • Slide Show Supplement to Mátra Power Plant, Visonta, Hungary

    The Mátra Power Plant in Visonta, Hungary, uses a dense slurry system for handling fly ash and other coal combustion residuals. The DSS combines ash and water in a 1:1 ratio, creating a cement-like slurry. [gss ids=”93802,93804,93832,93808,93834,93836,93838,93840,93842,93844,93822,93846,93848,93850″]

  • TOP PLANT: Tanjung Bin Energy Power Plant, Johor, Malaysia

    Owner/operator: Malakoff Corp. Bhd. Building a power plant on a site previously used for an aquaculture farm comes with more than a few challenges. For the Tanjung Bin Energy Power Plant, that meant some redesign and rework was required. Even so, the GE-led construction consortium made adjustments and delivered the state-of-the-art ultrasupercritical project on time […]