Latest

One of the primary challenges of reliably burning coal is managing the corrosion experienced by the furnace heat transfer surfaces. Fireside corrosion remains a leading cause of failure in superheater and reheater tubes. In Part I, we examined three case studies of different failure modes experienced by tubes located throughout the furnace. In Part II, we conclude with two additional boiler tube failure case studies.

Every power engineer must have a firm grasp of the rudiments of how fuel is processed to produce electricity in a power generation facility. With this article, we continue our three-part series on the essentials of recovering heat from flue gas to dry and process coal, with the goal of improving overall plant operating efficiency.

I recently had the privilege of moderating the Power Industry Executive Roundtable, part of the annual ELECTRIC POWER Conference & Exhibition opening ceremonies. Usually, the power industry executives have predictable views of important issues, but not this year.

The Virginia Court of Appeals on Tuesday unanimously approved an air emissions permit granted to Dominion Virginia Power’s 585-MW Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center, a coal-fired plant that is 63% complete.

Michigan regulators on Friday denied Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative’s air quality permit for a new 600-MW power plant, fueled primarily by petroleum coke and coal, in Rogers City. The state’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) decision was based on findings of the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), which said the company failed to demonstrate the plant was needed to meet future supply.

Nonprofit Ohio utility American Municipal Power (AMP) last week said it would begin shutting down the 213-MW Richard H. Gorsuch Generating Station (RHGS), a 1950’s vintage coal-fired power plant located near Marietta, Ohio, as part of a New Source Review (NSR) settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Renewables will be the fastest-growing source of energy throughout the world over the next 28 years, helping to meet a projected 49% increase in world energy use, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). But, the agency also found in its International Energy Outlook 2010 released on Tuesday that fossil fuels could meet more than three-fourths of total energy needs in 2035, if current policies remain unchanged.

The U.S. Energy Department last week offered French firm AREVA a conditional $2 billion loan guarantee to facilitate financing of a uranium enrichment facility planned for development near Idaho Falls, Idaho.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on Monday said completing one of two unfinished units at the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in north Alabama would be preferred over building a new Westinghouse AP1000 reactor there, or taking no action.

New Jersey’s largest utility, Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) on Tuesday filed an Early Site Permit (ESP) application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a possible nuclear power plant adjacent to the company’s Salem and Hope Creek Generating Stations in that state.