Energy-Tech Magazine

The May issue of Energy-Tech featured an article on microgrid planning and technology. Want to learn more? Check out this TEDx talk in Black Rock City. Everyone’s in beach wear and the stage is a little wild, but the presentation is still interesting. ...

In the second of the original Star Wars films, “The Empire Strikes Back”, at one point Yoda says, “Always in motion is the future.” Such is the case of the power industry on many different fronts.

One of these involves ...

In the fall of 2012, Alstom’s Turbine and Generator Services and APCom divisions successfully provided a broad, and somewhat unique, variety of field services to PPL Generation’s Brunner Island Unit 1. As a construction management company, ...

In 2011, SCE&G personnel had the unique opportunity and challenge to utilize core processes and expertise in meeting BSC’s business need to build a large solar generator on the rooftop of a new Dreamliner aircraft final assembly building ...

Laser system with Continuous Sweep allows turbine coupling checks with two measurements to be completed in as little as 6 minutes instead of 6 hours. The time savings can be further increased by using multiple laser systems for each coupling and having ...

The availability of fresh water for power plant makeup and cooling continues to decline. In addition, environmental regulators are placing tighter limitations on the methods by which water is obtained and discharged for and from industrial processes. ...

I recently attended the annual Cooling Technology Institute (CTI) winter meeting. This latest gathering of world-class cooling system experts again offered up-to-date information on cooling tower issues, particularly with regard to design, operation ...

Spring is right around the corner – do you know what you’re doing this summer? As you make vacation reservations, plan home improvement projects and think about a couple long-weekend trips, don’t forget to register for the 2013 ASME ...

Introduction
Fluidized bed combustion for biomass
When generating steam with bio-power applications, such as boilers combusting biomass, the quality of the fuel may become a challenge. Biomass fuel tends to be non-homogenous ...

In this day and age, power plants often face many challenges, including the age and degradation of their equipment. Generators might be condemned due to operating events that lead to major damage.  When this happens, options and answers can be ...

In today’s utility business environment, utility planners, operators and chemists face special challenges in providing equipment protection during plant layups.

In many plants, equipment is aging and more vulnerable to damage. An increasing ...

The power generation industry has numerous changes to face in the coming years, and Steven Remillard wants to help industry professionals prepare.

As vice president for Competitive Power Ventures, Remillard will be sharing his ideas about ...

Deterioration of components and structures at power generating facilities has caused unscheduled plant outages, personnel safety concerns and significant impact on operating budgets. However, a new technology is available that can increase the usable ...

The power generation industry continues to work to prepare and adapt to changes in energy needs and environmental concerns, and Steven Remillard has ideas that can help industry professionals prepare.

Remillard will be sharing his ideas during ...

In the April 2012 issue of Energy-Tech magazine, we wrote about the importance of developing a long-term life-cycle management program for your Feedwater Heaters (FWH). That article stressed that the utility must be committed to periodic condition ...

As a maintenance or engineering manager, you’re constantly planning outages and routine maintenance, and more than likely ordering similar parts each time. That being said, it might be in the best interest of your budget and schedule to undergo ...

Don't miss Energy-Tech magazine's upcoming free webinar - Important Concepts of Steam Generator Chemistry Control - Feb. 28 at 1 p.m. CST.

Energy-Tech contributor Brad Buecker will discuss issues regarding steam generation chemistry and corrosion ...

All turbo machinery is subject to degradation that, with 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 ...

The RR (Retrofit and Rebuild) reality of the power industry can be as frustrating as it can be rewarding. Without proper preparation and experienced personnel, it will be more frustrating. For all the outages on a power plant unit, more than 2/3 of ...

In the late 1960s, I was studying mechanical engineering at the Lawrence Institute of Technology in Southfield, Mich., and had to take some basic courses in electrical engineering – I disliked every moment. Occasionally I was told I needed to ...

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Non-destructive testing is an effective way to determine the lifespan of your condenser and heat exchanger tubes. The results are analyzed and discontinuities or anomalies can be categorized and reported by defect type and depth. This provides management ...

Introduction
Control and governor valves operate under severe service conditions. Exposure to high temperatures, erosion, water induction and low- and high-cycle fatigue can significantly reduce valve life. Valve seat and/or ...

The Ginna Nuclear Power Plant began commercial operation in 1970. Two power uprates have been completed during the 40+ years of operation, and the original main generator continues to provide highly reliable operation with no significant changes to ...

Power plant owners have been monitoring the performance of power plant processes, equipment and instrumentation for several years. In recent years, however, they have been increasingly confronted with several challenges in maximizing the value of ...

The stator cooling water system is one of the most critical systems in a modern power plant. A number of challenges, however, confront the reliable operation and maintenance of these systems.
Copper corrosion products can plug the hollow strands ...

A steam surface condenser directly impacts the capacity, availability, reliability and performance of a power plant. The condenser is called upon to perform reliably under some very demanding conditions. Besides maintaining the correct vacuum ...

Power generation companies have to seek more superior and sophisticated technologies to facilitate gaining an edge on competitors due to continually rising demands by environmental and governmental authorities and consumers. One of the most cost-effective ...

The ASME 2013 Power Conference is accepting abstract submissions until Dec. 15. Take this opportunity to engage in the latest operating, maintenance and equipment issues with power generation experts. Learn about cutting-edge technology to improve ...

Find solutions that will turn into results for your power generation facility during this two-day conference, Oct. 15-16, in Wheeling, Ill. For more information, click here.

Intense competition, consolidation of power plant ownership and fleets, doing more with less – these are all factors that have created a need to manage and maximize the value of power generating assets. Using real-time process data for each ...

The movement for energy independence, coupled with aggressive renewable energy goals and government investment incentives, has led the power industry to develop efficient and reliable sources of renewable power. Development of Solar Power Tower (SPT) ...

Unexpected outages of combined-cycle plants can result in high costs for repair and replacement, reduce plant availability and cause a loss in net revenue. Although plants might be able to estimate cash flow requirements for scheduled maintenance ...

Belleville Nuclear Plant is a PWR operated by Électricité de France (EDF). Since beginning commercial operation in 1989, it has been rated at a nominal capacity of 1,300 MW. The turbine unit consists of one high pressure (HP) and three ...

Westar Energy is the largest electric utility in Kansas, with 19 energy centers providing 7,100 MW of generating capacity to serve more than 689,000 customers. The firm employs about 2,400 people and operates approximately 35,000 miles of transmission ...

Bearing topics and lubricant application topics overlap in process pumps. The main issue is that not all pumps are designed and sold with provisions ensuring that lubricant is consistently reaching the bearings.¹ Many pumps will benefit ...

Oxy-fuel combustion, the burning of a fuel in the presence of oxygen instead of air, has been used previously and shows promise for becoming a successful post-combustion CO₂ capture technique. It is currently being considered by the U.S. ...

Results of a two-year field demonstration, sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute, indicate that magnetostrictive sensors might provide a possible alternative to linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs) for monitoring turbine ...

According to a report from the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), carbon dioxide emissions from power plants rose 5.56 percent in 2010 compared to the prior year, the biggest annual increase since the Environmental Protection Agency began tracking ...

Some problems are inherent in the design, and these fall squarely on the shoulders of the manufacturer.

As a rule of thumb, a problem that becomes evident during the first 12 months of operation will be covered under the manufacturer’s ...

Compressors, either dynamic or positive displacement, can experience a variety of problems, but there are relatively few diagnostic tools to identify them.

Except in cases where vibration is the issue, a thermodynamic analysis of a compressor ...

In a perfect world, fuel is plentiful, costs are predictable and boiler systems run smoothly. The real world, however, paints a very different picture, and much of the time fuel is the culprit. For non-utility sized projects (under 10 MWe or steam/heat-only ...

This paper introduces the concepts of reliability engineering applied in the power industry, with a special focus on recording and treatment of event data from the field operated plants. It initiates with Section II that gives details of the data ...

A 2011 survey by Black & Veatch identified command and control of the world’s water supply as the top environmental concern. This water sourcing concern also was expressed recently by the NETL (National Energy Technical Lab) during the 2011 ...

Two key initiatives are being used to optimize the performance of coal-fired power plants – performance management using performance data, and environmental management using technological innovations.

Consistent with historical trends, ...

1 Introduction
The methanol economy has been advocated since the 1990s. Methanol has been suggested as a potential replacement for fossil fuels in energy storage, as fuel and as raw material for synthetic hydrocarbons and their ...

Direct Electric Heat Exchangers, aka circulation heaters, are used in a variety of applications. They are used to heat gases like nitrogen, hydrogen and hydrocarbons, as well as liquids such as water, oils, acids, solutions and other fluids.

DEHE’s ...

In the April 2011 issue of Energy-Tech Magazine, we wrote about the importance of conducting Quality Assurance (QA) checks when replacing a feedwater heater. Assuming a properly specified and conservative design for the full range of load imposition, ...

The steel alloy known as Grade 91 has achieved broad acceptance within the modern power industry for use in fabricating a variety of critical pressure part components, including tubing, piping and headers. As with all of the creep strength-enhanced ...

Gas blows have been used in the power industry to clean fuel gas lines during the plant commissioning process, but this practice is being seriously evaluated and reconsidered by regulatory agencies and public safety organizations due to fire and explosion ...