POWER

On June 15, in response to a court order, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed new lower limits on particulate matter (PM) emissions that are scheduled for release in mid-December, although that deadline may be missed. Even with implementation delays, now is a good time to start paying closer attention to the requirements of the proposed standard.

No other country has been as frequently cited as an example of exploiting the virtues of a nuclear-heavy energy policy as France. Deriving more than 75% of its electricity from 58 operational nuclear reactors with a total capacity of about 63 GW, France has one of the lowest costs of generation and is the world’s largest net exporter of power, earning €3 billion ($3.9 billion) a year from sales of surplus power to buyers beyond its borders. But that is all about to change.

The fundamental design principles and process for modern steam desuperheating, or the attemperation of superheated steam in the power generation industry, have been evolving since the early 1930s. Meeting the requirement for steam quantity, quality, and temperature consistency is the foundation of traditional attemperator component design, particularly for fast-response combined cycle plants.

The back-to-back collapse at the end of July of India’s Northern, Eastern, and Northeastern grids that slashed power to more than 60% of India’s population of 1.24 billion has impelled the country into a spending frenzy to upgrade its rickety power network, which, a government inquiry revealed, was one cause of the unprecedented blackouts.

The Climax LM5200 and LM6200 portable milling machines are designed with a split rail system to easily perform both linear and gantry milling with a minimum of changeovers. A rigid, modular bed design allows shorter bed sections to be combined to fit the length of the work area, without losing rigidity, and to extend the […]

Germany’s E.ON this August began construction of a new pilot plant in Falkenhagen in northeast Germany that will convert excess wind energy into synthetic natural gas that can then be fed into the regional gas grid, where it can be used to produce heat and power.

With the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) issuance of a final rule regulating cooling water intake structures at existing facilities potentially less than a year away, facilities should be paying close attention to the proposed rule’s provisions, data requests, and study requirements as they evaluate their compliance options and begin to formulate their compliance […]

The Electric Power Research Institute and several partners—including the Southern Research Institute, Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power, and Southern Research—are testing a new technology that could reduce the amount of water needed for power plant cooling.

Global Companies Take on Nigeria’s Newly Privatized Plants. Nigeria’s $1 billion liquidation of five government-owned thermal and hydropower generation companies—part of a wider privatization effort that includes transmission and distribution assets to encourage investment in the power shortage–stricken country’s electricity sector—has attracted a number of global companies and investors. Eight firms bid a total of […]

Intelliport Corp.’s newly introduced self-loading OmniLoader can safely and efficiently move nuclear spent fuel using proven fluid suspension technology. Licensed to Wheelift Systems, the vertical cask transporter is a self-loading pneumatic-tired carrier that engages the cask at the bottom, to then lift and carry, allowing for more efficient movement within and between independent spent fuel […]

When a nuclear power plant experiences ground motion due to an earthquake, an evaluation may be needed before allowing the plant to continue operating or to resume operating if it has been shut down, as was the case after the seismic event that shut down both units at Dominion’s North Anna Power Station on August 23, 2011.

The new 1E-qualified CL86 Plus Spent Fuel Pool Multi-Monitor System from Fluid Components International (FCI) integrates three critical measurements: continuous level, point level, and temperature into a multi-variable solution designed specifically for spent fuel pool (SFP) applications in nuclear power plants. Maintaining water levels within spent fuel pools is of vital importance to ensure that […]

All turbo machinery is subject to degradation that, over time, will affect the system’s efficiency and operational performance. Precise monitoring of turbo machinery performance with continuous torque-monitoring systems can be used to identify gradual efficiency loss. That, in turn, allows a more focused maintenance scope to be developed that can return the system to its optimum operation and efficiency.

Germany-based solar mirror maker Flabeg has developed an anti-soiling coating for solar mirrors used in solar thermal power plant applications, duraGLARE, which can repel dust and sand from the surface of mirrors. Dirt on mirrors can be reduced up to 50% compared with panels that are not coated, the company claims. As well as an […]

A number of factors promote effective and responsible completion of EHS audit action plans, with the most important being the proper alignment of responsibility and authority for developing and implementing the audit action plan.

Measurement technology specialist Testo announced the new Testo 875i thermal imager, a professional quality and versatile thermal imager with very high thermal sensitivity, outstanding image quality, and simplified ease of use. With the device’s high thermal sensitivity of less than 50 mK, and the outstanding image quality of 160 x 120 pixels (which can be […]

Location, location, location. This has long been the guiding principle for selling real estate. Now, due to a recent appellate case, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has learned this concept’s importance in determining under what conditions multiple facilities can be aggregated as a single source under the Clean Air Act (CAA) Title V permitting […]

ESAB introduced a new, improved line of combination cutting torches as part of the new Purox Elite Series of gas apparatus products. The Purox Elite Series Combination Torch includes the WH-4200 welding handle and the CA-4200 cutting attachment. The torch welds material up to 1 inch thick and cuts up to 8 inches in thickness. […]

In 2007, Dominion Resources contracted Alstom to perform steam turbine retrofits on two generating units at its North Anna nuclear power station. The Unit 1 retrofit, with its ongoing instrumentation upgrade, was the second to be completed at the North Anna plant and the fourth overall for Dominion. Completion of this project marked a significant milestone in terms of both technical achievement and investment in providing clean, safe, and reliable baseload electricity for Dominion customers.

A “who’s doing what” addendum to "THE BIG PICTURE: Advanced Fission" in our November 2012 issue.

With license extensions for its three units in hand, Duke Energy’s Oconee Nuclear Station began a digital controls upgrade program in 2006, and in January 2010, AREVA became the first supplier to receive Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval for a safety-related digital instrumentation and controls system.

To comply with the New Hampshire law governing mercury emissions, Merrimack Station management recently installed a single scrubber system on the facility’s two coal-fired boilers. The plant’s Clean Air Project was completed on Mar. 30, 2012, ahead of schedule and under budget. Now the 440-MW Merrimack Station has reduced its mercury and sulfur dioxide emissions by more than 95% and is one of the cleanest coal-fired power plants in the nation

The Deltabar FMD72 Electronic Differential Pressure measurement system launched by Endress+Hauser uses two pressure sensor modules connected electronically to a single transmitter and eliminates the need for impulse lines or capillaries and their related issues of icing up, clogging, leaky taps, dry/wet leg inconsistencies, and problems with temperature changes. Ambient temperature changes cause measurement drift […]

Since the Northside Generating Station’s two repowered units were placed into service in 2002, a series of modifications and repairs have been undertaken to make its two circulating fluidized bed boiler plants reliable. The two chief problems were ash agglomeration on heat transfer surfaces and poor Intrex heat exchanger performance. JEA reports these problems have been permanently resolved, and data shows the two units have joined the top tier of reliable fossil plants.

The brave men and women of the U.S. military spend years crafting special skills and developing traits that prepare them for the challenging assignments they will be given throughout their terms of service. They receive orders for tours of duty and venture without hesitation into places steeped in peril and instability. Because of their consistently courageous responses to unimaginable challenges, civilians herald America’s servicemen and women as heroes. How can we begin to repay our veterans for defending our freedom?

Units 3 and 4 expand the Tanjung Jati Electric Generating Station’s capacity by adding 1,320 MW of reliable power that helps to boost Indonesia’s growing economy. Now the 2,640-MW coal-fired facility provides approximately 12% of the electricity available on the Java-Bali grid. The new units feature a flue gas desulfurization system and electrostatic precipitators that reduce air emissions and protect the environment.

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Dominion’s 585-MW Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center, located in southwestern Virginia, relies on two circulating fluidized bed boilers that burn coal and local waste coal mixed with up to 20% biomass. The project also features one of the industry’s largest air-cooled condenser systems to minimize the plant’s water usage. The $1.8 billion project entered commercial service July 10, on budget and on schedule

Cato Institute senior fellows Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren in an Aug. 31 Forbes website blog suggest that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) carbon pollution standard for new coal-fired power plants (Standard) is a meaningless skirmish in President Obama’s “war on coal.” The Standard may have no tangible impact on the industry in the future, but it has great strategic benefit to the administration.