In This Issue
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CommentaryPower’s Environmental Issues Then and Now
Discussions about environmental issues related to power plants and the regulations governing their operation are as old as the industry, I discovered while thumbing through the bound July through December 1914 issues of POWER. The specifics of the environmental concerns have become more detailed and complex as scientific knowledge, monitoring technologies, and mitigation solutions advance. […]
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Legal & RegulatoryReal-Time Environmental Data Integration Improves Air Quality Reporting
As power plant reporting requirements for emissions regulations increase in number and complexity, yesterday’s data collection and reporting systems can make the job harder than it needs to be. The electrical power generation sector is reportedly the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. As such, it is the focus of the Environmental […]
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Legal & RegulatoryWeighing the Environmental Impacts of Wind and Solar
Renewable generation is usually characterized as more environmentally friendly than fossil fuels, and in many respects, that’s true. But there is a growing recognition that solar and wind generation have their own impacts, and an increasing number of manufacturers and generators are looking for ways to minimize them. Iceland might be about the last place […]
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Legal & RegulatoryAvoiding Wildlife Impacts from Renewable Energy in Europe
Courtesy: Ad Meskens/Wikimedia Commons Europe has been in the forefront of renewable energy development, and though the scientific research on wildlife impacts is limited, European environmentalists and developers are beginning to create baseline frameworks and guidelines. Developers around the world can learn from their experience. As more renewable energy systems come online, providers hope to […]
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Legal & Regulatory
Securing Pipeline Infrastructure for Gas-Fired Generation in New England
Increased reliance on natural gas as a fuel for electric generation has prompted regulatory reforms by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to improve coordination between the two industries. Many in the power industry believe critical constraints in gas pipeline infrastructure serving New England pose a significant threat to electric reliability and prices during periods […]
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CoalPRB Coal Users’ Group Plant of the Year: Ameren’s Rush Island Energy Center
Rush Island Energy Center has successfully fired Powder River Basin (PRB) coal for two decades, as proven by the plant’s excellent performance stats, dedication to minimizing its environmental footprint, and sterling safety record. The PRB Coal Users’ Group top award recognizes the plant staff’s long-term dedication to continuously improving its safe handling and efficient combustion […]
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CoalChina’s Coal Industry: Status and Outlook
The years between 2002 and 2012 are called Golden Decade for the coal industry in China. After May 2012, the coal industry fell into depression. In the Golden Decade, a large amount of social capital inflow
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Legal & RegulatoryThe Coal Refuse Dilemma: Burning Coal for Environmental Benefits
The niche alternative energy industry that generates power from hazardous piles of coal waste that litter the U.S. is facing an environmental Catch-22. The torrent of coal mined and processed in the U.S. since
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Legal & RegulatoryGenerators Grapple with ELG Implementation
Plant wastewater treatment is not what it once was, and changes in the Environmental Protection Agency’s effluent limitations guidelines (ELG) have added a host of new wrinkles. A panel of power plant experts discussed what plant managers are planning and doing to keep things running smoothly within the new rules. For more than three decades, […]
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Waste to EnergyEnergy from Waste: Greenhouse Gas Winner or Pollution Loser?
Is waste-to-energy the best greenhouse gas fighter among electric generating technologies? Or do trash burners spew dangerous air emissions? The answer may be a surprise. What electricity-generating technology results in net greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions, not just zero new emissions? According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it’s not nuclear, not wind, not solar. […]
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Legal & RegulatoryTVA Submits Pioneering Application for SMR Early Site Permit
The first-ever early site permit (ESP) application for a small modular reactor (SMR) was submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) this May, marking a resurgence for the fledgling nuclear energy technology that has seen a number of setbacks in recent years. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) submitted an ESP application for a potential […]
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CoalUnderstanding and Mitigating Metallurgical Effects of Coal Blending and Switching
Fuel blending and switching has become the norm in response to regulatory and market forces, but many older boilers were designed for a particular fuel. Understanding the effects of different fuels on
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Coal
POWER Digest
Fuel Loading Begins at Kudankulam 2. Nuclear Power Corp. of India (NPCIL) began loading the first of 163 fuel assemblies into the core of the second VVER-1000 reactor of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu, India, on May 11. The 1,000-MW unit will begin generating power pending approval from the Atomic Energy Regulatory […]
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CoalEvaluating the Use of CEMS for Accurate Heat Rate Monitoring and Reporting
Power plants are familiar with using continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) to monitor pollutants, but these devices also may be able to measure heat rate—which could be handy for future compliance with the Clean Power Plan. Continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) are used to monitor power plant flue gas emissions as a means to comply […]
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RenewablesRwanda’s Power Production Triumph over a “Killer Lake”
Lake Kivu, the 1,040-square-mile “killer lake” that stretches over the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has long been a source of trepidation. Because it sits between two
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RenewablesOne of the World’s Biggest Biomass-Fired CHP Plants Is Inaugurated
Fortum Värme, a company jointly owned by Finnish energy firm Fortum and the city of Stockholm on May 9 inaugurated a new biomass-fired combined heat and power (CHP) plant on the shores of Värtan, a strait in Sweden’s capital city. The Värtan CHP8 (130 MWe, 280 MWth), which began construction in 2013, will begin commercial […]
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CoalEmploying Fuel Cells for Carbon Capture
Fuel cells are a rapidly expanding option for distributed generation, with fuel cell–based power plants now being deployed in capacities into tens of megawatts (see “59-MW Fuel Cell Park Opening Heralds
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NuclearChina’s CAP1400 Clears IAEA Safety Assessment
China’s CAP1400—a reactor design based on Westinghouse’s AP1000 pressurized water reactor—has successfully passed the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) Generic Reactor Safety Review. The milestone is significant for China, which plans to deploy the advanced reactor design in large numbers (Figure 4) as well as export the technology. 4. On the nuclear horizon. An artist’s […]
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O&MBoiler Tube Failure Thermohydraulic Analysis
Eskom operates 23 power stations in South Africa with a total capacity of more than 42 GW. It supplies about 95% of all the electricity used in the country. One of its coal-fired power stations was experiencing frequent boiler tube fatigue failures in the hopper section—the bottom part of the boiler—of all six units. The […]
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Legal & RegulatorySimplify MATS Compliance with Particulate Matter Continuous Emission Monitors
Now that power plant operators have some experience under their belts related to Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) compliance, it’s time to reevaluate the options for demonstrating compliance. Starting
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O&MEmissions Catalyst Issues for Fast-Start Combined Cycle Power Plants
When gas-fired plants are required to cycle more than they were designed for, added stress on plant components isn’t the only consequence. You also need to pay closer attention to turbine catalyst systems. Traditionally, many combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant units were designed and permitted for a baseload or similar operating profile. Startups […]
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Coal
Circulating Fluidized Bed Dry Scrubber Effectively Reduces Emissions
When owners of the Big Stone Plant researched air quality control system technology, they considered all available options and eventually settled on a design that was not in widespread use. Now that the