·        More Than 11,000 Control System Projects at Fossil-fired Power Plants Next Year

·        How to Cope with Retirement of Experienced Power Plant Environmental Engineers

·        Marine Market for Flow Control and Treatment is Growing at Double-Digit Rates

·        Using McIlvaine Recorded Webinars for Permanent Training Program

·         “Particulate and Condensable Removal” is “Hot Topic Hour” on April 25, 2013

·        Headlines for the April 12, 2013 - Utility E-Alert

·        McIlvaine Hot Topic Hour Registration

More Than 11,000 Control System Projects at Fossil-fired Power Plants Next Year

Existing coal-fired power plants are upgrading to become more cost competitive and reduce emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases. They will account for more than half the 11,250 controls projects which are planned for completion next year at fossil-fired power plants. These are the findings in two McIlvaine publications. Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System and Chinese Utility Plans. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

The controls projects vary in scope. There are quite a few modifications to existing systems to incorporate monitoring of new emissions control equipment. Other systems involve safety and security. The largest investments are in major modernization programs.

ABB has won an order from Enel, Italy’s largest power company, to supply its Symphony^® Plus automation and control system to serve one of the major units at the Grazia Deledda Sulcis power plant on the island of Sardinia. Grazia Deledda Sulcis is a 590 MW coal-fired power plant with two units. The existing control systems will be replaced with a total plant automation solution to enhance the unit’s efficiency and improve its environmental performance. The new Symphony Plus solution includes the recently introduced high-performance controller, burner management and flue gas desulfurization systems, instrumentation, a new control room and operator stations.

EDF, the world’s leading nuclear utility, is also counting on coal. It has selected ABB to supply Symphony Plus total plant automation systems and long-term service support for three 600 MW units at the Le Havre and Cordomais coal-fired power plants in France. Recently, EDF initiated an extensive program to modernize Le Havre 4 and Cordomais 4 and 5 units to extend their operating life by 20 years to 2035. These three units are the largest coal-fired units in the EDF fleet.

Korea Midland Power has awarded Emerson Process Management a contract to replace the existing controls on two coal-fired units at the Boryeong plant with its PlantWeb digital plant architecture. Previously, the two units each utilized multiple control systems—analogue Toshiba turbine controls and a Bailey820 analogue system that controlled each unit’s Babcock & Wilcox boiler and balance of plant processes. Boryeong is the biggest thermal power station complex in Korea. With a generating capacity of 4800 MW, it accounts for 7.4 percent of Korea’s total electrical output.

India-based Instrumentation Ltd has signed a deal with Metso, to upgrade an automation system at the 890 MW Parichha thermal power plant located in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The generating station in Jhansi will be able to improve process efficiency and ensure safer process operation as a result of the upgrade.

Yokogawa Electric., Ltd. has an order from Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., Ltd. in South Korea to supply control systems for the Mong Duong 2 coal-fired power plant, which is being constructed in Quang Ninh Province in Vietnam. The Mong Duong 2 coal-fired power plant, one of the largest power plants in Vietnam with a total output of 1,200 MW (two 600 MW units), is scheduled to start operation in August 2014. This order includes the CENTUM^® VP integrated production control system for the power plant's boilers, turbines, and auxiliary facilities and the ProSafe^®-RS safety instrumentation system.

An owner of a large fleet of combinedcycle power plants in the U.S. has awarded Wood Group GTS a contract to install 15 ECOMAX^® systems, an automated combustion tuning technology. Twelve units have already been installed and the remaining units are scheduled to be installed later this year. The independent power producer granted the contract to Wood Group GTS following assessment of a pilot project at one of its facilities operating two GE Frame 7FA turbines. One year after installation the ECOMAX tuning technology demonstrated more than 0.75 percent power increase and more than a 0.15 percent decrease in heat rate.

Wood Group GTS has completed an upgrade of the controls system on a GE LM6000 natural gas-fired turbine at Jonesboro, Arkansas, City Water and Light (CWL)’s northwest combustion turbine site. Wood Group replaced the original controls system with an open-architecture system that will enable CWL to access and configure the turbine to meet fluctuating demands. It also provides CWL with the ability to perform maintenance in-house.

For more information on Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System click on:

http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72

For more information on Chinese Utility Plans click on:

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/energy.html

How to Cope with Retirement of Experienced Power Plant Environmental Engineers

There is great concern about the large numbers of power plant environmental engineers who will retire in the next few years. The concern is that much of their knowledge will be lost and it will be difficult to maintain or improve the quality of environmental decision making. McIlvaine Company says that the answer to this question is the use of digital technology and organization to provide the successors with knowledge which would otherwise be lost.  Power Plant Air Quality Decisions, published by the McIlvaine Company, is a way to capture and make this knowledge easily available.  (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

Three percent of the engineers at power plants who focus on environmental issues retire each year. The percentage of expert knowledge which is retiring is closer to 10 percent. The reason is that the average career in the environmental specialty is 20 years. The individual usually spends a portion of his career in other technologies before becoming specialized. From this much smaller pool, the most knowledgeable are usually the ones closest to retirement.

The challenge is to make sure that the younger engineers assimilate the knowledge of those who will retire and to ensure that there is a minimal loss of accumulated knowledge.  To do this the following steps must be taken:

·         Make sure that knowledge gathered is knowledge maintained

·         Organize a system for retrieval of this information

·         Create methods to convert information into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom.

The digital tools which are available are powerful and invaluable but need to be structured.  Google tends to declassify, whereas what is most valuable is decisive classification of options. YouTube and recorded webinars are invaluable. The adage that a picture is worth a thousand words is even more relevant when process flow diagrams and sequential displays provide easily understood visuals. The challenge is to generate the comprehensive coverage of the environmental subjects and to keep the data current.

Another valuable effort is to encourage the retiring engineers to become niche experts in a narrow specialty.  Many retirees welcome the opportunity to provide advice. Focus on a narrow subject allows them to retain or become as knowledgeable as anyone in the world in a specific niche.

Power Plant Air Quality Decisions provides the organized systems and the use of the latest digital technology to compensate for the loss of the retiring environmental engineers. For more information on this service, click on:  http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/component/content/article?id=48#n44i.

Using McIlvaine Recorded Webinars for Permanent Training Program

Weekly McIlvaine webinars typically have four speakers. Their presentations are recorded and available as shown below. These recordings along with the Power Plant Air Quality Decisions service can provide the foundation of an ongoing training program.  Subscribers to the service have continuous access to all the recordings online.  You can design your own training program or we can assist you to do so. The advantage we offer is the ability to tailor the training to the individual and to the knowledge which is most needed.

The webinars in the last six months are displayed below. However, all the recordings are available for the past few years.  The speakers have been selected for their expertise and knowledge.  The subjects covered are those important to decision making.

Marine Market for Flow Control and Treatment is Growing at Double-Digit Rates

Marine vessels are purchasing air and liquid flow control and treatment equipment at an accelerating rate due to new limits on both emissions to the atmosphere and to the water.  This is the conclusion reached in the McIlvaine report Air/Gas/Water/Fluid Treatment and Control: World Markets.  (www.mcilvainecompany.com)

The U.S. EPA set standards for ballast water discharge in March of 2013. The compliance date is 2016. This rule is just one of a number passed by various different governmental bodies around the world. These rules will impact nearly 70,000 ships which use international ports. The average cost of treatment systems to kill invasive organisms will range from as little as $300,000 to more than $3 million.

A number of companies are generating substantial revenues already in this market. Alfa Laval just announced a $50 million SEK order from a Korean ship builder.  Severn Trent has now sold 18 systems. Calgon Carbon has emerged as a major participant in this market. More than 50 companies are selling treatment systems.

This market is now the largest for the self-cleaning or automatic backwash type filters which use disks or screens to achieve particle reduction to 50 microns. Calgon Carbon has signed a long-term agreement with Amiad to supply them with the Arkal type disc filters. These self-cleaning filters are used in irrigation, municipal water treatment and even the purification of chocolate.

Another fast growing segment is the treatment of the stack gases from fuel burning. Wartsila and others are selling scrubber systems which remove both particulate and SO₂.  NO_x control systems are also being purchased for some vessels.

Cruise ships are opting for advanced treatment of sewage.  Several membrane bio reactor (MBR) suppliers such as GE and Hamworthy (Wartsila) have been selling systems for ships since 2002. The market includes new ships but also retrofits. Hamworthy replaced an older sewage treatment system with an MBR on the Star Princess.

Pumps and valves are integral to the ballast water and sewage treatment. They are also needed for the stack gas scrubbing systems, engine lubrication and for cargo transport on tankers. A fast growing segment for pumps and valves is the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels.  Two hundred vessels are already in use for sub-sea oil and gas extraction. The movement of the industry to deeper waters has accelerated the demand for a floating unit rather than one anchored to the seabed.

The market growth for controls and instrumentation for these processes is growing even faster than the hardware.  There is a move toward smart valves. Metso has supplied its latest generation stainless steel valve controllers to the Norwegian Goliat Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) plant in the Barents Sea. The intelligent controllers are used on all pneumatic actuated control, on/off and ESD valves at the plant and help to monitor and report on valve performance for asset management purposes.

Suppliers are providing advanced control systems for all the flow processes.  For the BP Angola FPSO, Yokogawa supplied an integrated control and safety system (ICSS).  The ICSS provided  control and safety functions for the sub-sea, marine, hull and topside facilities of the FPSO vessel along with a single interface allowing operators to start, control and monitor all facilities from a central control room.

For more information on Air/Gas/Water/Fluid Treatment and Control: World Markets, click on: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71

“Particulate and Condensable Removal” is the Subject of the Hot Topic Hour on April 25, 2013

As you know on December 21, 2012, the EPA released the final Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS or historically referred to as the Utility MACT) establishing mercury and air toxics standards for coal- and oil-fired electric generating units larger than 25 MW. The rule establishes particulate matter as a surrogate for non-mercury metallic toxics and sets new challenging limits for particulate emissions. Although legal challenges to the rule are ongoing, the courts have not stayed the rule, so operators of the affected EGUs will now need to move the compliance process into high gear. All existing EGUs will have three years to comply with the standards although the rule allows states to grant specific units an additional year for equipment installation.

The MATS, along with the newly revised NAAQS and Regional Haze regulations, will require operators of coal- and oil-fired EGUs to significantly reduce particulate emissions. Some good news is that MATS compliance is measured with only filterable PM so that some power plants can comply with less expensive upgrades or even existing controls. Others may still need to address the condensable issue. To achieve compliance, plants with existing ESPs may need to upgrade them and/or add a fabric filter.

However, control of condensable PM cannot be neglected. The Cross State Air Pollution (transport) Rule (CSAPR) that was issued last year and the NAAQS may well force control and reduction of condensable particulate emissions. The states are now in the process of finalizing and beginning implementation of their SIPs required to meet the NAAQS standards.  The NAAQS regulations establish standards for CO, lead, NO₂, ozone, particulate matter and SO_2, all of which (except perhaps CO and lead) can have a significant impact on current EGUs combusting coal or oil.

The bad news is that the MATS 30 day rolling average limits include start up and shut down emissions. Since some control equipment, particularly ESPs, may not operate during start up and shut down, power plants will either need to really reduce PM emissions during normal operations or add additional controls just for start up and shut down.

The following speakers will discuss the impact of MATS, CASPR and NAAQS on coal- and oil-fueled EGU operators relative to filterable and condensable PM, such as the key issues to be considered when developing a strategy to achieve compliance, available control technologies and equipment that can be utilized to achieve the emissions limits as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the various control technologies and criteria for selecting specific technologies – existing facility configuration, existing control equipment installed, fuel type and others.

Jim Griffen, Sales Manager at Donaldson Membranes, will discuss “Particulate and Condensable Removal with Membrane Filters.”  This presentation will discuss MATS applicable to coal-fired utility boilers. MATS applies to all existing coal- and oil-fired electric generating units larger than 25 MW and they must comply prior to April 16, 2015. 

Andy Olds, Project Manager at Envitech, Inc, will discuss “WESP Technology for Particulate and Condensable Removal.” The biggest issue for EGUs is determining if they will have to control for condensable particulate matter (PM) and metals and what technologies are available for meeting these requirements.  This presentation will provide an overview of this topic, discuss how Envitech’s WESP technology has achieved low condensable PM and metal removal in large industrial processes and how this technology can be applied to existing utilities.

Kevin Crosby, Technical Director at The Avogadro Group, will present “Can your unit pass an emission compliance test?”  The measurement of emissions of filterable and condensable PM is defined not by the control systems used but by the testing methods used.  You might control actual emissions well, yet be stymied by biased PM test results.  The biases and limitations in the test methods should be considered when determining how your control strategy will fit with the test results and when choosing the best testing approach, so that you may ultimately prove compliance with the emission standards. This presentation will include brief descriptions of how the test methods work and their biases and limitations for measuring emissions from different sources.  Case studies will be used to illustrate problems and potential solutions for proper measurement to prove compliance.

Tom Anderson, Vice-President Pleated Products at TDC Filter Manufacturing, Inc., Midwesco Filter Resources Company

To register for “Particulate and Condensable Removal” on April 25, 2013 at 10 a.m. (DST), click on:  http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/hot_topic_hour_registration.htm.

Headlines for the April 12, 2013 – Utility E-Alert   

UTILITY E-ALERT

#1120 – April 12, 2013

Table of Contents

COAL – US 

• Indiana URC approves Duke’s Environmental Compliance Plan; includes SCR for Cayuga 1, 2
• WP&L estimates Cost of Construction of Dry FGD/Baghouse at Edgewater 5 as $413.7 Million
• Fate of Mt. Tom undecided at Present
• Calpine, Exelon, National Grid and Public Service Enterprise Group Back MATS Rule

COAL – WORLD

• PGE abandons Plans for 2x900 MW Opole in Poland
• Videocon’s 1200 MW Power Project in West Bengal, India could be revived by Talks between West Bengal and Videocon
• Bidding begins for EPC Contract for 1320 MW Udangudi Power Project in Tamil Nadu, India
• Alsons planning 400 MW Power Plant at Tampakan Copper and Gold Mine in the Philippines
• NTPC could move another Power Project from the Indian State of Odisha
• Hitachi and Terna to build 660 MW Ptolemais V in Greece
• BHEL-NTPC-IGCAR Effort to build 800 MW Advanced Ultra Supercritical Power Plant in India
• DPSC Ltd to invest Rs 25,000 Crore for Power Plants in India
• Era Infra gets Rs 430-cr Contract from NTPC for 2x800 MW Lara Power Plant in Chhattisgarh, India
• Coal India-NTPC dispute: Full Coal Supply to be resumed
• Coal Linkages to 16,000 of MW Power Plants not Possible: India Coal Ministry
• China Machinery Engineering Co. to build 600 MW Hwange Expansion in Zimbabwe

COMBUSTION TECHNOLOGIES/BOILER EFFICIENCY

§  Wood Group installing ECOMAX^® Systems on Combined Cycle Power Plants in US

§  ABB to supply Symphony^®Plus System for One Unit at 590 MW Grazia Deledda Sulcis in Italy

§  Metso Modernizing Automation System at Parichha Power Plant in Uttar Pradesh, India

§  EDF selects Symphony Plus for Le Havre and Cordemais

§  Metso Automation for Huadian Jurong Xiashu Power Plant in China

GAS/OIL - US 

• Pasadena Water and Power planning 71 MW Glenarm Repower

GAS/OIL – WORLD

• China Chengda Engineering Co. to build 225 MW Combined Cycle Plant in Bangladesh
• Groundbreaking for Takoradi 2 in Ghana
• MAN Diesel & Turbo Consortium to build 194 MW Zouk and 78 MW Jiyeh Power Plants in Lebanon
• Alstom to supply Equipment including Boilers, ESPs and FGD for 5x620 MW Yanbu 3 in Saudi Arabia
• GDF Suez confirms plans to Mothball Three Gas-fired Power Plants in France

GASIFICATION

• BHEL and NTPC to form Joint Venture for IGCC Power Plant

BIOMASS 

• Delta hopes to convert Borssele (the Netherlands) from Coal to Wood Chips

NUCLEAR 

• Japan’s Nuclear Regulations could delay Reactor Restarts

BUSINESS

• Obama suggests sale of TVA
• SPX and Shanghai Electric Joint Venture receives More than $80 Million in New Dry Cooling Systems Orders
• EPAs FY 2014 Budget Proposal
• Chinese Pump Revenues to Exceed $8 Billion in 2014
• Coal will Generate 77 Percent of the Flow Control and Treatment Revenues in the $45 Billion Power Market
• Flue Gas Desulfurization Revenues Will Range between $3 Billion and $8 Billion/Yr over the Next Three Years

HOT TOPIC HOUR 

• New Developments in Mercury Measurement and Control unveiled in Hot Topic Hour on April 11, 2013
• “Mercury Measurement and Control – Part 3” is “Hot Topic Hour” on April 18, 2013 at 10 a.m. DST
• Upcoming Hot Topic Hours

For more information on the Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System, click on: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72

McIlvaine Hot Topic Hour Registration

On Thursday at 10 a.m. Central time, McIlvaine hosts a 90 minute web meeting on important energy and pollution control subjects. Power webinars are free for subscribers to either Power Plant Air Quality Decisions or Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System. The cost is $125.00 for non-subscribers. Market Intelligence webinars are free to McIlvaine market report subscribers and are $400.00 for non-subscribers.

To register for the “Hot Topic Hour’, click on:

http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/hot_topic_hour_registration.htm.

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You can register for our free McIlvaine Newsletters at: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/Free_Newsletter_Registration_Form.htm.

Bob McIlvaine
President
847 784 0012 ext 112

rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com

www.mcilvainecompany.com

191 Waukegan Road Suite 208 | Northfield | IL 60093

Ph: 847-784-0012 | Fax; 847-784-0061

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