Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
2 February 2011
Solar Storms
Threaten Grid
Special Section:
Plant I&C Projects
Designing Biomass
Fuel-Handling Systems
Heat Recovery Steam Generators | Waste Heat Boilers | Fired Packaged Watertube Boilers | Specialty Boilers
WWW.RENTECHBOILERS.COM
February 2011
ON THE COVER
NASAs Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite was launched in 1995 to
study the sun from its deep core to the outer corona and the solar wind. This image
shows a huge, handle-shaped gas cloud of relatively cool dense plasma (only 80,000K)
suspended in the Suns hot, thin corona. The temperature of the corona is typically
above 1 million K. Source: NASA
COVER STORY
ASSET MANAGEMENT
24 The Great Solar Storm of 2012?
A variety of U.S. federal agencies are concerned about the potential for greater-than-usual solar storm activityand resulting massive power grid disruptionsover the next few years. Contingency planning for such high-impact,
low-frequency events is difficult under the best conditions. Whats more worrisome is that nobody is taking responsibility for leading the charge to develop a
comprehensive disaster preparedness plan.
24
SPECIAL REPORT
INSTRUMENTATION & CONTROL
30 Increasing Generation Ramp Rate at Morgantown Generating Stations CoalFired Units
The first article in this special section, developed in partnership with the ISA Power
Industry Division, looks at how one Maryland plant countered the negative effects
of four decades of changes in operating conditions while retaining the operational
gains. The secret to ramping up unit ramp rates was an innovative combination of
technologies and techniques.
36
40 New Tools for Diagnosing and Troubleshooting Power Plant Equipment Faults
The Electric Power Research Institute is working on a project that will take the deluge
of plant process, monitoring, and diagnostic data and put it into an intelligent and
searchable database. Drawing on that database, a new software tool will then perform anomaly interpretation, diagnosis, and condition assessment more effectively
than has been possible in the past.
www.powermag.com
40
1
54
FEATURE
PLANT DESIGN
58 Designing Fuel Systems for Large Biomass Plants
Whether your plant is considering cofiring biomass or using a circulating fluidized
bed to burn it, there are a several design considerations to be aware of. Variables
affecting biomass use range from site conditions to fuel temperature and moisture
content to variable flow characteristics. One way to eliminate some of the fuel characteristics uncertainty is to take advantage of biomass pretreatment options.
DEPARTMENTS
SPEAKING OF POWER
6 Reaching Retirement
58
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SPEAKING OF POWER
Reaching Retirement
recent Washington Post article attacks coal as a fuel with a dim future. The author points to the large
number of plant retirements as evidence
of its impending demise. Checking the actual data reveals a much different story.
The January 2 article, Coals Burnout, presents a view of the future of coal
plants that is more wishful than factual.
The article cites the number of coal plant
retirementspower generating companies . . . would retire 48 aging, inefficient
[plants]and the Sierra Club trumpets
those statistics as a sign that coal is a
fuel of the past. Surprisingly, the number
of plant retirements cited is much too low.
Not surprisingly, those retirements will
have no significant impact on the future
of coal-fired generation in the U.S.
Predicted coal-fired plant retirements through 2015. The total nameplate of retiring
plants is just under 9 GW. The Total averages are calculated over seven years. Source: SourceWatch
Year of
retirement
2009
Number of units
announcing
retirement
Average age at
retirement (years)
11
47.2
Average capacity
retired (MW)
Total installed
capacity retired (%)
49.1
0.16
2010
20
50.8
61.1
0.36
2011
14
55.8
97.4
0.40
2012
22
51.5
101.4
0.66
2013
10
56.2
157.2
0.46
2014
45.8
188.3
0.59
2015
10
61.4
148.4
0.46
Total
91
55.1
98.4
2.65
www.powermag.com
retirements through 2015 is quite modest and includes very old plants that are
uneconomic to operate or upgrade. Also,
given the very low capacity factors of these
plants, the 2.65% loss of nameplate (MW)
is, in my estimate, less than 1% of generation (MWh) spread over seven years.
Economics Rule
Power generators are in the business of
providing low-cost, reliable electricity to
their customers while (if its a public company) earning a reasonable rate of return
for shareholders. The modest number of
plant retirements is no surprise and certainly not an indicator that the industry is
turning away from coal-fired generation.
In fact, the last National Energy Technology Laboratory coal-fired plant database
lists 17 GW of new coal plants either under construction, near construction, or
permittedmuch more than the 9 GW lost
through retirement of the 91 plants listed
by SourceWatch.
I expect industry average capacity factors
will slowly increase over the next few years,
and plant retirements will allow executives
to focus limited capital on life-extension upgrades of the remaining plants. In the long
term, trimming these underperforming assets
is just good business.
Dr. Robert Peltier, PE is POWERs
editor-in-chief.
February Is National
Engineers Month
Each February, the National Engineers
Week Foundation coordinates various
agencies and professional organizations to connect the classroom with
the workplace. February 2026 is the
week when dozens of corporate sponsors, professional societies, andmore
importantlypracticing
engineers
Turn Ideas into Reality. Visit www
.eweek.org to check out your opportunities to introduce the engineering
profession to students from elementary
through high school.
P E O P L E
P R O C E S S E S
T E C H N O L O G Y
Congratulations KCP&L
for achieving
General Physics proudly recognizes the success of Kansas City Power & Lights
Hawthorn Generating Station for achieving a 3% heat rate improvement on
Unit #5, which directly resulted in reducing 150,000 tons of CO2 emissions in 2010.
GPs Power Plant Performance Experts worked closely with KCP&L staff to identify
performance improvement opportunities and quantify efficiency gains using GPs
EtaPRO Performance and Condition Monitoring System software.
Hawthorn Generating Plant Manager
Darrel Hensley receives the GP Power
Performance Excellence award presented
by Joe Nasal, Sr. Vice President,
General Physics Corporation
www.etaproefficiency.com
e-mail: etapro@gpworldwide.com
800.803.6737 716.799.1080
2. Tower of power. From Oct. to Dec. 2010, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approved construction of nine solar energy projects on
federal lands. Among them was BrightSources 370-MW Ivanpah Solar
Power Tower (shown in this artists rendering). Courtesy: BrightSource
Solutions
Sustainable Design-Build
plant will use mirror fields to focus solar energy on a tower receiver
near the center of the array. Steam from boilers in the tower drives
a turbine, which generates electricity. The power will be bought
by NV Energy, which signed a 25-year power purchase agreement
with Solar Reserve subsidiary Tonopah Solar a year ago.
Crescent Dunes wasnt the largest or most unique project approved
by the Department of the Interior (DOI) last year. Others were:
www.powermag.com
3. Big fish in a small pond. The Lao Peoples Democratic Republic in December inaugurated a 1,070-MW hydropower project, the Nam
Theun 2 Power Station. About 90% of the power generated by the facility
will be exported to neighboring Thailand, giving the tiny landlocked nation
of Laos an annual US$80 million revenue stream over the next 25 years.
It will also supply electricity for 20% of Laos peak demand. This image
shows the view from the 39-meter-high, 436-meter-long concrete gravity
Nakai Dam in October 2010. Courtesy: Stanislas Fradelizi/NTPC
www.powermag.com
Clean on arrival.
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2011 ConocoPhillips Company. ConocoPhillips, Conoco, Phillips 66, 76, and their
respective logos, and Diamond Class are trademarks of ConocoPhillips Company in
the U.S.A. and other countries. T3-CPL-1428
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Readers Write
In the September and October 2010 issues, POWER Contributing Editor David
Daniels explored the causes and damage mechanisms of condenser tube leaks
(Taming Condenser Tube Leaks, Part
I and Part II). Dennis J. Schumerth,
Valtimets director of business development, took issue with several of Daniels
statements regarding the proper use of
titanium condenser tubes. We have given Schumerth the opportunity to express
his concerns and for Daniels to reply.
Schumerth: I believe the article
does not accurately represent the track
record of titanium condenser tube materials. Titanium has performed without one reported corrosion event in a
surface condenser application for over
40 years. In Part II, Daniels noted
that Series 300 stainless steel alloys,
such as 304 and 316L, are now fairly
common in new construction in both
freshwater and seawater applications.
Historically, neither of these alloys are
considered appropriate for seawater
applications.
Daniels: I stand corrected. I should
have said that stainless steel alloys are
common in freshwater condensers.
Schumerth: One paragraph in Part
II states that Titanium alloys, though
typically considered immune to corrosion from the cooling water side, have
failed due to impingement from saturated steam dump lines in the condenser.
Condenser tube failures can occur with
any tube material but have been particularly troubling with steam dump lines
in combined cycle (CCGT) plants. These
cyclic fatigue failures have been classically related to improper operation or
design of the plant digital control system, manufacturing deficiencies, or a
suspect condenser specification.
Daniels: The theme of both articles
was that, regardless of the condenser
metallurgy, the plant must remain vigilant and quickly identify and correct any
contamination from a condenser tube
leak before it damages the rest of the
steam cyclenot to recommend one
type of condenser tubing over another.
The intended message of this paragraph
was that, just because a plant has a ti-
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5. Remembering the first responders. Ukraines government recently announced plans to open the 19-mile exclusion
zone around Chernobylsite of the worst nuclear accident in historyto the public starting
in 2011, 25 years after the catastrophic event.
Plans call for guides to lead tourists around the
so-called zone of alienation. According to reports, though background radiation in the area
remains well above normal, flora and fauna
have returned to the area. This image shows
a monument built to remember the firefighters who were the first responders. Courtesy:
Ukraine Ministry of Emergency Situations
POWER Digest
contract is part of EDFs strategy to renovate its nuclear fleet and follows the
framework agreement signed by Alstom
with EDF in 2008 to renovate the generators in EDFs nuclear power plants.
Michael Blalock
20
NPSH
800
BEP
Head vs flow
100
90
80
750
70
700
60
650
50
600
40
Efficiency (%)
40
NPSH in feet
550
500
Horsepower
0
Shutoff
400
800
1,200
1,600
2,000
1,750
Gallons / min.
Flow at BEP
2,400
from gradual and detectable to sudden, difficult-to-detect-inadvance, and just plain catastrophic.
Running fewer pumps in parallel would result in each pump
operating closer to its best efficiency point (BEP). In contrast,
operating too many pumps often causes one or more to operate
in the prohibited low-flow range, especially if their respective
head-capacity (H-Q) curves (Figure 1) are not identical. Internal recirculation and progressive wear increase the difficulty
of successfully operating pumps in parallel. Mechanical parts
distress and seemingly small deviations from the least-risk geometry of best available designs now converge, and the BFW
pump will become involved in a string of seemingly random
failures. Impeller erosion and loss of internal clearances will
have occurred as well.
www.powermag.com
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Designing Large
Package Boilers
Five natural gasfired, shop-assembled
integrated boilers capable of generating 426,000 lb/h of saturated steam at
550 psig were recently commissioned in
Canada (Figure 4). These package boilers
were different from the typical D-type
boilers in two major respects. First, the
20
4. New packaged boiler design. Cleaver-Brooks has designed a high-efficiency, lowNOx elevated drum package boiler that generates 426,000 lb/h of steam at 550 psig and that
minimizes field erection time. Courtesy: Cleaver-Brooks Engineered Boiler Division
design used an elevated drum with external downcomers and risers, which helped
to increase the furnace and convection
bank dimensions while maintaining the
ability to ship the units. In addition, a
glycol-based closed-loop heat-recovery
system consisting of three finned tube
heat exchangers was incorporated to improve boiler efficiency by about 2.3% and
to increase the air temperature to the
forced draft fan in severe winter conditions, when 30F to 40F is likely to be
the ambient temperature.
The five package boilers, engineered by
Cleaver-Brooks Engineered Boiler Systems
(Nebraska Boiler and Natcom Burner divisions), are now in commercial operation
and have successfully met the contract performance guarantees in terms of emissions,
capacity, ramp rates, and efficiency.
Unique Boiler Design
Designing large package boilers rated at
over 400,000 lb/h steam production is
a challenge because of shipping limitations within the U.S. and Canada. Fielderected boilers, on the other hand, are
very expensive and take more time for
commissioning. Minimizing field assembly time is crucial to cutting costs and
shortening the construction schedule
on such large projects.
This project began with a customer requirement for a typical Nebraska D-Series
package boiler rated at 355,000 lb/h of
550 psig saturated steam, with 230F feedwww.powermag.com
Value
426,000
550
230
429
499
212
86
44
10
16
2,361
6,400
177,000
66,000
47,000
11,860
39,900
7,466
22,400
Scavenger (ft2)
30,000
VX-450 Series
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5. Tightly integrated. One unique design feature of this package boiler was the elevated
steam drum. The boiler shipping envelope is not constrained by the drum size, as headers are
used for the evaporator module. This figure illustrates the relationship between the external
drum, downcomer, and riser piping. Courtesy: Cleaver-Brooks Engineered Boiler Division
7. Increase boiler efficiency. A recirculating glycol system moves heat from the exhaust
gas to heat combustion air, which improves boiler efficiency. Courtesy: Cleaver-Brooks Engineered Boiler Division
Flue gas recirculation
To stack. Flue
gas temperature
maintained at 100C.
Air heater
#2
Air heater
#1
Natcom
burner
Scavenger
Glycol pump
Glycol flow through
air heater #1
managed to maintain
the air temperature at
fan inlet between 5C
and 40C
60% glycol water mixture
Ambient air
-40C to 27C
FD fan
Glycol flow
managed based on
boiler load
and lowers the heat flux to the steam/water mixture by about 12%.
In addition to reducing reradiation from
refractory to the flame base, and therefore
reducing NOx formation, other advantages
of completely water-cooled designs include these:
Boiler Division
Performance parameter
Steam flow (tons/h)
100%
load
120%
load
160
192
3,751
3,751
Feedwater in (C)
110
110
2.3
2.2
NOx (ppm)
46
43.8
10
11
21
22
66
82
103
108
The first finned tube air heater preheats cold ambient air entering the fan
and maintains it at a minimum temperature of about 50F after mixing with the
recirculated flue gas. The second air
heater, located after the fan, preheats
the mixture of flue gas recirculated for
NOx control and air from the fan. This
glycol bypass system maintains the
stack gas temperature at about 215F. If
the ambient air temperature is high, as
it is in summer, then either air heater
may be shut off and the glycol flow bypassed on the tube side of either air
heater, as very hot combustion air will
increase NOx production. The as-tested
performance of the plant is summarized
in Table 2.
The boiler exit gas temperature may
also be controlled to less than 215F at any
load by varying the glycol flow through the
scavenger exchanger and through each air
heater. The glycol flow was set to a nominal value of 70 ton/h at full load.
Contributed by M. Vasudevan (mvasu@
cleaverbrooks.com), vice president, operations, and V. Ganapathy (v_ganapathy@
yahoo.com) boiler consultant, CleaverBrooks Engineered Boiler Systems.
RECEIVING-PROCESSING-CONVEYING-STORAGE-DELIVERY
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www.powermag.com
23
ASSET MANAGEMENT
he event begins with a giant thermonuclear explosion on the sun. The fusion of hydrogen atoms swells up and
bursts open on the suns surface, spewing a
stew of radiation and gas particles trapped
in the solar wind. The continuous but variable flow of particles and magnetic fields
from the sun creates gusts that can quickly
reach Earth. Within hours, a space storm,
a coronal mass ejection (CME), accompanied by a beautiful aurora borealis or
northern lights display of shimmering
celestial curtains, bombards Earth with
geomagnetic disturbances.
The consequences are dramatic: disruptions to communications satellites, interference with global positioning systems (GPS)
and air traffic control, and, most telling, taking down the high-voltage electric transmission system over wide swaths of the planet,
blacking out more than 130 million people in
the U.S. alone. Secondary effects due to the
loss of the grid involve water system failures,
severe disruptions to natural gas pipelines,
24
Source: NASA
ASSET MANAGEMENT
1. Stormy weather coming. The cyclical nature of the number of sunspots is predictive
of the severity and number of expected solar stormsmore sunspots mean more solar storms
of increasing intensity. Data collected through November 2010 are shown, with predicted values
in red. According to the Solar Cycle 24 Prediction Panel, the minimum of the current 11-year
cycle occurred in December 2008. Source: NOAA
Smoothed monthly values
Monthly values
175
150
Sunspot number
125
100
75
50
25
0
00 01 02
03
04 05
06 07
08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Januarys
Biesecker noted an increase in sunspot activity in early 2008, which he described as like
the first robin of spring. In this case, its an
early omen of solar storms that will gradually
increase over the next few years.
The fear shared by scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) and NOAA is that our planet could
be entering a particularly vicious solar maximum. The sidebar describes the various satellites that are keeping an eye on the sun.
17 18 19
ASSET MANAGEMENT
SOHO
The oldest sun-gazing satellite, launched
in 1995, is SOHO, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. It was developed
jointly by the European Space Agency and
NASA and is flown by NASA out of the
Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland,
near Washington, D.C. This satellite moves
around the sun in a dance step with Earth
at the L1 Legrangian Point. According to
a NASA fact sheet, the combined gravity
of Earth and the sun keeps the satellite
locked in a direct line between the sun
and our planet, about 1.5 million kilometers (km) away, providing an uninterrupted view of the ultimate source of all
Earths energy (Figure 2).
SOHO tries to answer three fundamental
questions about the sun: What are the structure and dynamics of the suns interior? Why
is there a solar corona, or halo, and how is
it heated to temperatures of about 1 million
degrees C? Where does the solar wind come
from, and how does it accelerate?
ACE
STEREO
Launched in 2006, NASAs STEREO (Solar
Terrestrial Relations Observatory) provides
a three-dimensional look at solar phenomena. Two nearly identical observatoriesone
ahead of Earth in its orbit and the other trailing behindtrace the flow of energy and
matter from the sun to Earth. They reveal the
3-D structure of coronal mass ejections, the
violent eruptions of matter from the sun that
can disrupt satellites and power grids.
Johns Hopkins Universitys Applied Physics Laboratory outside Washington, D.C.,
built and operates STEREO. According to
a Johns Hopkins fact sheet, each of the
observatories is about the size of a large
wooden desk and has solar photovoltaic
power arrays about the length of a large
school bus (Figure 3). Data from the twin
observatories will allow scientists to track
the buildup and liftoff of magnetic energy
from the Sun and the trajectory of Earthbound coronal mass ejections in 3D, says
the Baltimore-based university.
NASA has an iPhone app, 3D Sun, that uses
STEREO data to allow users to rotate our home
star, zoom in on active regions, and monitor
solar activity. It is available from the Apple
app store or from http://3dsun.org.
AMPERE
Last August, the Johns Hopkins physics lab,
Boeing Co. and Iridium Communications
announced a new system that uses com-
www.powermag.com
27
ASSET MANAGEMENT
units that dont trip are susceptible to damage from turbine blade vibration.
There is now evidence that the 1989 storm
had impacts far beyond North America. A
June 2010 NERC study of power system risks
(www.nerc.com/files/HILF.pdf) noted, Large
geomagnetic storms can have a global reach
and produce impacts to other developed power
grids around the world. For example in England, the March 1989 storm is suspected to
have caused damage to two 400kV transformers. The operators of the power grid in England also understand that, since 1989, their
power grid has become significantly more
dependent on transmission system static var
and switched capacitance devices for system
voltage regulation, thus making their system
more vulnerable to future geomagnetic storms.
Even recent and much lower intensity storms,
such as those in late October 2003, provide
evidence of increasing vulnerability. A minor
2003 storm even reached the Southern Hemisphere, according to NERC, producing lower
intensity, but long duration GIC disturbances
in South Africa that caused permanent damages and loss of 15 EHV transformers in the
[South African] Eskom system.
Remarkably, the 1989 solar storm was not
particularly ferocious. As Luke Van der Zel
of the Electric Power Research Institute told
POWER, In historical context, 1989 was
minor. There is evidence that larger storms
have been seen. In 1859, the largest known
storm, called the Carrington Event, struck
Earth. A 2009 National Academy of Sciences workshop on space weather described
this 1859 storm as by several measures the
most severe space weather event on record.
It produced several days of spectacular auroral displays, even at unusually low latitudes,
and significantly disrupted telegraph services
around the world. It is named after the British astronomer Richard Carrington, who observed the intense white-light flare associated
with the subsequent geomagnetic storm.
More to the modern point, another gigantic
storm struck the planet in May 1921, causing
substantial destruction. Government experts
have defined the 1921 storm as a 1-in-100year event, which doesnt mean it cant happen more frequently than that but simply gives
an indication of its severity. In addition to the
1989 storm that took down Hydro-Qubec,
a minor solar storm in October-November
2003 took down the U.S. Federal Aviation
Administrations new GPS-based navigation
system for 30 hours and damaged electrical
systems from Scandinavia to South Africa.
Modern storms have caused and potentially can cause much more damage and
disruption than earlier events, because electrical and electronic infrastructures around
the world are more ubiquitous, complex, and
28
Globally Unprepared
Is the world ready for these sorts of events?
Specifically, is the U.S. electrical system, the
most highly developed in the world, equipped
to prevent or cope with a disastrous solar
storm? The question goes to both the engineering of the physical power system and the
intellectual and regulatory environment that
surrounds the physical system. The answer
is far from obvious. Although the threat of
geomagnetic storms is well understood in the
electric industry, and much effort is being devoted to understanding and preparing for this
troubling contingency, whether those efforts
will prove protective or able to address the
adverse consequences is unclear (Figure 5).
The Electric Power Research Institute
(EPRI) has been devoting considerable effort to studying geomagnetic storms since
the 1989 event. EPRI has produced voluminous work on the impacts of solar storms
on electric systems, working through its
SUNBURST project, which aims to monitor, study, and mitigate geomagnetically induced currents on the power grid. A late 2008
update on SUNBURST from EPRI warns,
With the solar cycle just passing the minimum and solar storm activity at a 50-year
record low, it is easy to temporarily forget
4. Electrical connection. According to NASA, Solar storms, which occur frequently, can
disrupt communication and navigational equipment, damage satellites, and even cause blackouts. In this artists view of a solar storm, the purple line indicates the bow shock, the outer
edge of the magnetosphere; the blue lines surrounding Earth represent its protective magnetosphere. The magnetic cloud of plasma can extend to 30 million miles wide by the time
it reaches Earth. The magnetic field orientation of the coronal mass ejection (CME) is a major
factor as to whether the Earth will suffer many consequences from any given CME. After a CME
blasts from the Sun towards Earth, a cloud of charged particles impacts our magnetosphere in 2
to 4 days. Thus, the Earth is electrically connected to the Sun, explains NASA. Source: NASA
www.powermag.com
ASSET MANAGEMENT
about solar storms and GICs. However, the
new cycle has started, and predictions indicate that the next solar peak could be 30-50%
higher than the peak of the last cycle.
Although EPRI can provide invaluable information, implementing the work of the industrys research arm is the responsibility of
individual utilities, and each storm event will
be different. That means, noted EPRIs Van
der Zel, that contingency planning is difficult,
requiring both individual utility effort and regional cooperation. Every storm is different
and difficult and complex to model, he said.
In addition, every utilitys generation and
transmission configuration is unique and each
transformer has its own overlay of risk.
Complicating the response picture, solar
storms, though potentially catastrophic, are not
very predictable, in either frequency or strength.
They represent what the industry has come to
call high-impact, low-frequency (HILF)
risks. Solar storms get grouped under this rubric with electromagnetic pulse events, which
might be caused by the detonation of atomic
bombs by an enemy hoping to take down the
high-voltage gridan added complexity for
utility response planning. Other HILF risks in
the utility planning process include the more
mundane, such as conventional weather effects, including tornadoes and hurricanes.
Ed Legge at the Edison Electric Institute,
which represents U.S. investor-owned electric
utilities, said, The whole idea is, how do you
build for something where you dont know
what the severity will be? How do you manage
the risk? Do electric customers need to start
paying extra? Legge added that utilities have
already spent large amounts on preparations
for HILF risks, but passing costs on to customers, either in advance, or after a catastrophe, will be difficult in a political environment
characterized by what he terms an anti-rateincrease fervor. Legge said, When it comes
down to it, it comes down to what state regulators are willing to do. They are the place where
we have to recover the costs.
The National Association of Regulatory
Utility Commissioners, the Washington lobbying group for state regulators, is well aware
of the issues presented by solar storms and
has been working with it members, NERC,
and other groups, such as the National Association of State Energy Offices, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS). But regulators
are caught in a priority trap, one that also ensnares utilities. More visible and immediate
issues, such as tree trimming and conventional
storm response, dominate the daily regulatory
agenda in the area of emergency response.
FERC, working with the DHS, would be
at the front line of a response to a major solar
storm. But the agency says it lacks authority
under the Federal Power Act to take decisive
action in response to a solar emergency in a
balkanized industry where the lines between
federal and state authority are vague and controversial. The DOE, which follows this issue
through its Office of Electricity Delivery and
Energy Reliability, can fund research and development (R&D) to prevent damage, but its
role is limited beyond that.
Congress has also gotten into the act, driven
both by FERCs professed need for more authority over state actions in an emergency and
concerns from the insurance industry. Last April,
5. Three views of space weather. NASA notes that there are three principal visual
elements of space weather. With the help of satellite imaging, we are able to see the surface
of the sun and CME events (left), the ultraviolet activity in Earths atmosphere (center), and,
under the right atmospheric conditions, aurora. Source: NASA
www.powermag.com
29
Plant Profile
Each unit consists of a single tandem-compound turbine generator and a single pulverized coal-fired once-through controlled
circulation supercritical boiler utilizing a
single reheat-regenerative cycle. The steam
30
www.powermag.com
1. Ramp rate limitations. Steam temperatures during dispatch at 5 MW/min are shown
(green arrow) prior to the installation of control modifications. While the north superheat temperature
was controlled close to the setpoint, the south superheat temperature frequently dipped to low values (green arrow). Load ramping (red arrow) caused large variations in waterwall outlet temperature
(orange arrow) that approached the high and low temperature alarm limits. The white vertical time line
indicates a south superheat temperature of 962F. Courtesy: GenOn Energy
or to the control and optimizer modifications of the ramp rate project. An operator
increased the ramp rate limiter from 3 to
5 MW/min. This trend presents the load,
waterwall trim controller measurement,
setpoint and output, firing master output
and feedwater demand, north and south
superheat temperature and setpoint, four
desuperheat spray valve demands, and the
spray differential pressure (dP) controller
demand.
Load ramping caused large variations in
waterwall outlet temperature that approached
the high and low temperature alarm limits.
4. Series PI algorithm with external feedback. The output of the standard PID
controller with external integral feedback is equal to the error between the setpoint and measurement, multiplied by the gain, summed to the integral feedback. Courtesy: GenOn Energy
Gain
Measurement
F(t)
Output
TE
TE
Error
Override
controller
Integral
feedback
Process
controller
K S d/dt
Integral
feedback
K S d/dt
Error x gain
Integral feedback
TE
TE
Override
controller
Error
Process
controller
Detector
Int setting
K S d/dt
K S d/dt
Integral feedback
Integral
feedback
H
Swtich
Boolean
Temp Hi
Switch
T
A
A
Track
setting
Process
setting
6. Improved ramp rate results. This snapshot shows the unit performance during
normal dispatch operation after completion of the ramp rate project control enhancements. The
configuration of flex tuning greatly reduced the amplitude and duration of the superheat steam
temperature dips (green arrow) by allowing quicker response of the firing trim when the override
condition is no longer required. Note how unit load (red arrow) responds quickly to a change in
the firing master (orange arrow). Courtesy: GenOn Energy
we make
bolting easy.
Sq
uirter
DTIs
Your job is
hard...
email: info@appliedbolting.com
www.powermag.com
35
1. Southern powerhouse. Excavation for the foundations of Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4 is
in progress. The two new units are the first to be constructed in the U.S. in decades. Courtesy:
Southern Company
www.powermag.com
www.powermag.com
Addressing Electromagnetic
Interference
Electromagnetic interference (EMI) did
not become an issue until after most existing nuclear power plants were constructed.
For Vogtle Units 3 and 4, the issue is being
addressed early in the design (see sidebar).
Southern Nuclear is working with EPRI
and other AP1000 utilities to provide practical solutions in this area.
Revision of EPRI Technical Report
TR-102323. One of the ways that Southern
Another way that Southern Nuclear is addressing EMI is through an AP1000 utility
engineering committee. This committee
has been working with the AP1000 vendor
to ensure that EMI standards and testing
processes are commonly applied throughout the project. Also, testing frequencies
have been increased from 1 gigahertz
(GHz) to 10 GHz.
In order to make the testing meaningful, increased attention is being given to
any anomalies that may occur within critical frequency bands. These critical frequency bands are areas where the U.S.
Federal Communications Commission has
allocated frequencies for common uses. If
anomalies do occur in these regions, then
they will be given priority over anomalies
that do not occur in these critical frequency bands. This ensures that attention is focused on the most important areas.
2010 with a few exceptions. The breakthrough occurred after the NRC understood the need for these exceptions. The
writing team had also considered using the
NEI 08-09 template that the NRC stated
was an option. The NRC staff also stated
that using the NEI 08-09 template would
probably result in delay of the COL. After weighing all of the options, the writing team believed that submitting RG 5.71
with exceptions was the only viable option.
At the time this article was written in December, review of the cyber security plan
for Units 3 and 4 was ongoing. Nevertheless, the writing team and the applicants
are optimistic that the NRC will approve
the plan.
The program phase is next. A cyber security team will have to be assembled and
procedures will need to be written that
define the cyber security program based
upon the cyber security plan. In addition,
the team will need to develop awareness
training for personnel in all involved organizations (Southern Nuclear and vendors).
Procurement, design, information technology, security, licensing, and construction
staffs will need to be told about the commitments made in the cyber security plan.
Southern Nuclear continues to pursue
teaming arrangements to support efficient
development of the cyber security program
for Vogtle Units 3 and 4. Teaming with
other AP1000 applicants when evaluating the critical systems and critical digital assets is an example of that teamwork.
Furthermore, we plan to work with our existing nuclear fleet to prevent duplication
of tasks. There is also a benefit in communicating with Southern Companys fossil
fuel cyber security staff to ensure that we
share our best practices. In the end, sharing and communicating with these other
organizations is beneficial for everyone
involved.
Looking Ahead
Several times a year, someone within the
industry will ask me, Do you think we will
really build any new nuclear power plants?
The answer is yes. People are genuinely
shocked when I tell them just how much
progress has been made in the past three
years. Even the amount of progress in I&C
design is amazing. Even though questions
and challenges remain to be resolved, the
challenges are not insurmountable. The
Vogtle units are becoming a reality. In the
end, the goal of safely licensing, constructing, and commissioning the first commercial nuclear power plant in decades in the
U.S. is very achievable.
This article is based on a paper presented by the author at the 15th Annual
POWID/EPRI Controls and Instrumentation Symposium.
W
vid at
w. e ch
ha o n th
ch ow e
.co a
m t
/K
11
00
ww
Yourformulaforwateranalysis.
known as data historians. This large quantity of data contains information about
process and equipment history that, when
extracted, can indicate trends that provide
insight into equipment condition. However, without data-mining tools, it is impractical to monitor this large amount of
data continuously. As a result, most utilities have used data historians mostly for
looking back at trends after a failure has
occurred, as part of a root-cause analysis.
New techniques in data mining, combined
with todays efficient computing capabilities,
have enabled continuous online monitoring of
plant process data. Advanced pattern recognition (APR) techniques recently have been
applied to tens of thousands of data points
that often reside in multiple data historians
across a fleet of power plants. This technique
allows a utility engineer or technician to
compare historical data with current data for
hundreds of systems and components across
multiple operating units, thereby identifying
anomalous trends.
Although plant process data can be
monitored efficiently today with APR
techniques, traditional condition indications from predictive maintenance and operator rounds, for example, remain key to
troubleshooting equipment problems. Unlike plant process data, however, this type
of information often is stored in standalone, non-networked databases and can
be accessed only by the technician(s) who
collected the information. Web-based enterprise asset management systems offer
an interface that can provide summaries
of predictive maintenance and operator
rounds results to staff across an entire
fleet of units. With this type of information, staff tasked with monitoring and
diagnosing plant equipment can make a
www.powermag.com
infer the presence of specific fault conditions by monitoring the fault effects in the
observable plant operating data. Using inference, the DA matches current plant information with a possible fault indication
that may lead to a known fault condition.
It is important to identify the unique fault
condition as soon as possible to enable
timely corrective action. Sometimes, the
observed data might not match a single
fault condition uniquely. In this situation,
the DA will identify and rank the most
likely fault conditions. In addition, the DA
will identify troubleshooting or corrective
action options to improve the diagnosis or
remedy the problem if that information is
available in a fault signature.
It is desirable that the DA provide broad
coverage for plant and enterprise assets. The
DA will operate with a user-specific or industry-wide fault signature knowledge base.
EPRIs DA software system will facilitate the conversion of observed plant data
to specific diagnoses, not just identified
anomalies. The companion database will
provide an extensible reasoning framework
that, over time, will be filled systematically with knowledge specific to fossil plant
systems, equipment, and components (all
referred to collectively as assets in this
article). The software and database will be
flexible enough to integrate and process
data from several sources, including:
2. Cyber sleuths. The Diagnostic Advisor and Asset Fault Signature Database might be implemented within the framework of an enhanced enterprise asset management system. These
tools will be used to diagnose and troubleshoot potential equipment failures. Courtesy: EPRI
Enhanced EAM tool
Risk-informed
maintenance tool
Subject matter
expert
OLM/FWM/TPM
analysis tools
Diagnostic Advisor
OLM/FWM/TPM
analysis tools
AFS Database
Plant staff
PM/FMEA
database
Design
Experience
Notes: AFS= asset fault signature, EAM = enterprise asset monitoring, FMEA = failure modes and effects analysis, FWM =
fleetwide monitoring, OLM = online monitoring, PM = preventive maintenance, TPM = thermal performance monitoring.
www.powermag.com
Observed signatures of actual asset problems (faults) contributed by users of fielded online monitoring (OLM) and fleetwide
monitoring (FWM) systems.
Simulated asset fault signatures (AFS)
from plant simulators and/or physicsbased models.
Asset fault-related health status information, such as operator rounds results, predictive maintenance data, and engineering
assessments.
Theoretical AFSs developed by subject
matter experts from FMEAs.
A Conceptual Example of
Signature Matching
Because diagnostic success depends heavily on the selection of the best stored signature, an important issue for the DAs
development will be the design of an effective fault feature-matching system.
Ineffective feature matching may lead a
query down a path of secondary symptoms
3. The match game. A simple illustration of signature matching is shown. For a new observed fault pattern, relevant signatures (those having at least one fault feature in common with
the observed fault pattern) are retrieved from the AFS Database using indexing to prune the
search space. Courtesy: EPRI
Request
Feature detection
Data
Fault signatures
Features
Fault-1
Fault-2
Fault-3
1.23
OK
OK
Low
OK
10.2
High
High
High
High
Open
Open
Open
Diagnostic
Advisor
Open
...
...
...
...
...
Low
Low
Low
Low
High
Diagnosis
42
www.powermag.com
TRADE.
MINING
Introducing the 2011 RANGER XP 800. The Hardest working Smoothest Riding utility vehicle on the job. The RANGER
XP 800 features optional electronic power steering, 4 wheel independent suspension and True All Wheel Drive, and it
can tow up to 2000 lbs of gear and carry 1000 lbs in the bed, all for half the price of a pickup.
UTILITY
CONSTRUCTION
OIL & GAS
UNIVERSITY
To learn more about the 2011 RANGER XP 800 or to see the full line of hardest working smoothest riding utility vehicles,
visit us online at www.PolarisNationalAccounts.com or call 1-866-778-3724.
*Vehicle shown with optional accessories. Vehicle options and accessories subject to applicable export laws. Warning: The Polaris RANGER is not intended for on-road use. Driver must be at least 16 years old with a valid drivers license to operate.
Passengers must be at least 12 years old and tall enough to grasp the hand holds and plant feet firmly on the floor. Drivers and passengers should always wear helmets, eye protection, protective clothing, and seat belts. Always use cab nets. Be particularly
careful on difficult terrain. Never drive on public roads or paved surfaces. Never engage in stunt driving, and avoid excessive speeds and sharp turns. Riding and alcohol/drugs dont mix. Check local laws before riding on trails. 2010 Polaris Industries Inc.
CIRCLE 18 ON READER SERVICE CARD
Perforated plate
Tempering air system
Expansion joint
TE
200
TE
300
TE
400
TE
500
TE
600
Flue gas
tempering air
Tempering air
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45
Three strategies for injecting tempering air are considered in this article. These
strategies differ in where they locate the
injection of tempering air. The injection
location will have a direct influence on the
process control design. For some strategies, the control system can be designed
with a single-control loop, whereas for
multipoint tempering air injection points
multiple control loop designs and their interference should be considered.
Inject at the Turbine Discharge. One
option is to inject tempering air at the discharge of the turbine (Figure 2). Because
tempering air is injected at one location,
upstream of the emission control catalysts,
the exhaust flue gas is cooled down and
both catalysts (oxidation and reduction)
are maintained at the same operating temperature. However, these catalysts have
been developed to control different pollutants and operate efficiently at different operating temperatures. By exposing
both catalysts to the same temperature, the
catalytic processes are not optimized. Ad-
TE
100
TE
200
TE
300
TE
400
TE
500
TE
600
Flue gas
Perforated
plate
Oxidation
catalyst
Reduction
catalyst
Tempering air
46
www.powermag.com
ditionally, the overall exhaust system pressure drop may increase when tempering air
is injected at the turbine discharge.
Inject Downstream of the Oxidation
Catalyst and Upstream of the Reduction Catalyst. In another approach, tem-
TE
200
TE
300
TE
400
TE
500
TE
600
Flue gas
Perforated
plate
Oxidation
catalyst
Reduction
catalyst
TE
20
Tempering air
A feedforward control system will adjust tempering airflow, and corrective action is taken before the output temperature
deviates from the setpoint. The required
amount of tempering air can also be determined from thermodynamic calculations,
taking into account exhaust gas operating
conditions and the ambient air temperature. In this control the amount of tempering air will be adjusted with any detected
load swings prior to observing any temperature change at the reduction catalyst.
Because some of the process disturbances
are not measured, and some may even be
unknown, the feedforward control is coupled with feedback control to compensate
for errors.
A feedback control system is the simplest system to control the tempering air
blower output. The average temperature of
the operating exhaust temperature, measured as shown in Figure 3, is fed to a
controller and compared with the setpoint.
The setpoint is typically about 850F. The
control system governs the amount of tem-
48
conduction across the thermowell, heat transfer from the thermowell to the sensor sheath,
and heat transfer to the sensor itself. If the
sensor is not fully inserted in the bottom of
the well, the heat transfer between the well
and the sensor will be significantly degraded.
1. Great expectations. This diagram shows the expected time response of desuperheater components. Courtesy: Southern Company Generation
Valve demand
Valve position
Thermowell temperature
Measured temperature
0.8
Response
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0.2
25
25
50
75
100
125
Time (seconds)
www.powermag.com
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
770
760
500
1,000
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
1,500
2,000
2,500
1,010
1,000
990
980
970
As a result of the slow time response observed on the desuperheater outlet thermocouple (TC), plant staff began checking
the installation in an attempt to identify
the cause. Several problems were found,
including these:
The TC spring-loading mechanism appeared to be insufficient, which may have
allowed the TC tip to not be in direct contact with the bottom of the thermowell.
The inside diameter of the thermowell
was 0.5 inch and the outside diameter
of the TC was 0.25 inch, so there was a
considerable air gap around the outside
of the TC.
The TC was ungrounded, meaning that the
TC junction was not directly touching the
tip of the TC sheath. The thermal insulation within the sheath slows down the response of the TC.
The thermowell design was very heavy
duty and featured a straight shank rather than a tapered shank. The wall thickness of the straight shank was 0.437
inch throughout its length. The thickness of the bottom of the thermowell
was not known but was thought to be
approximately the same as the wall
thickness.
The TC tip design itself seemed to be not
very conducive to quick response time,
and the condition of the lead wire insulation inside the sheath was questionable
and had some indications of electrical
shorts between leads in the sheath.
2,500
780
750
2. Disturbing results. Spray valve open-loop step response test results are shown. The
desuperheater outlet temperature response time was approximately 90 to 100 seconds, which
was considerably slower than the expected response time of 30 seconds. This discrepancy
between the expected and actual response time initiated an investigation into the cause. Courtesy: Southern Company Generation
65
60
55
50
45
40
Time (seconds)
www.powermag.com
49
3. Irreconcilable differences. Common historical practice is for the thermocouple diameter to match the thermowell bore diameter. The impact on the response time of a thermocouple sheath/thermowell bore diameter mismatch is shown in this chart. Courtesy: Southern
Company Generation
3/8-inch diameter thermocouple (proper fit)
1,010
1,009
1,008
Temperature (F)
1,007
1,006
1,005
1,004
1,003
1,002
1,001
1,000
20
40
60
80
100
Time (seconds)
120
140
160
180
4. Just the right amount of exposure. The impact on response time of different thermowell designs using properly fitted exposed-tip thermocouples is shown. Courtesy: Southern
Company Generation
Wika thermowell
Bailey thermowell
1,010
1,009
1,008
Temperature (F)
1,007
1,006
As might be expected, if the TC is not seated properly, the response time will increase
substantially. Analysis showed the time
constant increasing by an order of magnitude (~30 seconds to ~300 seconds).
1,005
1,004
1,003
1,002
1,001
1,000
50
20
40
60
80
100
Time (seconds)
120
140
160
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180
L I Q U I D
L E V E L
M E A S U R E M E N T
Chemical Processing
AURORA
Float-based level
indicator with a
redundant Guided
Wave Radar
transmitter
ATLAS
Float-based
Magnetic Level
Indicator
(MLI)
JUPITER
Float-based
Magnetostrictive
level transmitter
shown mounted
to an Atlas MLI
5. On the fast track. The comparison of control performance with fast and slow inner loop
temperature measurement is shown. Courtesy: Southern Company Generation
Fast thermocouple
Slow thermocouple
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
Time (seconds)
52
www.powermag.com
B I G G ES T
GENERATING COMPANIES
ORGANIZED BY:
Reservoir
Sensing leg
dPT
Hs
Hw
Water at drum
saturation
pressure but
at a cooler
temperature
(Wwo)
dPT
pensator mechanism for pressure compensation. Yarway Corp. used a bourdon tube in its
pointer gauges to perform the same function.
To address issues with changing ambient
temperatures, manufacturers developed enhanced versions of the reference leg reservoir. These enhanced reservoirs were known
as temperature-compensated reference columns, temperature-equalizing columns, or
temperature-compensated constant head
chambers. Other manufacturers may have
had other names for these devices, but for the
purpose of this article they will be referred to
as temperature-equalizing columns.
insulate the lines connecting the temperatureequalizing column to the drum. However,
if they were to do a really good job of insulating the column itself, the steam would
probably never condense to form the desired
reference leg, or the height of the reference
leg would be constantly changing with pressure and would become unpredictable. Each
manufacturer of these columns had its own
specific requirements for column insulation.
Because the temperature-equalizing column is somewhat cooler than the drum, the
Reference leg
Wet steam
Steam
Temperature-equalizing column
Water
Balancing water
Sensing leg
Reference leg
dPT
56
www.powermag.com
this reference leg temperature is, and that assumption must be made based on the design
of the temperature-equalizing column.
U
N I T E D STATES
STATES
UNITED
CCANADA
ANADA
SSWEDEN
WEDEN
Silos
Wood Hogs
Disc Screens
Open Storage
Closed Storage
Truck Dumpers
Chain Conveyors
Bucket Elevators
Screw Conveyors
Screw Reclaimers
Pneumatic Conveying
CANADA: Vancouver, BC
Jeffrey Rader Canada
Unit 2, 62 Fawcett Road
Coquitlam, BC V3K 6V5 Canada
Phone: 604.299.0241
Fax: 604.299.1491
SWEDEN: Stockholm
Jeffrey Rader AB
Domnarvsgatan 11, 163 53 SPNGA
Stockholm, Sweden
Phone: +46 8 56 47 57 47
Fax: +46 8 56 47 57 48
57
PLANT DESIGN
58
www.powermag.com
PLANT DESIGN
ducted at several pulverized coal (PC)
and cyclone plants. The program tested
biomass cofiring with heat input rates up
to 10%. The amount of biomass that was
cofired varied with the method of biomass
feeding; it was either blended directly using the coal reclaim system or separately
injected directly into the furnace.
Normally, adding biomass to the fuel
matrix decreases boiler efficiency. This
decrease in efficiency is a function of the
biomass characteristics and unit design
parameters. The dominant reasons for this
decrease are the fuels higher moisture
content and the hydrogen/carbon atomic
ratios in biomass, as compared with those
of coal. The latent heat of vaporization
for moisture, and the pyrolysis of oxygen and hydrogen components of biomass
into moisture, have been shown to reduce
boiler efficiency by 2% at the 20% cofiring
level on a mass basis.
Air emissions are also affected by cofiring biomass. Biomass cofiring typically
reduces SOx and NOx emissions due to the
biomass fuels lower nitrogen and sulfur
content when compared with coal. The
lower ash content in biomass can reduce
particulate emissions, but the resistivity of
biomass fly ash may be a factor in plants
using an electrostatic precipitator.
With cofiring, the risks of adding biomass to a generation fleet are reduced in
comparison with other technologies. When
cofiring biomass, the availability of bio-
2. Biomass, Italian style. ENELs Sulcis Plant in Portoscuso, Sardinia, Italy was retrofitted
with a circulating fluidized bed boiler and a biomass-handling system. (Units 1 and 2 have been
removed.) A completely separate wood chiphandling system supplies up to 15% of the fuel
input by heating value. Courtesy: Energy Associates
www.powermag.com
PLANT DESIGN
Construction of the Virginia City Hybrid
Energy Center began on June 30, 2008.
The plant is projected to begin commercial
operation in summer 2012 (Figure 3).
3. Dominion does biomass. This is an artists rendering of the Virginia City Hybrid Energy
Center, which will use four identical boiler feed systems that will supply wood chips and forest residuals to two circulating fluidized bed boilers. Biomass will account for about 20% of the fuel input to the 558-MW net power plant when it is completed in summer 2012. Courtesy: Dominion
4. Work in progress. Public Service of New Hampshire retrofitted Unit 5 at its Schiller Station with a CFB burning 100% wood or 100% coal. This photo shows the boiler island during erection of the fluidized-bed combustor, before the building shell was completed. Courtesy: PSNH
www.powermag.com
PLANT DESIGN
is an inappropriate size for a stoker boiler.
Particle size, the percentage of volatiles,
total ash and moisture content, ash constituents, and heating value are all key parameters considered by the boiler engineer.
CFB boilers are different than other
combustion technologies. The CFB boiler
has relatively low combustion temperatures, has long combustion residence time,
and the injection of limestone into the furnace allows the CFB boiler to use a wide
range of fuels while controlling emissions
using standard technologies.
In a CFB boiler, fuel is generally combusted in a bed of material (typically sand)
that is expanded at a pressure/velocity that
is above the particles saltation velocity,
but below the particles transport velocity, to sustain fuel particles in the fluidized
state. This enhanced turbulence allows
a longer residence time to fully combust
the fuel. The mass, volume, and shape of
particles are important to the efficiency of
this process.
The fuel feed to a CFB boiler will encompass a range of particle sizes, from sand-sized
grains to small lumps. For any given fluidizing velocity, smaller particles will transport
much easier than larger particles, but they
will also fully combust more quickly. CFB
boilers use cyclones to separate the smallest
(fly ash) particles from larger particles that
may be only partially combusted. Larger
particles are discharged to the bottom of the
cyclones sealpot/loop seal and are reintroduced/recycled to the combustion bed. The
5. Sizing wood fuel. A CFB boiler requires properly sized fuel to operate efficiently. Few
industry specifications for wood fuel exist; Austrias NORM M 7133 provides acceptable sizing
for chipped wood used for boiler fuel. In this standard, acceptable particle sizes/quantities are
those between the orange and red lines. The curve can be read that no more than 4% of the fuel
supplied can be less than 1 mm. At 80%, the size distribution should have 80% of the particles between 5 mm and 63 mm; 95% of the particles should be no less than 100 mm. The cross-section
maximum is 10 square centimeters, and maximum length is 250 mm. Source: NORM M 7133
Size range
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
10
100
Size (mm)
www.powermag.com
1,000
PLANT DESIGN
Conversely, dry biomass can be stored
for long periods. Dry biomass has too little
moisture to support biological activity and,
without biological heating or another ignition
source, it is relatively stable.
Energy Density. For biomass products
such as wood chips, one of the limitations to
consider is its relatively low volumetric heating value or energy density. This is a property
that is not normally of concern for other solid
fuels. The lower mass heating value and low
bulk density (kg/m3) combine to significantly
reduce its volumetric heating value. As a result, many more railcars, much larger stockpiles, and wider belt conveyors are necessary
to deliver and store the energy equivalent of
other solid fuels.
Plants firing wood chips, for example, require
six times the volume of bituminous coal on a kJ/
m3 basis. The increased storage, processing, and
handling system space required can become significant for large biomass-fired plants.
Fuel Blending as a Mitigation Strategy. Cofiring biomass, coal, and possibly
the design of any solid fuelhandling systems, but they are a particular concern for all
biomass project stakeholders.
Wood chips, chopped straw, and other agricultural products have poor flow characteristics.
During storage in stockpiles and bins, biomass
will compress in volume, and particles can become entwined, matted, and gain strength as a
mass, rather than behaving as unique individual
particles. Instead of having a sloping angle of
repose, the sides of a reclaim stockpile can be
vertical, which helps to address this problem.
Better yet, biomass storage bins are often designed with negative wall angles; that is, the
bins have walls that diverge: The bins are wider
at the bottom than they are at the top, which is
very different from the hoppers typically used
for storing coal or other solid bulk products.
Chute angles and the choice of liner materials
should be determined based on the biomasss
poor flow properties.
62
As noted above, due to availability, economic, combustion, and other reasons, different biomass products are often purchased
and blended. The blended product can have
much poorer flow properties than if any single product were used alone. The meshing of
different particle sizes/shapes and the compressibility of the blend has a lot to do with
this physical attribute.
Pretreating Biomass
For the most part, large biomass power plants
cannot depend on a local industry to supply
fuel, just as most coal-fired power plants
cannot depend upon an adjacent mine. One
reason for the distance from a fuel source is
that siting generation facilities near power
consumption centers is usually a key consideration. When biomass must be shipped
long distances, pretreatment offers several
advantages.
The down side of pretreatment options
described below is that pretreatment increases fuel cost. For a small plant with a local
source of biomass and unique conditions,
there are good reasons to avoid pretreatment.
But for larger plants that depend upon large,
distant, multiple fuel sources, the savings in
transportation, handling, and operation can
easily offset fuel preparation costs.
A biomass pretreatment industry is developing to address some of the following issues:
To help the wide variety of biomass products better match up with the narrow fuel
specifications for most boilers.
To lower the relatively high costs of transportation, handling, and storage.
To reduce plant investment, maintenance,
and labor costs by using a homogenous,
consistent fuel for combustion.
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ACHINES,
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w w w. a rc m a c h i n e s. co m
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The UDI Whos Who at Electric Power Plants Directory is the denitive reference for the
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Nearly 8,500 plant management and support contact names, titles,
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63
PLANT DESIGN
configuration. Covered storage for pellet stockpiles is needed at large biomass
power plants and is one of the primary
factors that increases the plants biomass
fuelhandling system cost.
Torrefaction. Another form of biomass
is briquettes. Biomass briquettes are larger
than pellets, typically 30 to 100 mm in
diameter, and can be a composite product
formed from a blend of biomass and coal.
To form briquettes, a process of torrefaction is used. Torrefaction is a thermochemical process that alters the properties of
biomass, improving its physical properties
for handling and utilization. Torrefaction
heats biomass to between 200C and 300C,
typically for an hour, in a reducing environment. Volatiles are consumed, and the
biomass is converted to a char product with
increased energy density and improved
grindability, uniformity, and durability.
The torrefaction process minimizes
some of the quality control issues that
might otherwise be encountered because:
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ADVERTISERS INDEX
Enter reader service numbers on the FREE Product Information Source card in this issue.
Reader
Service
Number
Page
Page
Apollo Valves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 . . . . . . . . . 23
Reader
Service
Number
Magentrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 . . . . . . . . . 11
www.apollovalves.com
www.magnetrol.com
Applied Bolting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 . . . . . . . . . 16
Orion Instruments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 . . . . . . . . . 14
www.orioninstruments.com
www.appliedbolting.com
Paharpur. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 . . . . . . . . . 10
ARC Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 . . . . . . . . . 24
www.paharpur.com
www.arcmachines.com
Petro-Valve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . 6
AREVA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 . . . . . . . . . 19
www.petrovalve.com
www.areva.com/fieldreports
www.PolarisNationalAccounts.com
www.babcock.com
ProEnergy Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 . . . . . . . . . . 8
BRUKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 . . . . . . . . . 13
www.proenergyservices.com/history
www.bruks.com
Rentech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 2 . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chesapeake Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . 3
www.rentechboilers.com
www.chk.com/cemi
Siemens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . 2
ClearSpan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . 5
www.siemens.com/energy/controls
www.ClearSpan.com
Swagelok. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 . . . . . . . . . 15
ConocoPhillips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 . . . . . . . . . . 7
www.swagelok.com/quality
www.conocophillipslubricants.com/PowerMag
Vertex Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 . . . . . . . . . 12
General Physics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . 4
www.VX450.com
www.etaproefficiency.com
HACH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 . . . . . . . . . 17
www.hach.com/K1100
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
IFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 . . . . . . . . . . 9
www.ifsworld.com
Jeffrey Rader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 . . . . . . . . . 20
www.jeffreyrader.com/pow
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COMMENTARY
Pre-Combustion Technologies:
A Key Environmental
Compliance Tool
By Jason Hayes
rizona Public Services (APS) plan to close three older
coal-fueled units at the Four Corners Power Plant in New
Mexico and buy out Southern California Edisons 48% share
of the two remaining units is a creative means of surviving the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) committed action
against coal-fueled generation.
characteristics. The environmental benefits of these technologies can be further enhanced if other combustion technologies
(oxy-coal combustion) or post-combustion technologies (fabric
filters, electrostatic precipitation, and scrubbers) are also used.
Depending on the specific technology employed and the feed
coal being used, the energy content of lower rank feedstock
coals can be increased from 30% to 200%. Higher energy content
equates to more efficient combustion, and studies conducted by
the Electric Power Research Institute and the Coal Utilization Research Council indicate that for each 1% increase in combustion
efficiency there is a 2.5% reduction in CO2 emissions from power
plants. At the same time, emissions of mercury can be reduced
from 15% to 90%, NOx can be reduced from 10% to 50%, and SO2
can be reduced 10% to 80%.
Direct emissions reductions are not the only benefits associated with using pre-combustion technologies. They can also aid
in fuel sourcing decisions as increasing international demand
tightens some coal markets. They can enhance transportation
efficiencies, because reduced moisture content can equate to
a 30% decrease in load volumes and associated transportation
costs. Pre-combustion technologies also can be applied universally for proposed new coal generation and in the existing fleet
without additional capital expenditures.
Utilities can rely on pre-combustion technologies to provide a
single, consistent fuel resource that has reduced risk of spontaneous combustion, reduced mill demands, and improved combustion characteristics. Those features lead to reduced outages from
slagging, reduced need for sootblowing, and reduced unburned
carbon loss.
New offerings from Coal 2.0 Alliance members will also aid in
meeting state renewable portfolio standards and provide the positive aspects of biomass co-firing, including reduced greenhouse
gas emissions. Engineered fuels now offer coal and biomass briquettes/pellets and coal look alike products that improve the
energy density and reduce the grindability and handling challenges typically associated with biomass.
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Hitachi Power Systems America, Ltd. 645 Martinsville Road Basking Ridge, NJ 07920 Tel: 908.605.2800
www.hitachipowersystems.us
power.info@hal.hitachi.com