Current Issue – Coal POWER Direct

Implementing an ASME Covered Piping Systems Program

Power plant piping with a nominal pipe size of four inches or larger that carries steam or water operating at greater than 750F or 1,025 psi is considered a “covered piping system.” That means the

As DOE’s Coal Rescue Reportedly Dead-Ends, Stakeholders Recommend New Pathways

The White House may have shelved an effort to force grid operators to buy power from uneconomic coal and nuclear plants amid opposition inside the administration, Politico reported on October…

Advanced Coal Technologies Improve Emissions and Efficiency

New coal-fired generating plants are not showing up in the U.S. Elderly plants are retiring in large numbers. But other parts of the world continue to develop coal generation. Advances in combustion and

Coal Silo Failures Reveal the Need for NDE Inspection

In July 2016, a coal silo collapsed at an Indiana power plant. The root cause was identified as cracking of the cone-to-skirt weld. Warnings to inspect this vulnerable weld were…

West Virginia Coal Plant Will Remain Open Until 2022

FirstEnergy on October 18 said its coal-fired Pleasants Power Station in West Virginia will stay open until June 2022, after earlier announcing the plant would close in January of next…

Advanced Process Control for Optimizing Flue Gas Desulfurization

Coal-fired power plants can significantly improve wet limestone scrubbing with advanced process control. One optimization system implemented at a Japanese facility utilized enhanced regulatory control

Report: Investments in Coal Risky, Billions in Assets Could Be Stranded

A study from a London-based group focused on financial aspects of the energy industry said up to $60 billion of coal-fired power generation assets may be stranded in Southeast Asia…

Users' Groups Provide Value to Plant Operators

If you look up the history of users’ groups, you’ll find that many early organizations focused on computers. While it’s hard to confirm all the details, at least one source suggested that the first

What Is Coal’s Future? [PODCAST]

The Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs—a bipartisan think tank—will host the “Jackson Hole Global Forum: Climate Solutions, Coal Communities, and Economic Diversification,” in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, November 8–9, 2018.…