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Understanding why stack emissions become opaque leads to better choices of systems for controlling SO3 and other pollutants, based on current and future plant operating configurations.

Primary airflow has a major impact on the efficiency, capacity, and cleanliness of pulverized coal–fired generation. Inaccurate measurements that underestimate primary airflow levels can lead to negative operational outcomes that include increased boiler gas temperatures, flyash loss-on-ignition, excessive NO_x emissions, and higher-than-necessary fan power consumption. We remind you how to avoid those headaches.

Three years ago, an article in POWER described how Cheng Power Systems, by modifying the combustors of several popular gas turbines, had used steam injection to lower the units’ NOx output to about 5 ppm—but some models had substantial CO levels without combustor modifications. Since then, the company has developed new combustor nozzles that recently […]

If engineered well and drained properly, a simple finned-tube heat exchanger can help maximize a fossil-fueled power plant’s combustion efficiency, capacity, and air pollution reduction. Use the guidelines in this article either to return a disabled steam coil air preheater to service or to improve the performance of a unit that may have been wasting […]

Solving insidious vibration problems in rotating equipment may sometimes seem like a black art that requires the right incantation. But identifying the root cause of the vibration is actually a science. By using cutting-edge vibration measurement tools in concert with computer simulations, plant operators can arrive at a permanent, cost-effective solution to virtually any vibration […]

Duct burners use supplementary firing to increase the heat energy of a gas turbine’s exhaust, making it possible to increase the output of a downstream heat-recovery steam generator (HRSG). Early systems of the 1960s took a conventional approach to burner design. The exhaust of the turbine was directed into a windbox and then into a […]

  —Dr. Robert Peltier, PE Editor-in-Chief The hot hand in coal-fired power plant development is undoubtedly held by Nevada. In a departure from Sin City’s latest marketing slogan, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” most of the 5,500 MW to be generated by plants proposed for the state is destined for use elsewhere, principally […]

During the 17 years I’ve lived in Texas, I don’t know that I’ve actually heard anyone say, “Howdy!” but it seemed like the most appropriate word to associate POWER with its new headquarters in Houston. As you may have heard, POWER magazine and related properties were purchased by The TradeFair Group from McGraw-Hill on March […]

In late February, the largest gas turbine ever manufactured by GE Energy at its Belfort plant in France began a 30-day journey by land and sea that will take it to a new power plant in Spain. The Frame 9FB gas turbine—which is also the first built completely in Belfort—was loaded onto a special, wide-load […]

Earlier this February, Siemens Power Generation’s (SPG’s) factory in Berlin delivered its 500th gas turbine. The SGT5-4000F (Figure 2), formerly called the V94.3A, is nominally rated at 270 MW and weighs in at about 300 metric tons. With this shipment, the Berlin facility can boast of having built gas turbines with a cumulative capacity of […]