Latest

  • Interactive Virtual Training Content Software

    Advanced graphical interface technology provider DiSTI Corp. unveiled Replic8, a new software tool to effortlessly create interactive virtual training content from Autodesk’s 3D Studio Max. Replic8 allows users to easily produce compelling 3-D interactive training content through a simplified development process. (The image is a Relic8-generated 3-D Cummins 855 Diesel Engine.) The software tool works […]

  • Wind Energy: Dealing with Intermittency Challenges

    The wind power industry has exploded over the past decade. In the U.S. alone, almost 40,000 MW of wind power have come online since 2000. As more wind generation has been added, grid operators have been challenged to integrate a large amount of intermittent generation. As the state with by far the most installed wind power capacity, Texas has had to face this problem head on.

  • EPA Moves Forward with GHG Regulations for Power Plants

    The EPA’s proposed rules on limiting greenhouse gas emissions from new, modified, and existing power plants has taken another step forward.

  • California Adopts Final Cap-and-Trade Regulation

    After three years of development, dozens of public workshops, and hundreds of meetings with stakeholders, the California Air Resources Board (ARB) on Oct. 20 adopted a final rule to cap California’s greenhouse gas emissions and put a price on carbon. The cap-and-trade program starts in 2013 for electric utilities and large industrial facilities.

  • Consultancy Group Downgrades Coal Plant Retirement Projections

    ICF International, a consultancy group that earlier this year had predicted 68 GW of coal-fired power plants could retire by 2030 as a result of finalized and proposed regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), downgraded its retirement projections to 50 GW this fall.

  • Switching from Coal to Natural Gas Does Little for Global Climate

    Although the burning of natural gas emits far less carbon dioxide than coal, a new study concludes that a greater reliance on natural gas would fail to significantly slow down climate change.

  • Surprise: China’s Energy Consumption Will Stabilize

    As China’s economy continues to soar, its energy use and greenhouse gas emissions will keep on soaring as well—or so goes the conventional wisdom. A new analysis by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory now is challenging that notion, one widely held in both the United States and China.

  • Wet Booster Fans Optimize Power Station Performance with FGD and Wet Stack

    A Romanian lignite-fired power station wanted to minimize the operating cost of the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system by placing the booster fans in the "wet position," between the wet FGD scrubber and the wet stack, where they would consume significantly less power. A number of combined environmental effects must be considered in this design.

  • Pulverizers 101: Part III

    Pulverizers prepare raw fuel for burning by grinding it to a desired fineness and mixing it with the just the right amount of air before sending the mixture to boiler burners for combustion. Part I of this three-part report examined the essentials of pulverizer design and performance; Part II discussed the importance of fuel fineness. This final article discusses the importance of air and fuel measurement.

  • Divide and Conquer

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to release new air quality standards for coal-fired power plants this month. Division in the power industry is encouraging the EPA to set an unachievable compliance timetable.