1506 Et Digital

Bloch Talks Pumps 6 Successful Condenser Leak Detection 10 EPA On Ash 12
ENERGY-TECH
JUNE 2015
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ENERGY-
FEATURES
6
T ECH
Lubrication options for modern API-610 compliant
vertical pumps
By Heinz P. Bloch, P.E.
P.O. Box 388 Dubuque, IA 52004-0388
800.977.0474 Fax: 563.588.3848
Email: sales@WoodwardBizMedia.com
10 Four tips to create a successful condenser leak
Energy-Tech (ISSN# 2330-0191) is published
detection program
monthly in print and digital format except in January By Kim Massey, Day & Zimmermann
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combustion residuals generated by electric utilities
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June 2015 ENERGY-TECH.com 3

EDITORS NOTE CALENDAR
June is a month
June 10-11, 2015
Energy-Tech University Summer School
Online Course: Bearing Installation,
for learning
Precision Fitting and Lubrication, with
Tom Davis
www.energy-tech.com/summerschool
Energy-Tech University and ASME offer opportunities June 15-19, 2015

Rotor Dynamics and Modeling (RDM)
Syria, Va.
www.vi-institute.org
Have you heard about Energy-Tech Universitys June 28-July 2, 2015

Summer School program, starting on June 10-11, and ASME Power & Energy 2015
continuing in July and August? San Diego, Calif.
Are you tired of me writing about it, posting it to www.asmeconferences.org/powerenergy2015
Facebook and sending emails at least once a week?
July 8-9, 2015
Id apologize, but its that important to me that you
know about this fantastic training opportunity. Three,
Online Course: Belt Drives Installation,
two-day courses over three months. Sign up for one, two Precision Fitting and Lubrication, with
or all three of them, with the potential of earning 12 Tom Davis
PDH credits without having to travel anywhere. No delayed flights. No www.energy-tech.com/summerschool
hotel beds.You can still make dinner with friends or that Little League
game. We want to make this easy for you. Aug. 4-6, 2015
Our summer instructor, Tom Davis, is geared up and ready to go Excel I Webinar Course
too, and I know our attendees will enjoy his teaching style and depth of www.energy-tech.com/excel
knowledge on each topic. Its going to be a great experience and I cant
wait to get started visit www.energy-tech.com/summerschool for more Aug. 12-13, 2015
information. Theres still time to sign up, I hope you can join us.
Online Course: Troubleshooting and
And, while were still on the training/learning topic are you going
Correcting Problems with Rotating
to the 2015 ASME Power & Energy Conference in San Diego, Calif.? Equipment Using Predictive Maintenance
Are you presenting a paper? If so, let me know. Energy-Tech will be Tools, with Tom Davis
there and we always enjoy meeting readers and hearing their ideas for www.energy-tech.com/summerschool
the magazine.
This years conference will be quite a bit different, since it is com- Aug. 18-20, 2015
bining several of the energy divisions at ASME, but I think it will result Excel II Webinar Course
in a very dynamic group of people and ideas. I always say that one of www.energy-tech.com/excel
my favorite parts of the ASME conference is seeing the exchange of
ideas, and I think this years conference will definitely enhance that Sept. 15-17, 2015
Steam and Gas Turbine Fundamentals
experience.
www.energy-tech.com/turbines
And whether you sign up for Summer School, attend the ASME
Power & Energy Conference or even do both you have a wealth of Sept. 21-25, 2015
training options to fit what works best for your schedule this summer. Machinery Vibration Analysis (MVA)
I look forward to seeing you thanks for reading Energy-Tech. Salem, Mass.
www.vi-institute.org
Sept. 22-24, 2015

Advanced Turbine Troubleshooting & Failure
Prevention
Andrea Hauser www.energy-tech.com/turbines
Submit your events by emailing

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4 ENERGY-TECH.com June 2015

Upcoming webinars and
Dont miss these upcoming training opportunities
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June 10-11 Aug. 12-13

ETU Summer School: Bearing ETU Summer School: Troubleshooting
Installation, Precision Fitting and and Correcting Problems with
Lubrication Rotating Equipment Using Predictive
Tom Davis, Maintenance Troubleshooting Maintenance Tools
The course will be held from noon to 2 Tom Davis, Maintenance Troubleshooting
p.m. CT each day and attendees will re- The course will be held from noon to
ceive 4 PDH credit hours. Register at 2 p.m. CT each day and attendees will
www.energy-tech.com/summerschool receive 4 PDH credit hours. Register at
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July 8-9
ETU Summer School: Belt Drives Aug. 18-20
Installation, Maintenance and Excel II Webinar Course
Troubleshooting Register at www.energy-tech.com/excel
Tom Davis, Maintenance Troubleshooting
The course will be held from noon to 2
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Visit our extensive webinar archive at jor failure modes that turbines experience. The
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www.energy-tech.com 800.977.0474 editorial@WoodwardBizMedia.com

FEATURES
Lubrication options for modern

API-610 compliant vertical pumps
By Heinz P. Bloch, P.E.
Although vertical pumps are ideally suited for multistage or tapered roller bearings, which might have less than
(high differential pressure) services, many vertical pumps are 16,000-hour life at worst conditions to avoid skidding
of single stage design. They incorporate an end suction back in normal operation. In such cases, the vendor must
pull out-type casing, with the hydraulic end being mount- state the shorter design life in the proposal.
ed below the liquid level. The impeller is connected to the For vertical motors and right-angle gears, the thrust
motor by means of an extended shaft; the shaft is housed and bearing must be in the non-drive end and will limit
supported in a rigid tubular intermediate pipe. axial float to 125 m (0.005).
As a rule, vertical pumps in important hydrocarbon pro- Thrust bearings will be designed to carry the maxi-
cessing services are designed to the requirements found in mum thrust that the pump can develop while starting,
an API (American Petroleum Institute) Standard API-610. stopping or operating at any flow rate.
User-purchasers view adherence to the standards stipulations Hydrodynamic thrust bearings must be selected at no
as a powerful risk reduction step. API-compliant equipment more than 50 percent of the bearing manufacturers
incorporates considerable experience-based content derived rating at twice the pump internal clearances specified
from reliability-focused users. While equipment cost is elsewhere in the pump standard.
always a concern, the best companies aim for proper balance
between initial monetary outlay and long-term reliability. More detailed guidelines on bearings are found in the
As a rule, life-cycle cost studies show significant advantages same standard, API-610. As general examples, a number of
for API-compliant pumps compared to their lower-priced additional bearing-related items are worthy of note:
non-API competitors. An API pumps generally higher reli- Each shaft shall be supported by two radial bearings and
ability will translate to reduced one double-acting axial (thrust)
catastrophic failure risk, and bearing that might or might
such reductions are naturally Learn more about bearings not be combined with one of
of interest to a multitude of with Tom Davis during our first the radial bearings. Bearings
industries. Summer School course, June 10-11. shall be one of the following
arrangements: rolling-element
API 610 highlights For more information, visit radial and thrust; hydrodynam-
Special attention is given to www.energy-tech.com/summer school ic radial and rolling-element
bearings in the drive systems thrust; hydrodynamic radial and
of vertical pumps. Regardless thrust.
of feasible bearing options, these bearings must always be Thrust bearings shall be sized for continuous operation
designed for prevailing radial and/or axial loads. These loads, under all specified conditions, including maximum dif-
of course, are transmitted from the hydraulic end of the ferential pressure, and comply with the following:
pump and API-610 makes clear that bearings must meet a All loads shall be determined at design internal
number of requirements: clearances and also at twice design internal clear-
Rolling element bearings will be selected to give a ances.
basic rating life, in accordance with ISO 281, equivalent Thrust forces for flexible metal-element couplings
to at least 25,000 hours with continuous operation at shall be calculated on the basis of the maximum
pump rated conditions. allowable deflection permitted by the coupling
Rolling element bearings will be selected to give a manufacturer.
basic rating life equivalent to at least 16,000 hours A sleeve-bearing motor (without a thrust bearing)
when carrying the maximum loads (radial or axial or is directly connected to the pump shaft with a
both) imposed with internal pump clearances at twice coupling, the coupling-transmitted thrust shall be
the design values, and when operating at any point assumed to be the maximum motor thrust.
between minimum continuous stable flow and rated Single-row, deep-groove ball bearings will have radial
flow. internal clearance in accordance with ISO 5753, i.e.,
Concessions are made for vertical motors 750 kW larger than Normal internal clearance.
(1,000 HP) and larger that are equipped with spherical

FEATURES
Single- or double-row bearings will
not have filling slots.
In addition to thrust from the rotor
and any internal gear reactions due
to the most extreme allowable con-
ditions, the axial force transmitted
through flexible couplings will be
considered a part of the duty of any
thrust bearing.
Thrust bearings will provide full-
load capabilities if the pumps normal
direction of rotation is reversed.
Ball thrust bearings will be of
the paired, single-row, 40 degree
(0.7 radian) angular contact type
(7000-series) with machined brass
cages. Non-metallic cages shall not
be used (we disagree see below).
Pressed steel cages may be used if
approved by the purchaser. Unless
otherwise specified, bearings shall be
mounted in a paired arrangement
installed back-to-back. The need for
bearing clearance or preload will be
determined by the vendor to suit the Figure 1. Oil-lubricated thrust bearing at drive end of a modern vertical pump with rotating components
highlighted in green; cooling water entry is designated as ER. Liquid oil is fed from the sump (bottom) to the
application and meet the bearing life
top of the double-row thrust bearing. (Source: Egger Pumps, Cressier, NE, Switzerland)
requirements of this International
Standard.
Experienced professionals realize,

however, that in certain applications an
alternative bearing arrangement will prove
superior. This is because massive machined
bronze cages tend to promote smearing.
Smearing (or skidding) is often noted
where bearings operate continuously with
minimal axial loads. If loads exceed the
capability of paired, angular-contact bear-
ings, alternative rolling-element arrange-
ments may be proposed.
Pump specialists note that sub-claus-
es apply to all rolling-element bearings,
including both ball and roller types.
However, for certain roller bearings (such
as cylindrical roller types with separable
races) bearing-housing diametric clearance
might not be appropriate.
Rolling-element bearings will be locat-
ed, retained and mounted in accordance
with the following:
Bearings will be retained on the
shaft with an interference fit
(usually in the vicinity of 0.0003
to 0.0007) and fitted into the
housing with a diametric clear-
ance, both in accordance with

FEATURES
ANSI/ABMA 7 (usually ranging from 0.0005 to The device used to lock thrust bearings to shafts
0.0012). will be restricted to a nut with a tongue-type lock
Bearings will be mounted directly on the shaft. washer.
Bearing carriers are acceptable only with purchaser
approval. Vertically suspended pump-driver combinations
Bearings will be located on the shaft using shoul- Thrust bearings that are integral with the driver are
ders, collars or other positive locating devices. Snap addressed in the same API Standard, API-610. The manu-
rings and spring-type washers are not acceptable. facturer must pay attention to the need of adjusting pump
rotors in the axial direction. To allow axial rotor adjustment
and oil lubrication, the thrust bearing
are mounted with an interference fit on
a slide-fit, key-driven sleeve.
Designs that tolerate a certain
amount of solids typically incorporate
fully recessed, vortex flow impellers
with rear mounting shroud, incorpo-
rating integrally cast back balancing
vanes. This design is suitable for han-
dling free-flowing slurries and sludge.
In fact, the impeller design is capable of
handling solids up to the diameter of
the discharge port. In a leading design
offered by a Swiss pump manufacturer,
a suction strainer fitted to protect the
spark arrestor used in explosion-proof
designs limits the practical solid size.
Special design combinations

Zone Zero pumps are required in
continuously flammable atmospheres.
The casing of one such pump is unique
since it employs an internal helical
Figure 2. Oil mist-lubricated vertical pump thrust bearing. The oil mist enters at the upper right. After passing contour that contributes to improved
through this back-to-back set of bearings, coalesced oil droplets or excess oil mist exit from one of the two drain
ports. (Source: Afton Pumps, Houston, Texas)
hydraulic efficiency without impeding
free passage. Superior products often
facilitate maintenance by using step-ma-
chined mating face designs, also known
as rabbeted fits. Thus, when the pump
is being re-assembled, it is totally self-
aligned.
Recessed impellers are available for
many kinds of slurry pumps. Impellers
are usually located on the shaft by a par-
allel key and fixed into position with an
impeller screw and washer. Many excel-
lent vertical pumps incorporate a large
sole plate (pit cover) allowing the unit
to be mounted on top of a tank. The
discharge pipe passes through the sole
plate and is held in position by means
of a weld neck flange; this flange is bolt-
ed to the sole plate. A loose discharge
flange is often provided that facilitates
Figure 3. Oil-lubricated vertical pump thrust bearing. (Source: Afton Pumps, Houston, Texas)

FEATURES
A REVOLUTION IN
and simplifies the matching of the pump discharge pipe to
the customers pipe work. BRUSH CHANGING FOR
The safety regulations for Zone Zero pumps require pro-
vision of a minimum flow bypass. In some well-proven TURBINE-GENERATOR
RELIABILITY
designs, the bypass pipe is connected from the discharge pipe
and directed through the sole plate back into the tank. Two
minimum liquid level probes are often mounted into the sole
plate; one is for monitoring the liquid level in the tank and
the other for monitoring the liquid level in the column pipe.
Each represents an explosion-proof enclosure.
The NEW Cartridge-Style
On Zero-Zero pumps, and as an additional safety fea-
ture, the discharge pipe from the cover plate is fitted with
Plug-In Brush Holder
a spark arrestor. Ball valves are fitted on either side of the It is now possible to easily and safely change brushes on
arrestor. ISO-compliant pumps are usually provided with live equipment! The solution the industry has long
a single mechanical shaft seal (conforming to DIN 24960 awaited is now available from the leader in brush holder
dimensions) behind the impeller. The seal is mounted on a technology, Fulmer Company.
replaceable shaft sleeve or in a readily replaceable cartridge. A
Brushes changed on-line,
bottom journal bearing is fitted; it, too is mounted on a sep-
without service interruption,
arate replaceable shaft sleeve or in a unitized assembly called
using a simple changing
a cartridge. fixture
When the pump length dictates, intermediate bearings are Direct replacement for
employed and located between the flange joints of the inter- many OEM styles
mediate pipes. As with the bottom journal bearing, inter- with no rigging
mediate bearings are mounted on separate replaceable shaft modification
sleeves. The intermediate column pipe is filled with oil; this required
liquid column provides lubrication to the journal bearings Longer brush
and also encases the drive shaft of superior pump designs. box to provide
better brush
More vertical pump design characteristics support and allow
When the pump length dictates, more than one drive the use of a 4 brush,
shaft may have to be threaded into each other to achieve the increasing brush life
needed length between shaft coupling and impeller. Also, two and reducing the
frequency of changes
or more sections are then connected by intermediate flanges.
To prevent fluid traveling up the shaft, many vertical pump Rugged, lightweight
and ergonomically
models incorporate a simple disc that acts as a liquid throw-
built BRUSH
er. At the drive shaft end, the shaft is located by two angular
Removable CHANGING
contact ball bearings. (Figure 1)
insulated MADE EASY
The motor is mounted above the sole plate via a motor
stand. This stand also has locating registers to guarantee cor-
handle THE
rect alignment of both motor and pump shaft ends. Access
with flash
guard
FULMER
to the spark-proof flexible coupling is from opposite sides. WAY.
These access points are provided with guards so that when
the machine is in operation, no rotating part is exposed.
Motors can be either a metric frame or NEMA frame, flange
mounted. ~
Heinz P. Bloch resides in Westminster, Colo. His professional career

began in 1962 and included long-term assignments as Exxon
Chemicals regional machinery specialist for the U.S. He has authored
Fulmer Company
more than 600 publications, among them 19 comprehensive books on A Wabtec Company
practical machinery management, failure analysis, failure avoidance,
compressors, steam turbines, pumps, oil-mist lubrication and practical
lubrication for industry. Bloch holds bachelors and masters degrees 3004 Venture Court
in mechanical engineering. He is an ASME Life Fellow and maintains Westmoreland Industrial Park III
registration as a Professional Engineer in New Jersey and Texas. You Export, Pennsylvania 15632
may contact him by emailing editorial@woodwardbizmedia.com. Phone 724-325-7140
www.fulmercompany.com

FEATURES
Four tips to create a successful

condenser leak detection program
By Kim Massey, Day & Zimmermann
Without regular maintenance and repairs, condenser plants dont have yearly outages. Nuclear units for instance are
tube leaks and condenser air inleakage can turn into costly on 18- to 20-month outage cycles. Waiting nearly two years in
problems for power plant managers. A large leak can lead to between inspections might be too long to prevent minor issues
unplanned outages that last multiple days and result in mil- from becoming major ones.
lions of dollars in lost income. Despite the risks, managers Plant managers need to consider a more aggressive and
consistently wrestle with the decision of when a leak is of proactive approach to tackling leak detection programs. At min-
high concern and when repairs can be reasonably delayed. As imum, condensers should be checked twice a year. Optimally,
long as a unit is running there is hesitancy to address leaks a quarterly program will eliminate many of the risks associat-
that would result in downtime. ed with leaks. While there can be a cost associated with these
Ultimately, each identified leak must be evaluated on a inspections, they are far less of a cost burden than a major leak
case-by-case basis, but whats concerning is that some plants that leads to an unplanned outage. They also can lead to consid-
dont have the proper systems and processes in place to check erable cost savings by improving condenser efficiency.
regularly for leaks. While a comprehensive leak detection plan
wont eliminate all potential issues, developing one with your Beware of hidden leaks
internal teams and a maintenance partner can go a long way There are a number of areas within a condenser unit in
toward increasing efficiency and protecting against major dis- which leaks are extremely common. Most leak detection pro-
ruption and damages. Below are four tips for building an effec- grams rightfully prioritize inspecting these areas. Unfortunately,
tive leak detection program. the nature of leaks makes their location unpredictable and
some leaks can be hard to find without extensive experience
Have a proactive plan in inspection methodologies. Condenser inspection is arduous
A common approach to scheduling condenser inspections and intense work. Every condenser has dark, hot crevices that
is to sync them up with planned outages. Its a way to make maintenance personnel might be hesitant to inspect. When
sure that inspections happen regularly and also allows plant inspections skim these areas instead of doing a thorough check,
managers to address potential issues without interrupting nor- plant managers expose themselves to greater risk.
mal operations. While this plan seems sensible on its face, some Among the more uncommon areas where leaks have
been identified are at gland steam
exhausters, oil-bearing drains, on
the turbine shell and at the base of
a condenser. When working with
maintenance partners and leak
detection teams, plant managers
should ask for a comprehensive
checklist of the areas that were
inspected and a detailed list of test
results. Even if the probability of
leaks in each of these areas remains
low, they should still be on the list.
Sweat the small stuff

Even with regular and thorough
inspections and repairs, its almost
a guarantee that every condenser
in the world has a leak right now.
Some leaks might be small and are
unlikely to get bigger. But others
will start small only to grow into
Figure 1. Air inleakage testing. Contributed by Day & Zimmermann.

FEATURES
much larger leaks. An effective leak detection partner should in Norfolk, Va. In addition to directing and managing the overall
be able to explain the risk factors based on the location and operation of Condenser Services Division, including international
operations, Massey is also responsible for long-range strategic
nature of identified leaks. But placing leaks on a risk scale planning, sales, and operational forecasting to achieve profitable
can give plant managers a false sense of security. Theres no growth. Having been with Day & Zimmermann for more than 30
such thing as a low-risk leak. To maintain operational effi- years, Massey has held various positions within the company,
ciency, every leak is important. including project and personnel management, product development,
field operations, customer relations, proposal preparation and
While the primary focus should be to repair larger leaks, contract negotiations and scheduling. You may email Massey at
plant managers cannot stop there. Small to moderate-sized editorial@woodwardbizmedia.com.
leaks also can result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in addi-
tional fuel costs per year. Additionally, condensers with multiple
smaller leaks can result in a loss of generating capacity, higher
chemical or treatment costs or increased
emissions resulting in regulatory concerns. Y O U R C O M P L E T E S O U R C E F O R P R O C E S S B A L L V A LV E S
Different types of condensers also are much
more susceptible to inefficiencies than oth-
ers. For instance, it doesnt take many leaks
to cause an issue for an air cooled condens-
er. These types of condensers need to be
more closely monitored.
Plant managers should carefully consider 2- piece, 3-piece, multi-port, sanitary, flanged, Direct Actuator Mount
repairing small to moderate leaks even if Ball Valves thru 12 full port
condensers continue to run without repairs. API-607 Firesafe
With tight margins at most power plants, TA-LUFT environmentally friendly stem packing design
repair costs are a concern, but small leaks FM-Approved Safety Shut-off Ball Valves
have smaller price tags than large leaks.
Metal Seat, High Temperature
V-port and segment control valves
Customize your strategy
Every plant is different and every plant Direct mount Electric and Pneumatic Actuation Packages
manager has their own set of unique chal- Numerous Seat Materials
lenges in ensuring operational efficiency. Carbon, Stainless and special alloys
Condenser leak detection is only one
aspect of an overarching maintenance plan.
Understanding how it fits into that larger
maintenance strategy allows managers to set
aside the proper resources for plan execu-
tion.
Its critical that plants identify mainte-
nance partners that allow for flexibility in
how they execute work and attack repairs.
The choice to make a repair is in the hands
of the plant manager and true maintenance
partners should be working with managers
to find the best solutions that consider both
condenser efficiency and overall plant spend.
This requires a trusted source of informa-
tion that has a track record of both technical
proficiency and business acumen. Working
with these types of partners, plant managers
will be more likely to create a truly custom
strategy that keeps condensers running effi-
ciently and effectively. ~
9955 International Boulevard
Cincinnati, Ohio 45246
(513) 247-5465
Kim Massey is vice president of Condenser FAX (513) 247-5462
sales@atcontrols.com
Services at Day & Zimmermann, with offices www.atcontrols.com
In stock for immediate shipment - The right valve, right now!

REGULATIONS COMPLIANCE
Regulations for the management

of coal combustion residuals generated
by electric utilities
By Mathy Stanislaus, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently EPAs risk assessment presents a static snapshot of CCR dis-
finalized regulations that establish comprehensive requirements posal practices at the time. While newer disposal units might be
for the disposal of coal combustion residuals (CCR or coal ash) managed in a more protective manner, older units, which still
as solid waste (non-hazardous waste) under Subtitle D of the comprise the majority of current units, continue to operate in a
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). These reg- manner that poses risks to human health and the environment.
ulations provide water and air protections for communities near
coal-fired power plants, and require these facilities to provide Damages from the mismanagement of CCR
communities with the information they need to determine if The EPA has a long history of considering damage cases in
facilities are in compliance with the regulations. its regulatory decisions under RCRA. Damage cases provide
evidence of both the extent and nature of the potential risks
Generation, chemistry and management of coal to human health and the environment. The number of damage
combustion residuals cases collected for this rulemaking was 157, and is the largest
CCR is one of the largest industrial wastes generated in number of documented damage cases in the history of the
the United States. In 2012, more than 470 coal-fired electric RCRA program.[4]
utilities in 47 states and Puerto Rico generated approximately Damages typically consist of contaminants of concern (arse-
110 million tons of CCR.[1] nic, selenium, boron, sulfate,
CCR includes fly ash, bottom An existing CCR unit is one that receives CCR etc.) exceeding a drinking
ash, boiler slag and flue gas water standard in groundwater
desulfurization materials.[2] both before and after the effective date of the or exceeding primary water
The contaminants in CCR of rule, or for which construction commenced quality criteria in surface
most environmental concern water, or a catastrophic failure
prior to the effective date of the rule and
are antimony, arsenic, barium, of a surface impoundment
beryllium, cadmium, chro- receives CCR on or after the effective date that could impact ground-
mium, lead, mercury, nickel, of the rule. A new CCR unit is one that first water or surface water. These
selenium, silver and thallium damage cases were primarily
receives CCR or commences construction
because of the mobility of associated with unlined units
metals and the large size after the effective date of the rule. and were most frequently
of disposal units. In 2012, associated with releases of
approximately 40 percent of generated CCR was beneficially arsenic.
used (e.g., in concrete or wallboard), with the remaining 60 per- Recent CCR surface impoundment failures include the
cent disposed of in surface impoundments and landfills (CCR catastrophic failure of an impoundment dike at TVAs Kingston
disposal units). CCR disposal currently occurs at more than 310 Plant in Harriman, Tenn., on Dec. 22, 2008. This failure led to
active on-site landfills, and at more than 735 active on-site sur- the release of approximately 5.4 million cubic yards of fly ash
face impoundments. sludge over an approximately 300-acre area and into a branch of
the Emory River (Figures 1 and 2).[5,6] The ash slide disrupted
Risks to human health and the environment power, ruptured a gas line, knocked one home off its founda-
Based on risk analyses conducted for the final rule, EPA con- tion and damaged others (Figure 3). Another case involved the
cluded that disposal of CCR in unlined surface impoundments structural failure of an inactive surface impoundment at Duke
and landfills presents the greatest risks to human health and the Energys Dan River Steam Station in Eden, N.C., on Feb. 2,
environment. As modeled, the national risks from clay-lined 2014, which led to the release of between 50,000 and 82,000
units are lower than those for unlined units, but such units can tons of coal ash and slurry into the Dan River, about 80 miles
exceed risk criteria at individual sites. Composite liners were the upstream from the Kerr Reservoir (Figure 4). The cause of the
only liner type modeled that effectively reduced risks from all failure was the collapse of a concrete and corrugated metal
pathways and constituents far below human health and ecologi- storm water discharge pipe that passed underneath the interior
cal criteria in every sensitivity analysis conducted. of the CCR surface impoundment.[7]

Figures 1a, 1b and 1c. TVA Kingston Plant CCR Surface Impoundment
The majority of the EPAs documented record of confirmed

damage cases are from wet handling, treatment and disposal in
surface impoundments, cooling ponds and artificial wetlands that
constitute nearly half of the total number of implicated CCR
disposal units. In comparison, dry handling and disposal in land-
fills, sand and gravel pits, storage piles, and certain structural fills
account for about one-third of the confirmed damage cases.
Minimum national criteria for CCR landfills and

CCR surface impoundments
Both the risks posed by current CCR management prac-
tices as shown in EPAs risk assessment, and the overwhelming
number of documented damage cases, compelled EPA to final- Figure 2. TVA Kingston Plant Fly Ash Spill
ize minimum national criteria for CCR landfills, CCR surface
impoundments, and all lateral expansions of CCR units to pro-
tect human health and the environment. These criteria include:
location restrictions
liner design criteria
structural integrity requirements
requirements to minimize fugitive dust
groundwater monitoring and corrective action requirements
closure and post-closure care requirements
recordkeeping, notification and Internet posting requirements
These criteria are summarized below and Table 1 details the

scope of the regulations.
Location restrictions Figure 3. Damage to House from TVA Kingston Plant Fly Ash Spill.
The location criteria include restrictions on the placement Credit: Tennessee Valley Authority.
of CCR above the uppermost aquifer, in wetlands, within fault
areas, in seismic impact zones and in unstable areas. All of these of CCR units. Existing CCR landfills are only subject to the
restrictions require the owner or operator of a CCR disposal location restriction for unstable areas. Units that do not meet
unit to demonstrate that they meet the specific criteria. The five these restrictions can retrofit and make appropriate engineering
location restrictions apply to all new CCR landfills, all new and demonstrations so that the unit meets the criteria. Owners or
existing CCR surface impoundments, and all lateral expansions operators of existing CCR units that cannot make the required
demonstrations must close the units, while owners or operators

and contaminating ground-
water. All new CCR landfills,
new CCR surface impound-
ments, and lateral expansions
of CCR units must be lined
with a composite liner (see
sidebar). The rule allows an
owner or operator to con-
struct a new CCR unit with
an alternative composite
liner, provided the alternative
composite liner performs no
less effectively than a com-
posite liner with two feet of
compacted soil. New landfills
also are required to operate
with a leachate collection and
removal system, designed to
Figure 4. A concrete pipe below this impoundment failed, releasing coal ash and ash pond water into the Dan River. Credit; UFWS/ remove excess leachate that
Steven Alexander.
might accumulate on top of
the composite (or alternative
of new CCR units and all lateral expansions who fail to make
composite) liner.
the required demonstrations are prohibited from placing CCR
Existing CCR units can continue to receive CCR after
in the CCR unit.
the effective date of the rule without retrofitting with a
composite or alternative composite liner; however, these
Liner requirements
units must meet all applicable groundwater monitoring and
The rule also establishes liner design standards to help pre-
corrective action criteria to address any groundwater releases
vent contaminants in CCR from leaching out of the CCR unit
Table 1 Applicability of the CCR Rule
The rule applies to: The rule does not apply to:
New and existing CCR landfills and surface impoundments, including any CCR landfills that have ceased receiving CCR prior to the effective date of
lateral expansions of such units that dispose of or otherwise engage in the rule (six months after publication in the Federal Register).
solid waste management of CCR generated from the combustion of coal at
electric utilities and independent power producers.
CCR disposal units located off-site of the electric utility or independent CCR generated at non-utility power producers such as hospitals, universities
power producer. and manufacturing facilities that produce electricity primarily for their own
use.
CCR disposal units at active electric utilities and independent power Electric utilities or independent power producers that have ceased producing
producers; i.e., those that generate electricity, regardless of the fuel electricity prior to the effective date of the rule.
currently used to produce electricity.
Inactive CCR surface impoundments at any active electric utilities CCR placement at active or abandoned underground or surface coal mines.
or independent power producers, regardless of the fuel currently
being used to produce electricity; i.e., surface impoundments at any
active electric utility or independent power producer that have ceased
receiving CCR or otherwise actively managing CCR.
Municipal solid waste landfills that receive CCR for disposal or for daily
cover.
Practices that meet the definition of a beneficial use of CCR.

promptly. Existing CCR surface impoundments not con-
structed with either (1) a composite liner, (2) an alternative Table 2 Constituents For Assessment
composite liner or (3) at least two feet of compacted soil Monitoring
with a hydraulic conductivity of 1 x 10-7 centimeters per
second, must retrofit or close. Moreover, if an existing CCR Antimony Chromium Mercury
surface impoundment constructed with one of these three Arsenic Cobalt Molybdenum
liner types detects concentrations of one or more constitu- Barium Fluoride Selenium
ents listed in Table 2 at statistically significant levels above the
Beryllium Lead Thallium
groundwater protection standard established by the rule, the
CCR unit must retrofit or close. Radium 226
Cadmium Lithium
and 228 combined
Groundwater monitoring requirements
The groundwater monitoring and corrective action criteria Fugitive dust requirements
require an owner or operator of a CCR unit to install a sys- The fugitive dust criteria in this rule address the pollution
tem of monitoring wells, and specify procedures for sampling caused by windblown dust from CCR units. Owners or oper-
these wells and methods for analyzing the groundwater data ators of a CCR disposal unit must adopt measures that will
collected to detect the presence of potentially toxic constitu- effectively minimize airborne CCR at the facility, including
ents (e.g., metals) and other monitoring parameters (e.g., pH, fugitive dust originating from CCR units, CCR piles, roads
total dissolved solids) released from the units. The rule estab- and other CCR management activities. The rule also requires
lishes a groundwater monitoring program consisting of detec- documentation of the measures taken to comply with the tech-
tion monitoring, assessment monitoring and corrective action. nical standard in a CCR fugitive dust control plan. In the plan,
If the groundwater monitoring program demonstrates an owners or operators are required to document the applicable
excess of a drinking water standard for any identified constit- and appropriate activities for the conditions at the facility that
uents in CCR (Table 2), the owner or operator must initiate will minimize airborne CCR at the facility, such as wet condi-
corrective action. tioning of CCR.
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Structural integrity and inspection requirements action plan that defines the events and circumstances involving
To help prevent the damages associated with structural the CCR unit that represent a safety emergency and identify
failures of CCR surface impoundments, the final rule estab- the actions that will be taken in the event of a safety emergency.
lishes structural integrity criteria for new and existing surface Owners or operators of all CCR surface impoundments
impoundments and all lateral expansions. While the applicability also are required to conduct weekly inspections by a qualified
of the structural integrity person to detect, as early as
requirements to individual practicable, signs of distress
A composite liner consists of two
CCR surface impoundments in the unit that might result
varies depending on factors components: a geomembrane upper in larger, more severe con-
such as dike heights and the component and a two-foot layer of ditions. Monitoring of all
hazard potential (potential instrumentation supporting
compacted soil with a hydraulic conductivity
for loss of life, environmental the operation of the CCR
damage and economic loss of 1 x 10-7 centimeters per second, lower unit, conducted by a quali-
if there is a dike failure) of component. Both components must be fied person no less than once
the unit, the rule establish- per month is also required.
installed in direct and uniform contact with
es requirements for owners Owners or operators of any
or operators to conduct a one another. CCR surface impoundments
number of structural integri- exceeding a size threshold
ty-related assessments on a regular basis. These include periodic (i.e., a height of 5 or more and a storage volume of 20 acre-feet
hazard potential classification assessments, periodic structural or more; or a height of 20 or more) also must conduct annual
stability assessments by a qualified professional engineer, and inspections of the CCR unit throughout its operating life. These
periodic safety factor assessments (factors of safety for slope sta- annual inspections focus primarily on the structural stability
bility). Owners or operators of units required to conduct safety of the CCR surface impoundment and must ensure that the
factor assessments that fail to demonstrate that the unit achieves operation and maintenance of the unit is in accordance with
the specified factors of safety must close the unit. Additionally, recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices.
CCR surface impoundments with a high or significant hazard Annual inspections must be conducted and certified by a quali-
potential classification are required to develop an emergency fied professional engineer.
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Finally, the rule requires inspections by a qualified person of References
all existing and new CCR landfills and any lateral expansion 1. American Coal Ash Associations Coal Combustion Product
for any appearances of actual or potential structural weakness, Production & Use Survey Report http://www.acaa-usa.org/
or any other conditions that are disrupting or have the potential Portals/9/Files/PDFs/revisedFINAL2012CCPSurveyRe-
to disrupt the operation or safety of the CCR landfill. Annual port.pdf.
inspections also are required by a qualified professional engineer 2. U.S. EPA:What is coal ash?
at intervals to ensure that the design, construction, operation and http://www2.epa.gov/coalash/coal-ash-basics.
maintenance of the CCR landfill is consistent with recognized 3. U.S. EPA: Human and Ecological Risk Assessment
and generally accepted good engineering standards. of Coal Combustion Residuals, Final, December 2014.
(Available at www.regulations.gov, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
Closure requirements RCRA-2009-0640.)
Closure and post-closure care criteria established in the new 4. U.S. EPA: Damage Case Compendium,Volumes I III,
rule require all CCR units to close in accordance with specified December 2014. (Available at www.regulations.gov, Docket ID
standards and to monitor and maintain the units for a period of No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2009-0640.)
time after closure, including the groundwater monitoring and 5. U.S. EPA Region 4:TVA Kingston Fossil Plant Fly Ash
corrective action programs. Closure of a CCR unit must be Release http://www.epa.gov/region4/kingston/index.html
completed either by leaving the CCR in place and installing a 6. U.S. EPA:TVA Kingston Fossil Fuel Plant Release Site
final cover system or through removal of the CCR and decon- http://www.epakingstontva.com/default.aspx
tamination of the CCR unit. The final rule establishes time- 7. U.S. EPA North Carolina outpost On-Scene Coordinator
frames to initiate and complete closure activities. http://www.epaosc.org/site/site_profile.aspx?site_id=9065
Recordkeeping, notification and internet posting

Mathy Stanislaus was nominated by President Barack Obama for the
requirements position of assistant administrator in EPAs Office of Solid Waste and
Although the requirements of the final rule are self-imple- Emergency Response (OSWER) on March 31, 2009, and began in
menting, citizens and states can enforce the regulations through his position June 8, 2009, after confirmation by the U.S. Senate. He
citizens lawsuits under section 7002 of RCRA. EPA also has is responsible for the EPAs programs on hazardous and solid waste
management under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
authority under RCRA (section 7003) and the Comprehensive (RCRA), contaminated
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act site cleanup under
(Superfund or CERLA) to compel compliance with the regula- RCRA corrective BOILERS
tions and, if necessary, closure and cleanups. action, Superfund and SELL RENT LEASE
To ensure that states and citizens have the information they federal facilities cleanup - 24 / 7 -
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operators of CCR disposal units are required to document that
Brownfields, oil
spill prevention and
they have complied with the requirements of the rule. This response, chemical
documentation must be certified by a qualified professional accident prevention
engineer, kept in the operating record, and placed on a publicly
and preparedness,
accessible internet site. In addition, owners and operators are
underground storage IMMEDIATE DELIVERY
tanks, and emergency

required to provide notification to states and/or appropriate
tribal authorities when the owner or operator places informa-
response. Stanislaus
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MR. MEGAWATT
Blowing bellows
By Frank Todd, True North Consulting
Have you ever noticed that power plants sometimes seem to The ZWBB power station somewhere in Asia (the actual
have a devious inclination? I think if we did a histogram of the location was censored) wanted confirmation of the analysis of
significant issues requiring immediate engineering attention, the a problem they were having at the plant. It was the day before
bell curve would settle right at Friday afternoon between the the beginning of the Spring Celebration and everyone wanted
hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. When this happens, human nature this resolved before the next day. The engineers believed that
wants to jump to the quickest solution possible so as to not they had a problem with their condenser and just wanted us to
spoil that weekend trip or that special dinner. verify that they were correct. The culprit was assumed to be the
Waking up in yet another of my standard home away from degraded efficiency of the condenser, based on Figure 1. They
home hotels where the only difference is the consistency of were concerned that the drop in generation for the change in
the oatmeal being served from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., I was at least condenser pressure was too high.
pleased that it was the end of the week, so I was on my way These are the kind of jobs that we dream of, they have
back to the Bluff to see Mrs. Megawatt and my faithful thermal already done all the work and all we have to do is review their
performance golden retriever (in that order, of course). Even effort, put on a tie, verify that we are more than 50 miles away
before I choked down the barely brown coffee, my cell phone and send our conclusions that their engineers did it all right.
was requiring attention from a far off land with what they Especially since this was way more than 50 miles away (more
thought was a serious condenser problem. like 5,000 miles), we were even happier when they told us that
it had been reviewed,V&Ved and approved by the top people.
Of course, with all this we sort of wondered why they were
coming to us. That little engineer in my head told me not to
be so glib about it.
As usual, we asked them to send all the pertinent informa-
tion and that was our first inkling that something was amiss.
In their mind, the pertinent information was the graph they
sent (Figure 1). We then made our fatal mistake; asking for a lot
more data and the design information for their plant, particu-
larly the condenser. Being part of a society that is reluctant to
spread its information around, they said that if we needed more
we would have to come and get it. I think it might have also
had to do with the fact that we could not get there until after
their Spring Celebration (a.k.a. New Years).
I figured we were in quite a pickle until I remembered
our ace foreign travel expert, Ronny China. Not only was
Ronny the most adept cross cultural conqueror he is also the
Figure 1 prestigious Chairman of the International Committee for the
Universal Measurement of Pumps (ICUMP), and he looks
great in a tie. My confidence level greatly increased.
RC and I jumped on a few planes and after a mere 28
hours arrived at the ZWBB international airport ready to tack-
le any problem. That is after a 16(ish) hour train ride where we
both learned that the idea of personal space was nonexistent in
the country we had entered. Finally we made it to the ZWBB
official hotel and, after wandering around for a couple of hours
looking for our room, someone told us that the first number
of our room number was a lucky number and did not mean
anything.
After a hearty breakfast, RC and I bounced along the road-
way arriving at the plant to finally engage the problem. We
attended an official meeting with all the plant management and
half of the engineering organization and were taken to a secure
area through a series of get smart doors where we could look
Figure 2

MR. MEGAWATT
Figure 3 Figure 4
at some data. The first thing on the list was the thermal kit of
the plant so we could try to figure out the various correction
curves (Based on ASME PTC-6) that would allow us to iden-
tify known losses and develop a curve of generation corrected
for the effects of condenser pressure. Based on their initial anal-
ysis we looked at the condenser to see if that was the issue. This
involves an evaluation of the circulating water inlet temperature,
flow and condenser pressure. Circulating water flow is shown in
Figure 2, which shows that it did not change during the time
period. We obtained the design information for the condenser
and developed an equation for the expected condenser pressure
for the circulating water inlet temperature. With this infor-
Figure 5
mation, a comparison between the actual condenser pressure
and the expected condenser pressure could be developed (see
Figure 3). Since the expected condenser pressure was tracking
with the actual condenser pressure, the problem was not in the
condenser.
During dinner, RC was able to convince the ZWBB engi-
neers that the problem was not in the condenser. I was a little
oblivious and somewhat afraid of the cuisine but RC, using
his skills with the Ganbei process, had them all eating out of
his chopsticks (literally). Even though RC was able to smooth
over the condenser issue, they still wanted to know what the
problem was.
The next morning, after recovering from the previous eve-
nings digestive anomalies and the perilous drive to the plant,
we put together a graph of corrected generation with condens-
er pressure, Figure 4. What we noticed was that the corrected
generation actually decreased before the condenser pressure Figure 6
increased. This means that something happened before the
change in circulating water temperature. Now we had to start decreased with respect to the other LP Turbines, see Figures 7,
at the beginning of the cycle and try and figure out the real 8 and 9. Figure 10 shows that the change in corrected gener-
issue. Figure 5 is a drawing of the type of plant we were dealing ation corresponded with the change in the extraction pressure
with and we essentially started walking through the cycle to to the 4th stage of the LP turbine. So we knew that there was a
identify what the possible issue could be. problem somewhere between the LP turbine and the feedwater
Starting at First Stage Pressure and the first point extraction heater since there was no abnormal indication of the feedwater
pressure Figure 6, we looked at trends of all the turbine heater TTDs. Based on the sudden change of the pressure, we
extraction pressure to see if we could find any issues. When we suggested that there might be an issue with one of the expan-
got to the extraction pressure for the 3rd and 4th stage on the sion bellows between the LP turbine and the feedwater heater.
south Low Pressure turbine, it was clear that those pressures had The expansion bellows are installed on the piping between

MR. MEGAWATT
Figure 7 Figure 8
Figure 9 Figure 10
the turbine extraction nozzles and the feedwater heater. The

bellows allow for differential movement between the feedwater
heater and the turbine extraction line.
Once again, Ronny was on the scene to explain all this to
our engineering counterparts in such a manner that they were
very happy and scheduled an inspection for their next outage.
Ronny even volunteered to go out and help them with their
inspection during the outage. Figure 11 is a picture of a bel-
lows rupture that is very close to what they found during the
inspection.
Ronny and I were both very happy to get back where
the population density is at a level where the macroscopic
cross-section for bumping into someone was greatly dimin-
ished, and I know he is looking forward to his next trip. ~
Mr. Megawatt is Frank Todd, manager of Thermal Performance

for True North Consulting. True North serves the power industry
in the areas of testing, training and plant analysis. Todds career,
spanning more than 30 years in the power generation industry,
has been centered on optimization, efficiency and overall Thermal
Performance of power generation facilities. You may email him at
Figure 11

ASME FEATURE
Wind system reliability

and capacity
By Alex Pavlak and Harry V. Winsor, Future of Energy Initiative
Two types of capacity problems are relevant to electrical on 100- or 500-year floods. Airports are designed to man-
power systems (Billinton 1984): age a maximum of so many passengers and planes.
The total problem can be divided into two conceptual- The extreme event is a primary design criterion that is
ly different areas designated as static and operating capacity usually defined using historical statistics. The engineering
requirements. The static capacity relates to the long-term task is to design the system to survive the event at a given
evaluation of the overall system requirement. The operating level of reliability. For electrical power systems, the Federal
capacity area relates to the short-term evaluation [of] actual Energy Regulatory Commission requires a reliability crite-
capacity required to meet a given load level. rion of one-day-in-10-years, or 0.00027. One-day-in-10-
This paper focuses on classical system capacity, what years is a heuristic reliability threshold. It does not imply
Billinton called static capacity. An early (pre-1970) crite- a blackout for one day every 10 years. This criterion is far
rion was deterministic: the expected maximum demand out on the tail of any distribution where classic statistical
plus a fixed percentage of the expected maximum demand. calculations are unreliable. Based on decades of experience,
More recently, an IEEE Task Force legacy system managers found that
defined capacity value for elec- at this reliability level, they can
trical systems as the amount of Adding wind generation to a avoid black/brown outs through
additional load that can be served legacy fossil fuel system has emergency imports and/or demand
due to the addition of the genera- management.
tor, while maintaining the existing
little impact on classical system Lastly, system capacity should
levels of reliability. This is correct capacity unless stand-alone wind not be confused with average
provided it is understood that there has reliable system capacity. capacity. The former is a measure
is considerable variation in wind of generation equipment require-
power availability. ments to satisfy estimated peak
The capacity of any system is measured by its ability to load, the latter is the average system power produced during
function reliably during extreme events. It is the outliers, a period of time.
the maximum stresses, that determine the size and strength
(the capacity) of the system. For example, in the structural Origins of system reliability & capacity
engineering world, hurricanes and floods often become the The green dotted line in Figure 1 shows the cumulative
basis for system design. The BOCA building code requires exceedance distribution function (EDF) for a system con-
that the design wind speed be the fastest mile per hour sisting of two generators. The EDF is the probability that
measured at 33 above the ground with an annual prob- the system power exceeds the power level on the horizontal
ability of 0.02 (50-year wind). More generally, structures axis. The size of each generator is 50 power units and each
are designed to reliably withstand the highest wind load has a 3 percent forced outage rate (availability = 0.97).
expected during the life of the structure, with a reasonable The probability that the system power exceeds 100 is zero.
safety factor. Likewise, flood control systems are often based This two-generator system can have a power level between
50 and 100 only if both generators are operating and that
Nomenclature
ACF Average Capacity Factor The percentage of a EirGrid The Irish electric power system
wind generators nameplate capacity actually produced ELCC Effective Load Carrying Capacity: A statistical
under average wind conditions. technique for measuring system capacity.
BOCA Building Officials Code Administrators LOLE Loss of Load Expectation: A reliability criterion,
CDF Cumulative Distribution Function: The probabili-
typically one-day-in-ten-years or 0.00027, or 2.5 hours
ty that a power systems output is less than a given
power level. per year
EDF Exceedance Distribution Function: The probability MISO Midcontinent Independent System Operator
that a system can supply power exceeding a given PJM PJM Interconnection, LLC: The largest independent
load. system operator.
June 2015 | ASME Power Division Special Section ENERGY-TECH.com 21

ASME FEATURE
probability is: P{50<system power100} = 0.972 = 0.9409.
The system can have a power level between 0 and 50 if
either one or both generators are working: P{0 <system
power50} = 0.9409 + 2*0.97*0.03 = 0.9991.
The remaining curves in Figure 1 show how increasing
the number of independent generators builds up a shoul-
der on the EDF curve. It is that shoulder that provides an
effective system, with high system availability at high power
levels. None of the curves reach unity (100 percent avail-
ability) because no one generator is perfect, but they come
close.
For the five-generator system, Figure 2 logarithmically
expands the scale in the vicinity of unity to show that as
the power required from the system is reduced, the reliabil-
ity curve asymptotically approaches unity. There is a finite
probability that all five of the independent generators will
fail simultaneously. With a generator forced outage rate of 3
percent, the likelihood of this occurrence is 0.035 or 2.4 x
10-8.
Parallel connection of generators with independent
forced outage rates is an extraordinarily powerful way to
build reliable systems that have availability much greater
than that of individual generators. With 100 equal-sized
generators (roughly the scale of the PJM Interconnection)
each with 0.97 availability during peak demand, the proba-
bility of losing all power because all generators failed simul-
taneously is 10-153. The probability of finding one specified
atom in the universe is only about 10-80.
Effective load carrying capacity (ELCC)

ELCC is a statistical technique that was developed
during 1950-1980 to calculate a reliable power level for
an electric power system. ELCC is essentially synonymous
with classical system capacity.
The red curve in Figure 1 shows the EDF for a system
of 100 generators each with a nameplate rating of 1.0 and
an independent random forced outage rate of 3 percent.
The system nameplate is 100 and since each generator has
an availability of 0.97, the maximum average capacity of the
system is 97.
At what power level does the system have adequate
reliability? That power level is called the Effective Load
Carrying Capacity. The system ELCC is established by a
reliability criterion, a Loss of Load Expectation (LOLE).
Using the most common industry criterion, a LOLE of
one-day-in-10-years or 0.00027, Figure 3 says that this sys-
tem could operate reliably at power levels <90.2: That is the
ELCC.
Stand-alone wind systems

An important question is whether a stand-alone wind
system has any ELCC corresponding to an LOLE =
0.00027. If it does, then wind would clearly contribute to
the capacity of a mixed generator system. Figure 4 shows
22 ENERGY-TECH.com ASME Power Division Special Section | June 2015

ASME FEATURE
the EDF calculated for several stand-alone wind systems.
The solid red curve is the same as that in Figures 1 and 3. ASME Power Division: Reliability,
The dotted black curve is the EDF for a single (Vestas 3 Availability & Maintainability Committee
MW) wind farm with Rayleigh wind fluctuations and an
average capacity of 0.25. The purple dash-dot curve is the
EDF for stand-alone wind on the PJM grid for 2012. The
A Message from the Chair
long-dash green curve is the EDF for stand-alone wind on Ask yourself this question, If
EirGrid for 2012. The black boxes are EDF data reported some thing or process could be
by Cox for the British market in 2007. standardized by ASME that would
The EDFs for PJM, EirGrid and the British market are directly improve the reliability,
remarkably similar and dramatically different than the EDF availability or maintainability of
for the high reliability reference scenario and the Vestas your power plant, what would it
farm. This shows that wind generators must be analyzed be?
differently than classical generators. For decades, data was compiled
The question of whether stand-alone wind has any to try to answer this question,
ELCC is determined by what happens in the upper left- and finally there was enough
hand corner of the EDF chart. LOLE is a reliability criteria for the justification to form the
used to calculate ELCC. So the first step is to look at the ASME Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM)
annual time series to see if the system loses power for more Committee. There was a clear demand from the industry
than 2.5 hours per year. In that event, wind has no system that RAM of power plants was needed. Something to
capacity as defined by the usual LOLE. standardize how a plant could establish stable and con-
Table 1 shows the number of hours that different stand- trollable reliability, availability and maintainability with
alone wind systems have negligible production. From a measured results.
practical perspective, wind farms consume a small amount The first RAM Standard (ASME RAM-1-2013) was
of electric power as part of normal operations, so there is issued two years ago and since then the momentum has
a finite threshold below which no net power is produced. not stopped. The RAM Committee is about to publish its
Some operators report wind as net power, others do not. next standard, ASME RAM-2-2015, which, in response to
industry demand, is focused on exactly how to implement
(with actionable tasks) a RAM Program into an existing
power plant. I am proud to be a part of this high-energy
group of motivated committee members.
Standards committees are simply volunteers within the
industry, who are willing to put forth some time and effort
to create a needed standard. However, even though com-
mittee membership is intentionally diversified, they typical-
ly only represent a small portion of the industry.
Do not forget that you are the power plant industry.
Write, speak and be heard.Your voice is just as import-
ant if not more than of those on any committee.
Your experience, expertise and knowledge are invaluable
to committee work. Do NOT underestimate your value.
Figure 1. System EDFs for several generator sets. Any question you might have, any advice you might offer,
or any bit of information is appreciated. Please reach out
to anyone at ASME and ask how you could support the
development of a standard you choose or, if so motivated,
even be involved in a committee.
You do not need a special reason to contribute to the
development of a standard; but it just might be the perfect
opportunity to give back and be recognized for your hard
work and the sacrifices you put into this industry.
Thanks,
Brian Wodka
brian.wodka@rmf.com
Figure 2. Log EDF for five generators.

ASME FEATURE
Figure 3. Calculating system ELCC Figure 4. EDFs for stand-alone wind
Preferred methodology
An IEEE Task Force adapted classical ELCC to wind
systems by viewing wind as negative load. The Task Force
calls this methodology preferred because it correctly pre-
serves any wind-load correlation. By subtracting each hours
average wind from the average load for the corresponding
hour, we create a third time series: load minus wind. This
load minus wind time series is the power that must be reli-
ably serviced by dispatchable backup generators. The CDFs
for PJM 2013 load and load minus 10 percent wind time
series is then calculated and presented as the blue dashed
line in Figure 5. It is normally plotted by ordering the
hourly results from lowest to highest, as shown in Figure 5.
The CDF curves are spread farther apart at lower load
and come together at higher load. At low system power, 10
Figure 5. ELCC calculations PJM2013
percent wind reduces the traditional generation require-
For this reason, Table 1 presents the number of hours that ments by more than 10 percent. At high system power,
system production is less than 1 percent of nameplate. 10 percent wind has less impact. Figure 5 illustrates the
In LOLE, a wind system can be considered to have negative correlation between wind and load by plotting
some capacity if its production is negligible for less than 2.6 both load and load minus wind, which accurately indicates
hours per year. The 100-unit reference scenario dramatically the varied spacing observed, as well as the slow growth of
exceeds this criterion. In contrast, all of the wind scenarios the separation as the load decreases. Here, the lowest wind
fail this criterion. There is no evidence that stand-alone does not occur at the highest load, so the critical reliability
wind has any system capacity as classically defined by one- condition might not be at the highest load. Note that at
day-in-10-years. the highest load, the load minus wind curve is separated by
Some have argued that long distance transmission con- only 1.4 GW, which is less than 1 percent of load. Yes, with
necting widely dispersed wind farms will provide system a wind penetration of 10 percent of average load, the need
capacity. Kempton claims that a synthetic data set for a for dispatchable generators at peak load was reduced by
wind system extending from Maine to the Florida Keys only 1 percent in 2013!
never dropped to zero during a 5-year period. This claim One year of data is clearly insufficient. Some systems
appears exaggerated in that Figure 4 of that report shows make a further serious mistake by averaging the annu-
whiskers dropping so close to zero that it does not make al ELCC calculations across multiple years. The correct
a meaningful difference; and Kempton does not calculate approach for system capacity is to calculate the capacity
net wind. No physical law says net wind will never drop to for each year separately and then look for the worst event
zero. Therefore, stand-alone wind has no ELCC. during the life of the system (decades). While we do not
yet have decades of real wind generation data, it should be
obvious that if the stand-alone wind goes to zero, it is like-

ASME FEATURE
ly that stand-alone wind will eventually go to zero during load. Empirical data show that wind on a power grid might
peak load and the wind ELCC will approach zero. eventually drop to zero. There is no physical reason why
any stand-alone wind systems production cannot drop to
The flaw of averages zero. Given enough time there is no reason why zero wind
The purpose of calculating system capacity is to deter- cannot correspond to peak load. Therefore, wind must be
mine how much long-term dispatchable generation capac- analyzed as a single large generator: Cumulative wind pro-
ity is necessary to achieve reliable operations at any time of duction for the whole system.
day or year. With this purpose, averaging annual ELCC is To calculate system reserve requirements using a com-
not logical. Strong year-to-year variation is caused by how plex set of models obscures the issues. For this analysis, the
low and high wind events correlate with peak load for that simple assumption is that dispatchable generator forced
year. Since the system must have sufficient capacity to oper- outages are statistically independent and can be represented
ate reliably during peak-load low-wind
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events in all years, the correct method is

to use the minimum ELCC, not the aver-
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capacity by 14.7 percent and then anoth-
er 2.8 percent ELCC year came along,
the MISO grid would have a capacity
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ASME FEATURE
by Gaussian probability density functions. The Exceedance
Table 1 Number Of Hours That System Distribution Function for Gaussian statistics is illustrated by
Production Is <1 Percent Of Nameplate the red curve for 100 units in Figures 1, 3 and 4.
Figure 4 shows that wind generation statistics are dif-
System Hours ferent and are not represented by a simple analytic model.
The empirical data presented in this paper shows that wind
LOLE requirement (one-day-in-10) <2.5 generators contributed <6 percent of wind nameplate to
system capacity for PJM in 2013. Additional data is likely
Reference 100 independent fueled 10-145 to drive this number down further. Incorporating detailed
wind statistics into the PJM Generation Adequacy analysis
PJM 2012 wind 98 would require a major overhaul of the whole system of
models, and would only make small changes in the number
EirGrid 2012 wind 112
of dispatchable generators needed.
Single wind farm, ACF = 0.25 1,752
A simple, conservative approach is to calculate Installed
Reserve Margin in the usual manner using conventional
Rated Power 19.8 kW generators without wind. If additional analysis shows that
wind does contribute x percent to system capacity, this
Root Extension 0.723m could be applied as a small correction to the conventional
result.
Blade Set Angle 12 degrees The practice of averaging annual worst case events rath-
er than identifying the extreme worst case event is wide-
Twist None spread. This results in overestimating the contribution of
wind to system capacity. This type of error can occur when
Chord 0.4572@ all span location working near the tail of any distribution. Based on data
from PJM and MISO, wind augmented systems need the
Airfoil S809
same reserves to maintain reliability as they would need if
there were no wind generators on the system. Therefore,
wind is only an energy source, not a capacity resource.
Literature claims of wind contributing 5-40 percent to sys-
tem capacity are therefore flawed, in part the result of con-
fusing classical system capacity with average capacity. ~
?
Editors note: This paper, PWR2014-32148, was printed with
permission from ASME and was edited from its original for-
mat. To purchase this paper in its original format or find more
information, visit the ASME Digital Store at www.asme.org.
Alex Pavlak, received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from

Stevens Institute of Technology and holds a PE license. He has 45
years experience developing various first-of-a-kind systems. You
may contact him by emailing editorial@woodwardbizmedia.com.
Like Energy-Tech? Harry V. Winsor, received his Ph.D. in Engineering/Applied Science

from University Of California, Davis. He has 50 years experience in
designing and managing the development of state of the art systems.
You may contact him by emailing editorial@woodwardbizmedia.com.
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TURBINE TECH
Crossing the retirement finish line with

high temperature steam turbine rotors
By Stephen R. Reid, PE, and Rachel Sweigart, TG Advisers Inc.
Background
New environmental regulations and the installation
of renewable energy sources have resulted in many
retirements of older legacy steam turbine generating
units. Most of these older units have spent the majority
of their life in operation base loaded. As a result, they
have logged significant operating hours with few on/
off cycles. Long-term, temperature dependent damage
mechanisms of these turbine rotors must be considered
to ensure successful operation to the desired retire-
ment dates. This article highlights two case studies and
some operational strategies to extend life to the desired
retirement date.
Consider high temperature, life limiting

mechanisms
HP and IP rotors with material properties similar to
ASTM A470 typically operate with steam inlet tem-
peratures of 1,000F. With time, creep cracks can initi- Figure 1. Larson Miller Parameter Curve
ate in highly stressed areas. In addition, the material can
suffer significant embrittlement with time, reducing the ation (see Figure 1). The LMP approach does not account for
material ductility that is an important property for remaining crack propagation and/or the interaction of creep and fatigue
life analysis. These mechanisms are at play in the rotor bore and from on and off cycling. The industry has utilized a fracture
blade attachment sections. mechanics approach to assess life once cracks have initiated,
and/or to assess pre-existing cracks in high temperature zones
Creep of steam temperature rotors.
Creep is a time, temperature and stress dependent mech- As noted in Figure 1, there can be a significant scatter of
anism that must be considered for units with a significant creep material data. The OEMs will add additional safety mar-
number of service hours. For creep cracking, rotor gins and define a Design Curve, which is always lower than
operating temperatures in general must be above the curve produced from the minimum test points. As a result,
Are 800F and a significant stress level must be pres- units
life is
usually
often
far exceed their 30-year creep design target. Rotor
limited by pre-existing flaws that are developed
ent at all times to be concerning. Creep life
Shaft targets of 30 years are frequently quoted from
duced
the forging
prior to
process.
forgings,
This is especially true of rotors pro-
which were manufactured using vacu-
Currents by OEMs for high temperature rotor
designs. Design life is typically um degasing technology (i.e. air melt process).
Destroying determined from a Larson
Embrittlement
Miller curve, which relates
Your time, temperature and Dr. Swami Swaminathan of TurboMet International, while
under contract by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI
Machinery? stress for crack initi-
project 2481-5) performed testing on a retired rotor to support
Failure to properly needed materials data for life assessments of service exposed
rotors. Testing provided many concerning changes in material
ground rotating
properties with time and temperature. A main area of concern
equipment can result in was the large degree of rotor embrittlement during the relative-
expensive bearing, seal, & ly short operating period of less than 200K hours. The degree
gear damage. of embrittlement was quantified by a shift Fracture Appearance
Transition Temperature (FATT). The FATT defines the tem-
SOHRE TURBOMACHINERY INC.
128 Main Street, P.O. Box 1099
Monson Massachusetts, USA 01057-1099
28 ENERGY-TECH.com
PH: 413.267.0590 800.207.2195 FX: 413.267.0592 June 2015
tsohre@sohreturbo.com www.sohreturbo.com
TURBINE TECH
perature at which the rotor steel
exhibits 50 percent brittle and
ductile behavior. The resulting
critical crack sizes that define
the burst condition for a rotor
are directly related to the mate-
rials ductility. This parameter
is important since it helps to
define the required rotor soak
period to ensure the material
is ductile when it is exposed to
high stresses during cold starts.
Swaminathan completed
testing in different steady state
operating temperature zones at
the bore and peripheral loca-
tions. The work proved long-
term exposure to temperature
could increase the FATT by
approximately 200F. Another
Figure 2. Critical crack size comparisons for prior and optimized startup curves
interesting fact was that embrit-
tlement did not occur in the lower speeds without detrimentally affecting differential expan-
highest operating temperature zone. Embrittlement was more sion. The plot below shows a potential improvement of 400
pronounced in the zone where temperature was in the 800F percent in critical crack size for a modified cold start. Adapting
range. the revised startup procedures has allowed this utility to stay on
As a result of these efforts, pre-existing flaws in rotors have track with its retirement plan. Follow up analysis of the actual
required a more conservative material property boundary con- revised startup practice has shown a close match to the recom-
dition to assess risks of brittle fracture. In many cases, embrit- mended curves.
tlement has limited the number of stops and starts and/or has
resulted in premature retirement of aging rotors. Control stage failure
Another notable failure was experienced on an inlet stage of
Notable case studies an HP turbine that had accumulated more than 300K hours of
IP rotor embrittlement operation (see Figure 2).
As a result of a recent failure of an IP stage 2 dovetail, TG The failure provided an opportunity for the utility to test
Advisers had an opportunity to evaluate the embrittlement larger sections of the control stage disc to determine if a weld
condition on a rotor that logged more than 425K of operating repair was feasible. The test program included:
hours. The resulting shift in FATT was significantly greater than Rotor Boresonic Tests (MT, UT, visual)
expected. The FATT for the stage of concern had increased to Material Tests (actual rotor material)
more than 600F which was approximately 300F higher than Tensile Tests (detect creep softening)
a non-embrittled rotor steel of the same chemistry. Impact Tests (estimate fracture
With retirement planned in the near future, the utility toughness)
decided to remove the stage and evaluate methods to ensure Accelerated Creep Rupture
reliable operation until the units retirement date. During the Test
remaining operating window, the unit was expected to have
just a few cold starts, which are the most concerning for an Testing proved the failure
embrittled rotor. A decision was made by the evaluating team
to assess modifications of the existing rotor cold start procedure
to be attributed to high
REACH YOUR
H2IGHEST
temperature creep
to account for the FATT shift. Multiple startup simulations notch sensitivity in
were run varying speed, hold times and ramp rates to ensure
high stresses occurred only after the rotor achieved a ductile
state. The evaluation also included an assessment of differential
expansion, which was significantly changed with longer soak POTEN2TIAL
periods.
The results of the analysis proved the embrittled rotors
could achieve ductile properties by extending soak periods at
STREAMLINE OPERATIONS WITH ON-SITE HYDROGEN GENERATION
SAFE
RELIABLE

COMPACT
ProtonOnSite.com | 203.678.2000
COST-EFFICIENT Info@ProtonOnSite.com
TURBINE TECH
JUNE 2015
ADVERTISERS INDEX
A-T Controls Inc. www.a-tcontrols.com 11
Cutsforth, Inc. www.cutsforth.com 32
EagleBurgmann www.eagleburgmann-ej.com 31
Frederick Cowan & Co., Inc. www.fcowan.com 7
Fulmer Co. www.fulmercompany.com 9
Gaumer Process www.gaumer.com 31
Gradient Lens Corp. www.gradientlens.com 25
Indeck Power Equipment Co. www.indeck.com 31 Figure 3. Control stage rotor failure
Miller-Stephenson Chemical www.miller-stephenson.com 31 the stress concentrated area of the rotor dovetails. Following
an assessment of the rotor material properties at various radial
Proton Energy Systems www.protonenergy.com 29 locations, a cut line was established and the rotor was built up,
Sohre Turbomachinery Inc. www.sohreturbo.com 28
stress relieved, re-machined and new blades installed. The repair
was successful and the unit achieved its desired retirement date
Structural Integrity Associates, Inc. www.structinc.com 2 of approximately 10 years after the repair. ~
Unimar - Light & Control Solutions www.unimar.com 15
Acknowledgements
Wabash Power Equipment www.wabashpower.com 17 TG Advisers would like to thank the Consumers Energy team
. of Matthew T. Helms, Vladimir Trbulin and Mark E. Wittbrodt
for their technical support and direction with the HP and IP rotor
assessments. TGA also would like to thank Dave Sheasley, Roger
Karn and Mark Miller of NRG for the technical support with
the HP rotor control stage assessment efforts.
Stephen R. Reid, P.E., is president of TG Advisers Inc. and has more
Whats the word than 30 years of turbine and rotating machinery experience. Reid
and his team provide turbine troubleshooting, health assessments
and expert witness services to major energy companies in the
on the wire? U.S. and have provided condition assessment evaluations on more
than 100 turbine generators in the U.S. Reid also is a short course
instructor for EPRI, ASME, Electric Power and POWERGEN, has
numerous patent disclosures and awards, and published more than
20 technical papers and articles. Reid was the recipient of the 1993
ASME George Westinghouse Silver Medal Award for his contributions
to the power industry and is past chairman of the ASME Power
Generation Operations Committee. He is a registered professional
engineer in the state of Delaware. You may contact him by emailing
Rachel Sweigart joined TG Advisers in 2014 as a consulting

engineer. She has provided life assessment, analytical modeling
and troubleshooting services for main turbine generators located
throughout the country. Sweigart is a mechanical engineering
Follow Energy-Tech graduate from Lafayette College. You may contact her by emailing
and keep up with the editorial@woodwardbizmedia.com.
industry chatter!
@ETmag
Dedicated to the Engineering, Operations &

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2015 Twitter

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Bloch Talks Pumps 6 Successful Condenser Leak Detection 10 EPA On Ash 12

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the turbine extraction nozzles and the feedwater heater. The

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Alex Pavlak, received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from

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