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October 2012 • Vol. 156 • No.

10

Vol. 156 • No. 10 • October 2012

Top Plants:
Six Innovative
Coal-Fired Plants

JEA’s Northside Kicks Ash


Tackling New Effluent Rules
Gas Prices, Regs Batter Coal
China’s Power Business
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Established 1882 • Vol. 156 • No. 10 October 2012
Available as an iPad app

On the cover
Dominion Virginia Power’s $1.8 billion Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center entered com-
mercial service on July 10, 2012. The 585-MW plant burns coal and regionally available
waste coal, supplemented by 10% to 20% biomass. Full story below. Courtesy: The Shaw
Group Inc.

COVER STORY: COAL-FIRED TOP PLANTS


32 C.P. Crane Generating Station, Middle River, Maryland
When operators of this 400-MW plant converted to burning 100% low-sulfur Powder
River Basin coal to meet state regulations, they knew it wouldn’t be fully successful
unless they also converted the plant’s operating culture.

34 Merrimack Station’s Clean Air Project, Bow, New Hampshire


By implementing a Clean Air Project to meet state regulations (and future federal
ones), this 440-MW plant became one of the cleanest coal plants in the country. It
may also provide a model for future wastewater treatment systems. 46
38 Northside Generating Station, Jacksonville, Florida
This circulating fluidized bed boiler plant is an award-winner for a series of modifica-
tions made over nearly a decade to resolve operating challenges created by a design
problem. Its operating stats now place it in the top tier of U.S. fossil plants.

42 Tanjung Jati B Electric Generating Station’s Expansion Project, Central


Java Province, Republic of Indonesia
A multinational project team built this 1,300-MW generator of power and economic
growth and equipped it with some of the first examples of modernized air quality
control technology on a major Asian power plant.

46 Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center, Virginia City, Virginia


Waste not. By using a fuel-flexible circulating fluidized boiler, this new plant is help-
ing Dominion meet its commitment to the state renewable portfolio standard while
including regionally sourced coal waste in its fuel mix. It also recycles plant waste-
water and waste heat.

48 Yeongheung Power Station Unit 3, Yeongheung Island, South Korea


A number of site-specific circumstances required careful design modifications and
advanced monitoring and controls for this new supercritical unit near Seoul at a site
that could eventually host 12 coal-fired plants. 52
SPECIAL REPORTS
COAL COMBUSTION Connect with POWER
52 Reducing Ash Agglomeration in JEA’s CFB Boilers If you like POWER magazine, follow us
Save millions! Seriously. This case study—a must-read for anyone with a circulating
fluidized bed boiler—examines how a Florida utility beat back ash agglomeration online (POWERmagazine) for timely industry
once and for all to make low combustion efficiency and high forced outage rates just news and comments.
a bad memory.
Become our fan on Facebook
THE FUTURE OF COAL
58 Are Economics Trumping Regulation? Follow us on Twitter
Though power generators love to complain about regulations, one force is proving
more powerful than regulations: economics. Another surprise: The estimated costs
of regulatory compliance are coming down. Join the LinkedIn POWER
magazine Group

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October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 1
FEATURES
POWER IN CHINA
64 China’s Power Generators Face Many Business Barriers
In this POWER exclusive, faculty from North China Electric Power University provide
a first-hand assessment of the market barriers and economic challenges faced by
China’s power sector.

MERCURY CONTROL
67 EMO Technology Promises Improved Mercury Removal
Shaw says field trials of its new EMO technology suggest it can enable fossil-fueled
plants to meet the latest mercury emissions standards without adding or modifying
pollution control systems.
64
WATER & POWER
71 Evaluating Technologies to Address Proposed Effluent Guidelines
Research and development at the Electric Power Research Institute is identifying the
pros and cons of methods for addressing future plant wastewater treatment needs.

COAL ASH MANAGEMENT


75 EPA Stalls on Coal Combustion Residuals
The Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule-making process was prompted by
the massive 2008 coal ash spill in Tennessee. Here’s how the final rules (if they’re ever
released) will likely affect generators and the use of coal combustion residuals.

DEPARTMENTS
SPEAKING OF POWER
6 Hollow Victory
GLOBAL MONITOR
75 8
8
Germany’s Reliance on Coal Grows
Powering Curiosity on Mars—And Beyond
10 THE BIG PICTURE: Regulation Road
12 South Korea Connects Two New Reactors to the Grid
14 Plant Vogtle Moves Forward, as Do Costs and Schedules
14 Microbial Fuel Cells Promise Power from Sludge
15 POWER Digest
FOCUS ON O&M
20 Fly Ash Erosion Control and Prevention
22 Maintaining Grid Reliability with a High Renewables Portfolio
26 Predictive Maintenance That Works
LEGAL & REGULATORY
30 New Approaches to Project Mitigation
By Rick Glick, partner, Davis Wright Tremaine

81 NEW PRODUCTS
COMMENTARY
88 Veterans and Utilities: A Valuable Partnership
12 By Susan Story, president and CEO of Southern Company Services and chair of
the Center for Energy Workforce Development

2 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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POWER October 2012
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CIRCLE 3 ON READER SERVICE CARD


SPEAKING OF POWER

Hollow Victory
ato Institute senior fellows Jerry of an inflated number of coal plant clo- Limits for New Power Plants Cut 123 Bil-

C Taylor and Peter Van Doren in an


Aug. 31 Forbes website blog sug-
gest that the Environmental Protection
sures. The far right is predicting the sky
is falling because a couple dozen or so
old, lightly used plants have closed or
lion Pounds of Carbon Emissions Annu-
ally.” It’s difficult to cut emissions from
imaginary plants.
Agency’s (EPA’s) carbon pollution standard will soon. Neither side acknowledges the Finally, when promulgated, the Stan-
for new coal-fired power plants (Standard) true implications of a Standard that “will dard will complete a well-executed ma-
is a meaningless skirmish in President impose negligible costs and, as the EPA neuver blocking construction of new
Obama’s “war on coal.” The Standard may itself confesses, negligible benefits.” coal plants should gas prices unexpect-
have no tangible impact on the industry edly rise in the future. The Standard,
in the future, but it has great strategic Many Intangible Benefits together with the existing Clean Air Act
benefit to the administration. The obvious question you may ask is: New Source Review, produces a formi-
The blog posting, “President Obama’s Why would the EPA promulgate the dable barrier to construction of future
Alleged ‘War on Coal’—Climate Change Standard if the impact were negligible? new coal plants or increasing power
Edition,” correctly assesses the situa- I see three very useful benefits for the production from existing plants. What is
tion: First, the EPA’s recently proposed administration. left are the existing plants, now operat-
Standard covers only new coal-fired First, the president gets global brag- ing at much lower capacity factors than
power plants built 12 months after ging rights about the nation’s tremen- just a year ago.
the Standard goes into effect, perhaps dous CO2 reductions. Fuel switching
in 2014, probably in 2015. The Stan- has produced a reduction of U.S. CO2 Broader Front
dard limits carbon emissions from new emissions resulting in a 20-year low. A The war on coal is by no means limited
plants to those of a typical gas-fired recent U.S. Energy Information Admin- to the gamesmanship surrounding car-
combined cycle plant. Because any ad- istration (EIA) report said that energy- bon emissions reductions. Taylor and
ditional emissions must be captured and related CO2 emissions for the first four Van Doren are correct when they say
sequestered, building a new coal plant months of this year were at about 1992 “the Obama administration believes
under the proposed Standard isn’t prac- levels. An Aug. 16 Associated Press ar- that championing regulations to reduce
tical or economic. The result is predict- ticle quotes the International Energy greenhouse gas emissions is a political
able: There are no new coal-fired plants Agency as reporting that the U.S. has loser and simply isn’t going to do so
on the drawing board in the U.S. The cut carbon emissions more than any until political conditions change.” How-
EPA, as the authors correctly point out, other country in the world, and esti- ever, don’t those “political conditions”
counts perhaps 15 “transitional sourc- mates that the U.S. will emit 5.2 bil- immediately change should Obama claim
es” (other sources list 22) that may lion metric tons this year, close to the victory at the polls this November?
still be constructed as “grandfathered” 5 billion metric tons emitted in 1990 Absolutely. The full weight of the Mer-
plants. Ironically, if no new coal plants and far below the high of about 6 bil- cury and Air Toxics Standards (partial
are constructed, the Standard produces lion metric tons in 2007. The CO2 reduc- stay in effect), Cross-State Air Pollution
no CO2 reductions. tions may have nothing to do with the Rule (on remand, with the Clean Air In-
Second, the authors correctly note proposed Standard, but that’s politically terstate Rule still in effect), and other
that the long-term price of natural gas irrelevant. I expect Obama is already pending rule changes (see THE BIG PIC-
is expected to remain low. As they say, planning to strut his carbon reduction TURE: Regulation Road, p. 10) are yet
the “futures price for natural gas in Au- bona fides at the 2012 United Nations to be felt. You don’t have to be Carnac
gust 2012 (the farthest out that one Climate Change Conference in Qatar in the Magnificent to predict why updates
can buy gas on the New York Mercantile late November, should he be reelected. to many of these rules were delayed un-
Exchange) is $3.01 per million BTU.” In- Second, it throws a bone to Obama’s til 2013, when the political conditions
dustry new construction has focused on far left environmental constituency and may be much much different.
gas-fired plants and wind turbines for helps ensure strong support going into Failing success with these rule
the past few years. this campaign season. For example, changes during a second term, I believe
Taylor and Van Doren also correctly the May 16 headline for the Center for Obama’s backup plan is clear—merely
observe the absurd situation that now American Progress website was meant to scratch out the Standard’s exclusion of
exists. The environmental left is cel- rally the troops, not truthfully explain “existing” coal plants. ■
ebrating success with the Standard and the Standard: “EPA Carbon Standard —Dr. Robert Peltier, PE is POWER’s
taking credit for being the direct cause Takes a Bite out of Pollution. Proposed editor-in-chief.

6 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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CIRCLE 4 ON READER SERVICE CARD
Germany’s Reliance on Coal Grows
This August, instead of the usual fanfare at the official commis- 1. Where coal will be king. Germany’s policy to phase out
nuclear power by 2022 and procure at least 35% of its power from
sioning ceremony of RWE’s twin-unit 2.2-GW coal-fired BoA Units
renewables by 2020 has encouraged developers to build more coal
2 and 3—a $3.3 billion lignite-fired power plant in Grevenbroich- plants, for a variety of reasons, even though Berlin wants to cut the
Neurath near Cologne (Figure 1)—Germany’s premier of the state of country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 40% from 1990 levels by
North Rhine–Westphalia, Hannelore Kraft, and the newly installed 2020. The newest are RWE’s coal-fired BoA Units 2 and 3, a 2.2-GW,
federal minister of the environment, Peter Altmaier, requested a $3.3 billion lignite-fired power plant in Grevenbroich-Neurath near Co-
rapid cutback in power production. As 400 guests watched, the logne. Courtesy: RWE
output of one unit was reportedly reduced by more than 150 MW
in five minutes, and then restored just as fast. The demonstration
was to show how quickly the plant could offset the intermittency
of wind and solar power, the officials said, proclaiming the plant
an “important element” of Germany’s energy strategy.
As Kraft noted, since Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government
shuttered seven of the nation’s 17 nuclear plants and announced
a complete nuclear phase-out by 2022—a loss of about 12.7
GW—coal and gas have been needed to sustain the country’s
future, even as it invests “heavily in renewables and distribution
systems.” Modern coal and gas plants are “indispensable” while
renewables are intermittent power sources, she said, echoing
sentiments that have been expressed commonly by politicians
countrywide of late, including Chancellor Merkel. Calling the
country’s energy transformation “a huge challenge for all areas of
society,” Kraft urged cooperation among the federal government,
states, municipalities, and energy companies.
The problem is complex. Germany wants to cut its greenhouse gas
emissions by 40% from 1990 levels by 2020. After it instituted a
nuclear phase-out policy following the Fukushima crisis, Berlin envi- A fall in gas prices between now and 2020 could reverse the
sioned an energy future in which renewables would make up 35% of situation—which could be possible if, as some analysts expect,
its power profile. The other 65% would have to come from different Europe sees a surplus of conventional gas from Azerbaijan, Iraq,
sources, as Environment Minister Altmaier told German publication and Cyprus. Germany could also increase interconnector capacity
Die Zeit. As of 2011, however, coal’s share of Germany’s generation with neighboring countries, increasing access to hydro capacity.
total stood at 42.8%, compared to 18.3% for gas. And because coal Experts point out, however, that this would open up the country
is championed by politicians and energy companies, the nation’s for more imports of electricity produced from nuclear power—an
future reliance on the fossil fuel is likely to grow. energy source it was hoping to avoid.
Several more coal units are planned by power generators in
Germany. By some estimates, 10.7 GW of coal and 1.7 GW of
gas units are under construction. Coal is winning out, for now, Powering Curiosity on Mars—And Beyond
because natural gas is costlier. According to Reuters, power from With the precarious descent of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity into
coal for sale in 2013 is more than €16 ($20)/MWh more profitable the Red Planet’s Gale Crater a success, NASA now plans to gather
than generating it from gas. Utilities in Europe have had to post- geological and environmental data from the Martian surface to
pone plans for new gas-fired plants because weakened demand determine whether the planet has ever offered environmental
from countries affected by the euro zone crisis has pushed prices conditions favorable for life—and collect data for a manned
of wholesale European power to two-year lows. E.ON, Germany’s mission. The 1-ton, six-wheeled rover has been outfitted with
largest utility, for example, announced plans to shut down some a jackhammer at the end of a 6-foot robotic arm to break up
gas-fired plants in southern Germany because they aren’t profit- rocks, and can scoop the sample into its onboard spectrometer,
able. Norwegian power firm Statkraft in February said it would but it can also fire its laser at a rock, vaporizing it for analysis.
shutter a 430-MW gas-fired plant in the German North Sea port of It must do all this while operating on the Martian surface, where
Emden for similar reasons. Even RWE has considered mothballing temperatures range from freezing at the height of the Martian
older coal- and gas-fired plants, saying low power prices are put- summer to well into negative double digits at other times.
ting margins under pressure. So how is Curiosity powered? It uses an advanced version of a
But coal’s popularity has another surprising source. About 14 radioisotope power system (RPS) used in previous deep space probe
months after it set targets to procure 35% of its power from re- missions, says NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory. In the most basic
newables by 2020, Germany’s heavily subsidized renewables sec- terms, these are nuclear batteries—generators that produce electric-
tor is already generating a full 25% of its power needs. German ity from the natural decay of plutonium-238 using a set of solid-state
solar capacity, for example, will exceed 25 GW in 2012. However, thermocouples. The thermocouples in radioisotope thermoelectric
subsidies of renewables have caused the cost of carbon permits generators (RTGs) use heat from the natural radioactive decay of
to collapse to historic lows, encouraging developers to expand plutonium-238 to heat the hot junction of the thermocouple and
coal capacity, experts speculate. use the cold of outer space to produce a low temperature at the cold

8 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
CIRCLE 5 ON READER SERVICE CARD
THE BIG PICTURE: Regulation Road
The road traveled by much of the U.S. power sector over the past five years has been a long and winding one, marked by new regulations
from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and key legal developments. More regulations are expected over the next five years.
–Copy and artwork by Sonal Patel, senior writer.

10 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
junction of the thermocouple. According to NASA, though the key
advantage of RPSs is that they operate continuously, independent of
sunlight for a long time, they are also insensitive to cold, radiation,
and other effects of the space environment.
As NASA explains, more than 40 RPSs have been used over four
decades on more than two dozen NASA spacecraft. The Apollo
missions to the moon; the Pioneer, Voyager, Ulysses, Galileo, Visit us!
Cassini, and Pluto New Horizons missions to the outer solar sys- Power-Gen, Orlando, FL
tem; and the Viking landers sent to Mars were all equipped with 11 – 13 December 2012
RTGs. “RTGs have never been the cause of a spacecraft accident, Booth #5439
[though] they have been on board three space missions that did
fail for other reasons,” NASA says. “In all three cases, the RTGs
performed as designed.”
Curiosity, which is significantly larger and at least 10 times
heavier than previous Martian rovers, uses a new generation
RTG, the “Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator
(MMRTG),” a device assembled and tested by researchers at Idaho
National Laboratory, with components from Los Alamos National
Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and assessed for
nuclear safety by Sandia National Laboratories. The MMRTG is a
more flexible modular design that contains 10 pounds of pluto-
nium dioxide and generates power in smaller increments, slightly
above 100 W. About 25 inches in diameter (fin tip to fin top) and
26 inches long, the MMRTG weighs 95 pounds (Figure 2). The de-
vice will give the mission on Mars’ surface an operating lifespan
of a full Martian year (687 Earth days, a little less than two Earth
years) over a wide latitude range.

SOME THINK
The MMRTG is based on the proven radioisotope power sys-
tem design used to provide electrical power for NASA’s two ear-

LONG-DISTANCE
lier Viking landers, which operated on the surface of Mars for 40
months and more than six years, respectively. Unlike previous

TRANSPORT IS
rover designs, however, Curiosity is designed not to be affected
by Martian dust, NASA says, which became a problem during

INFRASTRUCTURE-
the Spirit and Opportunity missions, when dust covered solar
panels. The MMRTG carries eight individually shielded general
purpose heat source modules, compared to 18 modules in the

INTENSIVE.
previous RPS generation. And, unlike some of the previous gen-
erations of RPSs, the MMRTG can operate in the atmosphere of

WE THINK
a planet as well as in space, NASA says.

DIFFERENT.
2. Powering Curiosity. Spacecraft technicians at NASA’s Ken-
nedy Space Center in Florida trundle a multi-mission radioisotope ther-
moelectric generator (MMRTG) after a fit-check in the car-size Curiosity
rover. Waste heat from the MMRTG will be circulated throughout the
rover system to keep instruments, computers, mechanical devices, Transporting materials from remote locations has tradition-
and communications systems within their operating temperature rang- ally required significant infrastructure investments in road
es for more than two Earth years. Source: NASA/Kim Shiflett or rail links, vehicles, personnel and fuel. BEUMER o ers
an economical, e cient and environmental alternative –
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CIRCLE 6 ON READER SERVICE CARD

|
October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 11
The success of the MMRTG means that moving parts. Like any dynamic system,
NASA’s mission-driven RPS program is now it requires a controller to control piston 3. An atomic leap. South Korea is look-
turning its focus to validate and develop stroke and to convert the AC output of its ing to boost nuclear capacity to 43.4% of its
total power profile by 2020. Two new reactors
another basic RPS unit, the Advanced alternators to DC suitable for a spacecraft
became commercially operational this sum-
Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG). bus. “This level of complexity is manage- mer, the 960-MW Shin Kori 2 plant near Nae-ri
This system also uses plutonium-238 as able and will be worth investing in to gain and the Shin Wolsong 1 (shown here) in the
its heat source, but it would be much more the benefits offered by the ASRG. A final southwest city of Gori. Courtesy: Korea Hydro
efficient, producing about 130 W to 140 W challenge to address is to provide the high and Nuclear Power Co.
of electricity using less than 1 kilogram reliability demanded of spacecraft power
of plutonium-238. That is less than 25% systems,” NASA says.
of the fuel needed for a comparably pow-
ered RTG, NASA says. The specific power,
or power produced per unit mass of the South Korea Connects Two
generator, is also greatly improved over New Reactors to the Grid
current RTG designs. Two new nuclear reactors in South Ko-
“The ASRGs advancements are made rea became commercially operational
possible by the use of highly efficient this summer, bringing the country’s total designed Korean Standard Nuclear Power
Stirling engines coupled with linear al- nuclear plant count to 23 and expanding Plant, an indigenous design developed from
ternators (together known as Advanced the share of its nuclear capacity to 20,716 Westinghouse System 80 units imported
Stirling Convertors, or ASCs) to convert MW—or more than 25% of its total power during the 1970s and 1980s. The new reac-
the natural radioactive decay heat of Pu- capacity. Just a week after South Korea’s tors are the nation’s 10th and 11th OPR-
238 into electricity,” NASA explains. Ster- Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. began 1000 units.
ling engines have been in use since the commercial operations at its 960-MW Shin Construction of Shin-Wolsong Unit 1
early 1800s, but they have never been Kori 2 in the southwest city of Gori on July (Figure 3) began in October 2005 on the
used to generate electricity for spacecraft, 20, it opened its 960-MW Shin-Wolsong 1 basis of the nation’s second electricity sup-
mostly because the “benefits they offer reactor near Nae-ri. ply master plan (2004–2017). After con-
also bring some challenges that must first The Korea Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) struction and testing periods of six years
be overcome,” NASA says. subsidiary’s Shin Kori 2 and Shin Wolsong 1 and 10 months, it was finally approved for
Unlike
abt. RTGs,oct
power the12:Layout
ASRG is a 1somewhat
8/22/12 are bothPMOPR-1000
2:05 Page 2pressurized water reac- commercial operation. At the Shin Wolsong
complex thermodynamic system with tors, which evolved from the domestically site, a sister reactor, Shin Wolsong 2, is
expected to enter commercial operation in
Structural Bolting 101: January 2013.
T R A I N I N G

Construction work on Shin Kori 2 start-

torque isn’t tight. (what?) ed in January 2007, and in January this


year it was synchronized to the grid. At

tension is!
Shin-Kori, Units 3 and 4, which are un-
Squirter® DTIs* der construction at the site, will be the
ensure proper bolt tension. first of at least nine Generation III+ South

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the best way to bolt! up from the current 25%. By 2030, the
government has forecast nuclear power
1 800 552 1999 could supply 59% of its power. All planned
reactors are third-generation APR-1400s.

The first two of that reactor design, Shin-


T E C H N I C A L

Kori Units 3 and 4, had been expected to


be completed between 2013 and 2014,
though reports in August pointed to a de-
lay of nearly 10 months.
Amid the new plant openings this July,
first concrete was poured for Unit 1 of the
Shin Ulchin plant, kicking off construc-
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follow in about a year. These $6.2 billion
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POWER October 2012
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the Shin Ulchin reactors will be almost free of intellectual prop- over who must pay for more than $950 million in cost overruns.
erty from Westinghouse, experts say. Georgia Power has initiated a formal dispute resolution process,
expecting negotiations with the consortium to continue over the
next several months.
Plant Vogtle Moves Forward, as Do Costs Meanwhile, uncertainty is looming for an $8.3 billion loan
and Schedules guarantee issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), an
At Plant Vogtle in Georgia, where Southern Co. subsidiary South- offer that was set to expire about 90 days after the Vogtle ex-
ern Nuclear is building two new 1,100-MW AP1000 units for Geor- pansion project received its combined operating and construc-
gia Power and co-owners Oglethorpe Power Corp., the Municipal tion license from federal regulators in February. The government
Electric Authority of Georgia, and Dalton Utilities, work on the extended the conditional commitment to the end of the year,
first new nuclear units built in the U.S. in 30 years is progress- and an agreement is now expected this fall. However, Southern
ing—albeit with hiccups. Co. has said there can be “no assurance” that the DOE will issue
The company says significant work has already been completed the loan guarantee because financing remains subject to “de-
on turbine islands, cooling towers, and nuclear islands. Assembly finitive agreements” that are still under negotiation. If the loan
and welding of Unit 3’s containment vessel bottom head is half- guarantee does not come through, Georgia Power would finance
complete, ahead of schedule. Major components are expected to construction of the two new reactors “through traditional capital
begin arriving at the site later this year and early in 2013—the first markets financings,” the company has said.
of which will be the reactor vessel for Unit 3. Testing has also begun
on a 560-foot-tall heavy lift derrick (Figure 4) that will be used to
move large pieces at the site and which is being billed as “one of Microbial Fuel Cells Promise
the biggest cranes in the world.” Power from Sludge
Yet, Georgia Power in late August pushed back anticipated start A microbial fuel cell technology developed at Oregon State Uni-
dates at the new units by several months—from April 2016 and versity (OSU) promises to produce 10 to 50 times more electricity
April 2017 to November 2016 and November 2017 for Units 3 and per volume directly from wastewater than most other approaches
4 respectively. The company said in a semi-annual filing with the using microbial fuel cells. The breakthrough could reportedly
Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) that the April dates were have significant implications for waste treatment plants by re-
not realistically achievable owing to delays in securing full regula- placing the “activated sludge” process that has been widely used
tory approval of the design control document (DCD) for the plant. for almost a century. The new approach could produce significant
After concluding work did not conform with the DCD, the Nu- amounts of electricity while effectively cleaning the wastewater,
clear Regulatory Commission in March this year halted work to OSU researchers say.
install steel reinforcing rebar for the base mat of Unit 3’s nuclear This technology cleans sewage via a different approach than
island while it conducted investigations and processed license the aerobic bacteria used in the past. Bacteria oxidize the or-
amendment requests. Approval for the license amendments is ex- ganic matter and, in the process, produce electrons that run from
pected this October. the anode to the cathode within the fuel cell, creating an electri-
Southern Co.’s latest filing shows that total projected construc- cal current (Figure 5). “Almost any type of organic waste material
tion costs have increased to $6.2 billion, from $6.1 billion—an $87 can be used to produce electricity,” OSU researchers said, “not
million increase that still puts costs below the $6.4 billion budget just wastewater, but also grass straw, animal waste, and byprod-
approved by the PSC in 2009, officials argued. The expansion has ucts from such operations as the wine, beer or dairy industries.”
been estimated to cost $14 billion in total.
But the project’s completion schedule and cost estimates could 5. The glimmer of sludge. Advances in microbial fuel cell tech-
be further affected by an unresolved dispute with a contractor nology used to clean sewage could allow waste treatment plants to
consortium that includes Westinghouse and Stone & Webster produce much more electricity than previously estimated, research by
Oregon State University (OSU) shows. Here, Hong Liu, an associate
4. Giant crane. Testing has begun on a 560-foot-tall heavy lift der- professor in the OSU Department of Biological and Ecological Engi-
rick that will be used to move large components at the Plant Vogtle ex- neering, holds up a research fuel cell. Courtesy: OSU
pansion project, which will add two new AP1000 units in Georgia. The
crane, one of the largest in the world, “has the capacity to move the
equivalent of five 747 jets across the distance of more than three-and-
a-half football fields in a single lift,” Georgia Power estimates. Courtesy:
Southern Co.

14 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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know GE Energy’s Air Filtration team has your back. We make it our mission
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The findings, published in the journal En- tem that produces a steady supply of cer- today—“and even less expensive when fu-
ergy and Environmental Science, note that tain types of wastewater and could provide ture sales of excess electricity are factored
major advances in the technology have been significant amounts of electricity. Research in,” they said. The approach is expected
made since its potential was first reported is ongoing on optimizing the use of neces- to have specific value for developing na-
several years ago. New concepts—reduced sary microbes, reducing material costs, and tions, where access to power is limited
anode-cathode spacing, evolved microbes, improving function of the technology at and sewage treatment at remote sites is
and new separator materials—could allow it commercial scales, OSU scientists said. difficult as a result.
to theoretically produce more than 2 kW per Once advances are made to reduce high
cubic meter of liquid reactor volume. initial costs, researchers estimate that
The OSU system is now seeking funding the capital construction costs of this new POWER Digest
for a pilot study at a site, such as a food technology should be comparable to those Chile Supreme Court Strikes Plans for
processing plant, that is a contained sys- of the activated sludge systems in use $5B Coal Plant. Chile’s Supreme Court on
Aug. 28 rejected the $5 billion Central Cas-
tilla thermoelectric power plant planned by
Brazilian firm MPX Energia and Germany’s
E.ON, citing environmental reasons. De-
velopers argued that the 2,100-MW plant
is needed by Chile, the world’s foremost
BEST AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY: copper producer, which struggles with high
AQUATECH ZLD. power prices and inadequate electricity in-
frastructure. The court ruled that Castilla
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pollution,” but it said the companies could
resubmit an environmental impact study
that addresses the court’s specific concerns.
The court’s decision could have major impli-
cations for developers of future power proj-
ects in the country, industry analysts said.
Work to Continue on Belo Monte
Dam. Brazil’s Supreme Court in an Aug. 27
preliminary decision approved resumption
of work on the $13 billion Belo Monte hy-
droelectric dam in the Amazon until it could
consider the merits of the case. A judge
from Brazil’s Regional Federal Tribunal had
on Aug. 17 called for an immediate halt to
construction on the 11-GW project, ruling
that affected tribes in the Amazon state of
Para had not been consulted before Brazil
approved the project in 2005, as is required
by the country’s constitution and the U.N.
Treaty 169 on indigenous rights. The Norte
Energia consortium, which is building the
Aquatech ZLD technology eliminates FGD wastewater. project across the Xingu River, an Amazon
River tributary, has said the project is on
Commercialized. Commissioned. Compliant. track to begin operating in 2015.
UAE Signs Nuclear Fuel Contracts for
Barakah Units 1 and 2. The United Arab
Aquatech Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) installations for FGD wastewater Emirates’ (UAE’s) Emirates Nuclear Energy
demonstrate that strict environmental discharge guidelines can be fully met. Corp. (ENEC) on Aug. 15 contracted several
Aquatech ZLD technology totally eliminates FGD wastewater discharge by companies to supply nuclear fuel for four
converting it into disposable dry solids, and it recycles pure water back to planned 1,400-MW reactors at a recently
your system. Aquatech ZLD is environmentally friendly, highly reliable, and approved site in Barakah, in the Western
ofers extremely competitive life cycle costs. Look to Aquatech ZLD for: Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. South
• Regulatory compliance Korea’s KEPCO Nuclear Fuels will manufac-
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starting in 2014, U.S.-based ConverDyn
For more information, including in-depth Aquatech ZLD case studies, will provide conversion services, Canada’s
e-mail: fgdzld@aquatech.com.
Uranium One will provide natural uranium,
Metals Precipitation Evaporators Crystallizers Sludge Handling www.aquatech.com UK-based URENCO will provide enrichment
services, and Rio Tinto will provide natural
© 2012 Aquatech International ZLD-1-1
uranium. Russian firm TENEX and France’s
CIRCLE 10 ON READER SERVICE CARD

16 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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AREVA will also supply uranium concen- units (Barakah Units 1 and 2). Pending in Johor, Malaysia, to 3,100 MW in 2016 and
trates, conversion services, and enrichment further regulatory approvals, the first unit make it one of Southeast Asia’s largest coal-
services. The six contacts together have is scheduled to begin delivering electricity fired power plants. The new supercritical
been valued at $3 billion. to the grid in 2017. The remaining three plant will increase the plant’s net efficiency
In a $20 billion deal announced in units are scheduled to come online in by more than 3% at rated capacity and en-
December 2009, ENEC selected a Korean 2018, 2019, and 2020. able it to use 100% subbituminous coal, the
consortium led by KEPCO to build the four Expansion of 2,100-MW Malaysian company said. Power from the plant will be
APR-1400 reactors. ENEC in July received Coal Plant Kicks Off. Malaysia’s largest in- sold under a 25-year power purchase agree-
regulatory approval from both the Environ- dependent power producer, Malakoff Corp. ment to Tenaga Nasional Berhad. The ad-
ment Agency of Abu Dhabi and the Federal Berhad, began pouring concrete for a $2 ditional generating capacity is expected to
Authority for Nuclear Regulation for con- billion expansion that will ramp up capacity meet the increasing power demand in the
struction of the first
855 PM Chevelle two nuclear
022912_Layout 1 3/1/12 of AM
energy11:10 its 2,100-MW
Page 1 Tanjung Bin Power Station, Iskandar region, which is projected to surge
from 1,479 MW in 2010 to 2,254 MW by
2020, spurred by growth in key industries
such as port and marine services, warehous-
ing, logistics engineering, and high-tech
manufacturing.
KenGen Starts Construction of 280-
MW Geothermal Project. Kenya Elec-
tricity Generating Co. (KenGen) in July
announced the construction start of its
280-MW Olkaria geothermal facility in Hells
Gate National Park, a $981 million proj-
ect that has been financed by the Kenyan
government, the World Bank, and German
development bank KfW. The project will
see expansion of the existing 70-MW Ol-
karia I geothermal project by 70 MW and
1969 Chevelle SS
construction of the new 140-MW Olkaria IV
plant. Steam wells for the project have al-
ready been drilled. A consortium of Japan’s
855 Series
Toyota Tshusho and South Korea-based
Hyundai will build the power plant, while
Low NPSHa on your vacuum receiver got China’s Sinopec will carry out steam field
you down? Fail to resume pumping as development. India’s Kamani Engineering
suction levels resume? You need Carver Corp. will build the transmission lines and
Pump 855 Series muscle! the substation for the project, while New
Carver 855 Series are designed for use on
vacuum receivers operating with up to 26” Hg
Zealand–based Sinclair Knight Mertz will
vacuum. Flange mounted directly to the vacuum act as the project consultant.
receiver tank eliminates suction piping/NPSH problems. Westinghouse to Study Potential
Whether operating at a trickle or full flow, specially designed Seventh Reactor at Bulgarian Nuclear
impellers allow pumping to resume even after periods of Plant. Westinghouse Electric Co. on
interrupted flow. Aug. 27 said it had received a contract
Capacities range to 600 GPM depending on discharge head
and speed of operation. Available in 6 sizes ranging from
from the Kozloduy NPP-New Build PLC of
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RECEIVER 1”- 4”, standard materials of construction include All Iron, Bulgaria to perform a feasibility study for
TANK
CD4MCu and Rubber Lined. The 855 Series features an a potential seventh unit at the Kozloduy
overhead v-belt drive arrangement as standard, Nuclear Power Plant. The required study
OVERHEAD
DRIVE
with options for either close coupled or frame will encompass a review of two potential
V-BELT mounted drives. Packing is standard in the designs: one, a reactor of VVER design us-
DRIVE stuffing box with mechanical seals as an option,
MOUNTS
ASSEMBLY ing equipment already purchased by the
DIRECTLY and don’t forget to ask about our
TO TANK
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Carver
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and a Toshiba Corp. turbine generator;
and the second, the construction and op-
eration of a 1,000-MW to 1,200-MW pres-
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cal economic aspects, and the profitability
of the two reactor designs. ■
—Sonal Patel is POWER’s senior writer.
CIRCLE 12 ON READER SERVICE CARD

18 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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CIRCLE 13 ON READER SERVICE CARD
Fly Ash Erosion Control and Prevention
flow-correcting baffles, flow is never uniformly distributed in an
Boiler tube failures (BTFs) are responsible for the largest portion operating boiler. Cavity and bank design features, such as flow
of availability loss (about 4%) in the fossil boiler industry, and path turns, gaps between banks and sidewalls, and tube return
approximately 25% of all tube failures are due to fly ash erosion bend areas, can encourage additional flow above design levels.
(FAE). An Electric Power Research Institute report indicated that To illustrate a few of these out-of-design areas, letters on the
the problem was being managed in U.S. utilities by maintenance figure identify where FAE may or may not be occurring due to
activities that were put into effect each time a boiler was taken local flow conditions:
off-line. The cost of an individual repair was a small fraction of
the forced outage cost, and therefore has been considered justi- ■ Point B represents areas near the horizontal bank side and rear
fied in the past. However, many forced outages continue to be wall gaps that may have both above-average ash and gas load-
experienced each year due to FAE, and in many cases, these occur ing and may produce FAE rates five times greater than average
at identical locations, indicating that applied solutions relieve, conditions.
but do not cure, the problem. ■ Point C represents a misaligned tube exposed to in-bank lane
Effective solutions have been available for more than 25 years flow that can result in FAE rates 10 times the design rate due
that use flow-modifying baffles, solid and perforated plate, and to impact velocities as much as two times the design rate.
expanded metal screens to redistribute flow to more uniform lev- ■ Point D represents misaligned tubes or deflected flow in areas
els. The benefits of this approach have been demonstrated in with above-average ash loading (rear corners) that can pro-
many utility boilers worldwide. duce FAE rates 15 to 20 times above average conditions.

Basic Relationships To reduce FAE potential at points B, C, and D, local flow con-
FAE in boiler pressure parts is the result of the combined effect ditions must be changed in a way that moves local operating
of local ash loading and gas velocity, as well as a number of conditions toward the base curve (the 100,000-hour line). This
other fixed parameters. Figure 1 is an example of the relationship can be done with flow-modifying baffles and/or correcting off-
between ash loading, gas velocity, and time to reach the mini- design conditions such as tube alignment or reducing ash plug-
mum wall. The base curve at 100,000 hours identifies a desirable ging. The blue arrow indicates the desired change direction, in
operating range, which should produce few FAE-related BTFs over this case from point D to point E. Both local ash loading and
a span of 10 to 15 years of baseload operation. gas flow have been reduced with the addition of ash redistribu-
The design condition is identified by the “X” in Figure 1, where tion baffles upstream and local velocity-reducing baffles over
ash and gas are distributed uniformly throughout the boiler. This the affected area.
should produce few FAE-related problems if the manufacturer de-
signed the unit properly. Unfortunately, without the addition of Solution Methods
Systematic procedures for FAE reduction were developed in the
1. Hitting the wall. This chart shows the time to reach minimum 1980s. They included root-cause analysis to ensure proper identifi-
tube wall thickness in hours under the given relative gas velocity and cation of FAE, a means to measure gas flow distribution—the cold
relative ash loading. The plot shows the basic relationship between air velocity test—and standard baffle designs for fly ash and gas
the two parameters over which flow modification may be used to re- redistribution. In recent years, computer modeling has been added
duce local fly ash erosion potential. Areas with off-design conditions to calculate ash distribution, which provides additional critical in-
are identified by points B, C, and D, where local fly ash loading and gas
formation needed to develop an effective control strategy.
velocity are above design level. Flow modification baffles can be used
to lower both parameters and change local operating conditions to lev-
An effective solution to chronic FAE may include addressing
els that increase the time to the minimum wall thickness, as shown by non-flow-related issues, such as those related to design opera-
the arrow connecting points D and E. Point X represents tube design tion, erosive ashes, bank or cavity design features, ash plugging,
conditions. Courtesy: Drennan Engineering Inc. assembly alignment, and asymmetric flow extraction for selective
catalytic reduction or primary air systems. These issues would
3.0 need solutions in conjunction with a well-designed baffle system
to address the flow-related contribution to FAE.
2.5 Once FAE history and pattern are established, flow-related
contributions are described from this point, leaving some of the
100,000 50,000 20,000 10,000 500 hours
Relative ash loading

2.0 secondary items mentioned above for a future discussion. A typi-


D
cal pattern for most units would be FAE within a few feet of the
1.5 E B side and rear walls. Sidewalls tend to have more ash due to ash
formation in the combustion zone for tangential-fired units and
1.0 C for all units during periodic wall cleaning, which can send an
X avalanche of ash through the backpass along the sidewalls.
0.5 Ash tends to separate toward the rear wall as flow turns into
the rear pass, with separation increasing as the radius of cur-
0.0 vature decreases. In Figure 2, the boiler cavity makes a tight
0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 180-degree turn as flow leaves the front pass and enters the rear
Relative gas velocity pass. Consequently, for this unit, there is a significant amount of

20 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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CIRCLE 14 ON READER SERVICE CARD


Operational Results
2. In search of the best baffle. Boilers with tight flow path
turns can have a significant amount of flow separation to the rear of the
Baffles (C in Figure 2) were installed in an earlier attempt to
unit, which causes serious FAE in areas highlighted by hashes. To re- address FAE. This installation is a cascade arrangement that at-
duce separation and lower FAE, two sets of flow-modifying baffles are tempts to redistribute flow in stages. FAE was reduced at the rear
shown that have significantly different results. The cascade arrange- wall, but unfortunately at the cost of increased FAE in the center
ment (C) redistributes fly ash and gas in stages, but it does not provide of the bank. For smaller units (<400 MW), cascade arrangements
an adequate solution for this type and size of boiler. In contrast, an deflect too much flow into the center of the bank. In larger units
angled baffle (A) spans the unit width and prevents much of the rear- (>800 MW), there is more distance and time for deflected flows
ward flow separation and is the appropriate FAE baffle system for this to dissipate before entering the bank.
unit. Source: Drennan Engineering Inc. The final arrangement selected for this unit was an angled
baffle (A in Figure 2), which spanned the width of the unit and
effectively acted as a set of ladder vanes. When flow encoun-
tered the baffle from the left (upstream side), it was immedi-
ately turned down toward the bank, which reduced much of the
rearward separation. The resulting FAE ratio was vastly improved,
peaking in the front section due to high approach flow near the
Bank inlet front of the bank. ■
—John F. Drennen, PE (jdrennen@asheroision.com) works for
Drennan Engineering Inc. in Windsor, Conn.

Maintaining Grid Reliability with a High


Renewables Portfolio
Many governments have adopted the goal of achieving 20% re-
Division
Flow newable power generation by 2020. For California, the goal is to
wall
(rear pass) reach 33% by 2020.
Flow The state definitely has the sunshine needed, and in addition
(front pass) to 2,000 MW of photovoltaic installations, there are the 354 MW
FAE area of Solar Energy Generating Systems that have been operating in
the Mojave Desert since the 1980s, soon to be joined by the 392-
3. Successfully controlling FAE. Relative FAE shows mea- MW Ivanpah concentrating solar thermal plant currently under
sured/calculated gas and fly ash distributions compared to the ideal, construction.
uniformly distributed flows. The baseline curve shows FAE distribution The state also was the first to install utility-scale wind gen-
without flow-modifying baffles, indicating two areas of high FAE. The eration. Although Texas and Iowa have since passed California
cascade baffle distribution shows an improvement in FAE near the rear in terms of installed capacity, California added 921 MW in 2011,
wall but increased FAE in the center of the bank. The angled baffle dis- bringing its total to 3,927 MW. According to the American Wind
tribution demonstrates what can be achieved with a properly designed
Energy Association, another 18,269 MW of wind projects are in
FAE baffle system. Source: Drennan Engineering Inc.
the queue.
But alternative energy sources alone are not enough to provide
Baseline Cascade Angled
20 reliable generation or to stabilize the grid.
18 “One of the main issues that we are trying to raise aware-
16 ness about is the need for flexible capacity on the system,” said
14 Stephanie McCorkle, spokesperson for the California Independent
Relative FAE rate

12 System Operator (CAISO). “Gas-fired generation is our only means


10
right now until storage and demand response has matured to
compensate for the fluctuations of wind and solar power, so we
8
are actively educating policy makers and trying to propose a so-
6
lution at the regulatory level as well to ensure that there is still
4
enough conventional gas-fired generation available to us to be
2
able to maintain reliability as we see more and more renewables
0
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 added to the grid.”
Front wall Front to rear distance (feet) Rear wall This includes having enough reactive power to stabilize the
grid and allow the remotely generated renewable energy to reach
population centers. Both the generation and transmission issues
ash and gas separation toward the rear wall, with significant FAE are easily addressable with existing technology.
occurring in areas identified with hashes.
Figure 3 shows the relative FAE ratio at the top bank of the A Problem of Predictability
rear pass for three different conditions. This ratio is based on The first problem with high renewable penetration is that wind
measured and computer model calculations for both ash and gas and solar are not dispatchable. Figure 4 from CAISO shows
distribution at the bank inlet as compared to uniformly distrib- a projected mix of fossil, wind, and solar energy generation
uted flow across that plane. The baseline curve (original design smoothly ramping up and down throughout the day to meet
without baffles) shows significantly elevated FAE in the center changes in load. If that worked in the real world, there would
and near the rear wall due to flow separation. Both areas have be no problem. Figure 5, however, shows how it works in the
elevated ash and gas flows in the maximum FAE areas. real world. Although wind power may average out to a nice

22 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
CIRCLE 15 ON READER SERVICE CARD
4. Balancing act. This is the expected typical April load profile for CAISO in 2020, the year when California’s 33% renewable portfolio stan-
dard becomes effective. When the sun shines during the day, and the wind blows in the afternoon, conventional thermal resources have to be
ramped down. But when demand spikes in the morning and early evening, conventional resources have to be dispatched (the red line) to supply
the needed power. Source: CAISO

Load Net load Wind Solar


45,000 14,000

40,000
12,000
35,000

Wind and solar MW


10,000
30,000

25,000 8,000
MW

20,000
6,000

15,000
4,000
10,000

2,000
5,000

0 0
0:00
0:39
1:18
1:57
2:36
3:15
3:54
4:33
5:12
5:51
6:30
7:09
7:48
8:27
9:06
9:45
10:24
11:03
11:42
12:21
13:00
13:39
14:18
14:57
15:36
16:15
16:54
17:33
18:12
18:51
19:30
20:09
20:48
21:27
22:06
22:45
23:24
To make this work requires a full comple-
5. Variable resource. Typical power production data illustrates the wide variability of wind ment of fast-start gas turbines throughout
generation in CAISO. Source: CAISO the state ready to come online at a mo-
ment’s notice. This is why roughly half
6,000
of the LMS100s GE has sold to date have
been installed in California (including, for
5,000
example, the Panoche Energy Center in
Average
Firebaugh, Calif., which is profiled in the
4,000
September 2011 issue, available at www
.powermag.com).
MW

3,000
“The nature of this fluctuating renew-
able power requires other generation to
2,000
respond quickly to match the total load
demand and maintain grid stability,” said
1,000
GE LMS100 Product Manager Phil Tinne.
“The LMS100 machine is ideally suited to
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 this task: It can ramp power at 50 MW/
Hour min over a very wide load range while
staying in emissions compliance [with
exhaust system treatment for California’s
smooth curve, on an hourly and daily respond to these changes, CAISO has strict standards].”
basis, it is quite variable. set up a new control center with a dedi-
Solar is similarly unpredictable. On a cated renewables dispatch desk, which is Renewables and Transmission
day-to-day basis, you may know that it manned 24/7 in an attempt to stay ahead In addition to variability, the other prob-
will be cloudy or sunny, but each passing of changes in wind and solar output. lem posed by renewables is that these
cloud drops the output on a photovoltaic “We have a lot of high-tech tools in the generation sources are often sited far
array. “It is difficult to predict what wind data center such as geospatial map tech, so away from the load, increasing the need
is going to do from one day to the next,” we can see changes in weather conditions, to provide more reactive power.
said Clyde Loutan, senior advisor for the wind resource areas, and solar resource areas “When you go out into the desert and
market and infrastructure development and see output in real time,” said McCorkle. mountains to produce solar and wind en-
at CAISO. “The big challenge is balancing “The visuals will show changes in how much ergy, this power has to travel great dis-
wind and solar in real time due to sub- of installed capacity is actually producing tances on the transmission lines, which
hourly variations.” so our renewable dispatchers can try to put in many cases don’t even exist yet,” said
He said that CAISO can lose 500 MW a megawatt number on either the increase Ken Buttke, Jr. a power generation manu-
in 5 minutes due to wind drop or cloud or decrease and we can fire up the gas-fired facturers’ representative with South Port
cover. To improve the ability to rapidly generators to compensate for that.” Equipment in Agoura Hills, Calif. “As you

24 www.powermag.com POWER October 2012 |


load up these lines, you build up resistance, but by using syn- support, the transmission lines lacked the ability to carry
chronous condensing, you can boost the power factor up to a enough power to meet rising demand. In 1997, Key Energy
higher level and stabilize the voltage.” Services converted a decommissioned steam generating unit
A simple way to achieve this is to use the quick-start gas into a synchronous condenser, boosting the transmission
turbines as synchronous condensers. By putting a clutch be- lines’ capacity by 34 MW and improving stability.
tween the turbine and the generator, the generator can stay
synchronized to the grid, providing the necessary reactive pow- Some ISOs, including PJM Interconnection and the Midwest
er. Then, when active power is needed to compensate for a drop ISO, have markets for synchronous condensing, which make it
in renewable output, the turbine can quickly fire up, the clutch profitable for power producers to install clutches and provide
engages, and the unit starts generating electricity. Because the voltage support. In California—although LADWP, which man-
generator is already synchronized to the grid, the unloaded tur- ages its own grid, is setting up some of its new LMS100s to
bine can reach synchronous speed quicker, and there is less provide synchronous condensing—for the state as a whole,
wear on the turbine from the frequent stops and starts. (See CAISO does not have such a market, which limits the incentive
“How to Make VARs—and a Buck,” June 2007 and “CFE Extends for independent power providers to provide voltage support.
CTG Universidad Unit 2’s Life with Conversion to Synchronous However, as California looks to increase its renewable sources
Condenser,” August 2011 in the POWER archives for more infor- and back them up with gas turbines, such a market may be
mation on the value of synchronous condensers.) needed to provide the incentive for producing low-cost reac-
Utilities throughout the world have been installing clutches tive power to help stabilize the grid. ■
that allow idle generators to provide synchronous condensing —Contributed by Joe Zwers, a freelance writer from Glendale,
for more than 30 years. Here are four examples of how this ap- Calif., specializing in engineering and technology.
proach has worked to address different situations:
Predictive Maintenance That Works
■ British Columbia. Thirty-two hydroelectric plants provide This is the sixth in a series of predictive maintenance (PdM) ar-
BC Hydro with 87% of its generating capacity. To correct ticles that began in the April 2011 “Focus on O&M” in which the
the poor power factor of the electricity coming from the essentials of PdM were introduced. In this occasional segment,
remote generators, BC Hydro converted the six 150-MW we have explored specific PdM techniques, such as motor-current
steam turbine generators at a thermal plant in the Vancou- signature analysis, oil analysis and thermographic analysis and
ver area to operate as synchronous condensers. From April their routine use, and ultrasonic and vibration analysis. In this
to October, these generators provide electricity, and water issue we look at lubricating oil wear-particle analysis.
is allowed to build up behind the dams. During the other
half of the year, when natural gas is needed for residential Wear-Particle Analysis
heating, five of the generators are disconnected from the Wear-particle analysis can be used to determine the type, lo-
turbines and provide voltage support for the hydro power. cation, and severity of component wear occurring within the
Not only did this improve stability in Vancouver, it also lubrication or hydraulic system of a machine. This informa-
improved the power factor enough to allow the utility to tion can be used to troubleshoot suspected machine problems
sell more power to U.S. customers. and project an estimated time to failure. The technique allows
■ Western Australia. In Western Australia, three-quarters of equipment wear problems to be identified prior to serious de-
the population lives in or near the city of Perth, but much terioration or failure so that repairs can be made on a planned
of the generation has switched to steam plants located at basis during scheduled downtime. Wear-particle analysis can be
coal mines, cogeneration facilities, alumina refineries, and used on machines that have a circulating oil system, including
the 180-MW Emu Downs Wind Farm, all of which are located steam and gas turbines, generators, hydraulic systems, diesel
about 200 kilometers from the city center. To provide the and gasoline engines, gearboxes, and compressors. For the most
necessary reactive power near Perth, Verve Energy recently accurate results, samples should be taken from an active, low-
retrofitted three of the nine GE Frame 6 turbines at its Pin- pressure line, ahead of any filtration devices. For consistent
jar Gas Turbine Power Station with clutches so they can results and accurate trending, samples should be taken from
operate as synchronous condensers when not generating the same place in the system each time; using a permanently
power, joining the three units that originally came with installed sample valve is highly recommended.
clutches 20 years ago. Most independent labs supply sample containers, labels,
■ Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Pow- and mailing cartons. If the wear-particle analysis is to be
er (LADWP) is in the middle of a repowering project at its done by a lab, all that is required is to take the sample; fill
Haynes Power Station. Although the project was mandated in information about the machine number, machine type, and
by a state regulation limiting the use of seawater for cool- sample date; and send it to the lab. Results are normally
ing, LADWP is using switching to GE LMS100 generators to available within 24 to 48 hours of receipt of the sample at
give it the quick-start capabilities needed to support its the lab. If the analysis is to be done onsite, analytical equip-
increasing renewables portfolio and is installing clutches ment must be purchased, installed, and standardized. Once a
on two of the units so they can provide necessary voltage sample is taken, information about it is entered on the form,
support when peaking isn’t required. it is taken to the onsite lab, and the results are available as
■ Key West. The City of Key West, Fla., has its own local gen- soon as the analysis can be scheduled.
erating station but found it was more economical to import If an in-line measurement device is used, a permanent sample
power from the mainland. In 1987 it started using dual 138 port or monitor must be installed. Wear-particle concentrations then
kV transmission lines to connect with a Florida Power & Light can be monitored continuously and the results of the analysis made
station 185 miles away. However, because the City of Key immediately available. Some instruments allow data to be down-
West was at the end of a radial system and lacked voltage loaded directly to a computer for trending and further analysis.

26 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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CIRCLE 17 ON READER SERVICE CARD


Wear-particle analysis can be used to determine the number, size, Monitor Machine Wear Trends
composition, and shape of ferrous and some nonferrous wear par- Monitoring oil condition over six or eight sample periods can
ticles. Some techniques also permit visual examination of the col- indicate improper maintenance or repair practices. These can
lected particles, which can include additional nonferrous materials include: improper installation or removal of bearings, inad-
such as seal or gasket material. The presence of large ferrous wear equate lubrication, the failure to properly flush out a sys-
particles can indicate severe wear; and the presence of large quan- tem after repair, improper installation or repair of seals and
tities of small wear particles may be important if there are close- packings, improper fluid- or lubricant-handling procedures
tolerance valves whose surfaces can become eroded. One analysis that introduce water or dirt contamination, or improper filter-
technique calculates the ratio of small to large particles, noting that handling or replacement techniques. Consistently excessive
when this ratio changes significantly, a severe wear process has be- wear in the same machine or machine type can also indicate
gun. Another calculates the total weight of wear particles present a poor design. This can include bearings or gears that are not
in the sample and trends that value as an indicator of the severity adequately sized for the speed or load, inadequate lubrication,
of the wear process. A third technique measures the concentration or inadequate filtration.
of ferrous wear particles, noting that an increase in concentration is Wear-particle analysis is limited by the consistency and timeli-
often indicative of the start of a severe wear process. ness of the sample. The value of trended information diminishes
Spot-checking is used primarily when someone suspects that quickly if samples are not taken from the same place on the ma-
the equipment has a severe wear problem. The resultant data can chine each time, and the longer a sample sits before it is shipped
be compared with data from similar machines that have previ- and analyzed, the less significant the data will be. These con-
ously been identified as having a wear problem and those that cerns can be diminished by using an onsite lab or a diagnostic
are operating normally. If the suspected machine has a sufficient system with a permanently mounted sample port or sensor. For
number of large or severe wear particles, further examination and critical or expensive equipment, the added hardware and training
corrective action should be taken immediately. Continuing to oper- cost can be a very cost-effective investment.
ate equipment with high levels of wear particles can substantially
increase component wear and contribute to a severe failure. More Coming
Periodic analysis can provide a more subtle indication of grad- In the next segment of “Predictive Maintenance That Works,”
ual component wear and the transition from normal wear to a we’ll continue our discussion of specific nondestructive test-
critical or severe wear process. This advance notice of potentially ing condition-monitoring techniques used at power plants
serious wear problems means that repairs or replacements can be and why each should be a part of your PdM program. ■
planned in advance and be made at a convenient time. —Dr. Robert Peltier, PE is POWER’s editor-in-chief.

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28 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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New Approaches to
Project Mitigation
By Rick Glick

he First Law of Thermodynamics holds that the amount of state that water quality standards will be maintained. Because

T matter and energy in the universe is constant and that no


new matter or energy can be created. The corollary Second
Law is that when energy is put to use, unusable energy or entropy
the Snake River is the border separating Idaho and Oregon, and
because the HCC discharges from both sides of the river, certifica-
tion is required from both states. The approach to addressing HCC
results. One lesson—other than to beware of lawyers purporting to water quality impacts includes a combination of water quality
lecture on physics—is that everything we do has a consequence. trading and water marketing.
The construction and operation of new power-generating facil-
ities have consequences. Regardless of the technology and fuel, Develop Ecomarket Solutions
development and operation of any facility, whether fossil-fueled The Snake River upstream of the HCC is heavily used, both for
or renewable, involves environmental trade-offs. Environmental withdrawals to serve irrigated agriculture and for municipal and
impacts require mitigation, and each state and federal agency industrial wastewater discharge. The two most significant wa-
has its own view of the type and extent of mitigation required ter quality issues concerning the HCC are dissolved oxygen and
before a permit is issued. temperature. One solution to the environmental challenge posed
The rules regarding impacts to water and wetlands generally by the dissolved oxygen would be to install a mechanical aera-
follow this pattern: If a wetland is disturbed, equal or more acre- tion device to pump oxygen into the largest reservoir’s transition
age of replacement wetlands must follow. If the facility results zone. Another resolution would be to conduct a water quality
in warmer water temperatures or depleted dissolved oxygen, the trade with an upstream discharger. Although both alternatives
project sponsor must take action to ensure standards are met. would likely positively address regulatory requirements for the
dissolved oxygen requirement, the trade would provide better
Focus the Mitigation Effects outcomes both in the reservoir and in upstream river water qual-
There is growing recognition that many of the mitigation proce- ity. It would also eliminate ongoing operation and maintenance
dures imposed do little to protect the environment. Why? Because expenses, including the energy to operate the aerator.
the mitigation is directed at the point of impact—not where the Temperature presents a trickier challenge, but it is equally ame-
highest watershed outcomes can be achieved. nable to an ecomarket approach. In its CWA Section 401 applica-
For example, a water temperature standard can be met by in- tion, Idaho Power has proposed a watershed approach to meet the
stalling a mechanical chiller, or through large-scale riparian reveg- HCC temperature responsibility. There are engineered solutions to
etation programs. The former hits the target immediately, while meeting the applicable temperature standard, such as pulling cold
the cooling effect from the latter may take years. But the chiller water from the bottom of Brownlee reservoir. The result would be
takes energy to operate and results in cooling in the immediate cooler temperatures immediately below the HCC, but nowhere else.
area of the discharge, while planting trees throughout the water- Idaho Power and federal fishery agencies strongly believe that fish-
shed results in much broader ecosystem benefits. One doesn’t need ery habitat would not be significantly improved. At the request of
to be an ecologist to embrace this concept; it’s intuitive. the agencies, Idaho Power is investigating the risk of pulling up 50
Agencies and the public understand and are beginning to em- years of accumulated contaminants from the bottom of the reser-
ploy new approaches to regulatory compliance. The Environmental voir. The ecomarkets approach could put mitigation dollars where
Protection Agency (EPA) and state environmental regulatory agen- they could best accomplish habitat improvement through water-
cies have incorporated water quality trading principles into their shed restoration. The long-term environmental benefits could far
permit programs. For example, if nutrient loading is the concern, a exceed those resulting from the engineered approach.
compliance program may be structured whereby the permittee pays The need to implement forward-thinking solutions is pressing as
an upstream farm to capture runoff and apply it to land, for which society confronts the trade-offs between growing energy demand
the permittee gets credit. Some states, like Oregon, have enacted and environmental impacts. Ecomarket approaches offer a prom-
legislation to develop “ecosystem services markets” as state policy. ising opportunity to find cooperative, cost-effective solutions to
The concept is that a permittee could pay for allowing riparian these problems that may provide better protection for the resource.
plantings or wetlands restoration on the landowner’s property, Ecomarkets do not supplant a vigorous regulatory scheme. Rather,
which would constitute compliance with permit conditions. they should be seen as an important adjunct focused on delivering
An interesting application of such ecomarkets solutions is the best environmental outcomes at the lowest cost. ■
presented in the context of Federal Energy Regulatory Commis- —Rick Glick (rickglick@dwt.com) is a partner in Davis Wright
sion (FERC) relicensing of Idaho Power Co.’s Hells Canyon Com- Tremaine’s Environmental Practice Group. Davis Wright Tremaine
plex (HCC). The HCC is an almost 1,200-MW hydroelectric facility attorneys represent Idaho Power Co. in the FERC relicensing and
comprising three dams on the Snake River: Brownlee, Oxbow, and CWA Section 401 proceedings for the Hells Canyon Complex.
Hells Canyon Dams. As part of the relicensing effort, Clean Water The views expressed herein are those of the author and are
Act (CWA) Section 401 requires certification from the affected independent of the firm’s representation of its clients.

30 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
Westinghouse AP1000
Online in 2013
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under construction and on schedule

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he AP1000 design is the only advanced plant that can ofer regulatory
certainty with the recent issuance of Final Design Certiication from
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and interim design
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China and six in the US. Construction is underway on four units
in the US (Vogtle and VC Summer), ater receiving their combined
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remain on schedule, with the irst Sanmen unit on track to produce
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he AP1000 plant is ready to provide future generations with safe,


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CIRCLE 20 ON READER SERVICE CARD


TOP PLANTS
C.P. Crane Generating Station,
Middle River, Maryland
Owned/operated by Constellation Energy

Courtesy: Constellation Energy

A desire to do things right led Constellation Energy to invest $70 million to convert
its 400-MW C.P. Crane Generating Station to burn Powder River Basin coal and de-
velop the culture critical to making that conversion a success. In addition to being
named a 2012 POWER Top Plant, the PRB Coal Users’ Group recognized the plant for
its efforts with its Plant of the Year Award.
By David Wagman

Changing More Than Fuel

I
n March 2011, Constellation Energy systems throughout the plant as well as con-
completed a conversion project at its 400- In converting the Crane Station to burn PRB ducting extensive training on how to safely
MW, two-unit C.P. Crane Generating Sta- coal, “they did it the right way,” said Randy handle the dust-prone and volatile fuel. That
tion, allowing it to burn up to 100% subbi- Rahm, president of CoalTech Consultants training even extended to first responders in
tuminous coal. The project was driven by an and executive director of the PRB Coal Us- the Baltimore fire department.
effort to comply with Maryland Healthy Air ers’ Group (PRBCUG). In particular, plant “You can’t have a lot of coal lying around
Act (HAA) regulations and resulted in the operators and senior executives at the com- in the power plant because of its highly com-
increased use of subbituminous coal, largely pany reached out to the industry for advice bustible nature,” Butler said. To help control
from the Powder River Basin (PRB) in Wyo- and best practices through the users’ group. dust inside the plant, C.P. Crane relocated its
ming and Montana. “They had the PRB Users’ Group involved coal crushers from inside the boiler house
The plant was originally developed by all the way through,” Rahm said. Operators to the coal yard and added new fine-grind
Baltimore Gas & Electric Co., which became considered a range of opinions and expert crushers, a crusher building, interconnect-
Constellation Energy, and has been operating advice and made decisions based on experi- ing conveyors and structures. The crushing
as a merchant generator since 2001. The plant ence and best practices. For these reasons, equipment is isolated from primary air ducts
is dispatched into the PJM day-ahead market. the PRBCUG selected the C.P. Crane Gen- and includes carbon monoxide (CO) monitor-
Crane Unit 2 provides regulation capability, erating Station as its Plant of the Year and ing systems and a deluge system that can be
and both units supply reactive capacity. As recognized its accomplishments during a activated remotely. What’s more, operators
a condition of Constellation’s 2011 merger banquet at the ELECTRIC POWER Confer- began washing down the boiler house twice
with Exelon, the plant—along with two oth- ence in Baltimore in May. a year. Coal-handling equipment is washed
ers in Maryland—is being divested for $400 “A major initiative was to clean up around down daily (Figure 1).
million to Raven Power, a unit of Riverstone the plant,” said Bill Butler, Crane Station gen- Modifications also were made to ash-
Holdings LLC. eral manager. That involved washing down handling systems, including segregating air

32 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
TOP PLANTS
heater hopper material from fly ash and add-
1. Change in culture. A major undertaking was cleaning the plant and eliminating
ing a fly ash treatment system to prevent ash
coal spillage due to subbituminous coal’s highly combustible nature. Shown are conditions
from settling during unloading and transport. after the PRB coal conversion made cleanliness a part of the plant’s new operating culture.
Altogether, the conversion cost around $70 Courtesy: Constellation Energy
million and required extensive environmental
permitting and planning. Constellation viewed
this expenditure as prudent both to protect the
generating asset and the personnel who work
there. “The company had the desire to make
sure we did this right,” Butler said.

Unit Characteristics
C.P. Crane Unit 1 is nominally rated at 190
MWnet and began operating in 1961. Unit
2 is nominally rated at 195 MWnet and be-
gan operating in 1963. The boiler units are
cyclone-type, which feed coal in a spiral
manner into the furnace’s combustion cham-
ber. Each unit is equipped with a baghouse
to control particulate matter emissions as
well as overfire air and selective noncatalytic
reduction (in the form of urea injection) to
control NOx emissions. Powdered activated
carbon injection systems are also installed
and provide additional mercury emissions
reductions as needed.
Crane historically burned bituminous coal
from the northern Appalachian region. This
coal has a relatively high heat content (about handle the increased gas flows that result from was missed as part of the daily washdown/
12,100 to 13,100 Btu/lb) but typically has a burning PRB coal at current maximum loads. cleaning procedure. Plant operators made
relatively high sulfur content (about 1.6 to Constellation tested a range of subbitu- structural modifications to gain access to
2.3 wt% sulfur). Crane’s permit allows SO2 minous coals at C.P. Crane during 2008 and the area for cleaning and also modified the
emissions of up to 3.5 lb/MMBtu, which cor- 2009 under test burn approvals granted by plant’s hot work procedures.
relates to approximately 2.3% sulfur. state regulators. Crane tested subbituminous Then, in September 2011 elevated CO
Subbituminous coal such as that from coals from different mines in the PRB as well levels were detected at coal silos, the result
the PRB is typically characterized as hav- as an international subbituminous coal from of an exothermic reaction due to wet coal.
ing lower heat content (about 8,500 to 9,400 Indonesia. During these tests, Crane evalu- Operators addressed this problem by lower-
Btu/lb), but it typically has a much lower ated operational and environmental impacts ing silo levels and keeping the coal moving.
sulfur content (about 0.1 to 0.5 wt% sulfur). when burning different blends of subbitumi- Butler recommended using CO monitoring
Most subbituminous coals have ash charac- nous coal with bituminous coals. Operators and thermography as useful predictors of
teristics that are compatible with cyclone found that, generally, subbituminous coal developing problems. Also that month, a fire
boilers. The lower sulfur content results in could be burned at the plant, but PRB was broke out on the A-V coal feeder belt, which
significantly lower SO2 emission rates, as best burned as a blend with bituminous coal. stemmed from wet coal hiding out in the belt
low as 0.4 to 0.5 lb/MMBtu. When high feed rates and/or blends of roller when the feeder was idled in advance
As part of the Crane Station conversion, PRB were burned, combustion was less ef- of a unit shutdown.
Constellation proposed to change or re- ficient, there were higher levels of unburned Finally, in March 2012, smoldering coal
place the rail car dumper to allow for longer carbon in the fly ash, and full load was diffi- was discovered on a reclaim feeder, the re-
rail cars with a larger volume of coal to be cult to maintain for extended periods of time. sult of “old” coal sitting inside a Syntron feed
dumped in the existing railcar dumper build- Increasing the fineness of the coal through chute. A degraded chute allowed air ingress,
ing. Subbituminous coal is less dense than bi- the new crushers had a significantly positive which led to the smoldering.
tuminous coal, so larger rail cars can be used impact on combustion efficiency and helped Handling subbituminous coal safely and
to transport the higher volumes of coal. As a improve furnace tapping as well. efficiently “all starts with housekeeping,”
result, Crane’s rotary railcar dumper had to Butler told the PRB Users’ Group. He recom-
be modified to handle the larger cars. Lessons Learned mended painting coal-handling areas white
Because subbituminous coals typically The sometimes-unpredictable nature of sub- and washing down equipment and surfaces.
have lower heat content and higher bound bituminous coal was driven home at the Crane Above all, he emphasized, “don’t get com-
moisture content than bituminous coals, more Station by several teachable moments that placent.” In addition, Butler recommended
of it is needed. The existing coal feeders were Butler discussed in a presentation at the PRB using the PRB Users’ Group and other PRB
found able to provide the required higher coal Users’ Group meeting in May. First, in Au- users as sources for best practices. “They are
feed rates. After engineering evaluations and gust 2010 the plant experienced a fire on its willing to help and are tied by the common
system considerations, the blades on the exist- E Belt tail pulley that resulted from hot work bond of safety for any user,” Butler said. ■
ing induced draft fans for Units 1 and 2 were being performed in the area. This ignited coal —David Wagman is POWER’s
tipped to help ensure the plant was able to in a part of the coal-handling equipment that executive editor.

|
October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 33
TOP PLANTS

Merrimack Station’s Clean Air


Project, Bow, New Hampshire
Owner/operator: Public Service Co. of New Hampshire

To comply with the New Hampshire law governing mer-


cury emissions, Merrimack Station management recent-
ly installed a single scrubber system on the facility’s two
coal-fired boilers. The plant’s Clean Air Project was com-
pleted on Mar. 30, 2012, ahead of schedule and under
budget. Now the 440-MW Merrimack Station has reduced its
mercury and sulfur dioxide emissions by
more than 95% and is one of the cleanest
coal-fired power plants in the nation.
By Angela Neville, JD

Courtesy: Public Service Co. of New Hampshire

Strict Project Management Pays Off

T
he 440-MW Merrimack Station is Public had a challenging, tight configuration with
Service Co. of New Hampshire’s (PSNH) PSNH selected URS Corp. to manage the numerous constraints and restrictions.
largest power station. As the PSNH fleet’s Clean Air Project. The utility asked URS to “However, with a fully integrated design,
workhorse, the facility strives to be a role model develop a realistic and current cost estimate engineering, and construction effort, a re-
in its environmental compliance efforts. in the early stages of the project. To ac- serve was developed beyond contingency
In 2006, the Multiple Pollutant Reduction complish this goal, URS issued preliminary funds as a result of strict project and contract
Program, Mercury Emissions was enacted, specifications to the key bidders (FGD tech- management,” Hitchko said. “This resulted
requiring mercury emission reductions from nology, limestone/gypsum storage and han- in the top line budget estimate being lowered
existing coal-burning power plants in New dling, chimney equipment, and wastewater twice—once from $457 million to $430 mil-
Hampshire. The law required PSNH to install treatment system) to seek both technical and lion with two years to go and the second from
wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) technol- price feedback. Hitchko explained that “this $430 million to $422 million with one year to
ogy at its Merrimack Station. To meet the new effort set the stage well for quality specifi- go. Even with unforeseen incremental chang-
law’s July 1, 2013, compliance deadline, PSNH cations used for the formal bidding effort es causing unexpected costs, the project was
developed its Clean Air Project and began con- and greatly contributed to the site-specific able to absorb these costs and still be under
struction in March 2009, Mike Hitchko, PSNH project cost development. The initial cost of the newest budget projection.”
project manager, told POWER in August. this project was never increased, and the end
“PSNH’s installation of pollution control value was under budget by 7.6%.” Clean Air Project Overview
equipment at the Merrimack Station has been The project’s initial budget was $457 mil- The project team placed the FGD system in
driven by state initiatives,” Hitchko said. “How- lion, which was based on the site-specific, service on Sept. 28, 2011 (mechanical com-
ever, this will serve the station well as emerging two-into-one, asymmetrical scrubber to be pletion) when the first unit’s flue gas was
federal regulations become obligations.” installed. Hitchko pointed out that the plant processed through the scrubber. The Clean

34 www.powermag.com |
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CIRCLE 21 ON READER SERVICE CARD


TOP PLANTS
1. Fighting flue gas pollutants. Management at the 440-MW Merrimack Station re- built in the 1960s and are not designed to op-
cently installed a single scrubber system to cut mercury and sulfur dioxide emissions. The flue erate with negative pressure excursions. The
gas desulfurization absorber vessel, which is made of alloy 2205 stainless steel, is shown with project required additional new booster fans for
its flue gas inlet connection. When this photo was taken, the vacuum filters had been set in each unit with fan discharges tied together in a
place and the building’s steel, stair tower, and elevator were being erected. Courtesy: URS common plenum leading to the absorber inlet.
Unit 1 incorporated an absorber bypass to
atmosphere using an original Unit 2 stack to aid
in providing an open flow path for boiler vent-
ing and to allow limited single-unit operation
independent of FGD system outages. Both units
have booster fan recirculation ducts that allow
a portion of the flue gas to bypass the absorb-
er vessel when the recirculation dampers are
opened, effectively flattening the fan operating
curve and assisting with fan control during inde-
pendent unit startup and low-load operation.
Wastewater Treatment System Design
Evolution. The WWTS consists of an inno-
vative physical-chemical treatment system for
FGD wastewater, using well-established tech-
nology that has the benefit of two decades of
worldwide operation. Following the physical-
chemical treatment system, the FGD wastewa-
ter is directed through a treatment subsystem
that is specially designed to address the FGD
Air Project achieved substantial completion people. This number, however, is supple- wastewater generated by Merrimack Station’s
on Mar. 30, 2012. Initial emission perfor- mented with contractors during planned out- FGD system. This enhanced treatment system
mance results indicate a reduction of 97% to ages. Hitchko said that nine new positions polishes the treated FGD wastewater to achieve
98% for mercury emissions and 96% to 98% were added to the station staff due to this additional removal of mercury, arsenic, and
for sulfur dioxide emissions. Further testing Clean Air Project—eight physical worker other metals, as well as further reduction in total
is planned, including additional performance positions and one engineering position. suspended solids concentrations. Using proven
tests and state testing (Figure 1). wastewater polishing techniques, this subsys-
Major subcontractors for the Clean Air Proj- Putting Safety First tem employs filters and two different types of
ect were Sterling Boiler (FGD system), North- Working at an operating plant poses numer- adsorbent media. This enhanced system was
ern Peabody (wastewater treatment system), ous safety challenges. Therefore, safety was added to meet state effluent limits.
Merrill Iron & Steel/AZCO (duct and steel a priority at the earliest stages of the project. Hitchko explained that due to the U.S. En-
components), AZCO (mechanical work), and Hitchko explained, “URS effectively incorpo- vironmental Protection Agency’s reluctance to
E.S. Boulos (electrical work). rated constructability review input and ‘design provide National Pollutant Discharge Elimi-
Other contractors included: for safety’ protocol into the design process, nation System (NPDES) modifications to ac-
helping to contribute to a safe construction commodate the state-reviewed and approved
■ Engineering and design of secondary waste- site without impacting plant operations. This scrubber liquid effluent, the project team had to
water treatment system (WWTS) to elimi- was especially true for the ductwork and steel add a secondary WWTS to the project scope in
nate effluent discharge: Burns & McDonnell erection, where crane access was limited and early 2011. He said, “This equipment reduces
■ Engineering and design of a potential adjust- the weights of duct sections needed to be coor- the system effluent to zero and thus does not
ment protection system to mitigate A2205 dinated with the construction work plan.” need any NPDES approvals. The recently is-
absorber vessel corrosion: Sargent & Lundy One of the design criteria that resulted from sued new draft NPDES permit for Merrimack
■ FGD technology and erection: Siemens En- the design review process was the use of walk- Station is in a comment/review period, which
vironmental ways on top of all of the ductwork with stair will extend the date for a final NPDES permit
■ WWTS, including physical/chemical process access to all platforms, which provided a safe even further into the future.”
with enhanced mercury and arsenic filtration working environment for plant operations and Acoustical Modeling Design Impact. In
technology: Siemens Water Technology maintenance personnel. The project achieved addition to ductwork and limited accessibility
■ Limestone and gypsum handling and storage over 1.6 million man hours worked without a issues, the design was further challenged when
equipment and erection: Dearborn Mid-West lost-time accident. acoustical modeling resulted in the need to add
Conveyor an acoustical enclosure around the booster fans.
■ Chimney equipment and erection: Hamon Innovative Design Features Because the enclosure was added subsequent to
Custodis The Clean Air Project included a number of the fan/ductwork design phase, it created addi-
■ Distributed control system: Emerson technologies customized for the Merrimack tional design and construction challenges. The
■ Wastewater treatment system, includ- Station. large enclosure ensures that the project’s acous-
ing distillation and evaporation process: Two-into-One Absorber. The project con- tic design goals are achieved and that the project
Aquatech figuration includes a single absorber vessel and will have negligible acoustic impact on the sta-
FGD system to serve the two-unit plant, and tion’s neighbors. ■
Under normal operating conditions, the each unit operates independently. The boilers —Angela Neville, JD is POWER’s
Merrimack Station employs more than 100 are positive pressure, cyclone burner design, senior editor.

36 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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CIRCLE 22 ON READER SERVICE CARD
TOP PLANTS
Northside Generating Station,
Jacksonville, Florida
Owner/operator: JEA

Courtesy: JEA

Since the Northside Generating Station’s two repowered units were placed into ser-
vice in 2002, a series of modifications and repairs have been undertaken to make
its two circulating fluidized bed boiler plants reliable. The two chief problems were
ash agglomeration on heat transfer surfaces and poor Intrex heat exchanger per-
formance. JEA reports these problems have been permanently resolved, and data
shows the two units have joined the top tier of reliable fossil plants.
By Dr. Robert Peltier, PE

T
he original Northside Generating Station the total cost of Unit 1. At the time of construc- award: “The development of a successful re-
(NGS) consisted of three oil/gas-fired tion, the two CFBs were among the world’s powering strategy for converting existing oil/
thermal plants: Units 1 and 2 were 275- largest. Foster Wheeler supplied the extended gas-fired steam plants to solid fuels to increase
MW designs; Unit 3 was 618 MW. Unit 1 be- boiler island scope, which included the CFB efficiency while reducing both emissions and
gan service in 1966, Unit 2 was built in 1972 boilers and air quality control system, as well the cost of electricity.”
but was idled in 1983, and Unit 3 was com- as engineering, procurement, and construction
pleted in 1977. The need for additional base- management services. Black & Veatch provided Operational Realities
load generation prompted a 1997 study that supplemental engineering services to JEA. JEA CFB boilers were designed to burn 100%
concluded Units 1 and 2 were good candidates Construction began on the two units in July coal or 100% petcoke or a mixture of both.
for repowering: removing the old boilers and 1999. Initial synchronization of Unit 2 oc- The desired fuel at the time of commissioning
replacing them with new ones. Negotiations curred on Feb. 19, 2002, followed by Unit 1 was 100% petcoke, as it was the lowest cost
with Foster Wheeler and the U.S. Department on May 29, 2002. As part of the cooperative fuel. JEA successfully burned petcoke/coal
of Energy (DOE) produced a contract under agreement, the DOE cost-shared two years of blends in both units, although higher ratios of
the DOE’s Clean Coal Technology Program demonstration test runs, during which both petcoke and 100% petcoke quickly produced
for the construction of two circulating fluid- coal and coal/petroleum coke (petcoke) blends agglomeration of ash in the integrated recycle
ized bed (CFB) boilers nominally rated at 300 were to be fired. Other specific details of the heat exchanger (Intrex) and furnace heat trans-
MW each. Unit 3 continues to operate today, project design can be found in the final techni- fer surfaces within weeks. Unable to maintain
principally on natural gas with oil backup. cal report issued in June 2005. steam temperatures, the plant was forced to
The official project title was the JEA Large- In 2002, POWER named NGS its Plant of shut down to remove the excessive ash buildup.
Scale CFB Demonstration Project. The DOE the Year Award (then called the Powerplant Further testing found that a maximum blend of
cost-shared about 25% in the first unit (Unit 2), Award) winner. In the September 2002 is- 70% petcoke produced minimally acceptable
and JEA paid the remaining cost of Unit 2 and sue, the editors noted the justification for the plant reliability.

38 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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M220EM circle 23 on reader service card


TOP PLANTS
However, a 70% petcoke mix required two the two-year demonstration period was that ■ Ash buildup (agglomeration) in the Intrex
to four outages a year to remove ash buildup “the Intrex design is not viable, and [Foster caused loss of fluidization; plugging of the
and agglomeration. The plant also faced other Wheeler] is no longer offering this design cyclones quickly followed by loss of steam
challenges, such as limestone feed problems feature on new CFB boilers.” temperature control. The solids buildup
and stripper cooler plugging, cyclone furnace was first observed during furnace startup in
problems, and myriad Intrex superheater tube Ending Ash Agglomeration 2002.
failures, to name the worst offenders. During JEA chose to forgo a plant modification to ■ Frequent tube leaks in the Intrex super-
calendar years 2003 and 2004, the plant aver- eliminate the Intrex superheater that cost an heater tubes were due to stress-corrosion
aged 6,146 hours of operation with a 62.3% estimated $40 million per unit and required cracking. The root cause was ash buildup
capacity factor and an equivalent availability extensive outage time. Instead, it attacked the on the tubes that resisted tube thermal ex-
factor of 65.8%—well below industry averag- problems through data analysis and continuous pansion, occasional overheating, and the
es. Ash agglomeration and performance of the improvement of the existing systems. ash-filled corrosive environment within
Intrex units had become chronic problems. Solving the ash agglomeration problem each Intrex.
Each boiler has three enclosures, and each required a long-term design and test project
box contains both a loop seal and superheater to produce permanent and reliable solutions. Between 2007 and 2009, Intrex performance
coil with the loop seals submerged in a bath Rather than discuss those details in the lim- continued to improve through data analysis and
of semi-molten 1,700F ash (Figure 1). Intrex ited space available in this article, a compan- process optimization. Final modifications were
operational problems included superheater ion report, “Reducing Ash Agglomeration in made to the Intrex in the fall of 2009 during a
tube support failures and cracking of super- JEA’s CFB Boilers,” is included in this issue tube replacement outage. NGS staff performed
heater tubes, plus agglomeration of hot loop (p. 52). That article focuses on the process a complete in-house redesign of the Intrex. The
material within the boxes whenever less used to identify the particular agglomeration designers realized well-controlled airflow was
than 30% coal was burned. By the close of mechanisms at work and the permanent solu- essential to ensure good circulation within the
the two-year demonstration period, the same tion that was implemented at NGS. In brief, Intrex units to prevent agglomeration of sol-
two problems remained unresolved: agglom- the injection of a specific reagent at a rate of ids on the tubes and for improved combustion
eration of ash on heat transfer surfaces in the 1.8% of the fuel flow (by weight) has virtu- in the CFB. With those changes in mind, the
boiler and Intrex units and poor mechanical ally eliminated ash agglomeration in the CFB following modifications were made to each
performance of the Intrex units. Together, boilers. That permanent solution was imple- Intrex:
these two problems accounted for a major- mented in June 2008.
ity of the 13.3% equivalent forced outage rate ■ Tube supports that improved fluidization
(EFOR) average for both CFBs from 2003 to Intrex Superheater Fix and eliminated ash buildup from restricting
2008. Despite the many CFB improvements and tube thermal expansion were added and/or
In the words used in the final report (June modifications made between 2006 and 2008, moved.
2005—three years after startup), “long term the Intrex remained extremely problematic, ■ The weir walls (adjacent to the superheater
modifications to mitigate these issues on causing frequent shutdowns and power output tubes) were replaced with an ash-retaining
Northside CFB boilers are ongoing.” One limitations. Generally, there were two interre- wall to aid furnace circulation.
lesson learned by Foster Wheeler during lated phenomena: ■ Return cells that eject ash from each Intrex
were redesigned.
■ Intrex fluidization air supply and valves
1. Chasing agglomerated ash. The circulating fluidized bed boiler produces steam
were replaced.
in the furnace section but superheats the steam in the Intrex units and in other superheater
tubes, as shown. The ash-fuel-limestone mix circulates vertically from the furnace, through the
cyclones and Intrex units, and then back to the furnace via the loop seal. Ash agglomeration and Top Tier Statistics
mechanical design problems with the Intrex were a chronic problem since plant startup in 2002. The NGS CFBs, which currently burn up to
Source: JEA 90% petcoke, had an average 0.7% EFOR for
fiscal year (FY) 2011 (starting Oct. 1, 2010)
and have averaged 0.25% EFOR thus far in
FY2012. These operating statistics place NGS
in the top tier of U.S. fossil plants.
In addition, the CFBs have seen a signifi-
cant improvement in long-term heat rate with
Primary superboiler these improvements, and forced outage costs
Coal silo have nearly disappeared. JEA also has been
(5) Reheat superheater able to avoid over $90 million in capital proj-
Cyclones ects such as further boiler redesigns, Intrex re-
(3) placements, and stripper cooler replacement.
Finally, during the 2009 fall outage, the
original 1966-vintage steam turbine low-pres-
Air heater sure rotor was replaced in each unit. Together
Furnace with other modifications, the output of each
unit was boosted by about 15 MW, further
improving each unit’s heat rate and producing
Intrex (3) significantly higher power sale revenue. ■
Stripper cooler —Dr. Robert Peltier, PE is POWER’s
editor-in-chief.

40 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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CIRCLE 24 ON READER SERVICE CARD
TOP PLANTS
Tanjung Jati B Electric
Generating Station’s Expansion
Project, Central Java Province,
Republic of Indonesia
Owner/operator: PT PLN (Persero)

Courtesy: Black & Veatch

Units 3 and 4 expand the Tanjung Jati Electric Generating Station’s capacity by adding
1,320 MW of reliable power that helps to boost Indonesia’s growing economy. Now
the 2,640-MW coal-fired facility provides approximately 12% of the electricity avail-
able on the Java-Bali grid. The new units feature a flue gas desulfurization system and
electrostatic precipitators that reduce air emissions and protect the environment.
By Angela Neville, JD

D
elivering reliable electricity to more electricity demand throughout the country is “The electricity provision in the Central
than 238 million citizens in a country estimated to grow at an average rate of 9% Java Province is already in surplus. However,
with more than 17,000 islands is no per year until 2019, according to a statement we hope that the expanded operations of the
easy matter. Despite the challenges, PT PLN, released by Sumitomo Corp., one of the ma- Tanjung Jati B coal-fired power plant will
the state-operated utility, is working hard to jor contractors involved in the Tanjung Jati bring more investment and large-scale indus-
meet Indonesian electrical needs. The coun- B plant’s expansion project. tries to the province that, in turn, will lead to
try is the largest economy in Southeast Asia To solve the national power shortage more job opportunities,” PLN President Di-
and a member of the G-20 major economies. problem, the Indonesian government de- rector Nur Pamudji said in February.
According to World Trade Organization data, veloped the first and second Tanjung Jati B Overall, Indonesia still has a large need
Indonesia was the 27th biggest exporting construction programs in 2006 and 2010, for electric power, and there are many op-
country in the world in 2010. respectively. The 660-MW Unit 3 achieved portunities for future generating stations,
The Tanjung Jati B Electric Generat- commercial operation on Oct. 13, 2011, Michael W. Johnson, project manager of
ing Station is doing its part to carry out the and the 660-MW Unit 4 started operating the Tanjung Jati B expansion project and
national energy strategy of bolstering eco- on Jan. 1, 2012. The Tanjung Jati B expan- associate vice president at Black & Veatch
nomic growth. Indonesia has been facing sion project is expected to help the country (B&V), told POWER in August. “The Tan-
a tight electricity demand/supply situation reach the national electrification target of jung Jati Units 3 and 4 expansion project is
in line with the increased electricity needs 70.6% this year, equal to 2.5 million new helping Indonesia to meet its power needs,
that come with economic growth. Moreover, customers. and it also serves as a model for other devel-

42 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
CIRCLE 25 ON READER SERVICE CARD
TOP PLANTS
oping countries throughout the world. The Despite the fact that multiple entities minimal impact on the operation of existing
expanded plant generates approximately 8.5 were involved in procurement, supply, con- units during construction and commission-
billion kWh/year of electricity,” he said. struction, and commissioning, all construc- ing of the coal-conveying system. Johnson
tion with commissioning occurred within said, “The pipe conveyor design is such that
Expansion Project Profile the time available and met all project mile- the conveyor can make a directional change
Located on a 150-hectare plot, Units 3 and 4 stone dates, Johnson said. without the addition of a transfer tower and
required a total investment of approximately additional conveyors. Yard piping was also
$2.08 billion from the Japan Bank for Inter- Promoting Top Environmental routed in such a way that no impact oc-
national Cooperation and other commercial Performance curred to the existing facility.”
banks (Figure 1). The design of Tanjung Jati Units 3 and 4
Sumitomo Corp.’s erection division per- includes a flue gas desulfurization system Successful Integration of Chinese
formed mechanical and electrical construc- and electrostatic precipitators to reduce air Equipment
tion for all Unit 3 and 4 areas, except the emissions. Johnson explained that, “togeth- A significant project hurdle involved us-
boiler island. Other major contractors for er with the equipment installed at Units 1 ing Chinese equipment for the boiler island
the expansion project included Mitsubishi and 2, the project includes some of the first auxiliary equipment supply. Johnson said
Heavy Industries Ltd. (furnished and erected examples of modernized air quality control that this challenge was “amplified” by the
the boiler island) and Mitsui Engineering and technology at a major power plant in Asia.” fact that the China-sourced equipment was
Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (civil construction). Indonesian law requires that the boiler erected by an Indonesian erection contrac-
The B&V-supplied equipment was erected island’s environmental control equipment at tor who, in turn, was supervised by Japanese
by Sumitomo and also subcontracted to an In- Units 3 and 4 (supplied by B&V) meet sulfur contractors. In the past, Chinese contractors
donesia national contractor with Japanese su- dioxide (SO2) emission limits of 300 mg/Nm3 who were most familiar with the Chinese-
pervision. Johnson noted that “China-sourced and total particulate matter emission limits of sourced equipment were in charge of erect-
equipment supplied by B&V was not erected 50 mg/Nm3 at the stack outlet. In addition, ing this equipment during construction
by a Chinese contractor,” which proved to be a Indonesian environmental law required lime- projects.
challenge. Toshiba Corp. Power Systems Co., stone consumption guarantees. Johnson explained that prior to the Tan-
as a separate entity working for Sumitomo, “The Chinese-supplied environmental jung Jati expansion project the B&V proj-
provided the turbine island’s equipment, in- control equipment, as demonstrated during ect team spent several years screening and
cluding the turbine, condenser, transformers, performance testing, was able to achieve prequalifying Chinese equipment suppliers.
and distributed control system (DCS). SO2 and particulate matter emission values Specifically, they focused on selecting the
significantly lower than these limits,” John- most qualified Chinese companies based on
1. From the ground up. Units 3 and son said. “Limestone consumption was also their ability to meet the quality, schedule,
4 at Tanjung Jati Electric Generating Station significantly lower than required.” and cost requirements, and their demon-
in Indonesia are shown during the initial con-
strated track record of meeting performance
struction phase. Now that the two younger
sibling units are operational, they share the
Building at an Operating Facility guarantees. During the expansion project,
workload with Units 1 and 2. The 2,640-MW Original planners of the Tanjung Jati power the B&V project team closely monitored the
coal-fired power plant provides approximately plant designed the site to accommodate the Chinese equipment suppliers’ performance
12% of the electricity available on the Java- addition of two more units, and Units 3 and through extensive document reviews and ap-
Bali grid. Courtesy: Black & Veatch 4 are essentially independent of the first plying a rigorous quality review program.
two. For example, the two new units have a One example of the challenges the B&V
separate control room. project team members faced was when they
Johnson said that B&V’s scope for the had to integrate some Chinese equipment
project was engineering and procurement, control requirements with a Japanese-
plus commissioning for the boiler island supplied DCS. Johnson said that resolving
auxiliary equipment package. B&V was not this problem required close communication
directly responsible for construction. How- and coordination to ensure all the Chinese
ever, coordinating the design and equipment equipment’s control needs were met and
supply to interface with an operating facility integrated into the overall plant DCS con-
presented challenges. B&V’s design had to trol requirements.
ensure that there would be minimal impact “The utilization of Chinese-sourced
to Units 1 and 2’s operations during con- equipment and materials built to Chinese
struction and commissioning. This required codes and standards for the boiler island
consideration of the existing plant operation auxiliary equipment and then integrating
and maintenance requirements during the it with non-Chinese equipment supplied
construction phase. by others was quite challenging,” Johnson
Johnson explained that the coal-handling said. To overcome such obstacles, the Chi-
system design presented a complex challenge nese equipment had to be delivered on time,
because Unit 3 and 4’s coal storage area is on erected by others, and then commissioned
the west side of the site, although Units 3 and by B&V to support all project milestones.
4 are located east of Units 1 and 2. Therefore, Fortunately, the Chinese equipment met all
coal conveyors were designed to route coal required performance guarantees by a sig-
across Units 1 and 2 to reach Units 3 and 4. nificant margin, according to Johnson. ■
The project team used a pipe conveyor to —Angela Neville, JD is POWER’s
transport coal across the existing facility for senior editor

44 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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CIRCLE 26 ON READER SERVICE CARD


TOP PLANTS
Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center,
Virginia City, Virginia
Owner/operator: Dominion Virginia Power

Dominion’s 585-MW Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center, located in southwestern Vir-
ginia, relies on two circulating fluidized bed boilers that burn coal and local waste
coal mixed with up to 20% biomass. The project also features
one of the industry’s largest air-cooled condenser systems to
minimize the plant’s water usage. The $1.8 billion project en-
tered commercial service July 10, on budget and on schedule.
By Dr. Robert Peltier, PE

Courtesy: The Shaw Group Inc.

D
ominion Virginia Power (Dominion) is is considered renewable under the Virginia in the nation. Emerson Process Management
Dominion Resources Inc.’s electric dis- RPS. A video featuring the power station is supplied the distributed control system.
tribution company in Virginia. Unlike available at http://yt.cl.nr/iF4vA6C-Hqs. VCHEC will burn coal waste products
most large utilities, Dominion continues to ex- found in numerous waste coal piles in the re-
perience load growth, anticipated to be around Plant Design Recycles Waste gion, reducing the environmental impact of
4,000 MW over the next decade. In addition, Two Foster Wheeler fuel-flexible circulating water runoff from those piles that often reach-
Dominion has committed to meet the state’s fluidized bed (CFB) boilers, designed to burn es streams and rivers. Removing and burning
renewable portfolio standard (RPS) of 15% coal, waste coal, and wood, form the heart of this coal waste will enable landowners to recti-
generation from renewable sources by 2025. the 585-MW plant. The steam produced by the fy legacy environmental problems. The CFB’s
Dominion’s latest project addresses these two boilers powers a single 668-MW nameplate fuel flexibility allows the plant to burn a wide
supply requirements with a single plant. steam turbine provided by Toshiba. The low- range of regional waste coals while enjoying
The latest addition to Dominion’s fleet is emissions CFB combustion system is further the use of this low-cost fuel supply.
the $1.8 billion Virginia City Hybrid Energy supplemented by air quality control equipment, The plant also incorporates many water-
Center (VCHEC), located in Wise County, which includes a dry scrubber, baghouse partic- saving design features not found in the typical
Va., about 40 miles north of Bristol, Tenn. ulate filter, selective noncatalytic reduction sys- coal plant. For example, water recycled from
This facility burns a combination of coal and tem, and activated carbon injection system to leachate from the solid waste storage facility
coal waste, plus up to 20% biomass (by ener- minimize mercury emissions. Dominion notes is used in the dry scrubber and for ash wetting.
gy input) each year, equivalent to about 1.08 that the Prevention of Significant Deterioration Water usage at the plant is about one-tenth
million tons of wood (as-fired). The facility and Maximum Achievable Control Technol- that of the typical coal plant of similar size.
operating permits require burning a mini- ogy permits contain some of the most stringent Overall, VCHEC approaches zero wastewater
mum of 10% biomass, provided adequate emissions requirements for any coal plant ever discharge when the plant is operating.
wood resources are available. Thus, a per- in the U.S. SPX Cooling Technologies provid- Facility performance also was improved
centage of VCHEC’s electricity production ed the air-cooled condenser, one of the largest by recycling waste heat from the CFB boiler

46 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
TOP PLANTS
Delivering the Generator Stator. The
1. Unloading biomass. The Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center’s circulating fluidized bed
combustion system is capable of burning a variety of fuels. In addition to run-of-mine coal and waste
generator stator weighs almost 800,000 pounds,
coal, the station can burn up to 20% biomass and wood chips. Here, a truck full of biomass is being making it the project’s heaviest equipment de-
unloaded at one of the two truck unloading stations. Courtesy: The Shaw Group Inc. livery. The logistics of moving the stator to the
project site required crossing more than 176
miles of Tennessee and Virginia roads and se-
curing Department of Transportation permits
for the 42 bridges crossed. Each bridge permit
required a study to confirm the bridge’s ability
to handle the 265-foot-long, 22-foot-wide, 640-
ton load (the weight of the stator, trailer, and
tow vehicles)—a process that took much longer
than expected. The project team resequenced
the stator installation so that the delivery sched-
ule did not affect the project’s critical path.
Recovering from Fire Damage. In Febru-
ary 2012, with the project 99% complete and
well into the final stages of commissioning, a
fire started on the roof of the boiler building
in the early hours of a Saturday morning. A
damage assessment found that a significant
section of the building roof and more than
400 electrical circuits were damaged, requir-
ing replacement. A strong coordinated effort
and excellent work by craft labor recovered
bed ash system discharge stream to directly on critical components for tracking, and the projected three-week schedule loss in a
preheat the boiler feedwater, improving the skilled craft labor was selected to manage each single week. According to Shaw’s project
overall plant heat rate. This was an innova- laydown yard. Second, instead of bringing in- manager, Josh Skudlarick, “This could have
tive engineering design and a first for a Foster dividual components to the job site, extensive been a devastating event, but by a strong team
Wheeler CFB plant design. modularization away from the power block effort working together with a positive ‘can-
was used. When completed, large assemblies do’ attitude, we achieved a quick recovery.”
Construction Challenges Overcome were then delivered as the schedule required.
Dominion awarded the engineering, procure- Locating Fuel Storage Areas. As with Safety Is Everyone’s Business
ment, and construction contract for the new laydown area, finding permanent coal and Safety was the number one priority on the proj-
plant to The Shaw Group Inc. in February 2007. wood storage areas on a limited plant site ect. Key metrics and forward-looking indicators
Full notice to proceed was issued when the final was equally challenging. The solution was to were developed with the goal of preventing in-
air permit was approved on June 30, 2008. Site use the topography to advantage. Unloading juries. In addition, all recordable and near-miss
mobilization was under way in January so that facilities are strategically placed higher in el- incidents had a root cause analysis performed
construction immediately began on the day the evation than the storage areas to minimize the to further mitigate future incidents. Notably, the
permit was received. Erection of the CFB boilers civil work. The coal storage area, designed to first 7,673,304 consecutive work hours were
began in April 2009, and steam turbine erection hold enough coal for 10 days of operation, is completed without a lost-time accident. Overall,
began the following February. Boiler first fire at a higher elevation than the plant to simplify the safety results are commendable:
was completed in November 2011, followed by material handling. For biomass, dozers push
first synchronization on Mar. 7, 2012. The plant the material against the side of the mountain, ■ No fatalities
was declared commercial on July 10, 2012. which is used as a backstop. Biomass fuel is ■ Occupational Safety and Health Adminis-
The project team overcame a number of unloaded by two truck-unloading skids adja- tration recordable incident rate: 1.68
significant challenges during construction, par- cent to the biomass storage pile, also sized ■ Lost-time accident rate: 0.12
ticularly with regard to logistics, fuel handling, for 10 days of operation (Figure 1).
piping, and equipment deliveries. Accelerating Piping Installation. Accel- More Biomass Plants Coming
Determining Laydown Yard Logistics. erating the boiler hydrostatic tests one month In addition to VCHEC, Dominion also owns
The project site is located in a mountainous for logistical reasons slowed the progress of the 83-MW Pittsylvania Power Station in Hurt,
region of southwestern Virginia with no sin- plant piping installation on the remainder of Va., that burns biomass. Dominion Virginia
gle area on the plant site large enough for all the plant. When an analysis of the schedule Power also received approval from the Vir-
the material storage. In fact, during construc- found that the rate of piping installation would ginia State Corporation Commission in March
tion, Shaw used nine different remote storage need to be accelerated to 17,000 linear feet per 2012 to convert three existing coal-fired units
and equipment laydown yards. At the peak of month—more than twice the initial rate—the to burn biomass. Altavista, Hopewell, and
construction, the project received more than project team established a pipe installation re- Southampton Power Stations are all single-
900 truck deliveries per month of material covery plan, reorganized the field engineering unit plants rated at about 63 MW on coal, but
and equipment that was off-loaded at one of and construction teams, and increased the re- they will produce about 51 MW when burn-
the designated remote laydown yards. sources assigned to the work. The successful ing biomass. Dominion says the conversions
The project team solved its logistical prob- recovery plan pushed piping installation to as should be completed by the end of 2013. ■
lems using a two-pronged approach. First, ra- high as 21,000 linear feet per month, and the —Dr. Robert Peltier, PE is POWER’s
dio frequency identification tags were placed project was soon back on schedule. editor-in-chief.

|
October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 47
TOP PLANTS
Yeongheung Power Station Unit 3,
Yeongheung Island, South Korea
Owner/operator: Korea Southeast Power Co.
The insatiable power demands of a huge modern metropolitan area
like Seoul call for both big thinking and flexibility. The successful launch
of this large, state-of-the-art supercritical coal plant required adapting
to unforeseen changes in fuel supply while meeting highly restrictive
environmental controls. The resulting high-availability facility is a POWER
Top Plant.
By Thomas W. Overton, JD

Courtesy: Korea Southwest Power Co.

S
outh Korea’s booming economy over as a component of the mix (see the Global from local and environmental groups, up to
the past several decades has dramati- Monitor in the April 2012 issue of POWER), and including blockades of the site entrance
cally improved the standard of living about two-thirds of its capacity is thermal, and interference with construction. The plan
in this nation of 50 million people. But, as in mostly coal-fired. to build high-voltage takeaway lines over
many other countries in East Asia, electrical Korea Southeast Power Co.’s (KOSEP’s) the sea (because of geographical restrictions
generation and transmission have struggled Yeongheung Power Station is located on inherent in the island location) was a par-
to keep up with demand. The problems are Yeongheung Island, about 40 kilometers ticular sticking point. Unraveling the oppo-
especially acute in the region around the cap- from Seoul. KOSEP, one of five companies sition took years of negotiation and public
ital. The Seoul metropolitan area accounts for spun off from the Korea Electric Power outreach.
41% of the nation’s total electricity consump- Corp. (KEPCO) in 2001 as part of the re- The second phase of the project comprised
tion but only 24% of total generation, mean- structuring of the Korean power industry, Units 3 and 4. However, this phase would en-
ing a large percentage of Seoul’s electricity began the project in 1999. The 800-MW counter its own series of obstacles.
must be imported from elsewhere. The cost Units 1 and 2 began commercial operation Units 1 and 2 had used T91 steel for the
of this long-distance transmission has been in 2004. These supercritical once-through, boiler tubes, which had experienced numer-
estimated at around $5 million per year. one-pass type boiler units were selected as ous instances of tube rupture near the su-
To meet demand, South Korea has been a 2005 POWER Top Plant. perheater. The boiler operating conditions
adding capacity at a rapid pace, more than Despite the critical need for new capac- are 3,500 psia, 1,050F main steam and 590
doubling its total since the late 1990s. Though ity in the area, phase one of the Yeongheung psig, 1,100F reheat steam. Careful study of
it has ambitiously pursued nuclear energy project encountered substantial opposition these incidents eventually showed them to be

48 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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CIRCLE 27 ON READER SERVICE CARD
TOP PLANTS
a result of scale formation and consequent
1. Bringing it all together. The Yeongheung facility uses an integrated control room to
overheating. The tubes would overheat when monitor conditions and operation across all four generating units. Courtesy: Korea Southwest
scale came off the inner walls and accumu- Power Co.
lated at the bends, disturbing fluid flow.
In order to address this problem, the tube
design for Units 3 and 4 was changed to in-
corporate TP347 stainless steel, which has
better strength at high temperatures. In ad-
dition, temperature monitoring was greatly
expanded. The original design had thermo-
couples installed at only 46 points; the up-
graded design incorporated monitoring of all
1,157 boiler tubes. The additional monitoring
allowed overheating to be detected early and
addressed by unclogging the blocked areas
with steam blowing using the high-pressure
turbine bypass valve.
Unit 3 entered commercial operation in
2009 and has an 870-MW supercritical two-
pass, once-through boiler. The net plant ther-
mal efficiency is 43.4%.
Major contributors to the project included:

■ KOPEC: architecture and engineering


■ Hyundai Construction, SK Construction, and Such advanced monitoring and controls, and ABS buildup, but the cost and loss of gener-
Samboo Construction: plant construction a commitment to efficient operation, enabled ating capacity led Unit 3 operators to experi-
■ Doosan Heavy Industries: boiler island Unit 3 to achieve an almost 100% capacity fac- ment with washing only one chain of the draft
and air quality control equipment tor in 2011, with zero forced outages. The plant system without shutting down the whole plant.
■ Hitachi: steam turbine generator uses an integrated control room for all four units, Though this proved to be very difficult, the re-
■ Emerson Process Management: integrated enabling operators to monitor conditions across sults were satisfactory, and the Yeongheung
control and monitoring system, including the entire facility (Figure 1). plant is now planning to introduce the tech-
Ovation expert control system niques developed to enable washing under
Emissions Restrictions normal operation in the future.
Fuel Challenges Because of its close proximity to the capital, Unit 3 is a zero-liquid discharge facility.
As originally designed, all of the Yeongheung Yeongheung Unit 3 is subject to strict environ- Wastewater is treated in accordance with Ko-
plant units were built to burn bituminous and mental restrictions. The plant employs selective rean government regulations via catchment,
high-quality subbituminous coal with an op- catalytic reduction (SCR) for NOx removal and neutralization, cohesion, precipitation, filter-
timum calorific value of around 6,000 kcal/ a wet electrostatic precipitator for particulate ing, and absorption. Wastewater is reused as
kg. However, increased demand, especially control. A high-efficiency flue gas desulfur- feedwater for the desulfurizer, and wastewa-
in Asia, has decreased the availability and ization facility is used to remove sulfur oxides ter from the desulfurizer is reused again as
increased the costs of high-quality coal. As a (SOx). The plant was designed to emit very low feedwater for treatment of fly ash. More than
result, the plant has been forced to switch to concentrations of pollutants: SOx—25 ppm, 5 billion tons of wastewater were reused in
lower-quality subbituminous and brown coal NOx—15 ppm, and particulates—5 mg/Sm3. 2010, and almost $300,000 were saved by
of around 5,400 kcal/kg. In practice, it has exceeded expectations and not buying industrial water.
Though fuel costs have been reduced, the has been able to achieve levels of 22 ppm, 13.5
use of highly moist and low–calorific value ppm, and 2.9 mg/Sm3 respectively. Poised for the Future
coal carries other problems with it. It increas- The environmental controls are especially The addition of Yeongheung Units 3 and 4 to
es the volume of flue gases and thus increases important because the local municipality, the generation base has resulted in a substan-
the load on the draft system. It also results Incheon, is preparing to host the 2014 Asian tial decrease in transmission losses and in-
in more slagging, as well as increasing the Games. The need to provide an attractive, creased grid stability, which is critical to the
volume of sulfur- and nitrogen oxide (NOx) healthy environment for the games places a ever-growing South Korean economy. Unit
emissions, which leads to increased costs for higher standard on environmental controls. 3 has demonstrated an impressive reliability
emissions controls. The Yeongheung plant is upgrading its des- record over the past year.
To ensure that the cost savings from the ulfurizing and denitrifying equipment to cut The Yeongheung site is theoretically large
cheaper coal were not offset by higher oper- emissions even further, to 14 ppm, 12 ppm, enough to incorporate 12 coal-fired plants
ating costs, a task force was created to study 2.5 mg/Sm3 respectively. similar to Units 1–4. Units 5 and 6, currently
the changes necessary to handle the differ- The strict controls have necessitated some under construction, are scheduled for com-
ent fuel. Among other adjustments, opera- creative operational adjustments, however. pletion by December 2014. This will allow
tors at Unit 3 lowered the pulverizer outlet The SCR suffered from heavy ammonium the plant to serve up to 30% of the capital
temperature. In addition, in order to address bisulfate (ABS) buildup because of higher area’s demand. Two more units, Units 7 and
the increased volume of flue gases, the plant volumes of ammonia being used, which led 8, are planned. ■
increased the draft flow by 12% through al- to fouling of the air preheater. Normally, the —Thomas W. Overton, JD is POWER’s gas
teration of the fans. whole unit needs to be shut down to remove technology editor.

50 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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CIRCLE 28 ON READER SERVICE CARD
COAL COMBUSTION
Reducing Ash Agglomeration in
JEA’s CFB Boilers
A chronic operational problem with circulating fluidized bed boilers is ash
buildup or agglomeration that turns into slag, which forces frequent
shutdowns for cleaning. Solving the problem is tricky, because com-
bustion efficiency relies on good fuel quality, but the best fuel for
efficiency may not be the best fuel for minimizing furnace and tube
fouling and ash plugging.
By John Kang, Ron Beverly, and Dan Porter, JEA and Bill Leach, Imerys

J
EA owns and operates five generating plished is described in the remainder of time between failures ranged between two
plants in northeastern Florida with a this article. and four months, and the forced outage
generating capacity of approximately rate was around 10%. Figures 1 and 2 il-
3,600 MW. Included in this fleet are two JEA CFB: The Early Years lustrate the as-found condition of the In-
300-MW Foster Wheeler circulating fluid- The CFBs were riddled with problems dur- trex final superheater and backpass reheat
ized bed (CFB) boilers, located at JEA’s ing the first six years of operation. The two superheater tubes after only two to three
Northside Generating Station (NGS). units experienced numerous chronic prob- months of operation.
When this plant was built in 2002, these lems related to combustion quality and ash In 2007, JEA shifted its focus from cap-
were the largest CFBs in the world. NGS agglomeration. Some of the problems that ital improvements to operational improve-
was POWER’s 2002 Plant of the Year. reduced combustion efficiency and pro- ments using Six Sigma–based process
JEA’s NGS is also recognized as a 2012 duced high forced outage rates included: optimization methods. Six Sigma analyses
Top Plant for its long-term CFB improve- showed that ash buildup was one of the
ment work, as discussed in the companion ■ Frequent unit shutdowns due to ash key root causes contributing to most of
article (p. 38) and detailed below. buildup in the superheaters.
Many operational problems plagued ■ Chronic plugging of the bottom ash re- 1. Ash avalanche. These horizontal pri-
the CFBs, beginning shortly after entering moval system, resulting in unit load re- mary superheater tubes were completely
commercial service. One of the chronic duction and unit trips. fused together. Removing this agglomerated
ash buildup required a forced outage and, of-
operational problems was ash buildup, ■ Extended outages due to cyclone plug-
ten, explosives. Courtesy: JEA
or agglomeration, triggering frequent ging.
boiler shutdowns for cleaning. Specifi- ■ Ash buildup in the furnace.
cally, NGS’s boilers routinely experienced ■ Excessive operating temperatures.
furnace grid fouling—severe ash buildup ■ Superheater tube leaks due to high-tem-
in the primary, secondary, and reheat su- perature operation.
perheaters. The units also experienced
frequent forced outages caused by ash During the early years, JEA tried to
plugging and poor reliability of the bottom correct these operational problems with
ash removal system. numerous boiler modifications, but with
NGS is not alone in battling slag depos- minimal success. The general theme of the
its. A February 2006 EPRI report, “Ash boiler modifications was to improve ash
Deposition Impact in the Power Industry,” fluidization and combustion by forcing
found that “slagging, fouling, and fuel more air to critical areas or improving air 2. Chunky ash. Huge “rocks” of ag-
blending continue to be the leading coal distribution. In addition to the extensive glomerated ash were collected in the Intrex
final superheater that required an outage for
quality concerns of utility personnel [at fluidization improvement studies, many
removal. Courtesy: JEA
coal-fired plants] . . . with an estimated expensive boiler modifications were com-
annual economic impact of over $1.2 bil- pleted, including:
lion.” In CFB boilers, the agglomeration
potential is naturally high due to the pres- ■ Furnace division wall removal.
ence of a large quantity of ash circulat- ■ Superheater tube bundle redesign and
ing in the hot loop (see the sidebar for a replacement.
description of NGS’s CFB boilers and the ■ Furnace grid nozzle replacement.
location of major components). ■ Stripper cooler and Intrex nozzle resizing.
JEA has successfully eliminated ash
deposits throughout the JEA boilers af- These early modifications produced
ter years of effort. How this was accom- units that were more reliable, but the mean

52 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
COAL COMBUSTION

Inside the JEA Circulating Fluidized Boiler System


The coal burned in the Northside Generating filters are used for particulate control. As the fuel particles burn, they become
Station moves through three separate por- Furnace temperature is maintained in lighter and, with the help of additional air
tions of the gas path before the remaining the range of 1,500F to 1,700F by efficient that constantly turns the particles over in a
gases are released into the atmosphere: the heat transfer between the fluid bed and the fluid-like motion, they are carried higher in
circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler; the water walls in the boiler. This relatively low the combustor. The limestone absorbs about
cyclone, Intrex, and other heat exchangers; operating temperature inherently results in 90% of the sulfur in the fuel (as SO2).
and the post-combustion air quality steps, appreciably lower NOx emissions compared
such as flue gas desulfurization and particu- with pulverized coal–fired power plants. Cyclone and Heat Recovery
late removal systems and stack. However, the project also includes a new se- At the cyclone inlet located at the top of
lective noncatalytic reduction system, using the combustor, aqueous ammonia is inject-
CFB Boiler reaction with ammonia to further reduce NOx ed into the flue gas to further reduce NOx
The fuel-handling system receives petroleum emissions to very low levels, as required by produced in the furnace, converting it to
coke, coal, and limestone and conveys it to the stringent environmental regulations for molecular N2. The cyclones provide for ef-
stock-out and storage areas. The materials the JEA project. ficient mixing of the flue gas and ammonia
are reclaimed and conveyed to the in-plant Steam is generated in tubes placed along as well as sufficient residence time at the
fuel silos and to the limestone preparation the walls of the combustor and superheat- optimum operating temperature for effec-
system for limestone sorbent. ed in tube bundles placed downstream of tive NOx reduction.
Coal fuel blends, along with primary air the particulate separator to protect against The hot ash and limestone pass through
and a solid sorbent such as limestone, are erosion. The system produces approximate- the Intrex exchanger before being recy-
introduced into the lower part of the com- ly 2 million lb/hr of main steam at 2,500 cled to the bottom of the combustor. In
bustor, where initial combustion occurs (Fig- psig and 1,000F, and 1.73 million lb/hr the Intrex exchanger, superheated steam
ure 3). As the fuel particles decrease in size of reheat steam at 548 psig and 1,000F. is produced in tubes over which the hot
due to combustion, they are carried higher The steam flows to the turbine/genera- ash returning to the combustor flows.
in the combustor, where secondary air is tor, where electric power is produced. The The steam flows into the cyclone inlet
introduced. As the particles continue to be design heat rate is 9,950 Btu/kWh (34% panels, through the cyclone walls, into the
reduced in size, the fuel, along with some overall thermal efficiency, higher heating convection cage wall, through the primary
of the sorbent, is carried out of the com- value basis). superheater, and into the intermediate and
bustor, collected in a cyclone separator, and As the solid mixture of burning fuel and finishing superheaters that reside within
recycled to the lower portion of the com- sorbent rises, it ignites and begins a con- the Intrex exchanger. Solid material, con-
bustor. Primary removal of sulfur is achieved trolled “slow burn.” The slow burn process sisting primarily of ash and CaSO4, is re-
by reaction with the sorbent (limestone) in maintains temperatures below 1,600F across moved from the bottom of the combustor
the bed. Additional SO2 removal is achieved a large area, minimizing the production of and sent to byproduct storage.
through the use of a downstream polishing pollutants. At temperatures above 1,600F, The hot gases leaving the top of the
scrubber using a spray dryer absorber. Fabric production of NOx increases significantly. cyclone enter additional reheater/super-
heater tubes that also generate steam
3. Process diagram for JEA’s Northside Generating Station. for the turbines. The still-hot flue gas is
Source: DOE/JEA used to preheat the main combustion air
Air High-pressure steam Lower-pressure steam before it is introduced to the bottom of
Water Particulate Lime slurry the furnace.
Feedwater
Steam
Econo- Air Quality Management
Ammonia mizer Heated air
injection Cyclone After the reheater/superheater, the flue
to boiler
Circulating Lime gas enters an air quality control system,
fluidized-bed slurry
boiler where it travels downward through a pol-
Coal/coke Limestone Particulate ishing scrubber that applies lime slurry
control
device to absorb SO2. Following the scrubber,
Secondary Intrex
air Stack
the flue gas passes through a baghouse
Air containing fabric filters to further clean
Polishing the gas before it is sent up the stack. The
scrubber collected particulates, which are sent to
Reheat To byproduct storage
exchanger Condenser byproduct storage, include trace metals
Air Air Steam captured in the fabric filters.
Bottom
ash —From “The JEA Large-Scale CFB Com-
bustion Demonstration Project,” Topical
To byproduct storage Generator Report 22, March 2003, Department of En-
Steam turbine ergy/JEA. Edited by Dr. Robert Peltier, PE

|
October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 53
COAL COMBUSTION
the boiler problems. Specifically, proper commissioned to determine the mechanisms sodium, potassium, and chlorides that were
air and fuel flow distribution and fluidized of agglomeration in NGS’s units. The work acting as catalyst bonding agents. Analyses
bed level control were the key parameters involved a year-long study of microscopic showed that these alkali compounds volatil-
that must be optimized. An extensive study and chemical analysis of ash and “rock” ize at relatively low temperatures, such as
followed with the specific purpose of im- samples collected from various regions with- those encountered during boiler operation.
proving boiler ash chemistry as a means to in NGS’s boilers. While in vapor phase, the alkali com-
minimize ash agglomeration. pounds were acting as “glue,” which fused
State-of-the-art technology was employed What Causes Agglomeration? the ash particles to form a larger mass of
to aid in researching the mechanisms of ash Results from the study of ash and combus- agglomerated ash formations. Addition-
buildup. For example, Microbeam Technolo- tion residue found that the primary bond- ally, the alkalis contributed to formation
gies Inc., a company with extensive experi- ing mechanism in the ash samples was the of low–melting point phases that liquefied
ence in the field of solid fuel research, was presence of alkali compounds containing at CFB temperatures and acted as a binder
within these ash formations. Further inves-
tigation showed that the alkali salts were
present in significant amounts in the fuel
and limestone burned at NGS. The alkali
™ content in the petcoke and limestone was
up to six times higher than the manufac-
turer’s fuel specifications.
In sum, the poor performance of the
NGS units was due to burning fuel and
Modular Skirtboard System limestone that did not meet the original
fuel specification, which caused poor
combustion chemistry, ash quality, and in-
sufficient ash fluidization. Specifically, ex-
The Economical Solution for your Transfer Point Needs cessive alkali content in the delivered fuel
was a significant root cause of many of the
combustion and equipment reliability is-
sues experienced with NGS’s CFB boilers.
In simple terms, the ash produced by the
combustion process was “sticky” and did
not flow off the tubes and other internal
boiler parts, as designed (Figure 4).

Finding a Solution
Using Microbeam’s technology, NGS con-
ducted an extensive evaluation of suitable
inert additives that would disrupt the bond-
ing chemical reaction between the ash par-
ticles, which would improve ash chemistry
and reduce ash agglomeration. One product
selected for testing was a kaolin-based fuel
additive produced by Imerys. After exten-
sive testing, Imerys’ Aurora fuel additive
was found to successfully disrupt the ash-
bonding mechanisms and greatly improve

4. Coal alkali culprits. An electron


micrograph of agglomerated ash shows the
MAXIMIZING: ash particles and the “bonding” agent. The
• Operating Efficiency electron micrograph was used to identify the
• Plant Safety chemical compositions of the particles pres-
ent in an ash sample. Courtesy: JEA
• Flow of Material

© Benetech, Inc. • www.benetechusa.com • 1-800-843-2625

CIRCLE 29 ON READER SERVICE CARD

54 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
COAL COMBUSTION
the flowability of the ash. Chemical analysis
of ash samples, and significant improvement In sum, the poor performance of the
in the run time between outages, showed that
Aurora was very effective at eliminating ash
NGS units was due to burning fuel and
agglomeration. The optimum dosage of the
product was determined by a 30-day test tri-
limestone that did not meet the original
al. JEA settled on a feed rate of 40 tons/day fuel specification, which caused poor
per unit, a rate equaling approximately 1.8%
of the fuel (by weight).
combustion chemistry, ash quality, and
The ash fusion or “stickiness” problem insufficient ash fluidization.
was based on soluble alkali elements in the
fuel, mostly sodium and potassium. The consists of the soluble compounds of these formations found in the cooler areas of the
boiling point of sodium is 1,621F, and for elements, including hydroxides, chlorides, boiler, such as heat transfer surfaces.
potassium it is 1,398F, so these elements and sulfates. These compounds condense The agglomeration process begins at
volatilize at boiler operational tempera- on cooler surfaces (such as tubes) and even lower temperatures. At about one-
tures. Each forms a vapor phase, which form the sticky deposits leading to slag half the alkali melting temperature, the ash

5. Intrex superheater before using 6. Intrex superheater after using 7. Furnace grid before using Aurora.
Aurora. Courtesy: JEA Aurora. Courtesy: JEA Courtesy: JEA

CIRCLE 30 ON READER SERVICE CARD

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October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 55
COAL COMBUSTION
becomes sticky and bonds with other par- form in almost three years. The unit forced
8. Primary superheater tubes af- ticulate matter that comes in contact with outage rate has improved from over 13% to
ter using Aurora. Courtesy: JEA
the surface, increasing in size. The process less than 1%, by 2011. Figures 5 through 9
repeats itself to form larger agglomerated illustrate the improved boiler cleanliness that
ash formations. As the quantity of bonded has resulted from using the Aurora additive.
ash grows, more fuel is required to achieve Long-term performance trends show
adequate steam temperatures, reducing the key performance metrics—such as gross
efficiency of the boiler. megawatts, heat rate, bed level, ammonia
Aurora chemically captures the alka- use, main steam temperatures, and the
lis before they can form low–melting point like—have all improved with Aurora use
compounds. Aurora forms an intermediate (Figures 10 and 11). The loop seals and
compound at boiler operating temperatures portions of the furnace grid that required
that is highly porous and reacts with high up to 10 days of jack-hammering to remove
efficiency. The intermediate compound then agglomerated ash are now cleaned with a
reacts with alkalis to form alkali alumino- vacuum truck in a few hours. Convection
9. Sticky ash is gone. Primary super-
silicates, which exhibit much higher melting tubes are found to be clean with drastically
heater tubes after two years of continuous op-
eration show little ash accumulation. Compared point temperatures and lack the stickiness of reduced scale buildup. JEA units are now
with Figures 1 and 2, the reduction in ash ag- the alkali compounds at CFB temperatures. operating for a third year with no backpass
glomeration is remarkable. Courtesy: JEA cleaning and zero cyclone plugs. Previous-
Back in Business ly, two or three cleanings were required
The NGS CFB boilers have not experienced every year. By 2011, the forced outage rate
any significant ash buildup-related inci- was less than 1% and the units exceeded
dents—such as cyclone plugs, unit deratings design megawatt output—a record that
due to ash removal system problems, or unit continues today.
shutdowns for boiler cleaning—since use of In addition to performance improve-
the Aurora additive began in June 2008. The ment, there was tangible improvement to
backpass of the boiler, which prior to 2008 the plant’s air emissions when using the
required explosive blast cleaning every three Aurora additive. Simultaneously, there
to six months, has not been cleaned in any were no net changes in NOx and SOx emis-

CIRCLE 31 ON READER SERVICE CARD

56 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
COAL COMBUSTION

10. Steady data. Trends of main steam temperatures and CFB bed pressure drop have greatly
improved since Aurora was introduced. The data shown is for Unit 2 and covers the period from
Jan. 1, 2006, through Jan. 21, 2009. Aurora was introduced in June 2008. Source: JEA

MW Steam temp (F) Bed DP (in. H20)


WANT POWER

Steam temp, F and CFB bed pressure drop (in. H20)


400
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1000

800
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340
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11. Stable fuel and lime consumption. With the addition of Aurora, fuel and lime news for power
consumption is much more stable, which is indicative of steady, long-term boiler efficiency. The
data shown is for Unit 2 and covers the period from Jan. 1, 2006, through Jan. 21, 2009. Aurora generators weekly
was introduced in June 2008. Source: JEA

MW Fuel flow (tons/hr) Limestone flow (tons/hr)


400 250
380 Fuel and limestone flow (tons/hr)
Subscribe now to
360 200

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MW

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Date Just visit our


sions output, yet NGS now spends $1 refinements by optimization analyses and web site—
million less for ammonia to achieve NOx fine-tuning of the boilers resulted in an un-
compliance and has not experienced any precedented forced outage rate of less than www.powermag.com
emissions excursions since using Aurora.
The additive has had minimal impact on
1% in 2010, 2011, and the first half of 2012.
Cost savings related to combustion im-
—to subscribe.
ash being used for landfilling or beneficial provement and process optimization is es-
reuse. The only significant effect identi- timated conservatively at $22 million per
fied was if the bed ash were to be used in year, in addition to the $1 million saved
the production of such products as bricks through reduced ammonia usage. As a very
or construction substrate, the resulting
product would have a lower compressive
welcome side benefit, NGS now produce
an extra 1.5% of power, with the same
Start your free
strength. Finally, permitting authorities
have deemed Aurora an “inert” substance
amount of fuel consumed prior to the addi-
tion of Aurora. ■
subscription
and thus exempted the product from air —John Kang (kangjj@jea.org) is today!
emission permitting requirements. manager of reliability engineering,
By improving fluidization within the Dan Porter is plant engineer, and Ron
CFB boiler, and thus combustion, JEA has Beverly is CFB specialist for JEA. Bill
achieved the goal of long-term reliability Leach (bleach@k-tclay.com) is director
and maximum operating efficiency. Further of research for Imerys.

|
October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 57
THE FUTURE OF COAL
Are Economics Trumping Regulation?
The fate of coal-fired generation remains fluid as owners weigh environmental
rules, the effect of low natural gas prices, and the shifting cost of investing
in emissions control technology. An analysis of generating unit data sug-
gests that smaller, older, less-efficient, and less-frequently dispatched as-
sets are most vulnerable to retirements. Recently accelerated retirement
dates for some units indicate that economic factors are a more important
determining factor than pending environmental mandates.
By David Wagman

T
wo of the nation’s largest consumers environmental rules like the Mercury and Air port released in May by the Electric Power
of coal for electric power generation Toxics Standards (MATS), “a closer look at Research Institute (EPRI), which suggested
said in July that their cost to comply the facts suggest that retirement decisions may that compliance costs could be reduced by
with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have nothing to do with environmental regula- as much as $100 billion industry-wide if en-
(EPA) emissions rules will be less than they tions at all and everything to do with economics vironmental regulators offered flexibility in
initially thought. brought about by sustainable lower natural gas complying with emission rules.
Four other utilities announced plans either prices.” He continued, “In the current natural In the report, “Prism 2.0: The Value of In-
to close coal-fired generating units or invest gas price environments, coal plants are finan- novation in Environmental Controls,” EPRI
in emissions control equipment to meet the cially challenged even before considering the examined the potential impact on the existing
pending EPA rules. And an independent installation of expensive environmental retro- generation fleet of several current and pend-
power producer whose generating capac- fits” like scrubbers, selective catalytic reduc- ing EPA regulations:
ity is largely fueled by natural gas said that tion (SCR) systems, baghouses, and flue gas
economics—not environmental rules—will desulfurization (FGD) equipment. ■ MATS rule with compliance by 2015.
continue to favor natural gas over coal and What’s more, Susan Tierney, a former De- ■ Clean Water Act (CWA) 316(b) for cooling
spur retirements among coal-fired units. partment of Energy official and managing water intake structures with compliance
“Coal plant retirement should increase sig- principal with Boston-based Analysis Group by 2018. (This was modeled as requiring
nificantly from today’s announced levels as Inc., told POWER in an interview, “The bright closed-cycle cooling on facilities with in-
companies re-evaluate the economics of their signal is that if units that are inefficient or un- take flow of greater than 125 million gal-
compliance decisions, especially since the more controlled were to be retired due to EPA rules, lons of water a day.)
costly environmental rules like once-through they would do so in a couple of years.” In- ■ Resource Conservation and Recovery
cooling and coal ash disposal are still in their in- stead, the fact that many generating units are Act (RCRA) regulation on coal combus-
fancy in Washington,” said Jack Fusco, Calpine retiring in advance of EPA compliance dead- tion residuals with compliance by 2020.
CEO during an earnings conference call. lines suggests that current economics rather (This rule was modeled under subtitle D
The news in recent months suggests that the than environmental rules may be the dominant of RCRA, or as nonhazardous wastes.)
cost of complying with myriad EPA rules (see deciding factor. (Tierney wrote “Why Coal ■ Updated National Ambient Air Qual-
“THE BIG PICTURE: Regulation Road” on Plants Retire: Power Market Fundamentals as ity Standards (NAAQS) on sulfur dioxide
p. 10 for an overview) remains unsettled. Esti- of 2012” for the July/August issue of COAL (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 2018.
mates vary as to how many generating units ul- POWER, at www.coalpowermag.com.)
timately may be retired and whether or not their The EPRI analysis found that installing a
loss will affect reliability. Complicating things Revising Compliance Costs suite of new emissions controls would cost
is the continued low cost of natural gas that is Then, too, compliance costs are being recal- the U.S. economy up to $275 billion be-
putting competitive pressure on coal-fired units. culated by some of the nation’s most coal-de- tween 2010 and 2035 in present value terms
Indeed, Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General pendent power generators. In late July, Nick if the current course is followed. EPRI said
Electric, was quoted by the Financial Times Akins, CEO of American Electric Power that by providing a flexible path, the overall
newspaper in late July as saying that gas-fired (AEP), told analysts the utility was revising cost could be reduced by $100 billion while
generation is becoming “permanently cheap.” down the cost of complying with EPA regu- achieving the same level of compliance.
The pressure exerted by low-cost natural gas lations. “When we first started this process, A second major coal consumer—South-
affects the prospects not only of coal-fired gen- we were looking at $8 billion, and it’s come ern Co.—also revealed it has recalculated its
eration, but also of nuclear generation. “It’s just down to just over $6 billion,” Akins said, compliance costs. CFO Art Beattie told ana-
hard to justify nuclear, really hard,” Immelt was adding that the utility expects its compliance lysts the utility previously estimated its cost
quoted as saying. “Gas is so cheap and at some expense “to continue to be refined.” to comply with the EPA’s MATS rule alone
point, really, economics rule.” Akins said that installing scrubbers on could reach $2.7 billion between 2012 and
Fusco echoed Immelt’s comments during AEP’s coal units posed a “relatively high 2014. Southern said that this amount could
his July quarterly earnings conference call with hurdle” and that “in some—in many cases— fall by anywhere from $500 million to $1
analysts. He said that although many coal-unit it’s already done. In some cases, it continues billion, depending largely on the number of
retirements have been attributed to pending to be an evaluation.” Akins referred to a re- baghouses in its final compliance strategy.

58 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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THE FUTURE OF COAL
“Based on our current analysis, our projec- ■ Closing the two-unit, 200-MW Nelson partment and head of its energy division, told
tion for MATS compliance for 2012 through Dewey power plant, whose units entered a local newspaper. “They are determining that
2014 now totals $1.8 billion, representing a service in 1959 and 1962. those facilities are so inefficient they are no
reduction of $900 million from our previ- ■ Closing the 60-MW Edgewater Unit 3 longer economical to run, and continuing to do
ous estimates,” Beattie said in July. “While generator, which entered service in 1951. so would be detrimental to their customers.”
the number of baghouses has been reduced ■ Adding scrubbers to Edgewater Unit 5 to re- The plant must operate until late 2015 be-
to four or five from a high of as many as 17, duce SO2 emissions by about 90% a year. cause of contracts to supply steam to Mayo
other costs have been added to our plan to Clinic and to generate electricity when need-
reflect the need for additive injection systems WPL also said it either will close Edgewater ed by a regional power association.
and related plant modifications.” Unit 4, which began operating in 1969, or con- In the Intermountain West, meanwhile,
He said the compliance plan also includes vert it to burn natural gas by the end of 2018. Black Hills Corp. said in early August that
investments in transmission projects as well Four years ago, WPL asked to build a $1.26 its Black Hills Energy–Colorado Electric
as fuel switching to natural gas. Southern’s billion, 300-MW coal-fired power plant that and Black Hills Power units will suspend
resource plan now calls for approximately could burn biomass for up to 20% of its fuel. operations at some older coal-fired and nat-
13,000 MW of coal-fired generation to be State regulators rejected the proposal, how- ural gas–fired facilities this year. Colorado
“preserved.” Another 4,000 MW will remain ever, calling it too expensive, and “foolish and Electric’s 42-MW W.N. Clark coal-fired
“potential candidates” for retirement, while irresponsible” in light of tougher greenhouse power plant (Figure 2) and natural gas–fired
some 3,000 MW will use alternative fuels, gas rules expected to be issued. As recently as Units 5 and 6 in Colorado are set to suspend
primarily natural gas, for generating capacity. July, WPL filed an application with its regula- operations at the end of the year, accord-
tors to add SO2 scrubbers to Edgewater Unit ing to a news release. Black Hills Power’s
Natural Gas Prices and Coal Unit 5 at a cost of up to $430 million (Figure 1). 25-MW coal-fired unit at the Ben French
Retirements A decision from regulators on that proposal is power plant in South Dakota was scheduled
The recent economic competitiveness of natu- expected next spring. If approved, the control to suspend operations on Aug. 31, although
ral gas complicates efforts to determine how equipment could be in service in 2016. The the units still will be available to generate
much the EPA’s rules are affecting retirement utility already is adding a NOx reduction sys- electricity when necessary.
decisions. tem on Edgewater 5, as well as SO2 and mer- In late July, Black Hills Energy–Colorado
Progress Energy Carolinas, a newly merged cury pollution control systems at Units 1 and 2 Electric filed an electric resource plan with
unit of Duke Energy, said in late July it planned of the Columbia power plant. All told, WPL’s the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. In
to accelerate retirement of one North Carolina cost for those projects is $453 million. the filing, the company proposed building a
coal-fired power plant previously slated for In neighboring Minnesota, Rochester Pub- 40-MW simple-cycle, natural gas–fired plant,
closure in 2013 and would retire the utility’s lic Utilities’ Board of Directors voted in early which would begin operating in 2016 to replace
only coal-fired unit in South Carolina. The August to retire its Silver Lake plant in 2015. electricity produced by W.N. Clark. Colorado
company said its 316-MW Cape Fear coal- Its smallest and oldest unit began generating regulators last year rejected a company propos-
fired plant in North Carolina and the 177-MW electricity in 1948. Three larger coal-fired al to build an 88-MW natural gas–fired unit.
H.B. Robinson Unit 1 coal-fired plant in South units were added between 1953 and 1969. In Wyoming, meanwhile, Black Hills
Carolina would be retired Oct. 1. The decision “This is clearly an economic decision,” Power received a certificate of public con-
to retire the 52-year-old Robinson coal plant Jerry Williams, president of the city-owned venience and necessity in late July to build
was made due to pending changes in environ- utility’s board, was quoted as saying. “Basi- the $237 million, 132-MW Cheyenne Prairie
mental regulations and other rising costs for cally, we can go out on the open market and Generating Station, a natural gas–fired plant
smaller, older technology plants, the utility purchase electricity . . . at a lot less cost.” that will enter service in late 2014 and will
said. The cost of adding emissions controls on The retirement is “not surprising and not replace capacity lost from the three coal-fired
the small unit would run into the hundreds of inconsistent with what utilities around the plants Black Hills Power is retiring.
millions of dollars. What’s more, the potential country are deciding to do with smaller, older
for additional emissions regulations would in- coal-fired power plants,” William Grant, dep- The Role of the States
crease operating costs even further. uty commissioner of the state Commerce De- Analysis Group’s Tierney said the decision
But the utility also acknowledged its decision
was influenced by the anticipated early-2013 1. Expensive scrubber. Wisconsin 2. End of the line. Black Hills Energy–
commercial operation of new natural gas–fired Power & Light asked state regulators in July Colorado Electric plans to suspend operations
generation at the H.F. Lee Plant, continued low for permission to add sulfur dioxide scrubbers at its 42-MW W.N. Clark plant at year-end
natural gas prices, and the success of the newly to its Edgewater Unit 5 at a cost of up to $430 and retire the facility by the end of 2013.
merged company’s joint-dispatch process that million. Courtesy: Alliant Energy Courtesy: Black Hills Corp.
integrates generation operated by Duke Energy
Carolinas and Progress Energy Carolinas.
Environmental rules also are affecting
coal-fired power plants in the Upper Mid-
west. Wisconsin Power & Light (WPL) said
in late July it will shut down three coal-fired
units by the end of 2015. It also announced
plans to add emissions control equipment on
a Sheboygan generator, nearly doubling the
$450 million WPL already is spending on
emissions controls system-wide.
The utility’s plans include:

60 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
THE FUTURE OF COAL
to close a generating unit often involves state decisions on how best to comply with EPA As an example, Binz cited Colorado’s ac-
regulators forming a triangle with the power regulations. “It’s much more a competitive tion in 2010 to decide the fate of 2,000 MW
generator and the EPA and state agencies in the market issue in those states,” she said. of coal capacity based on projected EPA
other two corners. After all, in regulated power Ron Binz, a former Colorado public utility regulations. Those statutory limits and regu-
markets, electric power generators are granted commission chair and Denver-based public latory mindset figure in the latest round of
certificates of “convenience and necessity” policy consultant, said the EPA’s current slate generating capacity review triggered by the
similar to the one Wyoming regulators granted of rules represents the “last nail in the coffin” EPA’s 2011 Cross State Air Pollution Rule
to Black Hills Power to build its Cheyenne Prai- for many older coal-fired power plants. Key (CSAPR) as well as MATS.
rie Generating Station project. This changes the factors to consider in predicting which units
dynamic from a two-way relationship between are most likely to be retired include their in- Characterizing Generating Units
the utility and the EPA to a more complex three- service date, heat rate and unit efficiency. Given that regulatory and business calculus,
way relationship that in instances of regulated Binz largely agreed with Tierney’s asser- it’s possible to broadly characterize power
markets includes state regulators. tion that the role of state regulators in decid- plants that may be most vulnerable to shut-
In some circumstances, Tierney said, state ing whether or not a unit may close can vary down decisions. This may be done via a
regulators will apply a strict least-cost plan- widely and depends on factors that include relatively simple analysis to consider several
ning approach when deciding among options market openness, the level of the regulator’s critical factors. Before turning to that analy-
for generating units, which may include in- authority, and the willingness of the regula- sis, however, it may be useful to review the
stalling scrubbers, pursuing demand-side tory agency to exercise its authority. In Ken- basics of CSAPR.
management strategies, or relying on market- tucky, for example, regulators lack authority CSAPR (which was overturned in August
based power purchases. She said that parts of to approve a utility’s integrated resource by a federal appeals court) addresses emis-
the country that follow traditional regulatory plan (IRP), the documents that are filed ev- sions of SO2 and NOx from fossil fuel power
approaches (such as the Southeast and the ery few years and that lay out the utility’s plants in the eastern U.S. that contribute to
Rocky Mountain states) “play a huge role” plan for its generating mix. Binz said Ken- downwind formation of fine particulate matter
in determining the types of investments their tucky’s utilities are on their own to pursue and ground-level ozone. The rule comes under
regulated utilities may pursue. By contrast, their IRP, and the commission’s authority Clean Air Act Section 110(a)(2)(D), which
many states that are in the PJM pool, or in the is limited to reviewing whether the utility prohibits air pollutants from being emitted in
Midwest (including Texas), operate competi- complied with its own plan. Other states, an upwind state that “contribute significantly”
tive power markets, where power plant own- like Colorado, have broader authority to ap- to poor air quality in a downwind state.
3266
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CIRCLE 32 ON READER SERVICE CARD

|
October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 61
THE FUTURE OF COAL
July 6, 2011. It replaced the earlier Clean Air
Updated analysis. Key characteristics of coal-fired power plants in CSAPR and non-CSAPR
Interstate Rule (CAIR), which was remanded to states, including those slated for retirement. Sources: POWER and Burns & McDonnell
the EPA in 2008 by the U.S. District Court of
Appeals (D.C. Circuit). Although the D.C. Cir- Median capacity Median heat
cuit remanded the CAIR rule back to the EPA, it Median MW Median year built factor rate (Btu/kWh)
did not toss it out. As a result, power plants have CSAPR state
still had to comply with CAIR’s requirements as Unit has scrubber 444 1974 67.7% 10,066
the EPA developed the replacement rule.
Unit has FGD 411 1974 67.4% 10,090
Last Dec. 30, the same D.C. Circuit Court
of Appeals stayed CSAPR implementation— Unit has SCR 570.5 1973 68.4% 10,045
which was to have gone into effect Jan. 1, Non-CSAPR state
2012—to give the EPA time to consider a Unit has scrubber 383 1978 76.1% 10,497
range of lawsuits filed against the new rule.
Unit has FGD 203 1968 64.0% 10,355
(As of this writing, the court had not yet ruled
on those lawsuits.) In overturning CSAPR, Unit has SCR 241 1969 86.2% 9,894
the court kept CAIR standards in effect. At CSAPR state, units
press time, the EPA had not said whether it for retirement
would appeal the decision or try for a third All units for retirement 125 1955 49.3% 10,786
time to craft acceptable regulations.
Unit has scrubber 117.5 1957 35.8% 10,844
Analysis published last spring by the
Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Unit has FGD 133 1957 42.0% 10,807
Management concluded CSAPR did not sig- Unit has SCR 212 1961 62.3% 10,092
nificantly change the overall reduction require- Notes: CSAPR = Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, FGD = flue gas desulfurization, SCR = selective
ments compared with CAIR, although it did catalytic reduction.
limit the ability of individual power plants to
meet their reduction requirements through in- the EPA’s CSAPR rule, the median in-service small, old, relatively less efficient, and less-
terstate trading of emission allowances. While date is 1974, the median nameplate capacity is frequently dispatched. The data show these
the D.C. Circuit rejected the original interstate 444 MW, the median capacity factor is 67.7%, units have a median nameplate capacity of
trading approach laid out under CAIR, the and the median heat rate is 10,066 Btu/kWh. 125 MW, a median in-service date of 1955,
now-overturned CSAPR regulation retained Slight variations occurred for units that have a median capacity factor of less than 50%,
some ability for interstate trading. FGD and SCR controls, with the largest differ- and a median heat rate in excess of 10,750
With that understanding, the next step in our ence evident in the median nameplate capacity Btu/kWh. Some of these units have environ-
analysis is to consider at a macro level several among units that have SCR equipment. In that mental controls, but even here the units are
key characteristics of coal-fired generating units case, the median nameplate capacity increased small, old, less likely to be dispatched, and
located in the 27 states covered by CSAPR. The more than 100 MW to an average of 570 MW. inefficient. Units slated for retirement that
data source for this analysis is a comprehensive The capacity factor and heat rates among SCR- also have scrubbers had a median nameplate
database of the physical and performance char- controlled units showed marginal improve- generating capacity of 117.5 MW, a median
acteristics of all U.S. coal-fired power plants ments over other units in this category. in-service date of 1957, a median capacity
created by Burns & McDonnell and made A different story emerged for coal-fired units factor of 35.8%, and a heat rate higher than
available to POWER for this report. (An ear- in non-CSAPR states. Here there was little uni- 10,800 Btu/kWh. Units equipped with FGD
lier analysis published in the May 2011 issue, formity across the four factors that were consid- or SCR were slightly larger and had im-
“Predicting U.S. Coal Plant Retirements,” used ered. Scrubbed units had a median nameplate proved median capacity factors and median
this same database and may be found in the ar- capacity of 383 MW, a median in-service date heat rates. Even so, they still were out of the
chives at www.powermag.com.) of 1978, a median capacity factor in excess of running compared to units in the database not
The analysis presented here was done in- 76%, and a median heat rate of nearly 10,500 currently slated for retirement.
dependent of Burns & McDonnell, was nei- Btu/kWh. Units that included an FGD, by con- The fate of coal-fired generation remains
ther reviewed nor endorsed by the firm, and trast, were smaller with a median nameplate ca- fluid as owners weigh environmental rules,
is structured as follows. First, it considers pacity of 203 MW. These units also were around the effect of low natural gas prices, and the
four factors for units that have scrubbers and 10 years older, had a median capacity factor that shifting cost of investing in emissions con-
are in states subject to CSAPR rules. Those was 12 percentage points lower, and a roughly trol technology. An analysis of generating
factors are median nameplate capacity, me- comparable median heat rate. Finally, units in unit data suggests that smaller, older, less-
dian in-service date, median capacity factor, non-CSAPR states that were equipped with efficient, and less-frequently dispatched as-
and median heat rate. Second, the analysis an SCR had a median capacity of 241 MW, a sets are most vulnerable to retirements. The
considers those same four factors but this median capacity factor in excess of 86%, and a recently accelerated retirement dates for
time for units that have FGD and SCR equip- median heat rate of less than 10,000 Btu/kWh. some units indicates that economic factors
ment installed and are in CSAPR states. It By comparison, these units are workhorses and, are a more important determining factor than
then applies the same analysis to units that despite their age, have benefited from capital in- pending environmental mandates. What’s
have scrubbers, FGD, and SCR controls in vestment to meet environmental regulations by more, state utility regulators play an impor-
non-CSAPR states. Finally, it considers these enjoying high capacity factors. tant—although varied—role in generating
same four factors for units whose retirements A third story can be gleaned by examin- mix decisions as well as capital investments
have already been announced. Summary re- ing generating units that are in CSAPR states to comply with environmental regulations. ■
sults are presented in the table. and whose owners have already announced —David Wagman is executive
Among scrubbed units in states covered by plans to retire them. These units tend to be editor of POWER.

62 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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POWER IN CHINA
China’s Power Generators Face
Many Business Barriers
China’s five largest power generators own half of that country’s power generat-
ing assets. Faulty policies and the rapidly changing global economy have
made it difficult for these companies to fulfill the high expectations arising
from enactment of the Power System Reform Scheme of 2002.
By Zeng Ming, Li Chen, Ma Mingjuan, and Zhou Lisha, North China Electric Power University

C
hina’s State Council (the country’s capacity and generated 80.76% of its pow- cost of power generation is linked to the
chief administrative authority) is- er at the end of 2010. Similarly, the Top 5 price of coal. When coal prices fluctuate
sued the “Power System Reform relied on thermal power generated by coal wildly, the Top 5’s cost to produce electric-
Scheme” (Scheme) on April 12, 2002. The for about 80% of their installed capacity in ity also quickly changes.
Scheme represented the first steps taken by 2010 (Table 1). The Chinese government gradually de-
the government to reform China’s power Fuel costs for those plants accounted for regulated coal prices beginning in 2002 and
sector based on power market principles. more than 70% of the total cost of generat- completely relaxed the regulation of coal
The Scheme called for restructuring (“gen- ing electricity. In other words, 56% of the prices in 2005. In recent years, the continu-
eration unbundling”) state-owned power
assets owned by the State Power Corp. into Table 1. Thermal power capacities of the Top 5, as of 2010. Sources: China
five major power generation corporations Electricity Council, State Electricity Regulatory Commission
and two power grid corporations. The top China Power Corporate
five power generation corporations (Top Hua-neng Da-tang Hua-dian Guo-dian Investment average
5)—China Hua-neng Group, China Da- Installed capacity (GW) 113.43 105.90 95.31 90.19 70.72 95.11
tang Corp., China Hua-dian Corp., China
Thermal power (%) 87.11 80.75 85.91 75.25 69.93 79.79
Guo-dian Corp., and China Power Invest-
ment Corp.—were formally established on
Dec. 29, 2002.
By the end of 2010, these five corpora- 1. Coal prices are rising. The Qinhuangdao coal exchange market is the largest coal
exchange market in China and is considered to be a leading indicator of China’s cost of
tions represented 49% of China’s power
coal. Increased imports of thermal coal have also driven up the Top 5’s average coal cost.
generation capacity. The Top 5 own about
Courtesy: Baidu Inc.
half of China’s power generation assets,
and the performance of these five compa-
nies, to a great degree, determines the eco-
nomic health of the entire power generation
industry. Today, the Top 5 face seemingly
insurmountable problems that threaten
their continued existence.

Many Industry Challenges


Remain
The predicament faced by the Top 5 is
caused by three principal factors: soar-
ing coal prices, stagnant electricity mar-
ket reforms, and unfavorable economic
conditions—especially for companies that
heavily rely on debt financing.
Soaring Coal Prices. Coal-fired ther-
mal power generation dominates China’s
electric power industry. According to the
China Electricity Council (CEC), a joint
organization of China’s power enterprises
and institutions, thermal power accounts
for about 73.41% of the country’s installed

64 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
POWER IN CHINA
ing rise of domestic coal demand and inter- price reform portion of the Scheme, part In the fourth quarter of 2009, China began
national crude oil prices has sharply pushed of the core market reforms, has stagnated. to implement a tighter monetary policy to
up China’s coal prices (Figure 1). In 2008, The mechanism used to develop the price deal with rising inflation. The Chinese cen-
for example, average raw coal prices rose of electricity is still unreasonable, particu- tral bank (the People’s Bank of China, PBC)
by 112 yuan/ton ($17.63/ton), reaching a larly in light of the other reforms that have has raised the loan interest rate and deposit
peak price of 628 yuan/ton. About 1.32 bil- been successfully completed. reserve rate of commercial banks five times
lion tons of coal were consumed for power At present, the government, not the and nine times respectively since early Oc-
generation that year, which means that the electricity market, formulates all market tober 2009. The undesirable side effects
fuel portion of the cost of generating power electricity prices in China, wholesale and of the PBC’s actions were reduced funds
by all of China’s thermal power corpora- retail. On the generation side, all electric- supply, limited credit, and soaring capital
tions increased by 147 billion yuan, lead- ity generators sell electricity to the power project financing costs. As capital-intensive
ing to an industry-wide loss of 70 billion grid corporations at a fixed “benchmark enterprises, power generation companies
yuan. This was the power industry’s worst price” determined by the government. Cus- are facing a soaring interest expenditure on
economic loss in history. tomer prices (residential and industrial) are existing liabilities (commercial bank loans)
Since 2009, coal prices decreased some- likewise fixed by government tariffs. How- and unprecedented difficulties in finding a
what, although the price has been very ever, the mechanism to allow competitive means to finance construction of new power
volatile (Figure 2). The price of coal began bidding for electricity sales by generation generation facilities.
another upward trend at the end of 2010, companies is still not in place. One possible solution is to accept private
reaching a peak of 860 yuan/ton on Oct. 23, The fixed generation price means that equity investment to offset the high cost of
2011. The price of coal was in the range of the generation companies cannot pass on commercial bank loans. But that approach
620 to 635 yuan/ton in mid-August 2012. cost increases, such as the rapidly rising doesn’t answer the question of what entity
Stagnant Electricity Market Re- price of coal, to the power grid corpora- would be interested in investing in these
forms. The promise of the Power System tions or consumers in a timely manner. troubled corporations without significant
Reform Scheme that began the electric The result has been increasing costs for market pricing reforms. Also, the power
power industry’s market-oriented reforms electricity production but fixed retail rates. generation corporations have traditionally
in 2002 was “breaking monopoly, intro- Consequently, all of China’s power gen- used debt financing to build new facilities
ducing competition.” A decade later, the erating corporations have suffered serious and have little to no experience with private
electricity generation sector has been un- economic losses. equity investment because the corporations
bundled successfully, but the electricity Unfavorable Economic Conditions. have never been an attractive investment.

2. Average raw coal price for Top 5 power generation corporations, The Result: Poor Financial
2004–2010. Since the Chinese government deregulated coal prices in 2002, the market price Performance
of raw coal has increased considerably; it peaked at 628 yuan/ton in 2008. The last full year that Unlike the thermal power business, other
annual historical prices are available is 2010. Source: China Coal Industry power-related businesses—such as wind
power generation and coal production—
Coal price Growth rate of coal price
700 25 have guaranteed profits. The thermal power
628 business, operating as independent corpo-
21.7 598
600 579 20 rations, has experienced little retail rate re-
19.0
516 lief while the cost of fuel has significantly
Coal Price (yuan/ton)

Price growth rate (%)

500 483 15
increased. The results are predictable: very
382 406 poor financial performance. From 2008 to
400 10
6.8 2010, the Top 5 lost the business equivalent
300 6.3 5 of about 12 billion yuan, about $1.88 bil-
3.3
lion (Table 2). Given the current unstable
200 0.0 0
economy and the Top 5’s heavy reliance on
100 –5 thermal power for income and profits, these
–7.8 companies’ poor economic performance is
0 –10 expected to continue until electricity mar-
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 ket reforms are completed.
A close look at Table 2 will reveal that
the thermal power portion of the portfolio
Table 2. Profit structure of China’s Top 5 power generation corpora- is the cause of the overall poor financial
tions, 2008–2010, in 100 million yuan (CNY). As of Aug. 22, 1 CNY = $0.1574. performance for the Top 5. In fact, the
Sources: China Electricity Council, State Electricity Regulatory Commission thermal power portion of the portfolio has
Corporation profit China Power Corporate pushed the many financial ratios used to
category Hua-neng Da-tang Hua-dian Guo-dian Investment average evaluate corporate performance out of the
acceptable range. Two of those ratios are
Thermal power –85.45 –128.15 –140.08 –110.47 –138.42 –120.51
the liability/asset rate and the rate of return
Hydropower 51.61 64.79 41.65 35.87 51.03 48.99 on equity capital.
Wind power 9.39 14.44 5.45 47.71 3.96 16.19 High Liability/Asset Rates Persist.
Other 104.72 23.84 67.07 76.48 101.29 74.68 An easy and effective method of gauging
a company’s finances is to examine its as-
Total profit 80.27 –25.09 –25.91 45.59 17.86 18.54
sets and liabilities. A too-high liability-to-

October 2012 POWER | www.powermag.com 65


POWER IN CHINA
asset rate is a common problem faced by According to SASAC reports, of the
3. Serious business predicament. each of the Top 5 power generation corpo- 436 thermal power firms operated by the
Ningde thermal power plant of Da-tang Corp.
is located in Fujian Province of China. The liabili-
rations. At the end of 2003, one year after Top 5, 85 firms (about 19%) had liability/
ties/assets rate of Ningde thermal power plant the founding of the Top 5, the average lia- asset rates approaching 100% and were on
was 98.69% at the end of 2010, which was bility/asset rate was only 67.26%, which is the verge of bankruptcy at the end of 2010
much higher than the warning limit of 85% set much lower than the warning limit (85%) (Figure 3). Large amounts of debt taken on
by SASAC, and the total net profit was –22.275 set by the state-owned Assets Supervision by the Top 5 over the past few years, caused
million yuan. Courtesy: Baidu Inc. and Administration Commission (SASAC). by their poor profitability, is part of the ex-
However, at the end of 2010, the average planation for the high liability/asset rate.
liability/asset rate of the Top 5 increased One of the direct results of a high liability/
substantially, and got to 85.23% (Table 3), asset rate is soaring interest expenditure. In
exceeding the SASAC-set warning line. A 2010 alone, the interest expenditure of the
liability/asset rate exceeding 85% means Top 5 reached 70 billion yuan, which was
the corporation is taking a considerable 5.4 times the net profit of the Top 5 over
risk of insolvency—a sure sign of sig- the same period. The overall economic
nificant economic distress. A financially condition of the Top 5 further deteriorated.
healthy power generation company will The Rate of Return on Equity Capital
have a liability/asset rate well below 85% Is Low. For the years 2003–2010, with the
in China, according to SASAC’s rule. exception of 2008, the Top 5 were over-
all profitable corporations (Table 4). The
2002 data reflects performance during the
Table 3. Percentage of liabilities to assets for China’s Top 5 power gen- year prior to forming the Top 5 in Decem-
eration corporations. The five corporations were established in late 2002, so the 2003 ber 2002.
data reflects the first full year of operations. Sources: China Electricity Council, State Electricity One way to evaluate the quality of cor-
Regulatory Commission
porate profitability is the relationship be-
China Power Corporate tween equity and profits, or the return on
Hua-neng Da-tang Hua-dian Guo-dian Investment average equity capital (ROEC) rate. As you can
2003 62.30% 67.10% 70.70% 71.40% 64.80% 67.26% see in Table 4, the ROEC is relatively low,
which means that the profit generated by
2007 76.40% 79.30% 82.60% 80.70% 74.70% 78.74%
the Top 5 is low compared to the large
2008 81.80% 86.70% 88.00% 85.30% 82.10% 84.78% amount of equity capital (normally bor-
2009 84.50% 88.60% 87.70% 81.80% 84.40% 85.40% rowed debt) invested. From 2003 to 2010,
2010 83.95% 87.48% 88.65% 82.29% 83.78% 85.23% the average ROEC rate of the Top 5 was
5.42%, which is much lower than the inter-
est rates of bank loans. In effect, depositing
equity capital into a bank savings account
Table 4. Financial performance of Top 5 power generation corporations, has been more profitable than investing in
2002–2010. Profits and equity capital are shown in 100 million yuan (CNY). As of Aug. 22, 1 the power generation business.
CNY = $0.1574. The Top 5 was formed in late December 2002, so 2003 data reflect the financial In sum, the Top 5 are caught between
results of the first full year of operation. Sources: China Electricity Council, State Electricity two seemingly immovable barriers. The
Regulatory Commission first barrier is the burdensome debt that
Economic has weighed down corporate profitability
Corporation indicator 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 since the power corporations were formed
Hua-neng Total profit 43.5 63.8 73.6 80.9 96.2 101.7 –58.4 60.8 69.8 in 2002. Poor balance sheets have also lim-
ited the equity financing option because
Investment 475 527 590 735 798 936 814 949 1016
there are better investment opportunities
ROEC (%) 9.2 12.1 12.5 11 12 10.8 –7.2 6.4 6.9 in profitable industries. The second barrier
Da-tang Total profit 19.1 26.5 31.1 36.3 55.5 75.6 –63.2 22.9 15.1 is the stagnation of the market pricing re-
Investment 341 363 380 497 502 617 554 583 654.9
forms promised by Power System Reform
Scheme a decade ago.
ROEC (%) 5.6 7.3 8.2 7.3 11 12.3 –11.4 3.9 2.3
Until the Top 5 are able to market price
Hua-dian Total profit 16 10.1 12 18.5 30.5 42 –68.8 20.9 25.3 electricity to reflect the true cost of pro-
Investment 255 263 281 315 396 422 373 436 559.4 duction, particularly the price of purchased
ROEC (%) 6.3 3.8 4.3 5.9 7.7 10 –18.5 4.8 4.5
coal on the global market, there is little
hope of a quick return to profitability and
Guo-dian Total profit 8.9 14.3 22.4 30.5 41.3 48 –71 59.6 61 fulfilling the original promise of “breaking
Investment 199 215 234 333 394 474 440 766 968.7 monopoly, introducing competition.” ■
ROEC (%) 4.5 6.6 9.6 9.2 10.5 10.1 –16.1 7.8 6.3 —By Zeng Ming, Li Chen
China Total profit 14 13.9 14.7 20.4 39 45.3 -69.5 37.2 50.2
(lichenbj@126.com), Ma Mingjuan, and
Power Zhou Lisha, North China Electric Power
Investment 305 242 245 255 278 559 491 581 664.6 University, Beijing, China. The Energy
Investment
ROEC (%) 4.6 5.7 6 8 14 8.1 –14.1 6.4 7.6 Foundation supported the work de-
Note: ROEC = return on equity capital. scribed in this paper (G-1006-12630).

66 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
MERCURY CONTROL
EMO Technology Promises
Improved Mercury Removal
The latest Environmental Protection Agency mercury control limits in the Mer-
cury and Air Toxics Standards present a significant technical challenge to the
power industry. Shaw offers a cost-effective process that promotes mercury
oxidation and removal in fossil fuel combustion applications that can poten-
tially achieve consistent mercury oxidation above 95%. Shaw’s E&I Group
EMO technology provides the industry with an alternative to halogen salt
addition and activated carbon injection that can also be used to augment the
performance of existing Hg control applications and strategies.
By Randall Moore and Kevin Jackson, The Shaw Group Inc.

Removing Mercury

S
haw’s Environmental & Infrastructure Under the Mercury and Air Toxics Stan-
Group’s (E&I Group’s) EMO tech- Mercury originates as a trace contaminant dards (MATS), the overall Hg removal
nology is a demonstrated and cost-ef- in coal and other fossil fuel. The U.S. Geo- required to achieve the national emis-
fective process that promotes mercury (Hg) logical Survey (USGS) has reported average sion standards for hazardous air pollut-
oxidation and removal in fossil fuel combus- coal-in-ground mercury content of 0.17 ppm ants emission limits for coal- and oil-fired
tion applications. The Hg, once oxidized, (as received basis) for U.S. coal. Depending electric steam generating units using coal
can be removed by conventional existing on the type of coal, average Hg concentra- with the range of Hg presented above is
air pollution control devices, such as elec- tions range from 0.07 (Uinta) to 0.24 ppm 81.5% to 95.6% (38.5% to 85.2% for low-
trostatic precipitators (ESPs), dry sorbent (northern Appalacian). On an equal-energy rank coals).
scrubbers, fabric filters, and wet flue gas basis, Gulf Coast lignites have the highest The oxidation state or species of Hg in
desulfurization (FGD) systems. Depending input load values, averaging 27 lb/TBtu, and the post-combustion flue gas is very im-
upon operating plant application, EMO can Green River region coal has the lowest, at portant for Hg control. During combus-
potentially achieve consistent mercury oxi- 6.5 lb/TBtu, according to USGS Fact Sheet tion, essentially all of the Hg contained in
dation above 95%. FS095-01, Sept. 2001. coal converts to the elemental (Hg0), vapor

1. New mercury removal option. This is a schematic of Shaw’s EMO technology for a typical power plant application. Source: Shaw’s
Environmental & Infrastructure Group

Oxidant EMO flue gas treatment


Economizer solution
Boiler

Coal Oxidant
injection

Air FGD
preheater

Electrostatic
precipitator Stack

Hg in
(FGD) slurry Flue gas desulfurization

|
October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 67
MERCURY CONTROL
phase species. Elemental Hg is volatile and configuration, duct temperatures, and re- ment, and operation of existing air pollution
insoluble in water. Oxidized Hg, converse- agent residence time. The optimum loca- control technologies, and the type of coal and
ly, is somewhat water-soluble and tends tion is determined through field testing or its constituents. Primary coal characteristics
to bind with particulate matter. Hg0 is not by use of computational fluid dynamics of importance include halogen content (es-
well removed by conventional baghouse, and chemical reaction modeling. An ar- pecially chloride), sulfur, ash type, and ash
sorbent injection, or FGD pollution con- ray of nozzles is installed in the ducting loss-on-ignition (LOI).
trol technologies. However, the oxidized
form (Hg2+) can be effectively removed by
conventional downstream particulate con-
trol devices and in wet FGD systems.
EMO technology can enhance mercury
Overview of EMO Process
oxidation beyond levels achievable from
The EMO process employs a proprietary naturally occurring fuel source halogens.
brominated solution that when introduced
into the flue gas promotes conditions in a
post-combustion zone that can achieve a to provide the required dosing and dis- Coal contains varying amounts of native
high degree of Hg oxidation in the flue gas persion. Specific dosing requirements are chlorides that promote oxidation of Hg0 to
(Figure 1). Implementation of the EMO determined based on load scaling using Hg2+, and this mechanism frequently pro-
technology involves injection of the liq- historical dosing requirements, by directly vides up to 50% Hg oxidation. The aver-
uid EMO dosing agent, which is normally coupling an Hg monitor to the injection age chloride content (oven dry basis) of
stored in tanks prior to injection into the control system, or both. U.S. and Canadian coals from selected re-
flue gas stream. gions ranges from 90 ppm (Fort Union) to
EMO is effective at temperatures down Factors Influencing EMO Mercury 730 ppm (Eastern), according to industry
to 250F, providing flexibility in the point Oxidation sources. Powder River Basin (PRB) coal
of application. The injection location is Characteristics that influence Hg oxidation typically contains chloride at less than 200
normally into the flue gas ducting down- and subsequent control are very different ppm. Low native coal halogen content re-
stream of the economizer, with the specific at each boiler, necessitating a case-by-case sults in a low proportion of oxidized Hg
location dependent primarily on coal type testing and technology evaluation process. in combustion flue gas. Shaw’s E&I Group
and characterization, site-specific system Primary characteristics include type, arrange- EMO technology can enhance mercury

2012 Combined-Cycle/Gas Turbine Dataset


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This unique database globally covers over 34,000 installed or projected generating units including details as geographic
location, capacity (MW), age, technology, fuels, boiler, turbine, generator and emissions control equipment. You also
gain access to over 4,200 plant management and support contacts including titles and job functions.
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68 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
MERCURY CONTROL
oxidation beyond levels achievable from
2. Efficient mercury removal. Typical EMO oxidation effectiveness is very high,
naturally occurring fuel source halogens.
peaking at about 96%. Source: Shaw E&I Inc.
The presence of sulfur also will affect
technology selection. For example, in cases
Mercury oxidization (%) Predicted values
of high fuel sulfur content, sulfur trioxide
(SO3) can be generated in quantities promot- 100
ing competition between SO3 and Hg for
adsorption sites on the fly ash. Formation of
90
SO3 can also occur when selective catalytic

Mercury oxidization (%)


reduction (SCR) systems are present. The
degree of sorption is influenced primarily by 80
the ash type (the particulate shape and poros-
ity) and LOI. Hg removal is promoted by ash
with higher LOI values. Amorphous fine ash 70
formed from the combustion of lower rank
coals can effectively absorb oxidized Hg.
60
Typical EMO Performance
In application, the EMO reagent can achieve
a high level of oxidation at flue gas dosing 50
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
levels of 3 to 15 parts per million on a dry
volume basis (ppmvd) in flue gas. Field EMO injection (ppmv)
testing has revealed that the Hg0 response
to EMO reagent injection can be dramatic
and immediate. EMO solution reacts very 3. Follow the rules. MATS mercury compliance is illustrated at different mercury oxida-
quickly and provides rapid Hg control re- tion levels. Source: Shaw E&I Inc.
sponse, allowing for effective process con-
trol, and minimizing reagent use. EMO 95% oxidation 90% oxidation 85% oxidation 80% oxidation
injection rates can be controlled by direct 75% oxidation Limit for high-grade coal Limit for lignite
feedback from load, coal feed rate, or mer- 6
cury continuous emissions monitoring sys-
tem, or any combination of inputs based on
Mercury emission rates at stack (lb/TBtu)

5
operational preference.
Performance trials are normally con-
ducted by injecting a minimal dose and 4 Compliance limit for lignite
then increasing the dose rate incremen-
tally to produce a performance curve of
mercury oxidation as a function of reagent 3
injection rate. The plot presented in Figure
2 is typical of data collected during a per-
2
formance trial.
The mercury removal efficiency required
to meet the MATS Hg limit can be calcu- 1 Limit for bituminous coal
lated using the following approach, based
on certain assumptions inclusive of the pres-
ence of both an ESP and wet FGD in the 0
0 5 10 15 20 25
plant configuration:
Mercury content of fuel (lb/TBtu)

1. Essentially 100% of the mercury in the


coal is converted to elemental mercury at Figure 3 presents a family of curves that ous mercury oxidation rates as a function of
the outlet of the boiler, yielding a mer- show the calculated emission rate as a func- the mercury content in the coal. Given the
cury mass rate. tion of the mercury content in the coal at pre- performance targets for the ESP and FGD,
2. After treatment, either by EMO or other scribed removal efficiencies for an ESP and and using a 95% oxidation level for all el-
oxidation system, a significant fraction of a wet FGD. For the illustration presented in emental mercury, it is possible to reach the
Hg oxidation efficiency is achieved. Figure 3, the calculation is based on the as- 1.2 lb/TBtu MATS emission limit using coal
3. The ESP removes a significant fraction sumption that 50% of the oxidized mercury with mercury content up to approximately
of the oxidized mercury. The elemental is removed in the ESP. It also assumes that 16 lb/TBtu.
mercury and remainder of the oxidized the FGD will remove 95% of the remain-
mercury pass to the wet FGD. ing oxidized mercury introduced at the inlet. EMO Performance Trials
4. In the wet FGD, a large fraction of the oxi- These values are optimal but readily and his- Shaw’s E&I Group has conducted more
dized mercury is collected and the remain- torically achievable in systems burning vari- than 15 field demonstration tests at vari-
ing elemental mercury and the uncollected ous types of coal. Figure 3, then, shows the ous types of power generating stations to
oxidized mercury passes to the stack. mathematically possible outcomes for vari- evaluate the performance of EMO under

|
October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 69
MERCURY CONTROL
numerous plant conditions with various coal types. These field with low- to high-halogen content.
demonstrations have ranged in duration from seven to 30 days. In ■ High-sulfur coals do not significantly affect EMO’s performance;
these trials, ESP performance has ranged from 28% to 87% Hg that is, the high-sulfur coal does not affect the ability of the EMO
removal. Wet FGD control is more consistent, with typical Hg technology to oxidize the elemental mercury. In units with wet
removal between 70% to 95%. Two representative case studies FGD systems, mercury is removed as expected. However, dry
are summarized below. fabric filter collection systems can be a limiting factor for EMO
Case 1: 440-MW lignite-fired boiler. In this field trial, EMO was technology in achieving adequate Hg removal for units burning
tested by injecting reagent at the economizer outlet of a 440-MW low- high-sulfur coals.
rank coal-fired boiler equipped with a cold side ESP and wet FGD.
The baseline oxidation for this unit averaged 52.3% (FGD inlet), with Other Application Concerns
48.9% total Hg removal across the air pollution control system. Over In EMO field trials, re-emission has not been a significant issue.
two days of testing at a 4.9-ppmvd flue gas dosing, 89.7% oxidation Re-emission refers to reconversion of Hg 2+ back to Hg 0 within
was achieved, with 83.8% total system Hg removal. the air pollution control system. Re-emission is primarily an is-
Case 2: 340-MW PRB-fired boiler. In another field trial, EMO sue when wet FGD systems are used to remove Hg 2+ from the
reagent was injected before an SCR unit in a system that also had a flue gas. It is predominately caused by chemical reduction of the
downstream air pollution control system that included an ESP and a Hg 2+ within the scrubber to lower oxidation forms that tend to be
wet FGD system. Total Hg removal of 93.3% was achieved at a dos- more volatile and more easily re-entrained into the gas stream
ing of 10.1 ppmvd at full load. At 60% load, a dosing of 5.3 ppmvd exiting the FGD.
achieved total Hg removal of 94.1%. Although EMO technology can provide high levels of Hg oxi-
Field tests have also confirmed that other pollutants in the native dation, there are some situations where the existing air pollution
coal do not significantly affect EMO’s performance. For example: control system is not capable of achieving the Hg control neces-
sary to meet the regulatory emission standards, and upgrades may
■ EMO reagent dosing can be readily adjusted to accommodate be required. Many new wet FGD systems include specification re-
coals with high Hg concentrations. EMO achieves high Hg oxi- quirements to remove 95% of the oxidized mercury. Performance
dation levels in coals with high Hg concentrations; however, of dry control equipment, such as ESPs and fabric filter baghouses,
poor performance of a unit’s air pollution control system can be is also more variable.
a limiting factor when burning coals with high native mercury Shaw’s E&I Group has observed promising results where EMO
content. injection was combined with low injection rates of activated carbon.
■ EMO’s performance is not significantly affected by burning low– This combination might be applicable where one or the other tech-
halogen content coals. EMO technology can accommodate coals nologies may not achieve the required Hg emission reductions.

® Balance-of-Plant Considerations
The primary balance-of-plant issues identified during field testing
include questions regarding corrosion, the injection system, and ash
w w w. v i c t o r y e n e r g y. c o m impacts. Halogen corrosion is not anticipated to be an issue, because
EMO injections normally contribute a low ppm increase in flue gas
halogens. For comparison, a typical power plant combustion gas con-
THINK
tains up to 200 ppmvd total halogens. Corrosion is not anticipated to
UTILITY be a significant issue associated with the EMO technology.
HRSG! Shaw’s E&I Group has gained considerable injection experience
in its field test program. Injection is most commonly employed at the
economizer exit, where flue gas temperatures favor oxidation reactions
THINK and facilitate the dispersion of the EMO reagent into the flue gas.
PACKAGED Analysis of fly ash during EMO testing routinely includes halo-
gens, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) toxicity
BOILERS! characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) for metals including Hg.
TCLP results for Hg from all trials have been below the EPA toxic-
THINK ity characteristic limits.

COMBINED EMO Advantages


EXPERTISE! Shaw’s E&I Group EMO technology can provide an effective option
for flue gas Hg control within the power industry. It can be imple-
Modular designs to optimize mented to meet the MATS Hg limit without adding or modifying air
THINK constructability
pollution control systems. In application, Hg removal responds very
INNOVATED  Advanced in-house engineering
 Heavy-industrial and utility grade quickly to changes in dosing, which provides a smooth transition
SOLUTIONS!  Highly developed performance modeling
 Custom applications
when changes occur in unit load or coal Hg content. EMO is also
cost-effective when compared to alternative technology options be-
cause users can optimize the dosing rate to ensure compliance while
minimizing reagent consumption. ■
—Randall Moore (randall.moore@shawgrp.com) is a director of
10701 E. 126th St. N., Collinsville, OK 74021 918.274.0023
technology and Kevin Jackson, PE (kevin.b.jackson@shawgrp
.com) is a senior scientist for Shaw’s Environmental & Infrastruc-
ture Group. Shaw’s E&I Group EMO technology is patent pending.
CIRCLE 33 ON READER SERVICE CARD

70 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
WATER & POWER
Evaluating Technologies to
Address Proposed Effluent
Guidelines
Upcoming revisions to U.S. federal effluent guidelines are anticipated to include
new discharge limits for mercury and selenium in flue gas desulfurization
wastewater, in addition to other potential revisions. Collaborative R&D is
helping inform the rulemaking and is evaluating the cost and performance
of technology options that might be used to meet the new targets.
By Paul Chu, Electric Power Research Institute

T
he U.S. Environmental Protection Agen- selenium discharge could be significant and ide, as well as mercury and selenium from
cy (EPA) is revising effluent guidelines will depend upon the treatment approach as coal-fired power plant stack gases; however,
for the steam electric power industry well as which pollutants are regulated and these systems may create new waste manage-
that could change how many power plants at what level. The Electric Power Research ment challenges.
manage and treat wastewater. The proposed Institute (EPRI) estimated that capital costs Also known as wet scrubbers, FGD sys-
EPA rule is scheduled for release for com- could range from $25 million to $50 million tems use a slurry of water and limestone or
ment in November 2012; final rule approval for a physical/chemical FGD wastewater other alkaline material to remove sulfur diox-
is expected by April 2014. Once finalized, the treatment system to more than $100 million ide from power plant exhaust gases. Sulfur,
EPA’s guidelines may impose new limits on for a thermal zero liquid discharge (ZLD) mercury, and selenium occur naturally in coal
wastewater discharges at power plants that wastewater treatment system. Multiplying and are released during combustion. Mercury
would be incorporated into the plant permit- those costs by the number of potentially and selenium exist primarily in vapor phase
ting process. The specific details of the guide- affected power plants pushes the potential in flue gas. They may pass through the power
lines remain unknown at present, but they price tag for this regulation well into the bil- plant’s particulate control device, such as the
may include the first-ever nationwide limits lions of dollars. In addition to the costs for electrostatic precipitator (ESP), and thus are
on mercury and selenium discharges from removing mercury and selenium from FGD captured in the wet FGD system. The major-
flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems and wastewater, there are numerous technical ity of the mercury and selenium becomes se-
may also include new limits on fly and bot- challenges. As a result, FGD wastewater questered in the FGD solids. Small amounts,
tom ash transport water, landfill leachate, and treatment has been a high priority for re- often in the parts per billion (ppb) range, end
metal cleaning wastes. search and development (R&D). up in the FGD wastewater. The revised efflu-
Among the potential range of outcomes, ent guidelines will likely affect the way FGD
new limits on mercury and selenium in FGD R&D for Informed Decisions wastewater (and other wastewater) is man-
wastewater discharges could represent the most To inform the rulemaking process and sup- aged before it can be discharged.
significant consequences for the power genera- port scientifically based decision-making, Although the proposed federal effluent
tion industry—for coal plants in particular. EPRI is conducting a parallel evaluation of guidelines have yet to be released, many states
To support its rulemaking, the EPA issued the EPA’s ICR data. The evaluation is part already regulate mercury and selenium in
an Information Collection Request (ICR) in of EPRI’s multiyear collaborative R&D pro- FGD wastewater. Some northern Midwestern
June 2010—an extensive industry question- gram that also includes characterization of states, for example, have established mercury
naire to obtain data on water management FGD wastewaters, evaluation of mercury and discharge limits at 1.3 to 12 parts per trillion
practices at power plants. The agency also selenium chemistry in FGD wastewaters, and (ppt) and selenium limits at 10 to 100 ppb. It is
conducted sampling and analytical studies at evaluation of an array of wastewater treat- unclear whether existing treatment technology
eight power plant FGD wastewater treatment ment technologies. EPRI’s technical analyses can consistently and reliably reduce concen-
systems. The EPA has been using the data inform all stakeholders, including the EPA, trations to these levels for all FGD wastewa-
to gauge the applicability and overall per- industry, and the public, so regulatory deci- ters on a continuous basis. The limited data
formance and costs of wastewater treatment sions can draw upon a foundation of indepen- available demonstrate significant variability
options. Ultimately, the agency will identify dent information. in trace element removal (especially for mer-
the “best available technology” (BAT) and cury) among different power plants and FGD
propose new standards based on this technol- Focus on FGD, Mercury, systems, as well as within operational pa-
ogy’s expected performance. and Selenium rameters of a single FGD system. A number
For power plants, the costs to comply Many FGD systems have been or will be in- of factors may affect treatment performance,
with potential new limits on mercury and stalled to reduce air emissions of sulfur diox- such as the coal properties, FGD design and

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October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 71
WATER & POWER
operations, chemical additives, makeup water and sulfur, as well as organic material. In concern that some power plants may be un-
quality, and limestone properties. some cases, it appears that mercury may able to treat and discharge FGD wastewater
Removing mercury and selenium from form submicron-sized compounds that are to meet new limits on mercury and selenium,
FGD wastewater is difficult for several rea- too small to be filtered out of the wastewater especially on a continuous basis and for all
sons. First, these trace metals are present in and too tightly bound to further react with foreseeable operating conditions and coals.
very low concentrations in FGD wastewa- wastewater treatment compounds. Another EPRI has also seen data excursions (that
ter—mercury in concentrations of about 1 potential source of variability is the lime- is, wide swings of removal rates) on existing
ppb. To appreciate the challenge of treating stone reagent, which contains small percent- water treatment systems. Analyses of the
wastewater trace metals at the part per trillion ages of various other compounds (known as operational parameters and chemical prop-
level, consider that the Louisiana Superdome inerts) that may affect mercury (and sele- erties involved have not been able to explain
could hold about one trillion ping-pong balls. nium) chemistry and thus treatability. the excursions to date. It will be important
If one thousand of these trillion ping-pong Selenium presents complications of its to quantify what conditions can lead to such
balls represent “mercury balls,” you would own. Selenium in FGD wastewater is pres- excursions so that they can be avoided or
have a concentration of one part per billion. ent in two primary forms, or valence states: mitigated, or so that data can provide the ba-
To reduce the concentration to one part per selenite and selenate. Selenite is relatively sis for a permit variance process to address
trillion, one would have to find and remove easy to remove with traditional iron-based the excursions.
999 out of 1,000 mercury balls from the tril- water treatment products, but selenate is far
lion other ping-pong balls. And this must be more difficult to remove. Selenium also ex- Treatment Technologies and
accomplished continuously, every day, un- ists in other forms, and each form may have Discharge Limits
der all operating conditions to meet typical its own treatment challenges. There are several FGD wastewater treat-
permit requirements. EPRI is working to identify which species ment technologies. Each type has its advan-
To compound the challenge, scientific of selenium and other metals are present in tages, costs, and performance limitations in
understanding of the chemical behavior of FGD wastewater and how this speciation af- terms of consistently and reliably removing
mercury and selenium in FGD wastewater fects the removal rates and costs/benefits for mercury and selenium to extremely low
is incomplete. In particular, current knowl- each treatment technology (Figure 1). concentrations. EPRI research will help
edge of mercury’s behavior is anecdotal and Further adding to the complexity of treat- facilitate developing as many solutions as
vague, and it cannot satisfactorily explain ing FGD wastewater, more FGD systems possible and will evaluate treatment options
why mercury is so difficult to remove or are being installed as sulfur regulations are and costs to help power plant operators
why the effectiveness of mercury capture tightened further. Different FGD designs, make informed decisions.
varies from plant to plant. variations in limestone composition, different Physical/Chemical Technologies.
One possible explanation for the difficul- types of coal, coal blending and switching, Physical/chemical technologies remove
ty of mercury removal is that, upon entering and variations in water composition at differ- trace metals through adsorption or precipi-
FGD wastewater, mercury generally will ent power plants all interact to influence mer- tation. A typical approach involves adding
react and bind with almost anything. These cury and selenium chemistry and affect the sulfides that react with mercury to form in-
reactants may include chloride, bromide, success of treatment. This complexity raises soluble cinnabar.
A problem with this method is mercury’s
1. Selenium experiments. Selenium 2. Trace metal removal tests. A high reactivity: The cinnabar particles form
chemistry in wet FGD systems is highly com- pilot scale iron-based treatment technology almost instantly and are so tiny they are dif-
plex and not completely understood. EPRI is being used by EPRI to test methods of ficult to remove with filtration. Thus, the
pilot-scale simulation tests are improving our trace metal removal from FGD wastewater. current practice is to use larger organosul-
understanding of the factors that affect sele- Courtesy: EPRI fide compounds to promote the formation of
nium speciation and phase partitioning in wet
larger particles that are easier to collect. Iron
FGD systems. Courtesy: EPRI
coprecipitation is the most common technol-
ogy currently used to treat selenium and other
metals. Iron coprecipitation is effective in re-
acting with selenite, but selenate remains in
solution. EPRI is evaluating a more advanced
zero valent iron technology that may be effec-
tive in removing selenate and selenite, as well
as mercury (Figure 2).
Biological Treatment. Biological treat-
ment systems employ anaerobic bacteria to
reduce selenium, and they also change mer-
cury to its elemental forms or to precipitates
that fall out of solution.
One option for biological treatment is
the bioreactor, which uses specially selected
strains of bacteria, pumps, tanks, piping, and
process control to optimize selenium and
mercury removal. Commercial bioreactor
treatment systems are available, and five are
now in operation on FGD wastewater. In gen-
eral, selenium removal is very good, usually

72 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
WATER & POWER
vertical flow design (for anaerobic treatment
3. Constructed wetland. This pilot vertical flow wetland treatment system for selenium
and mercury showed promising results. Courtesy: EPRI
of selenium). In the vertical flow wetland,
wastewater flows down through a thick layer
of bacteria-rich material, typically compost.
Only one such application is currently in op-
eration (Figure 3).
The underlying selenium chemistry of
these biological treatments is similar, but it
is important to note that the mercury chemis-
try is not well understood. EPRI is currently
conducting laboratory studies to evaluate the
mercury chemistry, and the limited data sug-
gest that the mercury reactions are different
from the selenium reactions. Mercury chem-
istry appears to be sensitive to variations in
FGD wastewater composition. For example,
when a power plant recently temporarily
switched to a different type of coal, the per-
formance of the biological treatment system
declined significantly, for reasons that are
still unclear.
Zero Liquid Discharge. Another type of
treatment is thermal zero liquid discharge.
This technology uses thermal energy to evap-
orate the wastewater and then recovers the
to levels less than 10 ppb; however, mercury has collaborated with utilities to demon- water for reuse.
removal is more variable and more uncertain. strate constructed wetlands for wastewater Thermal ZLD may be an option in cases
Another potential option for biological treatment systems, including traditional where the discharge limits cannot be achieved
treatment is a constructed wetland. EPRI wetlands, and is now studying a more novel by existing physical/chemical and biological

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CIRCLE 34 ON READER SERVICE CARD

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October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 73
WATER & POWER
treatment approaches, where water conservation EPRI reviewed the draft Merrimack per- the EPA’s benefits estimates to understand
is a high priority, and for future new plants that mit and a number of the supporting docu- the differences with EPRI’s estimates.
have stringent discharge requirements. There ments. The analysis found that the EPA’s
are only a handful of ZLD systems operating on estimated capital and operating costs for Closing Knowledge and
wet FGD wastewater (primarily in Italy). the physical/chemical and biological FGD Technology Gaps
ZLD is a capital- and energy-intensive ap- wastewater treatment were low compared to The differences in the cost and performance
proach. In addition, ZLD systems have ex- EPRI’s estimates. The EPA did not provide estimates for FGD wastewater treatment at
perienced issues with corrosion and scaling detailed itemization of its cost estimates, so Merrimack underscore the need to better un-
when operating on FGD wastewater. EPRI was not able to identify where the es- derstand the available data and the limitations
timates differed. One possible explanation in extrapolating from that data to the broader
Merrimack: A Preview? is that the EPA’s estimates incorporate pri- industry in order to determine limits on mer-
The level of treatment performance that will marily the direct equipment and installation cury and selenium that can be achieved in a
be required under the new effluent guidelines costs but may not incorporate all the indirect consistent and cost-effective manner.
will not be known until the EPA issues its pro- costs, including engineering, construction, Ongoing collaborative R&D efforts aim to
posed rules. However, the EPA’s draft permit contingency, startup and commissioning improve knowledge about the many variables
for wastewater discharge at Public Service of costs, which are significant and can repre- affecting the cost and performance of FGD
New Hampshire’s Merrimack Station (see p. sent approximately two thirds of the total wastewater treatment technologies. These in-
34) may provide insight into the direction of capital costs in such projects. clude the type of FGD system, type of coal
the national regulations. In addition, the EPA’s estimated ben- and limestone used, wastewater composi-
In the draft permit, the EPA identified efits (removal calculations) for biological tion, type of treatment technology, mercury
physical/chemical plus biological treatment treatment were high relative to EPRI’s es- and selenium chemistry, microbiological re-
as BAT for selenium, and physical/chemical timates. EPRI estimated benefits using the moval chemistry, and the impact of multiple
treatment as BAT for mercury. Based on this dataset from the EPA’s sampling and analyt- environmental regulations on power plant
determination, the agency proposed a daily ical studies at two power plants employing operations and economics. Better knowl-
maximum mercury limit of 14 ppt. The pro- physical/chemical plus biological treatment edge informs the rulemaking and supports
posed selenium limits are a daily maximum systems. EPRI’s benefit estimates were informed decision-making as well as perfor-
of 19 ppb and a monthly average of 10 ppb. consistently two orders of magnitude less mance improvements and cost reductions in
In determining BAT, the EPA also provided a than the EPA’s estimates for the efficacy of treatment technologies.
summary of its cost/benefit assessment of the biological treatment. As with the cost esti- In addition, more accurate treatment
treatment systems selected. mates, there was not enough breakdown in costs and performance information is essen-
tial for power plants to evaluate compliance
options. As the Merrimack estimates show,
it is important that technology cost/benefit
assessments consider all costs, including in-
direct costs that may be considerable. EPRI
has developed and is applying advanced
models to estimate treatment costs more ac-
curately and to understand the factors that
influence costs.
An ongoing physical/chemical water
treatment optimization study aims to identify
improvements that can be made to existing
FGD wastewater physical/chemical treat-
ment systems and to characterize the levels
of contaminants that these improvements can
achieve for a range of trace metals.
EPRI and utilities also continue to evalu-
ate promising advanced treatment technolo-
gies. These include vertical flow wetlands
and bioreactors in pilot and full-scale instal-
lations as well as physical systems such as
COLLABORATE zero valent iron, novel adsorbent materials,
We don’t have preconceived solutions to your complex Power Generation and ZLD systems.
As rulemaking on steam electric effluent
needs. We listen to your concerns and evaluate your options to engineer a
guidelines proceeds, the results of collabora-
solution that will work for you now and in the future. tive R&D will continue to support the stake-
holder community with the best information
available on the cost, performance, and re-
Global Engineering Service Provider
Energy. Environmental. Transportation. Water. liability of technologies that may be called
upon to meet future limits. ■
www.stanleyconsultants.com
—Paul Chu (pchu@epri.com) is senior
800.553.9694 Scan for Career Opppotunities
project manager, Water and Ecosystems
for the Electric Power Research Institute.
CIRCLE 35 ON READER SERVICE CARD

74 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
COAL ASH MANAGEMENT
EPA Stalls on Coal
Combustion Residuals
In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed federal rules
regulating coal combustion residuals (CCRs) for the first time to address
the risks posed by coal-fired power plants’ disposal of such waste by-
products. The need for new regulations remains a topic of debate, height-
ened by the EPA’s reticence to release the rule. The EPA says that it will
release the new rule by the end of this year—over two years late.
By Angela Neville, JD

I
n December 2008, a massive amount of there are no national standards governing the construction company; an industry group fo-
coal combustion residuals (CCRs) were maintenance of CCR surface impoundments cused on CCR management; and a national
accidentally released from the Tennessee and their retention dikes, and state standards environmental advocacy group. These in-
Valley Authority’s (TVA’s) Kingston Fossil are haphazard. The U.S. Environmental Pro- dividuals shared their opinions about legal
Plant. The spill flooded more than 300 acres tection Agency (EPA) does not currently trends and best management practices for
of land with CCRs, damaging homes and classify CCRs as hazardous waste. coal-fired power plants trying to deal with the
property. The released materials flowed into POWER has covered the issue of CCR current unsettled regulatory environment.
the Emory and Clinch Rivers, filling large ar- management in previous issues. Examples
eas of those rivers and damaging the riverine (all available in our online archives at www CCRs’ Current Regulatory Status
ecosystem. The incident heightened national .powermag.com) include “Constructing The EPA classifies CCRs as exempt waste un-
awareness of the problems associated with Maryland’s First Permitted Landfill for Coal der an amendment to the Resource Conservation
utilities’ CCR surface impoundments if they Combustion By-products” (October 2011), and Recovery Act (RCRA). CCRs—residues
are not properly maintained. “The Better Environmental Option: Dry Ash from power plants’ coal combustion processes
Since the incident, TVA has worked con- Conversion Technology” (July 2011), “Add- that are captured by pollution control technolo-
tinuously to restore the areas affected by the ed Regulatory Hurdles Will Accelerate Coal gies such as scrubbers—include fly ash, bottom
spill (Figures 1 and 2). As of December 2011, Plant Retirements” (May 2011), “Coal Ash ash, boiler slag, and flue gas desulfurized gyp-
TVA had spent approximately $750 million Regulation: Playing the Name Game” (Sep- sum.
of an expected $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion to- tember 2010), and “Best Management Prac- CCRs are one of the largest U.S. waste
tal for cleanup of the affected site. tices for Coal Ash Ponds” (March 2009). streams. More than 130 million tons of CCRs
Regulations governing the disposal of In order to examine this complex topic were generated in 2010, according to the
CCRs (also commonly referred to as coal from a variety of viewpoints, in August, American Coal Ash Association’s (ACAA)
ash or coal combustion by-products) vary POWER interviewed representatives from a Coal Combustion Product (CCP) Produc-
considerably from state to state. Currently, leading global engineering, consulting, and tion & Use Survey Report. More than 40% of

1. Accidental release. In December 2008, the massive spill from 2. After cleanup. The same site shown in Figure 1 is shown here
TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant in east Tennessee dumped more than 1 bil- after successful cleanup efforts were completed. As of December
lion gallons of coal ash slurry into the Emory and Clinch Rivers. This 2011, TVA had spent approximately $750 million of an expected $1.1
aerial photo shows the area called the North Embayment, which was af- billion to $1.2 billion total for cleanup of the affected site. Courtesy:
fected by the accidental release. Courtesy: Tennessee Valley Authority Tennessee Valley Authority

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October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 75
COAL ASH MANAGEMENT
CCRs are recycled into a variety of products ■ Under the first proposal, the EPA would information request letters sent to companies
(Table 1). list these residuals as special wastes subject and facilities, site assessments, independent
The coal combustion by-products typical- to stricter regulation under Subtitle C of reports on specific units, and facility action
ly contain a broad range of metals, including RCRA when they are destined for disposal plans to implement recommendations to im-
arsenic, selenium, and cadmium, according in landfills or surface impoundments. prove the structural stability of these units.
to the EPA. The leach levels, however, using ■ Under the second proposal, the EPA would Beginning on Mar. 9, 2009, the EPA started
the EPA’s Toxicity Characteristic Leaching regulate coal ash under Subtitle D of RCRA, mailing information request letters to electric
Procedure, rarely reach the RCRA hazard- the section for nonhazardous wastes. utilities and corporations that have surface
ous waste characteristic levels. Potential en- impoundments or similar units that contain
vironmental concerns about CCRs pertain to EPA’s Ongoing Assessment of CCR CCRs. These letters requested information to
pollution from impoundments and landfills Surface Impoundments assist the agency in evaluating the structural
leaching into groundwater as well as struc- Following the December 2008 TVA spill integrity of the CCR management units. The
tural failures of impoundments, as was the incident, the EPA took aggressive steps to requests were sent to 219 facilities, and in re-
case in the TVA incident. assess impoundments and other units (such sponse, the EPA received information on 584
In 2010, the EPA proposed new national as dams and dikes) that contain CCRs and impoundments. Working closely with other
regulations for CCRs to address the risks from free liquids. The agency initially conducted federal agencies and the states, the EPA re-
the waste disposal of CCRs from electric utili- a multi-step assessment of CCR surface im- viewed the information provided to identify
ties and independent power producers. Cur- poundments to learn if there are any other impoundments or similar units that need pri-
rently, the agency is considering two possible impoundments that could also pose an im- ority attention (Table 2). Using contractors
options under RCRA for CCR management: minent risk of failure. Steps taken include: who are experts in dam integrity, the agency

Table 1. American Coal Ash Association survey of coal combustion product production and use (2010). This
table shows beneficial utilization and production totals, in short tons. Survey data represent over 231 GW of nameplate capacity of nearly 328
GW total capacity, or approximately 67% of the coal-fueled generation as reported by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). All numbers
in this survey report were derived from previous, current, and applicable industry-wide available data, including EIA Reports 923 and 860. Source:
American Coal Ash Association
CCP
Bottom Boiler FGD FGD material, FGD material, FGD, production/
CCP categories Fly ash ash slag gypsum wet scrubbers dry scrubbers other FBC ash utilization totals
2010 total CCPs produced, 67,700,000 17,800,000 2,332,994 22,000,000 8,670,814 1,405,952 3,740 10,267,914 130,181,364
by category
2010 total CCPs used, by 25,723,217 7,541,732 1,418,996 10,713,138 624,223 584,112 0 8,732,008 55,337,426
category
Application utilization breakout
Concrete/concrete 11,016,097 615,332 0 21,045 0 16,847 0 0 11,009,321
products /grout
Blended cement/raw feed 2,045,797 949,183 3,000 1,135,211 0 0 0 0 4,133,191
for clinker
Flowable fill 135,321 52,414 0 0 0 13,998 0 0 201,773
Structural fills/embank- 4,675,992 3,124,549 78,647 454,430 424,581 358,019 0 0 9,116,218
ments
Road base/sub-base 242,952 715,357 3,128 0 3,018 0 0 0 984,455
Soil modification/ 785,552 162,065 0 0 0 19,189 0 0 966,806
stabilization
Snow and ice control 0 549,520 41,194 0 0 0 0 0 590,714
Blasting grit/roofing 86,484 19,914 0 835,536 186,624 0 0 0 1,303,969
granules
Mining applications 2,399,837 528,881 0 835,536 186,624 112,373 0 8,660,408 12,723,659
Gypsum panel products 109 0 0 7,661,527 0 0 0 0 7,661,636
Waste stabilization/ 3,258,825 41,233 0 0 0 39,283 0 71,600 3,410,941
solidification
Agriculture 22,220 4,674 0 481,827 0 0 0 0 508,721
Aggregate 6,726 555,031 27,155 0 0 0 0 0 588,912
Miscellaneous/other 1,047,305 223,579 8,301 123,562 10,000 24,403 0 0 1,437,150
Summary utilization to production rate
2010 totals by CCP type/ 25,723,217 7,541,732 1,418,996 10,713,138 624,223 584,112 0 8,732,008 55,337,426
application
Category use to 37.90 42.30 60.80 48.60 7.10 41.50 85.00 42.50
production rate (%)

76 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
COAL ASH MANAGEMENT
conducted site assessments at many impound-
Table 2. Measuring CCR impoundments’ structural integrity. As part of the
ments and required appropriate remedial ac- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) recent efforts to review utilities’ management
tion at facilities that were found to have a unit of coal combustion residuals (CCRs), the agency released the final contractor reports assessing
posing a risk for potential failure. the structural integrity of impoundments containing CCRs (commonly referred to as coal ash)
at coal-fired power plants. Expert experience has shown that only impoundments rated as “un-
Special Waste or Nonhazardous satisfactory” pose immediate safety threats, according to EPA sources. None of the impound-
Waste? ments assessed so far have received an “unsatisfactory” rating. (A “round” represents the EPA
Andrew Byers, associate vice president of grouping of facilities by contract bid for logistical purposes; there are typically 20 facilities per
Black & Veatch, an international engineer- round. Rounds are ordered chronologically; the first round reports were done in 2009, and round
9 reports were completed toward the end of 2011. Earlier rounds typically were assessed as
ing, consulting, and construction company,
having higher-hazard-potential units, as the EPA made assessments of these particular facilities
shared with POWER his views about the
a priority.) Source: EPA
distinction between RCRA’s Subtitle C and
Subtitle D rules. First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth
Rating round round round round round round round round round
“The practical answer lies in the analysis
of the difference in ‘protection’ afforded as Satisfactory 22 31 15 23 15 3 34 9 29
proposed under Subtitle C versus Subtitle D Fair 15 9 12 17 14 27 10 16 18
in EPA’s rulemaking,” Byers said. “From a Poor 6 0 10 30 9 14 12 21 4
technical design standpoint, there is no sig-
nificant difference in the level of protection Unsatisfactory 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
afforded under the proposed rulemaking be- Total number of units 43 40 37 70 38 44 56 46 51
tween regulation of CCRs as special hazard-
ous waste under RCRA Subtitle C or as solid retrofit requirements for existing surface im- Byers. In this context, the EPA’s involvement
waste under Subtitle D.” poundments will likely result in phasing out could arguably provide backstop protection
The proposed design standards for new the use of ash ponds in the future. in situations where state agencies may lack
CCR landfills and surface impoundments There could be distinct differences in authority and/or the resources to sufficiently
under Subtitle C and D are identical, and terms of permitting and enforcement under ensure appropriate management practices
therefore would be equally protective of the two programs, as the EPA would have are being implemented. “So the question of
human health and environment, Byers said. more authority if CCRs were regulated as a whether the difference in protection provided
Similarly, the land disposal restrictions and special waste under Subtitle C, according to under Subtitle C is necessary may ultimately

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October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 77
COAL ASH MANAGEMENT
revolve more around regulatory authority ters are used as drinking water in many nearby disposal of “special” hazardous wastes. By
than technical design of ash management fa- communities that rely on well water.” extending regulation of CCRs all the way
cilities,” Byers noted. Saylor said that contamination is too com- back to the point of generation, the “cradle
Thomas H. Adams, executive director of mon at coal ash sites, and as a result, federal to grave” regulatory approach would com-
the ACAA, told POWER that he feels there protection under RCRA is absolutely neces- pel many new or additional administrative
is no scientific justification for regulating sary. With nearly 200 proven cases of con- requirements in terms of permitting, report-
disposal of coal combustion products under tamination in dozens of states, it is obvious ing, recordkeeping, and financial assurance
hazardous waste rules. He said that the EPA that state regulations are not effective in pro- obligations. Conversion from wet to dry ash-
has made this determination twice before—in tecting public health and the environment. handling systems at some facilities would
1993, and again in 2000. There is no new sci- Earthjustice’s concerns are that “enough require additional equipment and manage-
ence that informs the EPA or the public that coal ash is generated each year to fill train ment practices, as well as changes to on-site
these prior determinations were incorrect. cars stretching from the North Pole to the water management.
“The only reason the EPA wants to use South Pole,” Saylor said. Much of the waste Adams agreed with Byers. He said that if
Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and is dumped into unlined and unmonitored hazardous waste rules are promulgated, coal-
Recovery Act is that enforcement authority ponds and landfills that often sit near homes fired power plants would be forced to manage
under Subtitle C lies with the federal gov- and communities. The ponds and landfills, ash as a hazardous waste from the point of
ernment,” Adams said. “In contrast, enforce- sometimes decades old, have been found generation to the disposal site, which would
ment authority under Subtitle D, used for to leak coal ash into nearby waters used by cause a dramatic increase in disposal costs.
nonhazardous wastes such as municipal solid these communities for drinking, which is Such costs would be passed on to ratepayers.
waste, resides with the states. The EPA does “unacceptable.” Coal ash is a problem across “The strategy being employed by anti-
not trust the states to regulate disposal.” the country, and for decades, coal-fired power coal activists is obvious: By making the
Following the ash spill at the TVA’s plants have not had any requirement to keep regulations covering disposal more onerous,
Kingston, Tenn., facility in December 2008, the pollution away from those living nearby, the costs for ash disposal increase. Utility
environmental groups opposed to coal-fired according to Saylor. companies are then more motivated to con-
generation filled the media with claims that “As a result of the TVA incident in 2008, sider other sources of energy,” Adams said.
this was the “greatest environmental disas- the EPA revealed that at more than 40 other The engineering standards proposed by the
ter” in American history, said Adams. “Yet coal ash sites, a failure could likely cause a EPA in its 2010 document are virtually iden-
no deaths nor serious injuries resulted from loss of human life,” Saylor said. “Without tical for Subtitle C and Subtitle D propos-
the spill. Property damage was significant federally enforceable safeguards adopted and als, Adams said. Therefore, there is no more
and has been mitigated,” he said. enforced by the EPA, the threat remains. We protection afforded by promulgating hazard-
Adams explained that the Tennessee De- sincerely hope it will not take another trage- ous waste regulations. Current facilities—
partment of Health, in cooperation with the dy to spur action pertaining to this significant landfills as well as impoundments—should
U.S. Department of Health and Human Ser- environmental and public health threat.” be evaluated individually on a performance
vices, issued a report showing virtually no basis. Hazardous waste rules would, he
impacts on human health. Studies by aca- More Stringent CCR Regulations’ noted, require special training for plant per-
demic interests and consultants since the spill Impact on Power Plants sonnel, special equipment, special handling,
show no significant impacts on reproduction Byers, the Black & Veatch executive, and increased record-keeping, and compliance
of the wildlife found in the area. Nonethe- Adams, the ACAA executive director, both documentation and audits. The specific costs
less, the EPA moved quickly and voluntarily commented on the probable effect that RCRA vary from plant to plant.
agreed to create regulations for disposal of Subchapter C’s enactment would have on
coal combustion products. coal-fired power plants. Timetables for Complying with
“Armed with no new science, no danger to “It is our expectation that Subtitle C regu- the Subtitle C Rule, If Enacted
human health and the environment from the lation would increase capital and operating The extent to which more stringent Subtitle
Kingston spill, and no mandate from a court costs for all coal-fired power plants, as well C requirements may require changes to ash
or the Congress, the EPA continues to press as the risks of having to manage and pro- management practices will vary by facility,
for the most severe remedy at its disposal,” vide disposal facilities for greater amounts Byers said. Timeframes for implementing
Adams said. “Could it be that there is more to of CCRs that previously may have been Subtitle C requirements will depend on the
EPA’s interest in this matter than simply cre- sent offsite for beneficial reuse,” Byers said. extent of the engineering, capital improve-
ating better coal ash disposal management?” “When considered in the context of all other ments, permitting requirements, regulatory
In contrast to Byers and Adams, Jared Say- recent (or pending) EPA regulations affect- approvals, and financing, as well as the se-
lor, an Earthjustice representative, showed ing coal-fired generation plants, the impact lected contracting approach and availability
support for the proposition of regulating of stricter CCR rules may, by comparison, be of equipment and construction labor.
CCRs as special waste when he discussed the less substantial, but nevertheless could prove According to Byers, estimated overall
issue with POWER. Earthjustice is a national to be enough to influence or sway decisions timeframes—including design, permitting,
environmental advocacy organization. related to fuel switching or retirement.” (For and construction—are:
“Currently, no federal coal ash regulations an overview of current and expected regula-
exist, yet this material is filled with dangerous tions affecting the coal-fired generation in- ■ Two to four years for siting, permitting,
chemicals, such as arsenic, lead, mercury, and dustry, see “THE BIG PICTURE: Regulation and construction of the initial cell of a
chromium,” he said. “These chemicals cause Road,” p. 10.) new landfill, plus leachate and runoff/run-
cancer, birth defects, organ damage, and other Byers explained that all coal-fired power on controls and access roads.
health issues. At nearly 200 coal ash sites, coal plants would have to comply with appli- ■ Two years for adding a new cell to an ex-
ash has contaminated nearby waters, such as cable Subtitle C requirements of genera- isting landfill requiring upgrades to the
lakes, rivers, streams, and aquifers. These wa- tion, handling, storage, transportation, and disposal facility.

78 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
COAL ASH MANAGEMENT
■ Six to 12 months to permit and physi- A Subtitle C Rule’s Probable Effect from regulation, public and consumer per-
cally close an existing 50-acre surface on CCR Recycling ceptions cannot be managed by regulation,”
impoundment. Byers said, given that approximately 40% Byers said.
■ Two to three years to convert from a wet to of fly ash is recycled in the U.S., there are Adams added that utilities would be
a dry ash-handling system. potential risks of a “stigma” severely reduc- forced to take the increased cost to the
ing the beneficial reuse of these materials. If market and seek increases from ratepayers.
Byers explained that physical modifica- that occurred, then there would probably be In order to mitigate the costs for improved
tions to a plant’s CCR-handling equipment a need to significantly increase the number ash disposal management in states without
will be concurrent with the development of and size of CCR disposal facilities, which, in good programs at this time, the best solution
a new disposal facility and may be controlled turn, would be detrimental from an environ- is to create Subtitle D requirements that not
by the period necessary to bring the new dis- mental standpoint. “Although the regulation, only provide sufficient protection of human
posal facility online. as written, would exempt beneficial reuse health and the environment but also protect
Adams also talked about possible imple-
mentation timeframes for power plants if
they have to comply with Subtitle C re-
quirements. “As we focus on the recycling
of coal combustion products, we do not
have a good answer for this question. How- Meet stringent EPA regulations
ever, we are told that a Subtitle C regula- by using a cost-efficient alternative solution.
tion would take somewhere between seven
and 10 years to become fully operational
across the country,” he said. “In contrast,
a less-stringent version of the Subtitle C
rule recently proposed by U.S. Representa-
tive David McKinley [R-W.Va.] would be
operational in 18 months, according to the
Environmental Council of the States.”

Projected Financial Effects of


Subtitle C Requirements
Byers explained that costs are relative to the
overall size and scope of construction and
upgrades. In the case of the stricter Subtitle
C rules, compliance costs will depend sig-
nificantly on a number of factors:

■ The need to convert from a wet to dry ash-


handling system.
■ The size of the generation facility.
■ The volume of CCRs produced. Sturtevant’s Simpactor® Mill
■ The size of surface impoundments and the
amount of waste that may need to be dredged
from existing impoundments, if retrofitted. The cost to retrofit older plants with dry sorbent grinding mills and injection
■ The availability of and distance to tempo- systems involves much less capital outlay to meet new regulations than an
rary or final storage. expensive wet scrubbing system. Sturtevant’s Simpactor® Mill is designed for
■ Additional equipment and staff required the rigors of DSI (Dry Sorbent Injection). It has proven to be highly effective at
for operation. reducing SOx emissions in small to mid-size coal fired power plants. DSI systems
equipped with Sturtevant’s Simpactor® cost less because they use up to 40%
The extent to which existing ash manage-
less sorbent; benefiting from a corresponding reduction are disposal costs.
ment systems would need to be retrofitted
or reconfigured will be reflected in opera- • Low maintenance • Easy to operate
tors’ bottom lines and overall profitability, • Low energy consumption • Optional liner
according to Byers. For many plants, the with high throughput & pin material available
capacity issues of how a much larger vol-
ume of CCRs would have to be managed,
the costs and balance-of-plant impacts as-
sociated with converting from wet to dry Sturtevant, Inc.
CCR-handling systems, and the feasibility 348 Circuit Street
of establishing new disposal facilities in or Hanover, MA 02339
near each plant may ultimately determine T (800)992-0209
the viability of some facilities. F (781)829-6515

CIRCLE 36 ON READER SERVICE CARD

|
October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 79
COAL ASH MANAGEMENT
the recycling markets from the stigma of a Continuing Regulatory regulatory uncertainty associated with this
“hazardous waste” designation. “The best Uncertainty issue. Currently, NRECA and other indus-
solution to disposal concerns is to recycle. As of press time in September, the EPA still try groups are actively supporting the Coal
Recycling should be encouraged—not dis- had not decided whether to regulate CCRs Residuals Reuse and Management Act (H.R.
paraged,” Adams said. as hazardous waste under RCRA Subtitle C 2273/S. 3512), which is legislation to estab-
Adams explained that a hazardous waste or as nonhazardous under RCRA Subtitle D. lish a federal regulatory program to ensure the
designation would do more than force gen- Even though the agency has not yet issued a safe management of CCRs as a nonhazardous
erators to comply with hazardous waste final rule, it maintains that it expects to do so material. The U.S. House of Representatives
regulations from the point of generation to by the end of this year. passed H.R. 2273 on Oct. 14, 2011, with
the point of disposal; “such rules would ef- Adding to the regulatory unpredictability bipartisan support; S. 3512 was introduced
fectively destroy the markets for recycling is a recent lawsuit filed against the EPA on with bipartisan backing in the U.S. Senate on
coal combustion products, resulting in a Apr. 5, 2012, by a coalition of 11 environ- Aug. 1, 2012. Many industry groups are urg-
massive amount of valuable material being mental groups that are advocating for a haz- ing the Senate to follow the House’s lead by
redirected to landfills. Landfill space is al- ardous designation for CCRs. The lawsuit taking up and approving S. 3512.
ready in short supply in many communities. (Appalachian Voices v. Jackson), filed in
The hazardous waste designation would put U.S. District Court for the District of Co- Instituting Proper CCR
more pressure on landfills.” lumbia, asks the court to set deadlines for the Management Now
Many of the markets for recycled coal ash are EPA to review and revise CCR regulations. It is important to note that just because the
consumer-based, Adams said. Consumers are Earthjustice, representing the environmental EPA has not finalized new rules regulating
not prone to inviting hazardous waste into their coalition, said the EPA has violated RCRA’s CCRs, that does not mean power plant staff
homes, schools, and healthcare facilities. One Section 2002(b) by not reviewing and re- can ignore potential problems associated
can literally reach out and touch products con- vising CCR regulations every three years. with CCR mismanagement. Any acciden-
taining coal combustion products in homes— Among the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit are tal CCR releases that affect third parties
from shingles on the roof, to the concrete in Appalachian Voices, the Chesapeake Climate can expose utilities to expensive litigation
foundations and slabs, to drywall, to carpet Action Network, the Environmental Integrity and damages even in the absence of federal
backing, to concrete counter tops. “Marketers Project, Physicians for Social Responsibility, regulations.
of competitive materials have already started and the Sierra Club. For example, in the Aug. 23 decision hand-
to attempt to scare consumers by insinuating Likewise, many industry groups, such as ed down by Judge Thomas Varian, the U.S.
that products containing coal ash are actually the National Rural Electric Cooperative As- District Court for the Eastern District of Ten-
vehicles for hazardous wastes,” he said. sociation (NRECA), are eager to resolve the nessee ruled in favor of more than 800 plain-
tiffs when it held TVA liable for the December
2008 failure of CCR containment dikes at its
Kingston Fossil plant in Roane County, Tenn.
The ruling determined that TVA did not
build the CCR holding ponds according to
plan, did not train its inspectors how to in-
spect the stability of the dikes, and did not
properly maintain the facility to prevent
failure of the dikes. The ruling allowed liti-
gation stemming from the Dec. 22, 2008,
A global leader in energy advisory spill—involving more than 60 cases, mostly
from residents or business owners near the
and compliance services plant—to proceed to a second round to de-
termine damages.
HELPING CLIENTS MINIMIZE RISKS AND MAXIMIZE PROFITS The court held TVA liable for damages
to the individual plaintiffs under negligence,
�ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒFuel markets forecasts and analysis trespass, and private nuisance claims, but it
�ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒAir regulatory analysis and strategy dismissed plaintiff claims regarding negli-
gence per se for violation of federal laws,
�ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒDue diligence and asset valuation
including RCRA and the Clean Water Act,
�ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒPower market and electric transmission analysis and several state environmental statutes. It
�ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
Litigation and regulatory support also dismissed claims for recklessness, strict
liability, and public nuisance.
�ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
ƒ
NERC compliance and CIP cybersecurity To avoid future accidental CCR releases
Scan the QR
�ƒ
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Renewable energy markets solutions code with your similar to the one that occurred at the TVA
�ƒ
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Smart grid end-to-end support smartphone to facility, personnel at U.S. coal-fired power
learn more.
plants with CCR-containing ponds need to
ensure that they are properly managing their
Contact: facilities’ surface impoundments, inspecting
Maribeth Sawchuk � maribeth.sawchuk@icfi.com � 703.218.2554
them on a regular basis, and maintaining the
icfi.com/energy integrity of the retention dikes. ■
—Angela Neville, JD is POWER’s
senior editor.
CIRCLE 37 ON READER SERVICE CARD

80 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
TO POWER YOUR BUSINESS
NEW PRODUCTS
Power Supply Signal Conditioning Motor Control Center
Pepperl+Fuchs’ new KFU8- Addresses Arc Flash Incidents
VCR-1 Transmitter Power
Supply Signal Conditioners
feature various inputs for
standard voltage and current
inputs. These 1-channel signal
conditioners offer maximum
installation flexibility to suit
a wide range of application
needs. Input and output signal
ranges are selected by switches
located on the front of the
device. This enables fast, easy
setup and setting duplication,
without the need for any
software and eliminates the
need for tedious input/output
scaling. KFU8-VCR-1 can be
powered by AC or DC power
and is ideal for small projects.
(www.pepperl-fuchs.us)

Rubber Disc Return Rollers

ABB says its newly introduced MNS-MCC


motor control center is the first in the
industry to address the causes of arc
flash incidents while providing superior
equipment and personnel protection.
The product uniquely allows operators
to remove a unit with the door closed,
with no tools, and without disconnecting
any wires. This easy “bucket removal”
encourages work to be performed outside
the arc flash boundary.
In developing the MNS-MCC, ABB took
the primary features of a globally proven
IEC product and incorporated them into
a unique, comprehensive low-voltage
New Rubber Disc Return Rollers from Elite Roller Manufacturing feature four motor control center that meets UL 845,
tapered roller bearings (two in each hub) for smooth operation and a service CSA C22.2, and IBC-2006 standards. To
life that is up to three times longer than traditional two-bearing roller designs. achieve the greatest possible flexibility
The patented “quad bearing” design also withstands more severe applications and minimize factory downtime, the MNS-
than traditional rollers, and it allows the reuse of the axle assembly, yielding MCC offers plug-in type, withdrawable-
a significant savings over replacing entire idler assemblies. Because there is type, and full-height unit technology,
no welding on the idler assembly, any damaged parts can be replaced in just with up to 4,000A horizontal bus and
minutes. Rollers can be refurbished at a fraction of the price of new ones, with 1,600A vertical bus. Its innovative design
90% of the materials reused. Made with universal shafts and 5-, 6-, or 7-inch is available in a variety of unit types,
diameters, these products fit any manufacturer’s brackets. They are ideal for including starters, softstarters, variable
abrasive and corrosive environments. (www.eliterollermanufacturing.com) frequency drives, and mains and feeder
breakers. (www.abb.com)

|
October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 81
NEW PRODUCTS
Cryogenic Mass Vortex Flow Meter
Sierra Instruments launched a new cryogenic version of
its InnovaMass 240 multivariable mass vortex flow meter
for advanced, more reliable measurement of liquefied
gases, including liquid nitrogen, liquid oxygen, liquefied
natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas, down to –330F.
The InnovaMass contains no moving parts that will wear
out or require service. This new meter has undergone
extensive testing and field validation over the last several
years. Using a special cryogenic temperature RTD, mass
calculations are done with the latest density equations
of state for liquid oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and carbon
dioxide. The InnovaMass 240 can be loop-powered
with “power in,” a programmable analog output, and a
HART or MODBUS signal riding on the same two wires.
(www.sierrainstruments.com/products/cryo.html)

Electronic Differential
Pressure Sensor

pH-Measuring App
California-based Sensorex
has developed an industry-
first mobile accessory for pH
measurements. Compatible
with Apple iPod, iPhone,
and iPad devices, the
PH-1 pH meter accessory
measures and records pH
values in the lab or field
for use in environmental,
education, and industrial
applications. The patent-
pending PH-1 accessory
plugs into the standard
Apple dock connector
The Deltabar FMD72 Electronic Differential
and uses a Sensorex pH
Pressure measurement system launched by
electrode to measure pH
Endress+Hauser uses two pressure sensor
with accuracy to .01 pH.
modules connected electronically to a single
The free Sensorex app
transmitter and eliminates the need for
displays pH, millivolts,
impulse lines or capillaries and their related
ambient temperature, and
issues of icing up, clogging, leaky taps, dry/
solution temperature in
wet leg inconsistencies, and problems with
real time. The CE-marked
temperature changes. Ambient temperature
device supports 1, 2, 3,
changes cause measurement drift in traditional
or more calibration points
capillary systems, but up to 95% of this drift
and sends readings by
can be eliminated with the FMD72, the
email for later analysis.
company says. The FMD72 responds up to 10
When used with a GPS-
times faster than traditional impulse and
enabled device, the pH meter app will record measurements with
capillary systems, is easier and less expensive
timestamp and geographic coordinates, eliminating transcription
to install, and does not require heat tracing.
errors and improving efficiency. Powered by the Apple device, the
One sensor module measures the hydrostatic
PH-1 requires no supplemental energy source. Its pH measurement
(high pressure), the second sensor measures
range is 0 to 14 pH, and it operates in ambient temperatures of 0 to
the head pressure (low pressure), and the
40C, in solutions of 0 to 100C. Data history can be grouped by date
transmitter calculates the differential
or location and exported individually or in .csv format via email.
pressure. These measured values can be used
(www.sensorex.com)
to calculate the level, volume, or mass of
liquids in pressurized tanks.
(www.us.endress.com/electronic-dp)

Inclusion in New Products does not imply endorsement by POWER magazine.

82 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 83
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• Cleaning surfaces Sizes 0.530 O.D. to 2.035 O.D.
50 - 25,000 KW
• Sanitizing surfaces Tel: (203) 881-0190 • Fax:(203)881-0178
GEARS & TURBINES E-mail: Conklin59@aol.com • www.conklin-sherman.com
• Preparing surfaces for painting
25 - 4000 HP OVER ONE MILLION PLUGS SOLD
• Routine cleaning or to remove smoke
WE STOCK LARGE INVENTORIES OF: and other surface stains READER SERVICE NUMBER 209
Air Pre-Heaters • Economizers • Deaerators
Pumps • Motors • Fuel Oil Heating & Pump Sets From Abrasive Blasting using a wide variety
of media to low-abrasive Dry Ice Blasting,
Valves • Tubes • Controls • Compressors Mole•Master does it all safely and eficiently!
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Toll Free: 800.322.6653 • Fax: 740.374.5908
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READER SERVICE NUMBER 207 READER SERVICE NUMBER 208

GEORGE H. BODMAN, INC.


Chemical cleaning advisory services for
To Advertise in POWER
boilers and balance of plant systems CLASSIFIEDS
George H. Bodman C O N TAC T
Pres. / Technical Advisor
Diane Hammes
BoilerCleaningDoctor.com Office 1-800-286-6069
Office (281) 359-4006
PO Box 5758 E-mail: blrclgdr@aol.com PHONE 713-444-9939 FAX 512-213-4855 dianeh@powermag.com
Kingwood, TX 77325-5758 Fax (281) 359-4225

READER SERVICE NUMBER 210

READER SERVICE NUMBER 211 READER SERVICE NUMBER 212

84 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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READER SERVICE NUMBER 213 READER SERVICE NUMBER 214 READER SERVICE NUMBER 215

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READER SERVICE NUMBER 216 READER SERVICE NUMBER 217

|
October 2012 POWER www.powermag.com 85
Advertisers’ Index
Enter reader service numbers on the FREE Product Information Source card in this issue.
Reader Reader
Service Service
Page Number Page Number
AMEC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 . . . . . . . . . 22 MAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 4 . . . . . . . . . 38
www.amec.com/power www.man-engines.com
Applied Bolting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . . 7 Metalfab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 . . . . . . . . . 32
www.appliedbolting.com www.metalfabinc.com
Aquatech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 . . . . . . . . . 10 MTU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 . . . . . . . . . . .
www.aquatech.com www.mtu-online.com
AREVA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 . . . . . . . . . 15 NatronX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 . . . . . . . . . 21
www.areva.com www.natronx.com
Baldor Electric. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 . . . . . . . . . 13 Nol-Tec Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 . . . . . . . . . 18
www.baldor.com www.nol-tec.com
Benetech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 . . . . . . . . . 29 Orion Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 . . . . . . . . . 11
www.benetechusa.com www.orioninstruments.com
Beumer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 . . . . . . . . . . 6 Paharpur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 . . . . . . . . . 25
www.beumer.com www.paharpur.com
BRUKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 . . . . . . . . . 31 Phillips 66 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . 2
www.bruks.com www.phillips66lubricants.com
Carver Pump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 . . . . . . . . . 12 Rentech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 2 . . . . . . . . . . 1
www.carverpump.com www.rentechboilers.com
Diamond Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 . . . . . . . . . 14 Roberts & Schaefer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 . . . . . . . . . 27
www.diamondpower.com www.r-s.com
Exxon/Mobil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 . . . . . . . . . 17 Stanley Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 . . . . . . . . . 35
www.exxonmobil.com www.stanleyconsultants.com
Fenner Dunlop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 . . . . . . . . . 26 STF S.p.A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 . . . . . . . . . 34
www.fennerdunlopamericas.com www.stf.it
GE Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 . . . . . . . . . . 9 Sturtevant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 . . . . . . . . . 36
www.ge-energy.com www.sturtevantinc.com
General Physics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . 4 TEAM Industrial Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 . . . . . . . . . . 8
www.etaproefficiency.com www.teaminc.com
HACH…. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 . . . . . . . . . 23 Tyco Flow Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . 3
www.hach.com www.tycoflowcontrol.com
Hitachi Power Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 . . . . . . . . . 24 Victory Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 . . . . . . . . . 33
www.hitachipowersystems.us www.victoryenergy.com
Hytorc Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . 5 Westinghouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 . . . . . . . . . 20
www.hytorc.com www.westinghousenuclear.com
ICF International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 . . . . . . . . . 37
www.icfi.com/energy
KIMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 . . . . . . . . . 30 Classified Advertising
www.kimae.de Pages 88-90. To place a classified ad, contact
Magnetrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 . . . . . . . . . 28
www.magnetrol.com Diane Hammes, 713-343-1885, dianeh@powermag.com

POWER
From the editors of POWER: The online magazine devoted to
the coal-fired power generation industry

Te c h n o l o g i e s f o r c o a l - f i r e d p o w e r p l a n t s a r e e v o l v i n g ra p i d l y , a n d
COA L P O W E R h a s e v o l v e d t o o . I n i t s l a t e s t o n l i n e f o r m a t y o u g e t
everything you valued in print and so much more:

• A c c e s s t o COAL POWE R w h e r e v e r y o u c a n u s e a b r o w s e r.

• Te c h n i c a l a r t i c l e s , c o a l p o w e r n e w s , b l o g s , o p i n i o n , a n d i n f o r m a t i o n .

• E a s y r e t r i e v a l o f a r c h i v e d COAL POWE R f e a t u r e s .

• Instant access to our advertisers for more information about their products.

• The ability to comment on stories and share your knowledge with the
c o a l - b u r n i n g p o w e r p l a n t c o m m u n i t y.

• Job board.

Subscribe today for e-mail alerts when each new issue is posted.
e-mail: subscribe@coalpowermag.com

T h e n v i s i t t h e o n l i n e h o m e o f COAL POWE R — w w w. c o a l p o w e r m a g . c o m

86 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012

CP ad_7x4.875.indd 1 5/13/10 2:00:00 PM


Marmaduke Surfaceblow’s
Salty Technical Romances
Steve Elonka began chronicling the exploits of Marmaduke
Surfaceblow—a fictional 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. Surfaceblow’s simple
solutions to seemingly intractable plant problems remain time-
less. This anthology, first published in 1979, highlights many of
Marmaduke’s exploits that occurred during his early years (pre-
WW I) through the 1960s.

Surfaceblow’s knowledge comes from hands-on expe-


rience operating steam power plants and
all manner of machinery. Later in the series
a son, Guy Newcomen Surfaceblow, was
introduced. He is a university-trained engi-
neer who also has field experience that gives
him credibility when working with hard-boiled
characters in the boonies. The character’s name
was coined from Marmaduke, a Scottish name,
and Surfaceblow, which is the action of remov-
ing impurities from a steam boiler.

In this book, available in a PDF download, you will


find all of Surfaceblow’s adventures
consolidated into a single volume. Many of the
stories were inspired by actual events.

Available in a PDF format, 321 pages long.

Order your copy online at


www.powermag.com/powerpress
or call 888-707-5808. 20954
COMMENTARY
Veterans and Utilities:
A Valuable Partnership
he brave men and women of the U.S. military spend years A Mutually Beneicial Partnership

T crafting special skills and developing traits that prepare


them for the challenging assignments they will be given
throughout their terms of service. They receive orders for tours
In March 2011, former CEWD Chairman and Dominion Resources
Chairman, President, and CEO Thomas F. Farrell II launched the
Troops to Energy Jobs (TEJ) initiative. Six companies—Southern
of duty and venture without hesitation into places steeped in Company, American Electric Power, Dominion, Pacific Gas & Elec-
peril and instability. Because of their consistently courageous tric, Pinnacle West/Arizona Public Service, and National Grid—
responses to unimaginable challenges, civilians herald America’s have taken the lead in piloting the TEJ initiative. The initiative
servicemen and women as heroes. How can we begin to repay our is designed to help those leaving the service make a successful
veterans for defending our freedom? When their service to our transition from the military to a civilian career.
country is through, it should be our responsibility to assist in Veterans spent their military careers protecting national secu-
easing their transition to civilian life. rity and are, among many things, battle-tested, self-motivated,
Transitioning from the military can be both an exciting and a and safety-conscious—traits that transfer well to the utility in-
complicated time in a veteran’s career. For those shifting their dustry. As these companies hire veterans, they are ensuring the
focus from national security to job security, however, finding continued production and delivery of power to American homes
employment can be a daunting task—especially in today’s econ- and business. In their own way, these service personnel are con-
omy. From the beginning of their job search, veterans are faced tinuing to protect national security as they work to deliver a
with several statistics that paint a bleak picture: product that fuels our lives and powers our economy.
With many electric industry employees currently or soon
■ The overall unemployment rate for those who have left mili- to be eligible for retirement, critical positions such as lin-
tary service in the past decade is 12%—more than 3 percent- eworkers, power station and field operators, technicians, en-
age points higher than the national unemployment rate. gineers, pipefitters, pipelayers, and welders will experience
■ The current unemployment rate for males ages 18 to 24 who have large numbers of vacancies. For veterans, however, these va-
served and transitioned into civilian life is far worse: 27%. cancies will present opportunities to help ensure the safe, ef-
■ A recent Pew Research Center Survey reveals that 44% of ficient, and reliable production and delivery of power across
newly discharged veterans say the transition to civilian ca- the country. These jobs are both challenging and rewarding,
reers is “difficult.” and they provide competitive compensation and professional
■ The U.S. government paid $882 million in unemployment ben- growth opportunities.
efits to newly discharged service personnel in 2010 alone.
Why Troops to Energy Jobs Works
How We Help The TEJ initiative is designed to establish and maintain out-
Electric utility industry leaders have made it our collective job to reach to groups and companies to assist in recruiting qualified
help veterans find employment. Hiring veterans is a priority because veterans. By creating a roadmap, companies participating in TEJ
they possess the skills the energy industry needs. Southern Compa- are helping to ease the transition for service personnel into a
ny joins other leading investor-owned utilities in believing that our civilian career. In utility terms, this initiative streamlines the
veterans’ proven commitment to pride, duty, honor, and discipline process of moving from front line to line worker.
adds significant value to our company’s overall success. This sym- One of TEJ’s key components is accelerating the time needed
metry in approach is a major reason why Southern Company consis- to earn a degree or required credential to enter skilled utility
tently ranks among the top military employers in any industry. positions. By working with community colleges to accept full
Founded in 2006, the Center for Energy Workforce Develop- college credit for military training, veterans will be able to reach
ment (CEWD) is a nonprofit consortium of electric, natural gas, the post-secondary credential faster. CEWD is also working to
and nuclear utilities and their associations, including the Edi- identify and implement certificate programs to bridge gaps in
son Electric Institute, American Gas Association, Nuclear Energy veteran education, allowing veterans to move more quickly into
Institute, and National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. energy positions. CEWD is collaborating with military trainers,
CEWD has structured programs and initiatives to help prepare for faculty at community colleges, and technical trainers within the
the pending retirement of a large number of the electric utility companies to compare the training and skills of those leaving
industry’s most experienced employees. the service with the training and skills necessary for available
In 2011, CEWD projected that as many as 200,000 workers— utility jobs.
more than a third of the total workforce—could leave jobs at The opportunity to employ our nation’s heroes is a win-win
gas and electric utilities in the next five years as they reach proposition benefitting America’s service personnel, the utility
retirement age or depart due to attrition. CEWD has been at the industry as a whole, and everyone who depends on us for the con-
forefront of recruiting and developing the next generation of tinued delivery of clean, safe, reliable, and affordable power. ■
utility workers. As more of our service personnel return home —Susan Story (www.southerncompany.com) is president and
from abroad, our industry is working to find a better way to say, CEO of Southern Company Services and chair of the Center for
“Thank you.” Our solution? Employ them. Energy Workforce Development.

88 www.powermag.com |
POWER October 2012
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