POWER

In "U.S. utilities driving for a license" (November/December 2005), we wrote that Bechtel Corp. is part of the UniStar consortium. Bechtel Corp. is not a member but is working for UniStar as a contractor.

Now that many U.S. selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems are in their fifth or sixth year of operation, a number of utilities are shifting their attention from implementing the technology to operating and maintaining it. Catalyst management and performance are key to the successful operation of any SCR system.

As an alternative to purchasing new catalyst, technological and economic advantages make a compelling case for regenerating rather than replacing the metal or ceramic that enables selective catalytic reduction systems to capture NO_x.

The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City was the site of the 2005 Platts Global Energy Awards (GEA). The seventh annual black-tie soiree was the most global ever. Some 400 top executives from more than two dozen countries on five continents gathered at the Roosevelt on December 1, 2005, to honor the energy industry’s "Best […]

The EUCG surveyed 72 separate installations of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems at coal-fired units totaling 41 GW of capacity to identify the systems’ major cost drivers. The results, summarized in this article, provide excellent first-order estimates and guidance for utilities considering installing the downstream emissions-control technology.

FACILITIES MAINTENANCE Duck and cover! Tippi Hedren learned the hard way—in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 classic, "The Birds"—the damage that a flock of angry seagulls can do. But what do you do when 6,000 starlings suddenly invade your power plant? Hide the birdseed and run for cover! Like any conscientious company, PacifiCorp works hard at keeping its […]

Munich-based Siemens Power Generation (PG) recently finished building the 384-MW combined-cycle Tahaddart Power Plant in the city of the same name in Morocco (Figure 2). The turnkey project, which is about 20 miles south of Tangier, was completed in 25 months. The plant’s natural gas fuel comes through a new, 8-mile-long spur that connects to […]

The remote town of Galena, Alaska, which pays three times as much for electricity as the national average, is seriously considering a very unusual way to generate as much electricity as a clutch of diesels could provide. Recently, town officials initiated talks with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) about installing a small nuclear reactor in […]

For more than 70 years, Steam Plant Operation (Figure 3), published by McGraw-Hill Professional (like Platts, the publisher of POWER, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.), has been the bible of steam plant system design, installation, operation, maintenance, and repair. The new eighth edition of this classic reference book is now available.   3. […]

The reliability of service to millions of electricity consumers from Puget Sound to Portland improved significantly with the completion of the 84-mile-long, 500-kV Grand Coulee–Bell transmission line (Figure 4). The new path removes a major bottleneck between Spokane and Grand Coulee Dam and points west.   4. Breaking the bottleneck. The Bonneville Power Administration’s 84-mile, […]