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Steve Elonka began chronicling the exploits of Marmaduke Surfaceblow—a six-foot-four marine engineer with a steel brush mustache and a foghorn voice—in POWER in 1948, when he raised the wooden mast of the SS Asia Sun with the help of two cobras and a case of Sandpaper Gin. Marmy’s simple solutions to seemingly intractable plant problems remain timeless. This Classic Marmaduke story, originally published in 1958, illustrates that big problems often have simple, but ingenious, solutions.

August 1886 POWER reported on one of the first twin-cylinder “Otto” natural gas–fired engines that had recently appeared in the U.S. power market. The report notes that “engines of 100 horsepower are being now economically used where gas is low in price, as in England and other European countries” (Figure 1). 1. A twin-cylinder “Otto” […]

We are witnessing an international awakening of scientists who are speaking out in opposition to former Vice President Al Gore, the United Nations, and the media-driven “consensus” on man-made global warming. In May, I released a report detailing scientists who were former believers in catastrophic man-made climate change but who have recently reversed themselves and […]

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 gave the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) the authority to override state and local opposition to the construction of interstate transmission lines if the agency determines that they will reduce system congestion. In April, the Department of Energy designated two regions that might qualify for such treatment as “national […]

Pistachio plant gives new meaning to green/Slightly sun-powered grill/Will lithium revolutionize hydrogen storage?/Calpine’s major Geysers geothermal upgrade/Rhone-Alps is French PV hot spot/Fuel cell–powered ice-resurfacing machine/Westinghouse proposes revised AP100 design/Sandia perfects solar alignment/SCE wants comprehensive coal study/POWER digest

Hydro-demolition speeds reactor dome entry;
Tips for keeping your unit stable;
Air makes heavy move a breeze

Congress’s enactment of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) triggered a revolution in the development and construction of power plants. PURPA’s creation of an independent class of generators—qualifying facilities (QFs)—exposed a century-old economic myth that had justified restricting ownership of generating facilities to governmental and investor-owned utilities (IOUs). The success of QFs […]

It took Westar Energy eight years to upgrade the Lawrence Energy Center to burn Powder River Basin coal. Its zero lost-time accident record during the million-man-hour project is a testament to Westar’s commitment to workplace safety. Here’s your backstage pass to meet the PRB Coal Users’ Group 2006 Plant of the Year.

By design, combined HP-IP turbines have a small amount of internal leakage from the high-pressure turbine to the intermediate-pressure turbine. When turbines are new, the amount of this leakage is close to the design heat balance. But as turbines age, the leakage increases considerably, causing a heat rate penalty and possibly a reliability problem. In Part I, we explore the symptoms and causes of excessive leakage within GE steam turbines and how to correct the problem. Part II, in next month’s issue, will examine the same issues for Westinghouse and Allis-Chalmers turbines.

Scientific debate on the validity of global warming science continues, but the issue has yet had little impact on individuals. That impact is being negotiated in Washington, where a regulatory framework that would mandate reductions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is taking shape. Legislative options under consideration would redefine what power plants must do-and not do-to […]