POWER

When tackling a problem, engineers bring both skepticism and optimism to the task. As the nation’s electric power engineers look to fill America’s looming capacity gap, they will need to apply healthy doses of both. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects a 50% increase in electricity demand over the next 25 […]

Siemens, E.ON to test world’s largest GTG / Midwest to add 76-MW peaker in Kansas / Tapping the sun near Phoenix / Georgia Tech developing 3-D PV nanocells / Wind farms with hydrogen backup? / BNSF , union come to terms / IPL to buy 200-MW wind project / India to improve environmental monitoring / POWER digest

Ready for your NERC close-up? / Synthetic oils for industrial applications

  Historically, states have delegated responsibility for establishing and implementing their energy policy to a public utilities commission (PUC). During most of the 20th century, state PUCs operated with relatively little interference from state legislators. In California, for example, the PUC, created by the state constitution, was vested with the broad authority to independently regulate […]

Chauncey Starr, founder of EPRI—the Electric Power Research Institute—and its first CEO, passed away on April 17, 2007. The previous day, a celebration of his recent 95th birthday had been held at EPRI, where Chauncey held forth for more than an hour on his life experiences and lessons learned. He was in fine fettle. Chauncey […]

Since 1999, the Texas grid operator ERCOT has given plant owners economic incentives to upgrade and extend the life of their generating units. Lower Colorado River Authority has seized the opportunity to modernize the control systems of its 1970s-vintage Sim Gideon natural gas–fired steam plant. Sophisticated control schemes now calculate the toll taken by running units under severe service conditions—including the high ramp rates that a plant must execute to sell ancillary services.

At the heart of most boiler combustion control systems (and most coordinated boiler/turbine control systems as well) is throttle pressure correction, usually applied by the "master controller." Throttle pressure is considered a key variable to control because it represents the energy balance between the boiler and the turbine. When throttle pressure is constant, the boiler […]

Advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR) construction practices honed in Japan aren’t just impressive, they’re also eminently suitable for the fleet of new units planned for the U.S. Conceptually, these techniques show the transition from "construction" to "manufacturing" that has already taken place in other industries.

On-line temperature monitoring of steam turbine rotors must be based on modeling thermodynamic processes—not direct temperature measurements. Good operating decisions can significantly extend the life of aging turbines, particularly those that are routinely cycled or operated at their maximum ramp rates.

Operators of combined-cycle plants that have been pressed into cycling service should make sure that the aqueous diet of their steam generators—especially heat-recovery steam generators—fits the plants’ more active lifestyle. Following are some tips for keeping your HRSGs’ water treatment regimen in tip-top shape. These prescriptions can keep the units vital longer and make them subject to fewer unexpected failures.

The state of interconnection standards for distributed generation plants remains disconcerting to many prospective owners of such plants. IEEE 1547 has been in place for several years and appears to be the best option in a field of competing standards. But IEEE 1547 is an imperfect standard; it holds at least six holes. Here are some suggestions for filling them.

Contrary to public belief, the most common electrical phenomenon produced by a power plant’s steam turbines, turbine-driven compressors, and pumps isn’t sparks or lightning bolts. It’s static electricity. The physical effects of static electricity—greater vibration and higher temperatures—can damage bearings, shaft journals, couplings, and gears enough to cause a forced outage. A few inexpensive instruments in the hands of a well-trained technician can prevent "frosting" and "worm tracks" in your babbitt bearings. We’ll start the training right now.

Transporting large quantities of electric power over long distances via superconducting DC cables was first considered more than 40 years ago by two IBM scientists. With the recent advent of long-length commercial high-temperature superconductors (HTSCs) and the desire to move the U.S. to a hydrogen-based economy, SuperCables could revolutionize the marketing of electricity. Using HTSCs cooled by hydrogen, a SuperCable could simultaneously deliver electricity and hydrogen to end users for domestic and industrial consumption and to power fuel cell cars.

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 story originally appeared in 1950. Two years later, one of its key characters, King Farouk, abdicated the Egyptian throne to his infant son following a military coup.

May 1885 POWER reported on the latest Twist Automatic Engine (Figure 1) in its cover story for the May 1885 issue. The editor explained that "each end of the cylinder has one main valve, for admission and exhaust, and one cut-off valve; all being plugs with partial rotary movement; and the cut-off valves being within […]

  As the possibility of national climate change legislation increases on Capitol Hill and captures the attention of the electric power community, I am concerned that regulators, legislators, and utility executives will forget the urgency of modernizing the U.S. electricity delivery infrastructure. On the surface, the issues of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and upgrading and […]

  In 1882, Americans talked of John L. Sullivan, the bare-knuckles boxing heavyweight champion of the world, as horse-drawn carriages jingled along city streets. The spidery cables of the Brooklyn Bridge spanned the East River and hundreds of workmen scrambled to complete the great project. Railroads crossed the continent, but sporadic Indian warfare still plagued […]

  This month’s issue of POWER commemorates 125 years of continuous publishing for the power generation business. The anniversary gives us all a chance to assess where we’ve been and where we’re going as a publication and as an industry. As power industry professionals, we all know the value of a rearview mirror—of remembering lessons […]

World’s largest PV plant now in Portugal; latan 2 construction may resume; Allegheny to scrub Fort Martin plant; TVA will clean up big Dutch CC plant; Connecticut blesses six fuel cell projects; DOE approves IGCC plant in Florida; FERC relicenses Osage hydro plant; A nanotech perpetual motion machine?; POWER digest

Cyber security and the grid; Harnessing the Yangtze;

Hydraulic system overhaul;

O&M problems not caused by cycling;

  State policy makers are characteristically reluctant to recognize that they have advanced a policy as far as they can, and that they must cede some control to fully realize its ultimate benefits. Ceding control often runs counter to policy makers’ political instinct to serve their constituents. Doing so is even harder when a new […]

This month we officially commemorate the 125th anniversary of the magazine that has been essential reading for owners and operators of power generating plants. As you read this brief history, you’ll see that—although we’re looking back at an illustrious past—the secret of POWER’s success has been its commitment to the future. As we look forward to the next milestone anniversary, we anticipate covering the latest developments in a new generation of power technologies. As always, our mission is to provide the best information and advice in the service of safely and efficiently powering the global energy industry.

This month we officially commemorate the 125th anniversary of the magazine that has been essential reading for owners and operators of power generating plants. As you read this brief history, you’ll see that—although we’re looking back at an illustrious past—the secret of POWER’s success has been its commitment to the future. As we look forward to the next milestone anniversary, we anticipate covering the latest developments in a new generation of power technologies. As always, our mission is to provide the best information and advice in the service of safely and efficiently powering the global energy industry.

Want some good news about your predictive maintenance program for a change? A recent research report by the Aberdeen Group found the electric utility industry benchmarks exceptionally well against other industries in its PDM practices. In fact, the research found that best-in-class companies outperformed industry peers in improving asset availability by up to a three-to-one margin. In a web exclusive, the Aberdeen Group has provided its report for download from powermag.com as a service to our readers.

Part I of this three-part series (POWER, October 2006) explored the negative impacts of sulfur trioxide (SO₃) on the operations and maintenance of back-end plant equipment. Part II (February 2007) listed and quantified the likely and potential benefits of limiting the concentration of SO₃ in flue gas to 3 ppm at the entrance to the air heater. This final part describes the characteristics of an optimal SO₃ removal technology and details the operating experience of a patented process that has worked successfully at a half-dozen plants for up to three years.

The challenge for suppliers of aftermarket turbine blades is that their starting point is an existing blade and nothing else. There are no CAD models, drawings, measurements, tolerances, or inspection data associated with it. However, thanks to the latest in computer tools, a blade now can be digitally recreated to exact specifications and built using the latest design and manufacturing practices. Here’s an inside look at how turbine blades are captured, reconstructed, inspected, and remade to be better than the originals.

For the past 25 years, Cambridge Energy Research Associates has hosted an annual conference that has drawn the captains of the worldwide oil and gas and electricity industries. The 120 distinguished speakers at this year’s summit attracted more than 2,000 delegates from 55 countries, making it the largest and most diverse ever. Naturally, one of POWER’s contributing editors was there, too; here’s his take on what transpired.

Ten years ago, any self-respecting U.S. utility executive might have been drawn and quartered for publicly promoting a nuclear power revival. How times have changed. Today, more than half of America’s nuclear plants have outsourced their operations to specialty firms, and the prospect of a nuclear renaissance in the U.S. (see Cover Story) is brighter […]

Npower plans big coal plant in UK / Berkeley boffins make thermoelectric discovery / Rinspeed’s roadster: Fast, fun, and green / Dead chickens, the weirdest renewable / Siemens celebrating three big deals / Nevada Power picks P&W, CH2M Hill / Scuderi’s air-hybrid engine / Ovation for huge new Chinese coal plant / PG&E dips toe into wave power / POWER digest

April 1884 POWER reported on the latest offering from Philadelphia-based Southwark Foundry and Machine Co. (Figure 1) as its lead story. "This is a self-contained, high speed auto­matic cut-off engine. It has been designed with special reference to simplicity, and solidity of parts, and to heavy and continuous work. 1. The Southwark engine was the […]