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POWER-GEN International 2015:

Transition and Transformation
This years POWER-GEN International promises educational and networking

opportunities alike, as well as good old-fashioned fun. More than 21,000
power professionals will convene in Las Vegas, Nevada, December 8-10,
2015, to interface with more than 1,400 showcasing companies and 300
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DEPARTMENTS
2
4
6
8
Opinion
Nuclear Reactions
View on Renewables
Energy Matters
10
46
52
Industry Watch
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OPINION
CHP: An Opportunity
for Struggling Utilities
BY RUSSELL RAY, CHIEF EDITOR
hile the cost of producing

large centralized power
in the U.S. continues to
increase, the cost of distributed power
continues to fall.
Just last month, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a
new rule establishing strict wastewater
discharge standards for toxic metals,
including mercury, lead and selenium.
To comply, more than 130 U.S. power
plants will be required to make hefty
investments in new technology. The estimated cost of compliance, according
to the EPA, will be $480 million a year.
The Clean Power Plan, the most
far-reaching energy-sector regulation
in the history of the U.S., was finalized in August and calls for sweeping
new requirements to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions 32 percent below
2005 levels by 2030. The controversial
new rule will cost power producers
a whopping $8.4 billion annually by
2030, the EPA said. Other estimates
put the compliance cost much higher.
EPAs Mercury and Air Toxics Standard, which established the first limits on mercury, arsenic and acid-gas
emissions from coal-fired plants, became effective earlier this year but was
stayed because regulators failed to consider the cost of complying with the
new rule - $9.6 billion.
In addition, federal regulators recently finalized new rules for coal ash management and storage and announced
plans to implement stricter standards for
ground-level ozone pollution.
The rising cost of centralized power
coupled with stagnant revenue growth
2
caused by flat or declining demand for

electricity means investor-owned utilities should give serious thought to providing distributed power to its larger
customers such as hospitals, universities and industrial complexes.
Im talking about combined heat and
power (CHP), also known as cogeneration. CHP plants recycle the waste heat
produced during power production for
manufacturing processes and other
useful purposes. By capturing and utilizing the excess heat, CHP plants can
achieve energy efficiency rates of 75
percent or higher, well above efficiency
rates for conventional power stations.
Whats more, CHP plants offer more
reliability because they are independent
of the grid, a benefit that was plainly
evident after Superstorm Sandy struck
the East Coast in October 2012. In the
aftermath, while thousands of people
were left without power from the
grid, the lights remained on at college
campuses, hospitals and apartment
complexes equipped with a CHP system.
The demand for CHP plants is significant for several reasons: Low natural
gas prices; lower spark spreads; and a
need for more resilient and reliable
power generation assets. Doug Friedel,
projects director for Industrial Power
Generation Services at Black & Veatch,
said utilities should be getting into this
emerging market because, unlike their
industrial customers, utilities are specialists in financing and building power projects.
They (customers) dont really want
to be in the business of generating
power, Friedel said. A utility is in the
business of generating power. Its what

they do. The customers are reluctant to
make this kind of investment.
The Obama administration wants
to boost CHP capacity by 40,000 MW,
or 50 percent, by 2020. That was the
goal established in an executive order
directing several federal agencies and
departments to encourage more investment in CHP projects through existing
programs and policies.
If that goal is met, American businesses would save an estimated $10
billion a year in energy costs. The emissions reduction would be tantamount
to taking 25 million cars off the road.
In addition to using very little water, CHP plants emit 40 percent fewer
emissions compared with conventional power stations.
If its twice as efficient, it also puts
half of the pollutants into the atmosphere, Friedel said.
CHP, or cogeneration, has been
around for 100 years. It has quietly
been providing highly efficient, reliable power to the nations most important industries for a long time.
In addition to CHPs high efficiency
ratings, todays technology offers the
flexibility and reliability grid managers need to accommodate growing
amounts of variable wind and solar
power.
Its really interesting that a technology as old as combined heat and power
has seen such a regeneration of interest, Friedel said.
If you have a question or a comment,
contact me at russellr@pennwell.com.
Follow me on Twitter @RussellRay1
www.power-eng.com
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NUCLEAR REACTIONS
Why Georgia Marches

on Towards More Nuclear
TIM G. ECHOLS, COMMISSIONER, GEORGIA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
hile the rest of the nation

toggles between natural gas
and renewables, Georgia
maintains a strong commitment to building new nuclear. Some scratch their head
in disbelief, but those who live in this
bright red state understand our determination. Let me explain.
First, our state has no major rivers to
produce big hydro power. We have no
power plants on mine-mouths, natural
gas fields, or Hoover Dams. A significant
portion of Georgias fuel for electricity
production has to be transported over
1,000 miles. Yet, our energy prices are still
low. Chalk that up to good planning
and management by Georgia Power
and constructive regulation from the
public utility commissionre-elected
every six years.
What we do have is nuclear power,
and it enjoys widespread support. After all, our state is situated in the Silicon
Valley of nuclear. Plant Vogtle is on the
Savannah River directly across from the
Savannah River Site210 square miles of
all-things-nuclear including reprocessing,
storage, five decommissioned reactors,
and an Areva-built MOX facility under
construction. Just up the road from that
is the V.C. Summer plant where SCANA is
building two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors just like the ones being built at Plant
Vogtle. To the northwest is the Oconee
Nuclear Stationa reactor operating
since 1973. To the east is Barnwell, the
low-level waste storage site in operation
since 1971.
So you see, our citizens are familiar
with nuclear power and in fact, attribute
our low rates to nuclears low life cycle
cost. The two new 1,100-MW nuclear power units under construction will
4
increase Georgias capacity to generate nuclear electricity by more than 50 percent.

Once the new zero-emissions nuclear
units are in operation they will supply a
substantial portion of our states baseload
generation.
And for those coal haters out there,
I have good news. According to retired
Georgia Tech engineering professor James
Rust, a factor not mentioned in support of
nuclear power is its influence on domestic reserves of coal and natural gas. Rusts
research demonstrates that just one of
the new nuclear units at Plant Vogtle, if it
had been a fossil-unit instead, would consume 230 million tons of coal or 5 trillion
cubic feet of natural gas over its 60-year
lifetime. In essence, nuclear power plants
extend the life of our fossil fuel reserves
far out into the future and reduce future
price increases. I guess that is good news
for India, China and Germanywho will
have the opportunity to buy up cheap
American coal.
Nuclear power is the poster child of
reliability. It is no accident that Georgia
doesnt experience the blackouts or rolling
brownouts as experienced by northeastern states, Texas or California. The Vogtle
co-owners, Georgia Power, Oglethorpe
Power, MEAG, and the City of Dalton, enjoy the benefits of these reactors operating
24/7 for 18 months at a timerain, shine,
snow, with wind, or without. Remember
the polar vortex when the price of natural
gas spiked 800 percent in certain northeastern states? Georgia didnt experience
any of that mess. Yet, the equally-reliable
Vermont Yankee nuclear plant located in
the New England ISO shut down with
no objection from President Obama or
northern politicians. Go figure.
Understand Georgia politics. The
Georgia legislature passed a bill that

allows Georgia Power to collect the financing cost of the Vogtle project during
construction. The PSC, prior to my arrival, approved a similar measure. Why?
Because it reduced the certified costs of
the project by $300 million and reduced
the companys borrowing cost by tens of
millions of dollars. It also vested the leadership of the legislature. So with all the
utilities and many of the politicians
investing in Vogtles success, the state
was all-in on new nuclear. The addition of production tax credits, the
federal loan guarantee, and the current
low-interest cost environment further
sweetened the deal.
Then along came the Clean Power Plan.
You probably can understand now why
we focused so much of our official comments, lobbying, and political capital towards getting full credit for these reactors.
The draft plans formula shortchanged
our state, but when the final plan was
issued, new nuclear received favorable
treatment making those reactors worth
10 percent of our total compliance with
the Clean Power Plan. Both the PSC
and Georgia Power had envisioned a
carbon-constrained future when they
certified the reactors, and that future is
now reality.
There are economic and societal concerns about using nuclear powerincluding concerns regarding the waste. One
day I hope to see a commercial reprocessing facility in the aforementioned Silicon
Valley of nuclear. I am confident that we
will work out a sustainable solution. In
the meantime, Georgia and South Carolina will use our competitive advantage of
cheap nuclear energy to bring more jobs
to our states.
www.power-eng.com
URGENT PROJECT?
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VIEW ON RENEWABLES
Taking Back Control

of Your Utility Grid
BY MICHELLE MEYER, ABB INC.
ith more renewable energy

coming online, and fossil
fuel plants facing increasingly stringent regulations, utilities and
systems operators are being challenged in
ways never before seen. Not only do utilities need to integrate renewables without
compromising system reliability, but as
more traditional sources of generation are
taken offline, utilities have fewer resources in their tool kit to help them provide
basic grid services.
Although turning on the lights appears
as easy as the flip of a switch, ensuring
that power is readily available for consumers is no easy task. Grid operators
are required to do much more than just
provide power supply; the delicate art of
sufficiently transmitting the electricity
through the utility lines requires a variety of other services such as frequency
regulation to maintain frequency levels
of 60 Hz in North America, reactive power control to support voltage levels that
transport electricity, and back up spinning reserves to supply power during an
unplanned disruption in power. Traditionally, utilities have been able to rely
upon fossil fuel-based synchronous generators to provide controllable and readily
dispatchable power. However, renewables
are anything but predictable or readily
dispatchable. One of the major challenges of integrating renewables is the rapid
fluctuations in power output caused by
the variations in wind or solar irradiance,
making it difficult for utilities to steadily
rely on renewables to contribute to these
ancillary services.
Yet there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Solutions available today can help
alleviate these impacts of variable generation and give back utilities the power to
6
control energy.
In AC electrical grids, there are two
kinds of power; real and reactive power.
Real power is what actually does the useful work whereas reactive power is whats
needed to maintain sufficient levels of
voltage that help transport the power. As
wind and solar become more of a significant portion of our generation portfolio,
enabling these facilities to be a reliable
and useful contributor to the systems
reactive power supply is the first step to
integrating renewables. By adding reactive power compensation devices such as
Static Synchronous Compensators (STATCOMs), which are voltage source converters (VSC), can help regulate the voltage at
the point of common coupling by instantly injecting or absorbing reactive power.
With instant and continuous voltage regulation and power factor control, renewable generation facilities can support the
grid and be a source for ancillary services
such as voltage supply. Reactive power
compensation provided by statcoms can
also mitigate power quality issues caused
by rapid fluctuations in voltage levels,
preventing the wind or solar plant from
tripping offline or disrupting the surrounding network.
Not only do we have the technologies
to control the reactive power, but we can
also control real power through energy storage technologies. Electricity is a
unique commodity in that once it is produced it must be instantly consumed. Renewables can be a cheap, domestic, and a
clean source of power, however dictating
when these facilities produce power is not
feasible. Controlling the power output
with energy storage will facilitate better
alignment of supply and demand by having the storage device absorb real power
when demand is low, store it for later use

and instantly dispatch power when demand increases. This energy time-shift
approach can increase the profitability
of the wind or solar plant and help lower
costs of the electricity, making the adoption of renewables technically possible
and commercially viable.
Through capacity firming, energy storage can smooth the power output, allowing for a constant and stable supply of
energy, significantly minimizing the rapid fluctuation in power output. Storage
can also provide several of the ancillary
services such as voltage and frequency
control. When appropriately sized, the
energy storage device with an advanced
power conversion system can also provide reactive power support locally, regulating the voltage and power factor. In
addition to voltage regulation, storage can
maintain frequency levels which deviates
at times when there is a misalignment of
power supply and demand. By instantly
injecting or absorbing real power in milliseconds, the energy storage device can
quickly realign frequency levels to meet
the operational requirements to maintain
stability.
With states expanding their renewables
targets, the proliferationof variable generation will continue to pose challenges for
the way we operate and maintain the grid.
Giving system operators the ability to
control real and reactive power through
advanced grid technology solutions will
not only remove significant barriers to
further adoption of renewable energy,
but will give grid operators the ability to
better control their networks so we can
have the benefit of more sustainable energy without compromising the integrity
of the grid.
www.power-eng.com
ENERGY MATTERS
Changing
Environments
BY R.J. HOPE, BURNS & MCDONNELL
ook around the community or

watch the news; utilities in the
U.S. are facing a changing security environment. Over the last 20 years,
Americans have lost our innocence
watching violent events unfold in our
neighborhoods and businesses. Events
that at one time occurred distantly over
there are now occurring in our hometowns and work places. These incidents
have ushered in a new operational reality for corporate security. Some companies are already adjusting; others may
not be ready.
One of the biggest changes to the security environment is how site vulnerabilities are evaluated and addressed. The
days of walking around a location (such
as an electrical substation, water pump
station, or an office building) with a
clipboard and a one-page check list
have passed. While traditional adversaries remain (copper thieves, vandals,
etc.), todays dangerous adversaries are
more complex. They change and adapt
their means and methods faster and are
more determined than their predecessors. To meet these challenges, security
professionals must evolve to effectively
address organizational weaknesses.
It is well known that a significant
amount of data and analysis goes into
a detailed and through security assessment, but one component worth extra
discussion is the vulnerability evaluation. As utilities move to a more active
and dynamic threat environment, one
of the most effective ways to address
vulnerabilities is to gain the bad guys
perspective. In the past, checklist-type
assessments have been focused on fences: height, cameras and lighting. All of
8
these are good components to consider, easy is it for the adversary to identify
but what exactly is being assessed and the targets he may seek? Are high valare those features still viable given the ue commodities left unsecured in plain
current adversary model? Many of these view? Are there clear lines of sight to
attributes were being evaluated for pres- easily identifiable critical assets?
ence and serviceability, not how they
Perception of security What is the
address vulnerabiliperception of securities to a specific ad- As utilities move
ty on the site? Is the
versary model. Deter- to a more active
site clean, well mainmining the presence
tained and obviously
and dynamic
and serviceability of
cared for? Are there
these assets is im- threat environment, signs of disrepair or
portant but how these one of the most
damage to security
measures affect our effective ways
features or devices?
adversarys model is
Ease of execution
to address
often overlooked.
How easy or hard
Whether an adver- vulnerabilities is to
is it to execute the atsary is planning to gain the bad guys tack at this site versus
steal copper to sell to
those in the area? Are
perspective.
a scrapper or plantheir terrain features
ning to shoot critical assets to disable and/or site characteristics that negativea station he will go through a target ly affect the attack method chosen?
selection process to evaluate different
Ease of ingress and egress How will
sites and the targets within. Corporate the adversary insert, ingress, egress,
Securitys job is to affect the adversary and extract from the area? Is there a
by preventing the event from occurring high probability of casual detection or
in the first place. Much like the military are there many avenues to avoid interdraws up attack plans seeking out an action?
advantage that can tip the scales in its
The adversary will seek to limit and
favor, this type of adversary will do the control these variables as best as possame. The goal is to identify the attri- sible to increase the probability of sucbutes of a location that support the end cess. The job of Corporate Security is
goal and try to identify a site that offers to affect those variables in a negative
a high probability of success. When way thus deterring selection of your
conducting vulnerability assessments, facility as a target. While the threats to
the key to success for effective security your business and the means in which
planning is understanding your ad- they will carry out an event will change,
versary and assessing your sites as he evaluating sites from the adversarys
would during the target selection phase. perspective will increase the deterrence
While not an exhaustive list, consider factor and likely produce Corporate Sethe following site vulnerabilities:
curitys definition of success: the nonEase of target identification How event.
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INDUSTRY WATCH
Federal Environmental
Regulations and the
Power Sector
JOE RUBINO, PRINCIPAL SCIENTIST, STANLEY CONSULTANTS, INC.
ver the past three years, the

utility industry has become
subject to numerous environmental regulations targeting the reduction of pollutants in air and solid waste
media. These regulations are forcing utilities to perform detailed reviews of their
existing assets to determine if units would
require retrofit controls, fuel conversion,
or retirement to maintain compliance.
UTILITY MERCURY & AIR

TOXICS STANDARDS
In April 2013, the Utility Mercury &
Air Toxics Standards (UMATS) regulation was finalized by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). The UMATS
regulation reduces mercury and hazardous air pollutants from power plants that
combust coal and/or oil. An electric utility steam generating unit (EGU) subject
to UMATS is a coal and/or oil-fired combustion unit of more than 25 MWe that
serves a generator that produces electricity for sale.
Emission standards for EGUs are based
primarily on the type of fuel combusted
and whether the unit is new/reconstructed or existing. The emission standards for
coal-fired EGUs are further separated by
whether the unit is designed for low rank
virgin coal. UMATS limits filterable particulate matter or total non-Hg HAP metals or individual HAP metals; hydrogen
chloride or sulfur dioxide; mercury; and
hydrogen fluoride (oil-fired units only).
In June, the Supreme Court sent the
UMATS regulation to the D.C. Circuit
Court for reconsideration citing that EPA
failed to consider costs in determining
whether or not to regulate hazardous air
pollutants from power plants under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act. The D.C.
Circuit Court could vacate the regulation
10
or uphold it, depending on whether or

not EPA is able to offer a reasonable explanation for excluding costs. However, since
the rule was not stayed during judicial review, the regulation is still in effect, and
many utilities have already had to make
decisions and execute plans for existing
units.
CCR RULE
The Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR)
final rule was published this April. The
rule establishes new national criteria
under Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for the
disposal of CCRs for the electric utility
industry. The rule relies on self-implementation and has an effective date of
October 14, 2015. The time period for
implementing the rule, in general, ranges
from 6 months to 3.5 years from the publication date.
Requirements for existing surface impoundments and landfills (including
lateral expansions) include groundwater
monitoring, corrective action, operating
criteria, closure and post-closure care, recordkeeping, notifications, and public internet sites. Lateral expansions of existing
landfills must also meet design criteria
regarding composite liners and leachate
collection and removal systems.
There are several components of the
groundwater monitoring program. The
facility must have an up-gradient and
down-gradient monitoring well network.
Collection and statistical evaluation
of eight quarters of groundwater data
are required to establish background
groundwater concentrations. Once the
background levels are established, the facility begins to conduct detection monitoring. If a groundwater constituent
is detected at a statistically significant
increase at levels above the established

background levels, the facility must initiate assessment monitoring.
CLEAN POWER PLAN

The final rule of the Clean Power Plan
(CPP) provides guidelines for states to
achieve state-specific, rate-based, and
mass-based goals for carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions from existing EGUs that
commenced construction on or before
January 8, 2014. EPA set emission ratebased CO2 goals in pounds of CO2 per net
MWh, and mass-based goals in pounds
of CO2 for each state. Interim goals have
been defined for three periods spanning
2022 through 2029. States must meet interim goals until 2030, when their final
goal takes effect.
The rule allows states to tailor their
plans based on their own energy, environmental, and economic needs and
goals. States will have the option of working with other neighboring states to create an equivalent multi-state performance
goal. The rule allows states to accomplish
reductions in CO2 emissions from a
combination of EGU efficiency improvements, replacement of affected units with
lower-emitting or zero-emitting units
such as renewables, and re-dispatch of
lower-emitting units. EPA also allows
states to reduce electricity demand using
demand-side efficiency improvements.
An intense period of regulatory action
will continue this fall as EPA is poised to
finalize new ozone regulations via the
National Ambient Air Quality Standard
(NAAQS). Given the magnitude and
scope of these environmental mandates,
environmental compliance efforts will remain at the forefront for utilities as they
try to deliver cost-effective and reliable
power to the public.
www.power-eng.com
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EMISSIONS CONTROL
A Dual Flow Tray at its 24-month Inspection
Author
Michael T Hoydick is senior technology
manager, FGD Systems, Amec Foster
Wheeler, USA. Hans Jansson is director,
Marketing and Business Development,
Amec Foster Wheeler, Europe.
the scrubbing liquor neutralizes the

liquid phase acids collected. Improving
either process generally enhances SO2
capture.
The rate of SO2 absorption into the
absorber liquor is controlled by the
mass transfer coefficient, the surface
area available for mass transfer, and
the difference between the SO2 partial
pressure in the flue gas and the vapor
pressure of SO2 at the gas/liquid interface. WFGD system designers can generally influence only the contact surface area and the dissolved alkalinity
in the absorber slurry, which, in turn,
determines interface vapor pressure.
The surface area for mass transfer is
determined by the selected liquid-togas ratio (L/G) in conjunction with the
spray nozzle droplet size distribution.
Improving SO2 removal performance for existing open tower designs
is generally limited to increasing L/G
ratio or creating smaller
droplet sizes via higher
pressure drop nozzles,
either of which increase
Source: Amec Foster Wheeler
Increasing Wet
FGD SO2 Removal
Efficiency
BY MICHAEL T HOYDICK AND HANS JANSSON
ew SO2 emission
regulations in the
U.S. and EU require
some utility and
power producers to
retrofit new flue gas desulfurization
(FGD) units to existing plants. Amec
Foster Wheelers Dual Flow Tray Technology can provide a cost effective
12
solution for both new and upgrades to

existing wet FGD plants to achieve new
these new emission standards.
Acid gas removal efficiency (mainly
SO2) in a power plants limestone-based
wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD)
system absorber is governed by two
processes: the absorption of SO2 via
gas/liquid contact and the rate at which
auxiliary pump power. Additionally,

smaller spray droplet sizes are only
marginally effective due to significant
droplet coalescence within the spray
zone of the tower.
Flue gas/slurry contact can be significantly enhanced with the use of internal contacting devices. In the past,
packing material has been used but has
proven unreliable in limestone WFGD
systems and is not favored by the U.S.
utility industry. Further development
has produced the Dual Flow Tray
(DFT) technology that has found favor
www.power-eng.com
EMISSIONS CONTROL
Fluid Dynamic Flow Model
A computational fluid dynamic flow model shows the improved gas flow distribution of an existing Amec Foster Wheeler DFT installation over a
comparable side entry wet FGD design. The flue gas distribution is illustrated at 1.5 m above the inlet duct.
in U.S. utility applications for over

30 years for new and retrofit applications. In general, the DFT consists of
one or more levels of perforated plates
that span the entire absorber cross-section. The DFTs SO2 removal efficiency
is improved due to its increased and
more effective gas-to-liquid contact
area compared to a typical open tower
design that relies only on spray droplet
surface area.
DFTs improve WFGD performance
by improving flue gas distribution at
the beginning of the gas-to-liquid contact zone, which takes full advantage of
the L/G provided by the slurry sprays.
Flue gas distribution in a DFT absorber
is markedly better than an open spray
tower WFGDs designed with side flue
gas entry where momentum pushes
the flue gas to the far wall thus delaying optimal flue gas / absorber liquor
contact. For open spray tower designs,
optimal flue gas distribution doesnt
14
occur until the gas is well into the absorption zone (Figure 2).
DFTs also provide very effective gasto-liquid contact. Flue gas flowing
upward is intimately mixed with the

falling absorber slurry. The flue gas velocity travelling through the tray holes
causes liquid resistance, thus forming a
Performance Comparison
Description
w
Open Spray
DFT
Absorber diameter, m
15.0
15.0
Recycle tank retention, min.
5.0
5.0
Recycle tank height, m
10.1
7.4
Number of recycle pumps (operating +spare)
3+1
2+1
6,100
6,670
30.3
26.1
Overall liquid recirculation rate, m3/h
18,340
13,340
Absorber auxiliary power, kW
1,800
1,310
1.0
1.4
Recycle pump flow, m3/hr

Number of trays
Overall tower height, m
Pressure drop, kPa
Performance comparison between similar open tray and DFT towers in a wet FGD installed
on a 500WM coal-fired unit. The fuel sulfur is 1.2 percent and the systems are designed for
98 percent SO2 removal. Source: Amec Foster Wheeler
Source:
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EMISSIONS CONTROL
froth layer on the tray. The froth layer,

typically 150mm 300mm deep, provides additional mass transfer surface
area and contact time in the absorption zone. Each tray level provides an
additional one to two seconds of contact time in the absorption zone. Full
scale testing of absorber towers with
and without DFTs confirm comparable
performance for DFT absorbers at L/G
ratios 15 percent 30 percent below
open tower designs.
Absorber slurry liquid phase chemistry also plays a substantial role in
the overall performance of the wet
FGD unit. The absorber slurry needs
sufficient liquid phase alkalinity to
quickly neutralize the absorbed acid
to maintain the driving force necessary
for SO2 capture. In limestone-based
systems, the alkalinity is produced
from dissolved calcium carbonate. The
operating pH is a general indicator of

the alkalinity of the absorber liquor.
The higher the pH, the more dissolved
alkalinity is present.
As the absorber slurry falls through
the absorber tower, the pH of the solution falls as the acid is absorbed. For
an absorber with a reaction tank pH of
5.7, the slurry pH falls to ~3.5 to 4.5 on
the DFT. Since limestone dissolution
rate is proportional to the pH, the lower pH on the DFT significantly increases limestone dissolution rates and provides additional dissolved alkalinity
needed for further acid neutralization.
WET FGD NEW BUILDS

AND RETROFITS
A comparison between a typical
open spray tower design and an equivalent DFT design for a theoretical 500
MW unit illustrates the performance
Under Construction
and equipment size differences between absorber types (Table 1 on page

14). Note that the DFT tower is smaller
in size than a comparable open tower
because of the lower L/G of the DFT absorber, as is the overall liquid recirculation rate. Since limestone dissolution
and gypsum crystallization require a
minimum retention time in the recycle tank, a lower L/G also allows for
a smaller recycle tank. Because a DFT
tower requires a lower L/G, it is often
possible for a DFT tower to be designed
with one less operating spray level and
recycle pump.
In this comparison, two operating
spray levels are required for the DFT
design while three operating spray
levels are needed for the open tower
design. Note that one less spray level
reduces the overall absorber height by
over one meter, which may reduce absorber shell thickness and foundation
requirements, and therefore overall
installation costs. The reduced absorber height will also reduce piping and
electrical installation costs. Finally,
the DFT can be used as a maintenance
platform during construction and later
as an inspection platform for the upper
absorber sections (Figure 3).
WET FGD PERFORMANCE

UPGRADES
The DFT can be used as a staging platform during construction.

16
There are several techniques available to improve the performance of an

existing Wet FGD system. The easiest
and most cost effective is to operate
the system with a higher pH. The typical limestone-based system operates
at pH levels between 5.0 and 5.7. A
higher operating pH will improve SO2
removal efficiency up to a limit. Slower sulfite to sulfate oxidation rates and
high limestone stoichiometry produce
unacceptable gypsum quality when pH
levels exceed 6.0. Poor oxidation may
also produce gypsum scaling which is
not acceptable for long-term operation.
Physical equipment changes are
www.power-eng.com
EMISSIONS CONTROL
SO2 Removal Efficiency
Percent SO2 Removal
open tray spray towers. In many instances, the addition of one or more
DFTs can achieve desired performance
100
objectives without other modifica98
tions. For even higher levels of perfor96
mance, a DFT addition in conjunction
94
with spray nozzle modification and
92
pH adjustment is an option. The liquid
90
88
holdup and low pH on the DFT will al86
low higher operating pH levels without
84
affecting limestone stoichiometry or
Open Spray Chamber Absorber
82
gypsum quality.
Dual Flow Tray Absorber
80
A DFT retrofit of an existing open
90
100
110
120
130
spray tower was recently completed at
Liquid to Gas Ratio, gpm/1000acfm
the Elmer Smith Station owned by OwThe Elmer Smith Station owned by Owensboro Municipal Utilities upgraded an existing open spray chamber
ensboro Municipal Utilities (OMU).
absorber with one DFT, thereby increasing the wet FGDs SO2 removal efficiency from 93 percent to 98 percent.
Amec Foster Wheeler supplied two
open spray chamber absorbers that beusually the upgrade path. Adding wall solutions, although possible, generally gan operation in 1995. In 2008, the exrings, improving flue gas or liquid require outages of several months and isting absorber towers were operating at
spray distribution, smaller spray drop- have high construction costs.
93 percent SO2 removal efficiency at an
let spray nozzles, double spray nozNormally the best physical upgrade operating pH level of 5.7 when OMU
zles, more L/G, or the addition of one option is the addition
decided to upgrade
or more DFTs, alone or in concert, are of one or more DFTs The addition of
its system to reach 98
typical open tower upgrade options. below the bottom a Dual Flow Tray
percent efficiency.
Wall rings will marginally improve the spray bank. Many
The five-point effilevel
on
our
two
efficiency of a properly designed wet open towers have adciency increase repreFGD system. Higher-pressure spray or equate space between scrubbers was a
sented an increase in
double spray cone nozzles will produce the lowest spray very cost effective
absorber mass transsmaller spray droplets that should help bank and the inlet
fer from 2.7 NTU to
method for OMU
efficiency, in theory, however droplet ductwork to allow
3.9 NTU, a 42 percent
coalescence limits the performance installation of a new to maintain our
increase. Amec Foster
improvement.
DFT level. Approxi- commitment to
Wheelers
analysis
The remaining option for signifi- mately 3.0 3.5m of high environmental found that adding
cantly improving performance of an vertical height is genone DFT level would
standards.
existing open spray tower is adding erally required. An
increased the overall
L/G, in conjunction with spray header added benefit of the DFT is that low- absorber NTU by ~50 percent, without
modification. Unfortunately, increas- er pressure drop nozzles can be used any additional modifications to the
ing L/G in an existing absorber is nor- (spray nozzle droplet size is less critical existing recycle pump or spray header
mally a challenge. Most sites do not for a DFT) to artificially increase L/G system. Kevin Frizzel, Director of Powhave adequate floor space for addition- without modification to the existing er Production noted, The addition of a
al recycle pumps and not enough tow- recycle pump and recycle piping sys- Dual Flow Tray level on our two scruber height for additional spray banks. tems.
bers was a very cost effective method
Modifications to existing pumps are
for OMU to maintain our commitment
possible, however recycle pump ef- SUCCESSFUL RETROFIT
to high environmental standards. Opficiency will likely be compromised CASE STUDY
erational testing of the completed DFT
and recycle pipe flow velocities could
Amec Foster Wheelers predictive upgrade in 2009 confirmed the expectexceed design limits. Recycle tank re- models indicate that a DFT can improve ed performance increase was achieved
tention times must also be considered mass transfer by as much as 50 percent without changes to the operating pH or
when adding additional L/G. These (1.5 times) from the current design of limestone stoichiometry (Figure 4).
18
www.power-eng.com
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TIER 4 FINAL ENGINES FROM 141-690 HP

For info. http://powereng.hotims.com RS#10
Author
Dan Navicky is the Sales Engineer at
Aerodyne Environmental in Chagrin
Falls, Ohio
MATERIAL HANDLING
How Point
of Use Cyclones
Can Improve
Dust Control
at Your
Coal-Fired
Plant
BY DAN NAVICKY
oal fired power plants

are dusty places. The
handling and transportation of coal creates dust. This causes
health issues and can lead to explosions if not properly maintained. Most
dust collection systems ductwork designs use straight horizontal ductwork
and a high air velocity to keep the dust
from falling out of the air stream and
building up in the straight sections. An
alternative to the high velocity design
is the low velocity duct system which
uses a saw-tooth design duct run.
This is a more expensive design to install but minimizes power and maintenance. A third option uses a point
of use cyclone to capture the benefits
of both high and low velocity systems.
The cyclone can work in tandem with
various types of dust collectors that
may be present in the application.
In addition to trying to achieve
20
accurate dust collection results, the release of the new NFPA 654 has put a
spotlight on housekeeping around coal
fired power plants. NFPA 654 is a National Fire Prevention Association standard for the prevention of fire and dust
explosions from the manufacturing,
processing and handling of combustible particulate solids. The standard applies to coal fired power plants because
dust is no longer permitted to settle in a
layer on the equipment. If the coal dust
does produce a layer on the equipment
then an air disturbance can cause the
coal dust to be suspended in the facilitys air supply. Should that dust-laden
air supply come in contact with a spark
or fire source, a deflagration or explosion can occur. To keep the dust from
layering on the equipment and facility
rafters, improvements to dust collection systems and stricter protocols are
required. The following will explain
how you can stay in compliance with
these new protocols.

A dust collection system consists of
four parts 1) the collection hood 2) the
ductwork 3) the dust collector and 4)
the exhaust fan. The collection hood
is used to pull the dust from the area
that creates it. A properly designed
hood minimizes the air required while
maximizes the dust collected. The
ductwork is used to transport the air
from the collection hood to the dust
collector. The dust collector is usually a
baghouse, cartridge collector, cyclone,
electrostatic precipitator, or a combination of these. The fan provides the motive force for the system and is usually
located just before the exhaust stack.
The following discusses the different
types of ductwork designs for coal
fired power plants and the advantages
or disadvantages they offer.
To keep dust from

layering on the
equipment and facility
rafters, improvements
to dust collection
systems and stricter
protocols are
required.
HIGH VELOCITY
DUCTWORK SYSTEM
The most common system for coal
dust collection in power plants is high
velocity air, 4000 FPM (feet per minute) or greater, in straight run ductwork.
The high velocity airflow is meant to
keep the coal dust from falling out of
the airflow and collecting inside the
www.power-eng.com
ductwork. If the air velocity begins to

drop lower than the 4000 FPM, coal
dust can begin to accumulate inside
the ductwork.
As this happens, the pressure drop
in the ductwork begins to increase
and less airflow is allowed through
the system. This causes the pull at the
hoods to fall, thereby letting more dust
to remain at the collection point. Less
dust collection in the hood will result
in an increase in dust within the air
throughout the facility. Additionally
this will lead to dust producing a layer on the equipment in the plant. In
order to comply with NFPA 654, additional measures will have to be taken
to eliminate the dust from settling on
the equipment and stay in compliance
with the regulations.
The main advantage of the high velocity ductwork system is that it is less
expensive than the alternatives and
that it takes up the least amount
of space. The higher velocity of
the air allows smaller ductwork
to be used, thereby decreasing the initial cost of the system. The straight horizontal
runs provide the minimum
amount of ductwork required
when compared to the low velocity system. This again keeps
initial costs lower and keeps the
height required to just the height of
the ductwork and supports.
A big disadvantage of the high velocity ductwork system is that there is
www.power-eng.com
a higher pressure drop for the system,

and abrasive dust, such as coal, will
cause greater wear on the equipment
in the system. It is the higher velocity
that causes greater collisions of the dust
with the ductwork walls. Abrasive dust
will begin to wear away the walls and
cause holes to develop in the ductwork
over time. Holes in the ductwork will
allow air from undesired areas to enter
the system, thereby decreasing airflow
at the pickup points.
Another disadvantage to the high velocity air option is that it creates greater resistance to the airflow, which is
the cause of the higher pressure drop
in the system. A final disadvantage is
that the higher pressure drop requires a
larger fan, which requires more power.
Therefore, the operating expense of the
high velocity system is greater than the

low velocity system.
LOW VELOCITY
DUCTWORK SYSTEM
Another type of dust collection system ductwork design is the low velocity ductwork system. This system uses
larger ductwork, so the air velocity is
lower (1800 FPM). To keep the coal
dust from falling out of the ductwork,
the hoods are designed to capture only
dust in the respiratory range (<10 micron). Larger dust particulate fall back
to the process and isnt collected. The
low velocity system ductwork has a sawtooth shape, where one leg of the duct
21
MATERIAL HANDLING
is at a 45 angle from horizontal and

then the next is 30 from horizontal.
This allows any coal dust that would
accumulate in the ducting to fall out to
the bottom where it can be collected.
However, the design will require more
equipment and system modifications
to pick up the larger dust not collected
in order to comply with NFPA 654.
The main advantages of this style of
system are that the overall operating
costs are less expensive and the maintenance and the wear are less than
what is found in high velocity systems.
The low velocity ductwork system runs
at an air velocity of 1800 FPM. This
ductwork is larger than in a high velocity system. With the lower air speed,
the resistance is lower, so the pressure
drop of the system is less. The lower
velocity also means that the dust abrasion on the walls will be less, thereby
increasing duct life and decreasing
the chances of holes developing in the
ductwork.
There are a few major disadvantages to using low velocity ductwork system. First, the low velocity system uses
larger ductwork than other dust collection systems. This means that the
initial cost of the ductwork is greater.
The saw-tooth design also has approximately 28% more straight runs along
with additional turns than the high velocity system. The added ductwork will
increase the cost of the system. The
saw-tooth design also requires more
vertical space than the other systems.
Due to the angles in the saw-tooth, this
can be as much as 3-5 extra ductwork
in the facility. If there is limited head
space, this could force the ducting outside (requiring additional protection
such as insulation, etc.). The final disadvantage is that the larger dust (<10
micron) isnt captured in the hood and
it falls back to the collection point.
This can cause operational issues or
clean-up issues near the pick-up point
and may require additional cleaning.
22
Dust Removal Efficiency
1 W.C.
3 W.C.
7 W.C.
20 Micron
99%
99%
99%
15 Micron
94%
97%
98%
10 Micron
74%
86%
94%
5 Micron
44%
62%
74%
2 Micron
20%
32%
38%
Source:
the coal dust is removed,

no saw-tooth ductwork
design is required. This
system design collects
all dust sizes (not just
<10 micron) with a low
energy demand. No additional cleaning at the
pick-up is required. The
hybrid dust collection
Comparison of the Three Designs

on a 1,000 ACFM System
High Velocity
Low Velocity
Cyclone Hybrid
Airflow (ACFM)
1000
1000
1000
Velocity (FPM)
4000
1800
2000
Duct Size (in)
10
9.5
dP (in/100 ft)
0.5
0.7
Total dP ( W.C.)
0.65
0.7
3.62
2.5
2.82**
bHP of fan*
Duct length (ft)
Yearly Cost
100
130
100
$3300
$2300
$2500
* Includes 6 W.C. for baghouse

** Includes additional 1 W.C. for cyclone pre-filter
Source:
Explosive dust will require additional measures to collect the dust greater
than 10 microns. With the new NFPA
rules about dust layering, it can also be
an OSHA violation to allow dust to collect on equipment.
POINT OF USE
CYCLONE SYSTEM
The third type of dust collection system for coal fired power plants is the use
of a cyclone as a point of use pre-filter.
The cyclone will remove the majority
of the coal dust from the airflow near
the point of collection. With the majority of the dust removed (10 micron and
larger), the air can then move to the
primary dust collector at a middle velocity (2000 FPM). This lower velocity
will provide a lower pressure drop than
the high velocity system. And, since
there is a higher velocity and most of
system requires less power than the

high velocity ductwork design and provides greater dust removal than the low
velocity ductwork design.
The ideal cyclone for the Point of Use
hybrid system would be a cyclone less
than 8ft 3 that can be installed indoor
per NFPA 654 without requiring additional expensive explosion prevention
equipment. Airflows less than 2,000
CFM may be able to use a cyclone as
a point of use dust collector per NFPA
654. As with all cyclones, the removal
efficiency increases as the airflow and
pressure drops increase. So deciding
which cyclone to use as a point of use
pre-filter is a trade-off of size vs removal efficiency and pressure drop. The
following graph shows estimated removal efficiency of dust (SG of 1, particulate spherical)
While cyclones can add extra cost,
www.power-eng.com
they require minimal maintenance. Using a cyclone

as a point of use pre-filter will reduce on maintenance
costs and loss of production time that would typically
occur with the other ductwork systems. As with all dust
collectors, a properly designed airlock should be provided so the greatest removal efficiency is achieved by the
dust collector. Point of use dust collectors also have the
advantage of being placed closely to where the dust is
created. This allows for easy recycling or use of the dust.
Coal dust that is collected can be fed into the fuel feeding
system within the power plant.
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COMPARISON OF
THE THREE SYSTEMS
The following chart shows a comparison of operating
expenditure and power for a hypothetical system using
the three different designs. As you can see, the Point of
Use design provides performance similar to the low velocity system (Cyclone w/ dp of 1) without the low velocity system issues of increased size and only capturing
the smallest dust.
An Aerodyne GPC cyclone was used in the hybrid dust
collection system in the comparison below.
Fabric Structures
Hybrid Buildings
Foundation Solutions
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OUR CURRENT SYSTEM DELIVERING

THE RIGHT RESULTS?
Whether you are designing a new dust collection system or trying to troubleshoot your existing system, there
are numerous things to consider for your coal dust application. The design of the ductwork plays a crucial part
in the process and should be placed on the same level of
priority as the hood, dust collector, and exhaust fans. A
ductwork system for a coal fired plant that is not designed
appropriately can lead to lower airflow at the hoods and
a less efficient operation overall. Additionally, when designing or troubleshooting your system, always try and
minimize the amount of ductwork being used. Reducing
the amount of ductwork in a single system will help to
decrease the resistance of the process or system. Using
a Point of Use Cyclone as a pre-filter can help keep operating and maintenance costs down, while improving
efficiency and removal levels. So if your dust collection
system for your coal fired plant is not operating as you
think it should or it is not achieving the results you want,
then it might be time to take a look at the current design and rethink some of the components. Industrial cyclones used as pre-filters offer an ideal solution for coal
fired plants. They can effectively capture dust of all sizes,
reduce wear on the rest of the system, and reduce maintenance and energy costs.
www.power-eng.com
CLEAN SOLUTIONS FOR THE POWER INDUSTRY
Power generation has many unique monitoring

requirements, from combustion optimization, air
pollution control and continuous emissions
monitoring. The more complex the process, the
greater the demand on the solutions. SICK offers
rugged technologies that are perfectly tailored for
each measurement environment, with superior
equipment availability and easy operation. We
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ENERGY STORAGE
Integrating
Energy
Storage
BY LOU LAMBRUSCHI
alifornia may soon become the U.S. leader in

energy storage spurred
by the 2013 California
Public Utility Commission (CPUC) mandate that the states
three largest public utilities have 1,325
MW of electricity storage in service by
2024. These projects are necessary in order for the state to meet its goal of having
50 percent of its electricity produced by
renewables by 2030. The goal is ambitious and does have its risks.
Advancing and Maximizing the Value
of Energy Storage Technology: A California Roadmap, was released on Dec. 31,
2014. It is the result of the collaboration of
the California Independent System Operator, the CPUC, and the California Energy Commission plus the input of over
400 stakeholders to identify those priority issues that need to be addressed
include[ing] refining existing [energy
storage] products and driving new ones
to market; reducing costs of metering and
connection; and creating a predictable
and transparent process for commercializing and connecting storage projects.
The Roadmap includes a long list of
policy and tariff structure issues that must
be resolved if manufacturers and developers are to invest adequately to achieve
the states renewable goal at the scale and
prices required. The time for California,
as well as other ISOs, to adopt energy storage as a means for managing grid operations, particularly to mitigate the impact
24
Author
Lou Lambruschi is Marketing Services
and E-Business Manager for Parker
Hannifin Corporations Energy Grid Tie
Division.
ENERGY STORAGE
OPTIONS
Energy storage technology providers

can optimize the economic value of their
investment by providing multiple services, supported with a suitable tariff and
revenue streams. A single energy storage
facility might provide and be compensated for a combination of applications including:
1. Renewables integration. Stored
of intermittent renewable (solar and electricity may be dispatchable in order
wind) generation resources, has arrived.
to offset the effects of highly intermittent
Other states, such as New York, Tex- renewable generation by providing rampas, and Washington have or are in the rate control for smoothing, firming, and
process of removing similar regulatory time-shifting output, principally of wind
barriers, often by redeand solar, while
fining energy storage The time for
avoiding system levas a qualified energy
el integration costs,
California, as well
generation technology
according to a CPUS
as
other
ISOs,
to
and requiring inclustaff study (CPUC
sion of energy storage adopt energy
Rulemaking 10-12in utility integrated storage as a means
007).
resource plans. At the
2. Ancillary Serfor
managing
grid
national level, the Fedvices.
Ancillary
eral Energy Regulatory operations has
services are required
Commissions Order arrived.
to maintain grid staNo. 792 has clarified
bility and security.
that devices for storage for later injection They include such things as frequency
of electricity as Small Generators, and control, reliability controls, and spinning
included them into its fast track intercon- reserves. Traditionally power plant gennection procedures, which will help stan- erators have provided these services, but
dardize energy storage interconnections generators are often to slow to react to
to the grid.
changes in the grid, and are less efficient
In Canada, the Government of On- when compared to a BESS.
tarios Long Term Energy Plan calls for
Frequency Regulation. The BESS
a total of 50 MW of storage capacity
may be used to ensure that the grid
but for a slightly different reason than
frequency stays within a specified
California. According to the National
range. The frequency provided by the
Resource Council Canada (NRC) Enerelectrical grid moves due to a misgy Storage for Grid Security and Modmatch between electricity demand
ernization initiative, Canada wishes to
and power generation. The utility
use energy storage technologies to help
will send a signal (typically every
defer the costs of transmission and disfour seconds) to the BESS, asking the
tribution system renovation while also
BESS to either charge or discharge,
stabilizing the intermittent nature of
bringing the frequency back to its
renewable energy and enabling peak
nominal value.
shaving and arbitrage.
Reactive Power and Voltage
www.power-eng.com
Control. Reactive power can be used

to compensate for voltage drops, but
must be provided closer to the load
to increase the advantage of lower
currents, and improved efficiencies.
Spinning Reserve. This represents a
reserve capacity used to help maintain output during a generator failure or unexpected transmission loss,
which might otherwise cause power
reductions to customers. Keeping
generator capacity online but unloaded wastes fuel and causes unwanted air emissions. A BESS can be
made available in microseconds, and
can take the place of conventional
spinning reserve generation and improve system efficiency.
3. Peak Shaving. Energy storage on
the customers side of the meter can be
used to flatten demand spikes by charging
during off-peak periods, and discharging
during periods of peak demand lowering
utility demand charges for the facility. .
4. Energy Arbitrage. A BESS may be
used to purchase of electricity during

low purchase cost periods and resell the
stored electricity during high-cost periods, allowing the storage owner to profit
from the difference in price.
5. Black Start. A BESS can provide
balance of plant power needed for a plant
restart.
Technology suppliers and system developers view the ability to provide multiple services from a single plant as a huge
benefit and an economic opportunity. For
example, a BESS might supply ancillary
services to the wholesale market at other
times providing reliability services to the
local grid or peak shaving services for a
large end user. The challenge for the market is to define the true economic benefit,
and if possible, get paid for it.
The technology is available but electric
utilities dont have the modeling tools
that fully value the contribution that energy storage systems offer to the wholesale market, nor do they know how to
price the true benefits of these services
Batteries
The 98MW Laurel Mountain Wind Farm uses battery energy storage to optimize energy sold
into PJM and to provide regulation services.
Source: AES Energy Storage LLC
www.power-eng.com
to the rest of the system. Its difficult to

participate in an energy market when the
market rules havent been fully understood or established or written, but this is
changing and now a focus.
Writing tariffs that address the multiuse potential of BESS and how the operation of a BESS might be economically
optimized is complicated. Each project
must address site-specific needs as well as
conform to the requirements of the local
energy markets so conflict in priorities is
to be expected. For example, a BESS may
earn a higher economic return with energy arbitrage during periods of extremely
high demand instead of providing desperately needed ancillary services. Proper
tariff design and interconnection constraints are perhaps the only real impediment remaining to the rapid expansion of
BESS installations
ENERGY STORAGE
IN ACTION
The 98MW Laurel Mountain Wind
Farm, owned by AES Energy Storage LLC and located on a mountain
top, near Belington, West Virginia, is
an example of a multi-use BESS. The
32MW/8MWh grid-connected BESS
and AES uses its Storage Operating System (sOS) to optimize electricity sales
into the market. The plant also supplies
frequency regulation and grid stability
services to the PJM market, which adds
an important second revenue stream to
the owners. The plant can also moderate the ramp rate of the plant electricity
production.
Laurel Mountain thus far has operated with over 95 percent availability
and has been consistently the low cost
provider of regulation service in the
region. The project is a collaboration
of AES Wind Generation, AES Energy
Storage, battery manufacturer A123
Systems, and power conversion system
(PCS) supplier Parker Hannifin Energy Grid Tie Division (Parker). Power
generated by the facility is sold to PJM.
25
ENERGY STORAGE
A Grid-Connected BESS With Batteries
Power Flow
CL Filter
Energy
Management
System
Power
Grid
PLC
SCADA RTU
Interface
Active Bridge
Inverter
Control
CanBus
Parker EGT
Power Conversion System
BMS
Battery Module
A typical grid connected BESS with batteries and bidirectional PCS inverters to manage the effects of high
peak demand, grid instability, and the unpredictable nature of renewable resources is illustrated.
Source: Parker Hannifin, Energy Grid Tie Division
When commissioned in Oct. 2011, it

was the largest lithium-ion BESS in the
world (Figure 1 on page 25).
Prior to this installation, Parker supplied AES Energy Storage with a PCS
for a 12 MW BESS installation at AES
Geners Norgener plant, the Los Andes
Substation that provides critical backup services to the electric grid in northern Chile. The backup service was installed to provide grid stability services
to the mining operations in the region.
Grid operator CDEC-SING has recognized Los Andes as one of the best performing spinning reserve units in the
region. The plant is used both as a generation and a grid stability resource.
As one of the largest power generators in Chile, were consistently looking for ways to unlock [the] value of
our existing plants while maintaining
grid reliability and flexibility, said Felipe Ceron, CEO of AES Gener. Since
2009, weve been working with AES
Energy Storage to free up generating
capacity at our Norgener plant by employing a battery-based installation to
meet the power systems obligations for
26
spinning reserve. Los Andes has been

in commercial operation for nearly
three years.
THE BRAIN OF BESS

The battery energy storage system
consists of two main parts: battery
modules and the accompanying Battery Management System (BMS), and
a PCS used to enable the interface of
the batteries to the grid. Individual
battery cells are connected in a series/
parallel arrangement in order to obtain
the desired nominal voltage for highest
efficiency and required storage capacity. The PCS is a bidirectional power
conversion device (inverter), enabling
AC power from the grid to be converted to DC to charge the batteries in a
controlled manner, and discharge DC
battery power to feed AC power onto
the grid (Figure 2).
The PCS must produce electricity
that can be synchronized with the grid
frequency and have a stable output, in
effect disguising itself to the grid as a
stable synchronous generator. It must
also be capable of performing a smooth
transition when used as a power backup system. Other components within

the PCS are responsible for physically connecting to the grid and battery
system, as well as for protection, detection, power quality, safety, and interfacing with the (SCADA) signaling
to and from the utility. Integral harmonic filters are used to deliver pure
sine wave power well within IEEE519
guidelines for total harmonic distortion. The PCS provides automated sequenced shutdown and disconnection
under power loss in compliance with
IEEE 1547 guidelines or can be configured to function in island mode, providing backup power for an isolated
microgrid plant.
In addition to simply charging and
discharging batteries, many systems
provide an important extra benefit
providing both real and reactive power
(VAR support). This capability provides
the ability for the BESS to grid support
and voltage regulation. Firmware and
programmability in the PCS allows for
flexibility of control and operating autonomy. If PCS contains the algorithms
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ENERGY STORAGE
Power Conversion System
The Parker 890GTS/GTB is used on solar as well as BESS energy storage systems. The enclosure
houses the PCS and thermal management systems for a BESS size up to 2 MW.
Source: Parker Hannifin, Energy Grid Tie Division
for real and reactive power management,

it can eliminate or reduce the responsibility of external site management by the utility. A well-designed PCS will also include
robust LVRT (low voltage ride-through),
HVRT (high voltage ride-through), and
FRT (frequency ride-through) support
over a wide range of operating conditions
during critical events.
BESS DESIGN FEATURES

A BESS is often installed outdoor
in remote and environmentally hostile regions, like those installed in the
deserts of Chile or in the salt spray of
a coastal area. In these environments,
thermal protection and modular designs are important considerations. An
energy storage system only produces
revenue for its user when it is on line
and providing its intended services,
whether that is frequency regulation,
VAR support, power backup, arbitrage,
or used as a Microgrid.
28
Heat is the enemy of electronics. The

key to a reliable installation is good
thermal management in order to protect inverters, batteries, and ancillary
components. Cooling system design in
grid-tie inverters traditionally has relied
on air or liquid water-glycol cooling.
Air-cooling has low heat exchange efficiency and can consume a lot of energy. Chilled water-glycol requires a substantial volume of liquid to be pumped
through the system, which consumes
significant space and power, and raises concerns about corrosion and other
maintenance issues.
A better option is closed-loop evaporative cooling. In this type of system a
refrigerant such as R134a is circulated
at low pressure through the thermally
critical components inside the PCS. As
heat from the components transfers to
the refrigerant, it partially evaporates,
with the resulting vapor sent to a condenser. Using outside air, the vapor
then condenses to a liquid form and

returns to the holding reservoir, where
it is again pumped through the components. This method of cooling has
proven to be very efficient, requiring
much less liquid flow than in a water/
glycol system. This allows for a higher
power density, and lower auxiliary power requirements, and longer system life.
Real-time temperature monitoring at
crucial points throughout the PCS provides preemptive notification of thermal issues. This form of system cooling
has a tremendous advantage over more
traditional air or liquid cooling systems.
Using this design, Parker has reduced
the enclosure size to two thirds compared to its competition (Figure 3).
The modular design approach chosen by Parker includes other benefits;
the two most valuable are scalability
and system redundancy. Scalability
allows for the expansion of a base system for future state conditions. In some
cases, a small trial system has been installed, which is easily expanded once
the concept is demonstrated and proven. In others, availability of funding
has dictated building in stages. Also,
additional systems can be added to respond to the need for additional grid
stability and VAR support. Another advantage is when tariffs are established
in the future for new services, additional modules could add new revenue
streams at existing plants.
Modular design on the inside of the
PCS also offers the benefit of maximum up-time by virtue of low MTTR
(mean time to repair). Interchangeable spare phase modules containing
power semiconductors and all related
circuitry can be stocked on site, where
plant technicians can quickly diagnose
a failure and replace a module without
requiring a service call from the factory. Redundant fan motors and cooling
pumps mean one component can fail,
while allowing the system to continue
to function.
www.power-eng.com
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BIOMASS
Generating
Electricity
from the
Forest Floor
BY TIM MISER, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
ts an unusual sighta semi to Ameresco to finance, design, contruck raised on a ramp to a struct, operate, maintain, and fuel a
near-vertical orientation, its biomass cogeneration facility under a
windshield pointing toward 19-year fixed-price contract valued at
the clouds like a space ship $795 million.
ready to ascend into the heavens. In
Your grandpas woodstove this is
fact, theres nothing unusual going not. The plant mixes woodchips with
on here at all, just the very terrestrial shredded tires to incinerate them in an
spectacle of trucks
800-degree firestorm
being emptied of The overwhelming of blower-suspendtheir contents at the majority of facilities ed sand, combusting
Savanna River Site
about 285,000 tons
built to convert
Biomass Cogeneraof forest residue per
tion Facility. Dozens biomass into
year to power a steam
of times a day, these energy use trees for turbine capable of
trucks deliver wood combustion.
generating 20 MW of
chips to the steam
power. Its the larg- Mitch Hayes, ESI
and electricity genest woodchip bioeration facility to be burned as fuel mass plant in the state, and the largest
in the plants biomass-fired boilers. It energy efficiency project in the federal
takes about six minutes to empty 40 governments history.
tons of wood chips into the stockpile
of biomass on the grounds. The fuel is THE BIOMASS INDUSTRY
mostly sourced as waste from the forBiomass isnt as flashy as other more
estry industry, tree tops and other tim- modern sources of renewable energy.
ber deemed unsaleable and otherwise The idea simply isnt new or exotic
left to rot on forest floors.
enough to get the big headlines. After
Located at an inactive nuclear pow- all, mankind has burned wood for its
er plant near Aiken, S.C., the 34-acre energy needs since time immemorial,
Savanna River facility has been in so the concept is well-worn, maybe even
operation since January 2012. Its the a little boring. But precisely because
product of an Energy Savings Perfor- of this long history, biomass power
mance Contract (ESPC) awarded by generation is a mature industry, reliant
the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on technologies that are time-tested
30
and imminently dependable.

For all its conceptual familiarity,
though, the term biomass can prove
deceptively complex, especially in the
context of power generation, encompassing as it does a host of technologies
and methodologies used to convert biological, mostly plant-based materials
into the heat that is required to power
turbines that generate electricity.
This complexity is due in part to
the fact that, in addition to being
burned directly to fire boilers and
power turbines, biomass can also be
converted into biofuels like ethanol,
which in turn are burned to fuel
the power generation process. To
date, wood products constitute the
largest single source of biomass fuel.
Broadening the scope of biomass to
www.power-eng.com
A spider web of material-handling infrastructure feeds the stoker biomass boiler at the
160-MWth Port of Stockton biomass plant.
The California facility is owned by Detroit
Edison Energy Services. Photo courtesy: ESI
include biofuels, however, opens up

the race to many crops like hemp, corn,
sorghum, sugarcane, and bamboo, all
grown for the express purpose of later
conversion to combustible fuels.
There are a lot of different ways to
classify biomass, says Mitch Hayes,
a professional engineer and vice president at ESI Inc. of Tennessee. When
most people hear the word biomass,
they think of woody green material
essentially trees. And in fact, the overwhelming majority of facilities built to
convert biomass into energy use trees
for combustion. This includes waste
wood like tree tops and limbs from
logging, sawdust and other refuse from
sawmills, and bark from paper mills.
In some cases, green trees are even cut
down for express use as biomass fuel,
www.power-eng.com
but this is very rare. Typically, the meat

of a tree is more valuable as a raw product than it is as a fuel.
But there are also other types of useful biomass, explains Hayes, including
agricultural products, animal waste,
farm waste, and alternative fuel crops
like those left over after sugar cane is
rendered into sugar. These are opportunity fuels made from waste products, he says. They are used to make
biofuel because they do not provide
greater utility as something else like
fertilizer.
THE BIOMASS MARKET

While the biomass generation industry is mature, the market for biomass
fuel itself remains less developed.
These are often handshake deals,
Hayes says. Its very difficult to simply

go out and locate a market for biomass
fuels. You basically need to be in manufacturing, or next door to somebody
who is. I think the biomass fuel market will always be an informal one, he
continues. If it was going to become
more formalized, it would have done
so in the last ten years when biomass
was the king of the green energy revolution.
Part of the informality of the market
can be explained by a simple reality;
industries that create materials which
are not useful to them are accustomed
to landfilling them as waste. They
do not consider these materials to be
commodities, and so have to be convinced that they are better off paying
31
BIOMASS
Twin biomass-fueled bubbling fluidized beds (BFB) power

the award-winning 20MWe Ameresco facility at the DOE
Savannah River Site.Photo courtesy: ESI
a biomass facility to haul away their

waste than they are paying a landfill to
inter it. This is what kills a lot of biomass startups, says Hayes. As soon
as a biomass operation offers to haul
away an industrys waste biomass for
a particular fee, the landfill that had
previously been accepting that waste
underbids the biomass operation, offering to accept that same waste for less
money. The company generating that
waste then opts to dispose of their biomass at the cheaper rate, and the biofuel company fails to progress from the
planning stages to actual operation.
Political climates and economics can
also drive industry away from biomass
and toward other fuels like natural gas.
Trends in power generation are cyclical, say Hayes. When natural gas
prices are low, natural gas becomes the
preferred fuel. When various political
and economic forces align and those
prices rise again, biomass might again
look like a more attractive option. Just
two or three years ago, 80 or 90 percent
of the phone calls ESI received were
about biomass. Now those same calls
are about natural gas.
Hayes also sees other challenges to
the biomass market. Because of the
variability of terrain across the country,
and the differences in biomass potential that result from this variability, he
explains, it is not possible to franchise
a single biomass solution across all locations. Its simply too geographically
dependent. Biomass resources might
prove abundant in a wood basket that
is hundreds of miles in diameter, but
those same resources are much scarcer
in places like West Texas and Arizona.
BIOMASS AS
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Renewable energy gets a lot of
32
attention these days. With the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA)

announcement in August of the Obama
administrations Clean Power Plan and
its attendant regulation of carbon emissions from existing power plants, any
source of energy that is cleaner than
coal makes for interesting conversation. Solar and wind power take the lions share of the headlines it seems, but
across the country biomass facilities are
playing a valuable role in the generation
of clean energy.
Wind and solar energy resources have
a reputation of being very clean, but too
often this perception fails to take into
account the manufacturing processes
required to produce wind turbines, solar cells, and batteries, which are themselves carbon-intensive. Once you account for these variables, says Hayes,
solar is not nearly as clean as wed like
to think. The reality is, as long as we
want to turn on the lights, run our air
conditioners, and plug in our iPods at
night, theres no such thing as clean energy. The best we can do is to become
clean-ER.
Hayes further notes that power can
be generated from biomass around the
clock, as a mature technology that is
not dependent on weather conditions

to provide electricity. The intermittency issues of wind and solar create
real problems for those technologies,
he says. By the time enough batteries
are manufactured to bridge these intermittency issues, the environmental
footprint of these so-called clean technologies is much larger than that of biomass. Additionally, no quantity of batteries will make wind and solar energy
dependable enough to meet the needs
of places like hospitals, which require
uninterrupted power every day, all
day. Hayes also notes that biomass requires trees to be grown, which is never
a bad thing. True, those trees are later
harvested, he continues, but that harvesting process is not nearly as invasive
as drilling and fracking for natural gas.
In this context, its easy to see how biomass is a high-value green energy fuel.
The Savanna River plant serves as a
good example of the environmental advantage of biomass. Intended to replace
older, less efficient coal-powered assets,
the biomass facility is by itself responsible for a reduction in particulate matter
emissions amounting to 400 tons per
year. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions
are reduced by 3,500 tons per year, and
www.power-eng.com
CLEAN SOLUTIONS FOR THE POWER INDUSTRY
Power generation has many unique monitoring requirements, from combustion optimization, air pollution
control and continuous emissions monitoring. The more complex the process, the greater the demands on
analyzer solutions, system engineering and services. When it comes to meeting these measurement
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BIOMASS
carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are reduced by 100,000 tons per year.
it. On the other side of this spectrum, natural gas, but once the wood is lit, it
in very dry climates like the American is self-sustaining.
Southwest, cut trees might drop to 20 or
BFB technology is used to burn
BIOMASS TECHNOLOGIES 25 percent moisture.
woody biomass with higher moisture
Woody biomass is typically burned in
When wood is fired, this moisture content. A BFB system is essentially a
one of two ways, using a stoker technol- must first be boiled away. The stok- bed of sand that is heated using natural
ogy for dryer biomass, or bubbling flu- er technology that
gas to as hot as 1200
idized bed (BFB) technology for woody we use to burn dry- The biofuel industry
degrees, says Hayes.
biomass with higher moisture content. er fuel is older than is relatively young, at The sand maintains
All wood has some percentage of mois- BFB
technology,
a thermal mass that
least compared to
ture in it, says Hayes. When a tree is explains Hayes. Esis sufficiently hot to
cut down, its somewhere between 35 sentially, its a large the ancient practice prevent new loads of
and 55 percent moisture, just as human grate like the one in of burning woody
woody biomass from
beings are about 70 percent moisture. your backyard grill. biomass as fuel.
extinguishing
the
After trees are cut, they can actually be- Unlike in your backwood that is already
- Mitch Hayes, ESI
come wetter if they are in a wet climate yard grill though, the
burning.
Hayes
like the Pacific Northwest. Then they wood is actually placed on top of the notes there is also a technology called
can reach 65 or 70 percent moisture, grate. Air can then flow up from under- a circulating fluidized bed (CFB). Unbecause they are no longer expelling neath the biomass. Combustion must like a BFB system in which the sand
moisture, but they continue to collect be initiated using another fuel like effectively bubbles at the bottom of the
combustion chamber, a CFB system
fully suspends the sand so that it flows
through a closed loop. This is typically used when other fuels are employed
that have higher heating values like

tire-derived fuels or coal, he says.
for Biomass & Refuse Fuels
Woody biomass is typically chipped
. 00.00/00
to
a size that will pass through a sieve
./00./00
with a three-by-three-inch mesh. This
000 0 /
helps to control combustion better. It
! 0" .0

also makes the wood easier to trans!0
0#-$
port. It would be very difficult to get
!0
$.0
a limb up into a furnace, says Hayes,
! $ 0
.0$.
and to then repeat this 40,000 times
!0/0 0

an hour. Chips also help the biomass
!0
.0./0
to flow more readily, though Hayes
!0!/0/.0%/
is careful to note that chips have an
amazing ability to bridge a gap by in
./0/0 /
terlocking with one another. They
& 00'.00. 00.
almost have to be dropped through a
-0
00(0"//
near-vertical chute that becomes larg ./00)/000-*!
er at the bottom to prevent clogs that
!00+./0*0,.0&.
block the entire system, he says. It is
00.0.00.000.0../000
very difficult to get wood to truly flow.
./000.00.00.0
In fact, the material handling systems
are the overwhelming failure point at
biomass plants.
There are alternatives to burning

biomass directly, though these alternative methods comprise only a minority
Detroit Combustion Equipment
34
www.power-eng.com
BIOMASS
volume of the industry. Methods include pelletizing wood products like
sawdust for transportation to other
locations like Europe, which are in
need of alternatives to coal. The pelletizing process removes a great deal
of the moisture from the biomass,
says Hayes, This is important because
shipping costs are based on weight.
The creation of biofuel represents another alternative to burning biomass
directly. There are several ways to use
biomass to create biofuels, explains
Hayes. The type of biomass feed stock
entirely determines the biofuel end
product. That means a biofuel plant that
is trying to produce a specific type of
biofuel is dependent on a specific type of
biomass feed stock for its processes. You
cant simply substitute a different type
of plant matter and expect to create the
same type of biofuel. So depending on
the type of feed stock available in a given

geographic location, a plant must rely on
a specific process to convert that biomass
to the desired biofuel.
A number of processes can be used
to convert biomass to biofuel including
pyrolysis, biological reduction, and gasification. The creation of liquid biofuel typically involves putting biomass
through a chemical process like pyrolysis, in which the carbon and hydrogen in
the wood are separated from the other
components in the feed stock, explains
Hayes. Alternatively, biofuel can be created through gasification, a process in
which biomass is heated up in the absence of oxygen so that it cannot burn.
This produces a biogas that behaves
much like natural gas. Biofuel can also
be produced using a biological method
in which microbes digest once-living
material into liquid or gaseous fuel that
is high in energy content. Hayes notes

that the biofuel industry is still relatively young, at least when compared to the
ancient practice of burning woody biomass as fuel. Burning biomass involves
processes and equipment that are very
mature, he says. On the other hand,
rendering wood into another type of
fuel is a relatively new idea, and so is still
evolving
Never mind the emissions; fossil fuels have another major drawbackthey
take a heck of a long time to form. Admittedly, with a few sips of Ponce de Leons fabled Fountain of Youth, it might
be possible to wait the eons required for
tectonic subduction to turn decaying
crustaceans into combustible fuel, but
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GAS TURBINE
BETTER AIR IS OUR BUSINESS
DIVISION
NUCLEAR POWER
NuScale completed the full-scale

upper module mockup of its small
modular reactor in March. Photo
courtesy: NuScale
38
www.power-eng.com
The Design
Certification
Process for
U.S. SMRs
BY SHARRYN DOTSON, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
mall modular reactors (SMRs)

are a new and advanced technology in the U.S., yet manufacturers must meet design
certification
requirements
similar to those used for large-scale nuclear reactors, with some differences.
SMRs are generally 300 MW or less of
generating capacity. They are designed for
modular construction, meaning the parts
can be put together offsite, then moved
into place in the power plant. Conversely,
large-scale reactors are built on site from
the ground up, which usually calls for a
large amount of land, materials, workers
and equipment. SMRs are also designed
with passive safety equipment so that, in
the case of an emergency or if no power is
available, the reactors can operate safely
for several days before manual intervention is needed.
These unique characteristics are some
of the reasons that SMR design certifications must be handled differently than a
typical large-scale reactor. However, the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC)s Office of New Reactors (NRO)
said that if certification applications for
non-light-water reactors were to come
across the staffs desks in a five-year
timeframe, the department would not
be ready. The NRC also needs to consider other designs that may apply for certification and plan accordingly.
www.power-eng.com
NRC READINESS
FOR LICENSING SMRS
In August 2012, the NRC provided a
report requested by Congress that addressed advanced reactor licensing. The
report spelled out the NRCs strategy for,
and approach to, preparing for licensing
of advanced non-light water reactors
(LWRs). The report addressed the number of expected licensing applications
over the next twenty years for light water and non-LWRs, and any potential licensing activity beyond then. The report
also illustrates regulatory challenges
that may occur if various advanced reactor initiatives evolve into licensing applications. The Report to Congress also
examined NRCs readiness to license
non-LWR designs in the longer term
of 10 years or more. The report found
the agency would be challenged only if
there is an application within five years
or less. However, the report did find that
agency efforts and the readiness status
have not changed since the 2012 report
was released.
It was recommended that NRO work
with international nuclear regulators
that have experience operating nonLWR plants in order to leverage that
experience for potential domestic designs. Additional research may be necessary to develop independent analytical tools and methods for designs that
significantly differ from the LWR design

so that the analysis methods and supporting experimental data can support
an independent safety finding by the
NRC, the report said.
NRO said in an August 2014 report to
the NRC that it is ready to conduct safety and environmental reviews of new
SMR applications, including light water
and non-light-water SMR designs. The
design certification process for SMRs
generally takes 39 months, according to
Scott Burnell, Public Affairs Officer with
NRC. The NRC said it expects SMR manufacturers to seek design certifications
under the 10 CFR Part 52 Combined
Operating License (COL) process. Utilities that plan to site the reactors, such
as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
at its Clinch River Site in Tennessee, will
seek Part 52 early site permits and combined licenses.
NRC staff expects differences between SMR licenses and those for large
light-water reactors, including emergency preparedness, licensing fees and security, according to Burnell.
NRO is currently working to identify and manage the review factors that
are within the agencys control, such
as open policy issues, guidance development, and SMR-related technical
questions. NRO is also interacting with
potential applicants and other stakeholders to identify external factors that
could cause extended review schedules,
such as the need for early design finality and the need for timely, complete
responses to requests for additional information (RAIs) during the application
review. The goal of these interactions is
to develop a common understanding of
the information exchange necessary to
conduct efficient and effective SMR application reviews.
Additional research may be required
to develop independent analytical tools
and methods for designs that differ significantly from LWR technology, so that
the analysis methods and supporting
39
NUCLEAR POWER
experimental data can support an independent safety finding by the NRC.
WHERE THE SMR

DESIGNS STAND
Westinghouse, NuScale, Holtec International and Generation mPower have
all started the design certification process for their SMR technologies. More on
each companys progress follows:
NUSCALE POWER LLC
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nuclear Officer.

The NRC said it is ready to certify NuScales reactor design. The NRC worked
with NuScale for more than a year to develop a design-specific review standard
for the companys proposed SMR, NRCs
Burnell said. In the same way, other
vendors can continue pre-application discussions with the NRC to support review
standards for their SMR approaches.
NuScale Power LLC is furthest along WESTINGHOUSE

The NRC staff is engaged in pre-appliin the design certification process for the
50-MWe NuScale Power Module (NPM) cation activities with Westinghouse on
that can be scaled to 600 MWe (gross) in the companys 225-MW reactor that uses
a single facility. Areva agreed to complete passive safety systems similar to what is in
the testing and design for the certification the AP1000 reactor, a key benefit of the
Westinghouse SMR, said Jeff Benjamin,
application.
The completed design certification ap- Westinghouse senior vice president for
plication is expected in the second half of new plants and major projects.
The reactor has a design life of 60 years
2016, according to the NRC website. Utah
Area Municipal Power System selected and features a compact integral design
NuScale and partner Energy Northwest and a 24-month time between refueling
outages.
to supply its system
The NRC approved
for the nuclear power SMRs are
Westinghouses testing
project to be sited in generally 300
approach for its SMR
Idaho.
MW or less of
design in March 2015.
NuScale completed
generating
Approval is a signififabrication and assemcant step toward debly of a full-scale, up- capacity. The
sign certification and
per module mockup parts can be put
will reduce the time
of the NPM in March.
together offsite.
ultimately needed to
The upper module
mockup consists of the top assembly of license the Westinghouse SMR, the comthe reactor, the reactor vessel head, con- pany said yesterday.
The development program has introl rod mechanisms, the module access
volved many years of testing and analyplatform and major valves.
The full-scale mockup gives NuScales sis, which can be successfully applied to
engineers insights into the inspection and advance our SMR program as the market
maintenance activities essential for plant for the technology matures in the future,
operation. It provides a life-sized replica Benjamin said.
In a letter dated Feb. 27, 2015, the NRC
of the reactor, supports the planning of
maintenance, inspection, radiation pro- told Westinghouse that the staff granted a
tection and fabrication, and provides the Safety Evaluation Report for the licensing
ability to plan for worker safety and safety topical report the company submitted in
April 2012 for agency review and approvrequirements.
The fabrication of this full-scale, up- al. The report identified what would ocper module mockup is an important step cur in the unlikely event of accident due
in the continued support of our reactor to a small break in the water circuit that
design, stated Dale Atkinson, NuScales cools the reactor. The report also defined
40
the test program that Westinghouse will

conduct to prove that its safety systems
would safely shut down the reactor in response to such an accident.
Westinghouse said the potential for intermediate and large breaks in the reactor
coolant loop - and the more serious accident conditions - is eliminated in the SMR
design because there are no large primary
penetrations of the reactor vessel or large
loop piping. The design is an integral
pressurized water reactor with all primary
components located inside of the reactor
vessel. As a power unit, it would produce
225 MWe in operation.
CLINCH RIVER SITE

Clinch River initially planned to
site up to six 180-MW BWXT mPower
reactors from Generation mPower, a
company made up of BWX Technologies Inc., formerly known as Babcock &
Wilcox, and Bechtel. TVA said in its operating license application that it still
expected Generation mPower to submit a Part 52 design certification for
the mPower reactor, but work slowed
when the company decided to restructure its SMR program and decrease
funding in development to focus more
on technology development.
Generation mPower notified DOE in
2014 that funding from an up to $226
million cost-sharing program with the
DOEs Small Modular Reactor Licensing Technical Support Program, but
work would continue toward development milestones. TVA planned to
submit the application for up to four
mPower SMRs in the second quarter of
2015 before the announcement.
The NRC is ready to review design
certification applications from Westinghouse, Generation mPower and
NuScale Power, but not for non-lightwater reactor developers that apply for
certification in the next five years. The
commission staff continues to work on
a set of regulations specific for SMRs
and their unique designs and safety
benefits.
www.power-eng.com
EARLY BIRD SAVINGS!

Register by October 5th and save more than
$100 on Full Conference Registration.
ADVANCING CLEAN ENERGY
DECEMBER 810, 2015
LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER - CENTRAL AND NORTH HALLS

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
WWW.NUCLEARPOWERINTERNATIONAL.COM
OWNED
& PRODUCED BY:
PRESENTED BY:
Nuclear energy remains a viable, clean and safe option for meeting
the global demands around the world. Advancing clean energy
continues to be the main emphasis because of the benefits it
provides for our health, economy and environment.
Nuclear Power International provides the nuclear power industry the
perfect venue to gather, network and exchange information about
advancing clean energy in todays changing world.
SUPPORTED BY:
More than 1,400 exhibiting companies from every sector of the power generation
industry will be showcasing their products and services on the exhibit floor at
POWER-GEN International 2015, the worlds largest annual forum for the power
sector. More than 21,000 people are expected to attend Dec. 8-10 at the Las Vegas
Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. To register, visit www.power-gen.com.
2015
15
Transition and
Transformation
BY RUSSELL RAY, CHAIRMAN, POWER-GEN INTERNATIONAL
ts the largest annual forum for

the power generation industry.
More than 21,000 industry
professionals from around the
world will gather in Las Vegas
for POWER-GEN International, where
innovative and cost-effective solutions for
maintaining, operating and building new
power generation will be shared Dec. 8-10
at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
More than 1,400 exhibiting companies
from every sector of the industry will be
showcasing their products and services
on the exhibit floor. The exhibition opens
at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday following the keynote session.
POWER-GEN International offers a
wealth of networking opportunities with
leading professionals and key decision
makers. More than 200 speakers will
share their thoughts on trends, technology and project development in 43 conference sessions. A wide range of topics,
42
from emissions control to gas turbine

design, will be discussed by high-ranking
regulators, developers, power producers
and industry representatives.
The keynote session on Dec. 8 will
feature five high-ranking executives: Steven L. Edwards, chairman, president and
CEO, Black & Veatch; Robert Flexon, president and CEO, Dynegy; Steve Berberich,
president and CEO, California ISO; Stuart
R. Hemphill, senior vice president, Power
Supply and Operational Services, Southern California Edison; and Joe Mastrangelo, president and CEO, Power Generation, GE Power & Water.
This year, POWER-GEN will come to
Las Vegas with four co-located events:
Nuclear Power International; COALGEN 2015; Renewable Energy World
North America; and the GenForum.
Were calling it Power Generation Week,
which features five conferences and four
exhibitions under one roof. Altogether,
more than 300 speakers will be featured

in nearly 80 conference sessions during
Power Generation Week.
At POWER-GEN, 33 conference sessions will be held under seven tracks:
Emissions Control; On-Site Power;
Plant Performance; Gas Turbine Technologies; Microgrids, Storage & Virtual
Power Plants; Industry Trends/Competitive Power Generation; and Power
Project Financing.
Heres a sample of some of the sessions
that will be offered: Small and Medium
Gas Turbines, CHP Trends in North
America, New Combined Cycle Power
Plants, HRSGs: Design, Maintenance &
Monitoring Best Practices, Asset Management, Steam Turbine Performance
and Reliability improvement & Generator Inspection, Successfully Financing Power Projects in the Developing
World, Options to Maximize the Value
of Existing Coal Plants, CCR/ELG Regs:
www.power-eng.com
Joe Mastrangelo
Steve Berberich
Walking the Tightrope, and Utilities

Perspective on Energy Storage.
Six mega-sessions are also scheduled.
The Threat from Solar, Clean Power
Plan: Did We Get What We Expected,
Large Frame Gas Turbines, Is Gambling with the Worlds Energy Resources
Leading to a Potential Crisis? New Business Model for Grid-Scale Storage, and
Bettering the Nuclear Fleet with Modern
Technology.
THREE TECHNICAL TOURS

Technical tours of three power generation facilities will be offered to attendees
on Monday, Dec. 7.
IVANPAH
Steven Edwards
KEYNOTE PANEL
Robert Flexon
www.power-eng.com
Stuart Hemphill
NRG Energy, Google, BrightSource

Energy and other investors have built
one of the largest solar thermal projects in the world.
In the Mojave Desert, the Ivanpah
Solar Electric Generating System has a
solar capacity of almost 400 MW and
generates nearly double the amount of
commercial solar thermal energy now
generated in the U.S. Because of this,
Renewable Energy World magazine
crowned it the Renewable Energy Project of the Year in 2014.
The project, comprised of three separate plants, was completed in early 2014.
Electricity from Ivanpah is now sold under multiple power-purchase agreements,
each of 25-30 years duration with Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas &
Electric Company. The electricity generated by all three plants is enough to support
140,000 homes, and more than twice that
number when operating at maximum capacity during the peak hours of the day.
CHUCK LENZIE
Thirty miles North of Las Vegas, Nevada, the Chuck Lenzie Generating Stations
peak generating capacity is 1,102 MW.
It is a clean-burning natural gas-fueled
power plant in Southern Nevada, north
of Las Vegas. The plant utilizes two sideby-side power production blocks. Both
groups use two highly efficient General Electric 7FA combustion turbines to
produce electricity. Additionally, the
exhaust from the four turbines is recycled to produce steam for two General
Electric D-11 steam turbines to make
additional electricity.
The plant went into service in 2006.
Unlike conventional power plants that
use substantial amounts of water for
cooling, the station uses a six-story-high
dry cooling system. Similar to a car radiator, 100 massive fans (32 feet in diameter) are used to condense the steam back
into water to be reused in the plant. The
Chuck Lenzie Generating Station is part
of a 2,250-megawatt three-plant complex,
which includes the Harry Allen and Silverhawk Generating Stations.
The plant can produce enough electricity to serve approximately 665,000
Nevada households. The dry-cooling
system enables the combined-cycle
plant to make the same amount of
electricity with a mere 7 percent of water used by conventional water-cooled
facilities. The facility uses a wastewater
treatment system that recaptures and
recycles about 75 percent of the water
used in the power production process.
HOOVER DAM
Just a short drive from the glitter and
glamour of Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam
is a testimony to Americas ability to construct monolithic projects in the midst
of adverse conditions. Built during the
Great Depression between 1931 and
1935, thousands of men and their families came to Black Canyon to tame the
Colorado River. It took less than 5 years
to build the largest dam of its time.
Now, 70 years later, Hoover Dam still
stands as a world-renowned structure.
Hoover Dam is a National Historic Landmark and has been called one of the Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern
World. This engineering project not only
enabled the industrial development of the
Pacific Southwest, but it also forms Lake
Mead, the largest man-made reservoir in
43
the Western Hemisphere.

Before your guided tour of Hoover
Dam, you will have a short presentation
on how the west was won with water and
give you some background history on the
building of the magnificent Hoover Dam.
Next, your guide will take you over 500
down one of our enormous elevators to
the Nevada wing of the power plant,
where you overlook the massive 7-story
tall generators.
From there you will go on your own
out to the Observation Deck on top of
the Tour Center, where you can view
the river flow, the lake and the massive
expansive of the Hoover Dam.
PRE-CONFERENCE
WORKSHOPS
Attendees of POWER-GEN and Renewable Energy World North America can also choose from 31 Competitive Power College pre-conference
workshops on Sunday Dec. 7 and Monday Dec. 9.

Some of the workshop topics include
Effective Project management for the
Power Project Professional, Outage
Management Processes, Skills and Tools
Improvement Workshop, Distributed
Generation: Wining the Interconnection, Project Risk management in
Power Construction, Quantitative
Risk Analysis in Power Construction,
and How to Develop a Viable 316(b)
Phase II Compliance Approach.
WIN A CORVETTE
A car will again be given away this
year. The drawing for a 2016 Corvette
will be Thursday, Dec. 10. Entering is
easy. Eligible attendees must take their
entry card to the booths of the sponsoring companies, have it stamped by
the sponsoring exhibitors and return
the card to the PennWell booth prior
to the drawing. As always, you must be

present to win.
GOLF
Also, a golf tournament will be held
Monday, Dec. 7, at the Desert Pines
Golf Club.
Desert Pines Las Vegas was named a
best upscale golf course in Golf Digest
Top 50 Resort Course. Desert Pines
also was host to the Golf Channels Big
Break II. From championship tees to
three sets of tee areas, Desert Pines Las
Vegas offers a 71 par course spread over
6,810 yards that is the perfect balance
between challenge and fun. The generous mounding separates the fairways
which can result in lucky breaks from
those errant shots and keep the game
amusing and fun for all skill levels.
For complete conference, exhibition
and registration information, visit
www.powergenerationweek.com.
FUEL | AIR | GAS | ASH

processbarron.com/power
205-663-5330
44
www.power-eng.com
POWER-GEN.COM
DEC. 810, 2015
LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER
LAS VEGAS, NV
#POWERGEN
THE WORLDS
LARGEST
POWER GENERATION EVENT
NETWORK WITH 22,000 ATTENDEES
VISIT WITH 1,400 EXHIBITORS
LEARN FROM 400+ INDUSTRY SPEAKERS
REGISTER TODAY!
OWNED & PRODUCED BY:
PRESENTED BY:
SUPPORTED BY:
GENERATING BUZZ
DRONES
to Play Greater Role in

Wind Turbine Inspections
nmanned Aerial Vehicles

(UAV), commonly called
drones, will play a greater
role in wind turbine inspections, according to a report recently published
by Navigant Research.
The report covers the 2015 2024
timeframe, a window in which drones
are expected to play a strong supplementary role to current inspection
techniques, including those used from
the ground via binoculars of telephoto
camera lenses, or up close by inspectors
using abseiling rope access techniques.
At the start of 2015, there were
268,550 commercial-scale wind turbines installed globally, totaling
327,381 MW of capacity. This amounts
to more than 805,000 blades that must
be inspected annually, not to mention
the hundreds of thousands more blades
expected to begin service in the coming
years. Blades must be inspected with
46
greater frequency in the first year of

service, and they wear out over time as
they develop chips and cracks. Early deterioration can reduce energy production potential. When left unchecked,
such deterioration can cause total blade
collapse.
According to the report, inspections
conducted using commercial-grade
drones flown by professional operators
can provide higher-resolution results
than ground observation alone, while
costing less and presenting fewer risks
to inspectors. The report makes clear
that this use of drones will not entirely
supplant more traditional techniques,
but will serve a supplementary role in
inspections of onshore installations,
while becoming standard for inspections of offshore installations.
The evolution of drones to include
multiple rotors for stability in wind,
longer battery life for extended use, and
sharper optics for more detailed observation has made the technology more
useful in the context of turbine inspections. Noted in the report is the increasingly important role played by data
analysis systems for automated photo
analysis across entire fleets of turbine
blades.
While sales of UAV equipment will
represent the most visible aspect of the
new inspection trend, the services provided by UAV inspection companies
are expected to generate substantially
greater income. By the end of 2020, the
service side of the industry is expected
to total nearly $1 billion globally, with
sales of drones themselves totally just
under $200 million. By the end of the
reports forecast period, combined revenue of services and equipment is expected to reach $1.6 billion per year,
with a cumulative 10-year total of nearly $6 billion.
www.power-eng.com
W WW. C OA L- GEN . C OM
TM
REGISTER BY OCT. 5 AND SAVE!!

DE CE MBE R 810 , 2015
OWNED & PRODUCED BY:
L AS VEG AS , N E VA DA
PRESENTED BY:
LA S V E G A S C O N V E N T I O N C E N T E R
SUPPORTED BY:
NOW CO-LOC ATED WITH:
LARGE SCALE
RENEWABLES TRACK
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Covers baseload and multimegawatt-scale renewable energy

projects, policies and applications
Covers permitting, regulation,

interconnection and other grid
impacts of renewable energy
DISTRIBUTED ENERGY
RESOURCES (DER) TRACK
RENEWABLES IN THE
DEVELOPING WORLD TRACK
Covers smaller commercial and

behind-the-meter renewable
energy applications, technologies
and policies
Examines how renewable energy

is uniquely positioned to bring
electricity to the millions of
people worldwide who suffer
from energy poverty
HYBRID SOLUTIONS TRACK

Looks at how different energy generation technologies
work together with a major focus on energy storage
Renewable Energy World Conference & Exhibition North America 2015

December 8-10, 2015 / Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
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1-800-286-6069
Fax (281) 359-4225
Classified advertising ContaCt Jenna Hall: 918-832-9249, JennaH@pennwell.Com
Air Pre-Heaters Economizers Deaerators

Pumps Motors Fuel Oil Heating & Pump Sets
Valves Tubes Controls Compressors
Pulverizers Rental Boilers & Generators

Get a thorough mix with:
CLASSIFIEDS |
FOR SALE/RENT
24 / 7 EMERGENCY SERVICE
BOILERS
INDEX
RS# COMPANY
PG#
19 AAF International
37
RS# COMPANY
www.aafgtsolutions.com
Areva
Sr. Vice President North

American Power Group Richard Baker
Brandenburg Industrial
Service Company
24 Renewable Energy
World North America
Circor Energy
11 Clearspan Fabric
Structures
23 COAL-GEN
11
Rentech Boiler
Systems Inc
DIGITAL
EDITION-COVER
www.rentechboilers.com
23
9
47
15 SICK Inc
12 SICK Inc
33
23
www.sickusa.com
34
www.detroitstoker.com
17 EthosEnergy
17
www.sickusa.com
www.apollovalves.com
16 Detroit Stoker Co
SEI Group
www.southernenvironmental.com
www.coal-gen.com
Conbraco Industries Inc
48
www.renewableenergyworld-events.com
www.ClearSpan.com/ADPWRE
Solvay Chemicals Inc
C2
www.solvair.us
35
13 Sulzer Turbo Services
www.ethosenergygroup.com
Reliable Turbine Services 15
www.reliableturbine.com
www.circorenergy.com
1421 S. Sheridan Rd., Tulsa, OK 74112

Phone: 918-835-3161, Fax: 918-831-9834
e-mail: pe@pennwell.com
www.brandenburg.com
27
www.sulzer.com
Indeck Power Equipment 3

www.indeck-keystone.com
14 Victory Energy
Operations LLC
29
www.victoryenergy.com
Mitsubishi Hitachi
13
Power Systems Americas
10 Volvo Penta of
the Americas
19
www.volvopenta.com/industrial
Mitsubishi Hitachi
Power Systems Americas
20 Nuclear Power
International
41
www.nuclearpowerinternational.com
25 Nuscale Power Inc
C3
www.nuscalepower.com
18 PennWell Corporation
36
www.power-eng.com/webcasts
22 POWER-GEN International 45
www.power-gen.com
21 Process Barron
44
www.processbarron.com/power
52
VSP Technologies
www.vsppower-generation.com
BROWSER EDITION-LEADERBOARD
SALES OFFICE
www.proenergyservices.com
ProEnergy Services LLC
DIGITAL EDITION-BELLY BAND

www.areva.com
C4
PG#
Advertisers and advertising agencies assume liability for all contents

(including text representation and illustrations) of advertisements printed, and also assume responsibility for any claims arising therefrom
made against the publisher. It is the
advertisers or agencys responsibility to obtain appropriate releases on
any items or individuals pictured in
the advertisement.
Reprints Foster Printing Servive

4295 Ohio Street, Michigan City, IN 46360
Phone: 866-879-9144
e-mail: pennwellreprint@fosterprinting.com
National Marketing Consultant Rick Huntzicker
Palladian Professional Park
3225 Shallowford Rd., Suite 800
Marietta, GA 30062
Phone: 770-578-2688, Fax: 770-578-2690
e-mail: rickh@pennwell.com
AL, AR, DC, FL, GA, KS, KY, LA, MD, MO,
MS, NC, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV
Regional Marketing Consultant Dan Idoine
806 Park Village Drive, Louisville, OH 44641
Phone: 330-875-6581, Fax: 330-875-4462
e-mail: dani@pennwell.com
CT, DE, IL, IN, MA, ME, MI, NH, NJ, NY,
OH, PA, RI, VT, Quebec, New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Ontario
Regional Marketing Consultant Natasha Cole
1455 West Loop South, Suite 400
Houston, Texas 77027
Phone: 713.499.6311; Fax: 713.963.6284
e-mail: natashac@pennwell.com
AK, AZ,CA,CO,HI,IA,MN,MT,ND,NE,NM,NV,
OK,OR,SD,UT,WA,WI,WY,AB,BC,SK, Manitoba,
Northwest Territory, Yukon Territory
Regional Brand Manager Kelly Balaskovits
Phone: 918-831-9129; Fax: 918.831.9834
e-mail: kellyb@pennwell.com
AK, AZ,CA,CO,HI,IA,MN,MT,ND,NE,NM,NV,
OK,OR,SD,UT,WA,WI,WY,AB,BC,SK, Manitoba,
Northwest Territory, Yukon Territory
International Sales Mgr Tom Marler
The Water Tower
Gunpowder Mills
Powdermill Lane
Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 1BN
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 1992 656 608, Fax: +44 1992 656 700
email: tomm@pennwell.com
Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Slovakia, Sweden
International Sales Mgr Roy Morris
The Water Tower
Gunpowder Mills
Powdermill Lane
Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 1BN
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 1992 656 613, Fax: +44 1992 656 700
email: rmorris@pennwell.com
UK, Austria, Africa, Holland, India, Italy, Ireland,
Israel, Russia, Australia & New Zealand, Singapore,
Scotland, Switzerland, Turkey, Greece, UAE/SAUDI
and Iran
Classifieds/Literature Showcase
Account Executive Jenna Hall
Phone: 918-832-9249, Fax: 918-831-9834
email: jennah@pennwell.com
www.power-eng.com
12
NuScale Power has created a new kind of nuclear power plant: one that is safe, reliable, and
economical. The innovative design incorporates all of the components for steam generation and
heat exchange into a single integrated unit, the NuScale Power Module (NPM). Using up to
12 of these 50MWe (gross) NPMs, a NuScale nuclear power plant can provide 600 MWe (gross)
of safe, carbon-free, electrical generation. The compact design of the NPM allows it to be built and
assembled in a U.S. factory, then shipped to a prepared site for easy deployment. The design
eliminates many costly, complex systems while cutting-edge manufacturing cuts time and cost
of production. The result: a power source that is simultaneously safe, reliable, scalable, carbon-free,
and economical. Innovation: the Element of Nu.
NuScale Powerr
@NuScale_Pow
wer
nuscalepower.com
m
2015 NuScale Power, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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