Power Engineering articles from June 2004

Power Engineering archives from June 2004

The bigger bone.(Opinion)(electric industry strategy)(Editorial)
June 1, 2004... Are better days on their way to the beleaguered power industry? A growing economy, building demand for energy, and heightened management focus on sound business strategies portends well for the industry. Enron's dark shadow seems to be...

To take care of turbines, take care of lubricants.(Update)
June 1, 2004... Through advanced design and engineering, today's turbine systems operate at higher pressures, bearing loads, generator capacities and temperatures than their predecessors. At the same time, most systems also feature significantly smaller oil...

Battery back-up system only as good as the battery charger.(Update)
June 1, 2004... Battery systems are essential in many mission-critical applications for providing continuous, reliable power. In the power sector, for example, batteries are often used to start gensets in standby power applications and to power control and...

Utah power dedicates pilot energy storage project.(Update)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Utah Power is placing into operation a first-of-its kind pilot project implementing a new energy storage technology designed to help address issues on the longest distribution circuit in the company's service area. The Castle Valley VRB Project...

Industry research into coal ash applications continues.(Update)
June 1, 2004... In the process of making power, coal-fired plants in North America annually produce about 70 million tons of fly ash. This material is an under-utilized resource, with about two-thirds of it relegated to landfill disposal despite numerous...

Business briefs.(Update)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review a lower court ruling that said the Tennessee Valley Authority is free to ignore EPA orders to install additional pollution control equipment at its coal-fired plants. The high court's action left...

Small Canadian hydros could offer advantages to U.S. interests.(Update)(Run-of-river plants )
June 1, 2004... Fed by the snows of high mountains, the creeks and streams in British Columbia, Canada offer a host of potential sites for run-of-river hydroelectric developments. Run-of-river projects utilize the flow of water within the natural range of the...

Hydrogen producing products under development.(Update)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... A Canadian developer of hydrogen and fuel cell technology and products has announced a collaboration with Chevron-Texaco to develop a hydrogen energy station for stationary power generation and transportation fuel applications. Toronto-based...

Power suppliers to purchase part of Peabody project.(Update)
June 1, 2004... A group of Midwest rural electric cooperatives and municipal agencies has signed a letter of intent to acquire partial ownership in the Prairie State Energy Campas in Washington County, Illinois. The 1,500 MW power plant and coal mine,...

Mercury rules delayed four months.(Update)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced it will push back the finalizing of rules to reduce mercury emissions from power plants until March 2005 to consider whether stricter rules are needed. The EPA faced a December 15 legal...

Bob McGehee.(Personnel & Promotions)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Progress Energy CEO Bob McGehee has been named chairman, replacing Bill Cavanaugh who retired.

John Tuohy, Jr.(Personnel & Promotions)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... John Tuohy, Jr., vice president and director of nuclear design services for Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure, has been named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Dilek Samil.(Personnel & Promotions)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Dilek Samil has been promoted to executive vice president of Cleco Corporation's support group. He remains Cleco CFO.

David L. Rehn.(Personnel & Promotions)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Constellation Generation Group has appointed David L. Rehn senior vice president--fleet optimization, responsible for oversight of Constellation's 12,000 MW generating fleet. He had been president and CEO of Rovsing Dynamics.

Xcel Energy.(Contracts & Construction)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Xcel Energy has filed plans with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to build a 750 MW coal plant at the company's Comanche Station near Pueblo.

PacifiCorp.(Contracts & Construction)(Summit Vineyard LLC)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... PacifiCorp has announced intentions to enter into an agreement with Summit Vineyard LLC to develop, and Siemens Westinghouse to construct, a 534 MW gas-fired plant near Salt Lake City for service in 2007.

CAE.(Contracts & Construction)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... CAE has secured contracts valued at more than $3 million for nuclear plant simulator upgrades for AmerenUE, Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy and Exelon. Plants receiving the upgrades are Callaway, St. Lucie, McGuire, and Three Mile Island 1....

North American Energy Services Company.(Contracts & Construction)(Astoria Energy LLC)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... North American Energy Services Company has signed a contract with Astoria Energy LLC to provide operations and maintenance services for the Astoria combined-cycle facility under construction in Queens, N.Y. The 500 MW gas/oil-fired plant is...

EMCOR Group.(Contracts & Construction)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The University of New Hampshire has selected EMCOR Group to engineer and construct a new cogeneration facility and chiller plant. The new facilities and UNH's existing steam plant will operate in parallel with the local utility grid.

Babcock & Wilcox.(Contracts & Construction)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Babcock & Wilcox's Chinese joint venture, Babcock & Wilcox Beijing Company Ltd., sold 6,200 MW of natural circulation-type utility boilers in 2003. The units, which range from 200 to 600 MW in size, will be delivered between 2005 and 2008.

Wood Group Heavy Industrial Turbines.(Contracts & Construction)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Wood Group Heavy Industrial Turbines has received a $12 million long-term contract to provide maintenance service support for gas turbines and associated equipment owned and operated by Dhofar Power Company and Dhofar Generating Company in the...

FuelCell Energy and Alliance Power.(Contracts & Construction)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... FuelCell Energy and Alliance Power have entered into an arrangement by which Sierra Nevada Brewing Co will purchase four 250 kW Direct FuelCell power plants in late 2005 or early 2006.

Shanghai Foxboro Company Limited.(Contracts & Construction)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Shanghai Foxboro Company Limited, an Invensys joint venture, has received a $3 million dollar contract for a 1,200 MW capacity expansion project at the Jiangsu Zhenjiang Power Generation Co. in China's Jiangsu Province. Invensys will implement...

Tennessee Valley Authority.(Contracts & Construction)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Tennessee Valley Authority has awarded AREVA's joint subsidiary with Siemens, Framatome ANP, a contract extension to supply additional nuclear fuel reloads for the Sequoyah nuclear power plant Units 1 and 2 through 2008.

AVEVA Group.(Contracts & Construction)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... AVEVA Group has received contracts to provide engineering IT managed services to Aker Kvaerner, BE & K, and CDI. All three companies use AVEVA VANTAGE products including PDMS, VANTAGE Plant Engineering, and VANTAGE Project Resource Management...

KGen Partners LLC.(Mergers & Acquisitions)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... KGen Partners LLC has agreed to purchase all of Duke Energy's merchant generation assets in the southeast U.S. for $475 million. The assets include eight natural gas-fired power plants totaling 5,325 MW of capacity. The acquisitions are Hot...

Singapore Power.(Mergers & Acquisitions)(Singapore Power Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Singapore Power has purchased the Australian power and natural gas assets of Dallas-based TXU for more than $5 billion.

GE Energy.(Mergers & Acquisitions)(ChevronTexaco Corp., GE Energy Services)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... GE Energy will acquire Chevron-Texaco's gasification technology business, providing GE with additional capabilities to provide coal-fired generation technology producing fewer pollutants. The Chevron-Texaco gasification business develops...

Siemens.(Mergers & Acquisitions)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The Industrial and Services Group of Siemens is acquiring USFilter Corporation, the leading provider of municipal and industrial water treatment products and services in the North American market. The acquisition is expected to be finalized in...

Brascan Corp.(Mergers & Acquisitions)(acquisition of Reliant Energy)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Canadian conglomerate Brascan Corp. has agreed to buy 71 hydro power plants and a cogeneration plant in New York from Reliant Energy. Reliant acquired the assets as part of its purchase of Orion Power Holdings in 2002. The acquisition will add...

NRG Energy.(Mergers & Acquisitions)(power plnts acquired by Complete Energy Partners)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... NRG Energy has agreed to sell its 100% interest in the 837 MW Batesville (Miss.) power plant to Complete Energy Partners.

Rochester Gas & Electric.(Mergers & Acquisitions)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... New York regulators have approved a plan by Rochester Gas & Electric to sell the single unit 495 MW Ginna Nuclear Plant to Constellation Energy, which has agreed to pay $401 million excluding purchased fuel. Constellation expects the plant's...

GE Energy has signed a definitive agreement to acquire BHA Group Holdings.(Mergers & Acquisitions)(GE Energy Services)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... GE Energy has signed a definitive agreement to acquire BHA Group Holdings, provider of air quality control products and services. Kansas City, Missouri-based BHA, with operations in 11 countries, supplyies parts, services and engineered...

Reader comments.(Update)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... Re: Landfill Fills Illinois School's Heat and Power Needs (PE, February 2004, p.70): In response to David C. Griffith's comments on the item and editor response to his remarks (PE, April 2004, p.20). Although a supporter and a promoter...

Financing the nuclear future.(Nuclear Reactions)
June 1, 2004... The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources conducted a hearing in March on new nuclear power generation in the U.S. Representatives from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Nuclear Energy Institute and a number of...

Burn, baby, burn: gas volatility drives renewed interest in coal.
June 1, 2004... ALTHOUGH INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT LEADERS ENVISION FUTURE ZERO-EMISSION COAL PLANTS THAT SEQUESTER CARBON DIOXIDE AND GENERATE HYDROGEN, INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGIES ARE ALREADY AVAILABLE TO MAKE COAL PLANTS MORE EFFICIENT AND CLEANER...

Intelligent boiler cleaning can improve the bottom line.(Intelligent Boiler Cleaning)
June 1, 2004... Deregulation of electric generation has forced plant managers to think more like business people. "Dispatch or die" might be an appropriate slogan for the new paradigm. Maximizing a plant's revenue stream and profit is a challenging assignment...

Detailed planning saves six weeks in precipitator retrofit schedule.(Precipitator Retrofit)
June 1, 2004... The Navajo Generating Station has a history of completing major overhauls in eight weeks or less. This time frame has been maintained while completing all the major projects expected during a 30-year life, including the tie-in of scrubbers, and...

Demineralizer bed upgrade supplies higher quality feedwater at Wabash River.(Water Treatment)
June 1, 2004... Power plants need high quality feedwater for their boilers. If the steam in the boilers contains too much silica, it can form hard scale deposits on the turbine blades, throwing the turbine off-balance and reducing the plant's overall...

Design and operational changes are reducing the cost of reciprocating engine maintenance.(Reciprocating Engines)
June 1, 2004... Reciprocating engines in sizes from a few kilowatts to several MW are used to generate electricity by utilities, hospitals, manufacturing plants and commercial buildings. For many years these engine generators were used primarily for emergency...

Safety technique adopted for islanding.(News & Views on Distributed Generation)
June 1, 2004... All distributed generation resources interconnected to the utility grid must operate at the same frequency and at the same phase as every other generator connected to the grid. Most DG units tied to the grid are configured to shut down when the...

Fuel cell backup for cable TV under development.(News & Views on Distributed Generation)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Fuel cells continue to find applications in various commercial niches--one of the latest being back-up power for the cable television industry. Ballard Power Systems and Alpha Technologies Limited, a supplier of broadband uninterruptible power...

SF office owner to have 2nd connected CHP plant.(News & Views on Distributed Generation)(San Francisco; combined heat and power plant)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... The largest publicly-held owner and manager of office buildings in the U.S. will add a second San-Francisco office complex to its portfolio of properties with grid connected on-site combined heat and power (CHP) facilities. The CHP system to be...

Events.(Calendar)
June 1, 2004... JULY JULY 12-14 Steam Generator NDE Workshop, EPRI (704/547-6017), Chicago, Ill. JULY 28-30 Stack Emissions Symposium, Scientech (www.scientech,com), Clearwater Beach, Fla. JULY 28-30 COAL-GEN, Penn Well...

Software saves $50,000 for instrument calibration.(Field Notes)
June 1, 2004... CHECKING OUT THOUSANDS of instruments and calibrating them prior to installation in new power plants is largely a manual job. Documentation of instrument calibrations is also usually done manually. In preparing documentation manually, the...

New atomizer improves FGD performance.(Field Notes)
June 1, 2004... LG & E'S SOUTHAMPTON POWER Station, Franklin, Virginia uses Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) systems to control S[O.sub.2] emissions. A major component of the FGD systems are the rotary spray dryer systems, more commonly called atomizers....

Infrared cameras.(Products)
June 1, 2004... Infrared Solutions has introduced the FlexCam Series of infrared cameras designed to perform fast, accurate thermal scans of a variety of applications. The cameras are ideal for predictive maintenance and condition monitoring of plant equipment...

Scale and corrosion control.(Products)
June 1, 2004... S-14 Bio is a new bio formulation for scale and corrosion control in cooling towers and re-circulating cooling systems. The product is non-toxic, non-hazardous and readily biodegradable. S-14 provides powerful scale inhibition and excellent...

Temperature sensor calibration.(Products)(AMS Corporation, Electric industries)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... AMS has developed a new technique to perform RTD and thermocouple cross calibration in Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) using data from the plant's computer. This technique saves significant critical path time and reduces the cost of the cross...

Synthetic turbine oil.(Products)
June 1, 2004... ChevronTexaco Global Lubricants has introduced synthetic turbine oil that significantly exceeds current performance levels for lubricants in the modified aviation-type gas turbine market. The new product, marketed as Chevron Synthetic Turbine...

Test valve assembly.(Products)
June 1, 2004... An integrated test valve assembly from Swagelok allows an operator to visually observe condensate removal and monitor the performance of steam traps. The assembly consists of two stainless steel Swagelok 63 series general purpose ball valves...

Wireless acoustic monitoring.(Products)
June 1, 2004... Wireless instrumentation is now available to identify, monitor and report fugitive emissions for compliance with local, state and federal environmental regulatory agencies. The Wireless Instrumentation Acoustic Field units include an...

Wind turbine drives.(Products)
June 1, 2004... New low voltage AC drives from ABB have been optimized for use with wind turbines. The drives, available with output ranges of 1-5 MW, can be used with doubly fed asynchronous and full size asynchronous generators as well as with the latest...

Motor current analyzer.(Products)
June 1, 2004... Iris Power Engineering has developed a new portable instrument, CSMeter, designed to detect broken rotor bars in squirrel cage induction motors across a wide range of applications. The applications include coal crushers/mill motors, compressors...

Videoscope.(Products)
June 1, 2004... The advantages of the high resolution Series 128000 videoscope, from Instrument Technologies, include group viewing, sharper images, easy recording and on-line transmission of data. Four viewing heads are available: wide field-of-view, forward,...

CHP module.(Products)
June 1, 2004... A self-contained 300 kW combined heat and power (CHP) module from Cummins includes a Cummins lean burn gas generator, exhaust gas and coolant heat exchangers, and is available for either 50 Hz or 60 Hz operation. The 60 Hz model generates 334...

Closures.(Products)
June 1, 2004... MMC's C-L Closures open and close quickly while providing a secure Oring seal. The closures, designed for low pressure (0-200 psi) and low temperature (up to 200 F) applications, are easily opened with a spanner tool. Once installed, these...

Borescope.(Products)
June 1, 2004... Everest VIT now provides an integrated temperature sensor and warning system on its VideoProbe XL PRO video borescope. The VideoProbe XL PRO, with a probe tip temperature sensor warning system, prevents heat damage to the VideoProbe as it...

Pre-assembled buildings.(Products)
June 1, 2004... Porto-King's PPS model building makes an ideal security checkpoint at the entrance of a nuclear power plant. The building features a standing seam roof and is delivered to the site fully assembled and pre-wired. A variety of climate options are...

Remote viewing system.(Products)
June 1, 2004... FireSight, a high temperature remote viewing system, speeds light-off and reduces N[O.sub.x] emissions of boilers by permitting color video monitoring of the combustion process. Capable of operating at temperatures up 3,500 F (air-cooled) or...

Gas Metering Valve.(Products)
June 1, 2004... Whittaker Controls, a unit of Meggitt PLC, has announced the availability of a new High Recovery Gas Metering Valve. The valve, used to control the fuel flow to gas turbines, is available in various line sizes and flow profiles. Its design...

Condenser Leakage Monitoring.(Products)
June 1, 2004... By providing constant surveillance, the Condenser Leakage Monitoring System (CLMS) from Waters Equipment Company, is able to detect when and where infiltration of external cooling water may be occurring. Because the CLMS takes samples within...

Emission monitor/controller.(Products)
June 1, 2004... DJGAS, a non-dispersive infrared emissions monitor/controller for PCs, is now available from DeJaye Electronics. When in operation it continuously measures and records N[O.sub.x], CO, C[O.sub.2], [O.sub.2], HC, rpm, exhaust temperature and...

Catalyst silencer housing.(Products)
June 1, 2004... MIRATECH Corporation has introduced a series of combined catalyst/silencer housing units. The RCS/RHS catalyst/silencer product line is suitable for rich or lean burn natural gas, propane and diesel stationary engines from 200-8,000 hp. By...

Fasteners.(Products)
June 1, 2004... Alloy Fasteners, Inc., announces a diverse line of fasteners for the manufacture and repair of pumps. With multiple benefits, this product line features a wide variety of fasteners, including machine screws, hex head cap screws, and O-rings....

Vibration technology brochure.(Products)
June 1, 2004... Martin Engineering has published a new brochure, "MARTIN Engineered Vibration Technology." The brochure describes various pneumatic and electric vibrators supplied by the company, including features, benefits, performance specifications and...

Digital gauge.(Products)
June 1, 2004... The Ashcroft digital industrial gauge can be used for any combination of local indication, 4-20 mA signal and/or switching. It can be specified three ways: 4-20 mA with adjustable turndown, line powered (12-36 VDC) and one or two SPDT switches...

Abrasion resistant pump.(Products)
June 1, 2004... A high-performance heavy duty submersible pump, designed to handle various types of slurries, has been introduced by ITT Flygt Corp. Designated as the 5150, the pump is ideal for power plant bottom ash systems and other applications where solid...

Combustible safety sensors.(Products)
June 1, 2004... Neodym Technologies Inc. has developed two low-cost products for monitoring combustible gases. The Powerknowz series was specifically designed for safety applications in fuel cells and gas-burning power generators. Various versions are...

Flexible couplings.(Products)
June 1, 2004... A full line of RING-flex disc couplings for power transmission applications is now available from Ringfeder Corporation. These couplings, available in single, double and close coupled flexing designs, can be supplied with torques up to 500,000...

Thermocouple Input Modules.(Products)
June 1, 2004... Acromag's new BusWorks 965EN Input Modules interface thermocouple and mV signals directly to an Ethernet Modbus/TCP 10/100 network. The six-channel I/O modules operate independently of any bus coupler or I/O rack. They also require no special...

High performance pump.(Products)
June 1, 2004... The high-performance Moyno PowerFlow Pump features a cast iron body and A2 tool steel pumping elements. For corrosive applications 17-4 PH stainless steel pumping elements are available. A Power Seal, with 316 SS construction, Viton O-rings and...

Seal-less pumps.(Products)
June 1, 2004... Magnatex MAXP Series magnetically driven pumps, without mechanical seals, are designed to conform to all ANSI B73.1 dimensional standards. The pumps, which are also fully interchangeable with existing ANSI pump installations, are available in...

A second boom for geothermal?(View on Renewables)
June 1, 2004... The geothermal industry experienced explosive growth from 1981 to 1990. During this nine-year period, 1,786 MW of new geothermal generation came on-line, representing 70% of the current installed U.S. geothermal generation capacity. Recent...

Abbott & Costello's computer routine, part II.(efun@pe.laf)
June 1, 2004... [Abbott takes Costello off HOLD and resumes dispensing his sage computer advice.] COSTELLO: I need something for bank accounts, loans, and so on. What do you have to help me track my money? ABBOTT: Money. COSTELLO: That's right....