Regulated Strategy

LG&Es incredible hulks

Giant liners protect new chimneys from corrosion at Kentuckys Mill Creek plant
They were impossible to miss: greenish hulks, some weighing up to 25,000 pounds, dominating a section of property at Mill Creek Station, a coal-fired plant operated by Louisville Gas and Electric Company. Dozens were clustered near the coal yard, the larger ones rising more than 30 feet with diameters nearly equal in length. Walking among the earth-tone structures on a clear day was like a trek through western canyons. Imposing as they are, the objects (and others that will follow) will be hidden from sight by 2015. But they will remain at Mill Creek to fulfill an important role in the plants capital improvement plans to meet stricter U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards for air quality. These rotund titans are liner cans that are being installed inside two new chimneys under construction at Mill Creek. The liners are manufactured at Mill Creek by Plasticon Composites, a global provider of corrosion-resistant products and services for industrial storage or processing. Commonwealth Dynamics Inc. is building the new chimneys and is raising the liners into position inside their concrete shells. Of the two new chimneys, one will have the liners in service by the fourth quarter of next year while the other is slated for the second quarter of 2015. Each chimney will be installed with 19 liner sections. LG&E and Kentucky Utilities are embarking on a $2.3 billion construction plan to comply with the latest round of EPA regulations in the most cost-effective manner. These improvements began in 2012 at Mill Creek, located on the Ohio River about 10 miles south of Louisville, and are expected to be finished by 2016. Along with the two new chimneys, Mill Creek is constructing wet-process scrubbing equipment, known as flue gas desulfurization, at all four combustion units. The equipment will control sulfur dioxide exhaust at a 98.5 percent removal rate. The scrubbing equipment creates a moist environment inside the chimneys that can lead to corrosion, which can damage their structural integrity. This is where the green giants step in. Made of fiberglass reinforced plastic, they offer a corrosionresistant solution that can last indefinitely. Our new flue gas systems required a solution that was equally advanced, and the liners answered the call, said LG&E and KUs Philip Imber, manager of major capital projects. The inside of the liners is coated with carbon-based film that safely conducts static electricity to a grounding line. Among other design features, horizontal pipes placed inside the liner provide an effective water-collection system when installed in the chimney.
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LG&Es Philip Imber (left), manager of major capital projects, and Jonathan Connors, site manager for Plasticon Composites, examine nished chimney liners that were manufactured onsite at the Mill Creek generating station.

Because of their size, you typically wont see the liners transported down interstate highways or unloaded from ships at port. Instead, Plasticon manufactures them onsite using a winding building that can be erected and disassembled quickly. The liner cans are manufactured using a mechanical process that weaves together long bundles of fiberglass wound around a mold. The fiberglass is impregnated with a premium fire- and corrosionresistant resin and additives to create the finished composite. Were using a horizontal winding process. The mold turns and the machine applies the fiberglass and resin across the mold. Once the finished product has cured, it is then turned upright so the crane can pull the liner through a sliding roof in the building and place it outside, Plasticon site manager Jonathan Connors said. Imber and Connors emphasized how Plasticon and LG&E share the same no compromise approach to safety, making them ideal partners in performing the liner work. In addition to Mill Creek, winding buildings were installed at the Brunner Island and Montour power plants in Pennsylvania during the construction of scrubbers there. The scrubbers were completed at Montour in 2008 and at Brunner Island the following year. The capital improvements under way at Mill Creek are being implemented by the primary contracting firm, Zachry Industrial Inc. Zachry subcontracted construction of the chimneys and installation of the liners to Commonwealth Dynamics. Plasticon is contracted by Commonwealth Dynamics to manufacture the liners.
DIMENSIONS Fourth Quarter 2013 17