POWER

An innovative mini-grid in April turned on the lights for about 250 residents living in Ilha Grande, a tiny island on the northwest coast of Maranhão State in northeastern Brazil.

Plentiful supplies of low-cost natural gas have changed unit dispatch orders across the U.S., led to thermal stress–induced maintenance issues at cycling coal plants, and resulted in management challenges at coal and gas units alike. This scenario is unlikely to change so long as gas holds its competitive edge over coal.

Japan’s Sumitomo Electric Industries in July began operation of a new power generation and megawatt-class storage system at its Yokohama Works site.

In much of the developing world, two essentials are often in short supply: potable water and reliable electricity. Some countries have invested heavily in desalination and combined cycle technologies to simultaneously solve both problems.

Several major power plants around the world began operations over the past months.

Thompson Pump’s new Compact pump series has all the benefits of the popular Thompson Pump JSC series but is lighter, has fewer parts, needs less maintenance, and has a lower price. The Thompson Compact pump is 35% smaller and 20% lighter but offers the same performance as a standard size pump with 24-hour run time […]

Belgian Cabinet Votes to Prolong Tihange 1 Reactor Life. Belgium’s cabinet in early July approved plans by GDF Suez subsidiary Electrabel to keep the 1975-built Tihange 1 reactor operating until 2025—almost a decade longer than planned—but it rejected a proposal to delay by a year the planned 2015 closure of Electrabel’s two 1975-built reactors at […]

Endress+Hauser introduced the Liquiline CM44 Series, multichannel transmitter models for monitoring and controlling processes in water, wastewater, chemical, power, and other industries. CM44 models accept inputs from up to eight Endress+Hauser Memosens digital analytical sensors, including nitrate, spectral absorption coefficient, pH, ORP, conductivity, oxygen, turbidity, and ion selective electrode sensors. (Memosens sensors are lab-calibrated devices […]

In the following case study, Aquatech International Corp. discusses a water treatment system designed to minimize water usage and waste discharges, both liquid and solid, at a gas-fired combined cycle plant in California.

Dust Control Technology launched a family of tower mounts for the company’s atomized misting equipment, which extends droplet hang time and range while providing more precise aiming capability during slag-handling, aggregate-progressing, recycling, and coal-handling operations. Complementing a product line that already includes wheeled carriages and skid mounts, by delivering millions of 50- to 200-micron droplets […]