UTILITY E-ALERT
#1112– February 15, 2013
Table of Contents
COAL – US
COAL – WORLD
GAS/OIL - US
BUSINESS
HOT TOPIC HOUR
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
COAL – US
Hitachi to supply SCR for Xcel Hayden 1 and 2
Hitachi Power Systems America Ltd. was awarded a contract for the design and supply of SCR systems for Xcel Energy’s Hayden coal-fired Units 1 and 2 in Colorado. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The contract includes the design and supply of an SCR system for the 184 MW Unit 1 and the 262 MW Unit 2. The plant uses Colorado low sulfur bituminous coal.
Mississippi Power retires Eaton
Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, has retired its 67.5 MW Plant Eaton after nearly 70 years of delivering reliable power to customers. Mississippi Power president and chief executive, Ed Day, noted it was a "high-tech facility" when it began operation.
Graycor chosen as Contractor for Big Stone Plant Emissions Control System
Graycor Industrial Constructors Inc. will be the EPC contractor for the air-quality control system (AQCS) to be retrofit at the 450 MW Big Stone Plant in South Dakota. Otter Tail Power Co., agent for the plant’s co-owners, signed the general work contract earlier this month. Co-owners include NorthWestern Energy and Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. Construction is scheduled to begin this spring. The retrofits are expected to reduce both NOx and SO2 by 80 to 90 percent.
COAL – WORLD
Alsons Consolidated Resources to build 100 MW San Ramon Power Plant in the Philippines
Alsons Consolidated Resources, Inc. has signed a lease agreement with the Zamboanga Special Economic Zone and Freeport Authority to build a 100 MW coal-fired power plant there. Officials of Alsons and of the economic zone inked a 30-year lease contract under which the power firm will invest P12 billion to develop a 33-hectare coal-fired power complex that will be run by Alsons subsidiary San Ramon Power, Inc. The plant will meet the bulk of this city’s demand for electricity by 2016, estimated at about 75 MW. Ruben M. Conti, consultant to the San Ramon power plant, said that the company could start construction before the end of the year and has already secured an environmental compliance certificate by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
DMCI Holdings to expand 600 MW Calaca Power Plant in the Philippines
DMCI Holdings Inc. is in talks with Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), Marubeni Corp. and AC Energy Holdings Corp. for a possible partnership on DCMI’s expansion of its coal-fired power plant in Batangas, Philippines. “These are all very preliminary. We are talking to all three at the moment but only one will be chosen,” said DMCI Holdings President Isidro Consunji. DMCI will expand the 600 MW power plant by 600 MW in two phases.
GN Power plans 600 MW Expansion of its Mariveles, Philippines Power Plant
National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said Wednesday it completed the P229-million transmission project that will permanently connect the 600 MW coal-fired power plant of GN Power Ltd. in Mariveles, Bataan, Philippines to the Luzon grid. National Grid said it completed the project to accommodate the additional 600 MW capacity from GN Power and serve the existing 620-MW Limay power plant of PanAsia Energy Holdings in Limay, Bataan.
CESC to build 600 MW Power Plant in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
CESC has decided to invest around Rs 4,000 crore in setting up a 600 MW Thermal power plant in Uttar Pradesh, India that will cater to the Greater Noida area. It asked for about 400-500 acres for the plant from the UP government.
600 MW Jamshoro Power Project in Pakistan has ADB Loan
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $900 million to Pakistan for the new 600 MW Jamshoro Power Co. coal-fired power project and to finance the conversion of the existing 800 MW Jamshoro power plant.
GAS/OIL - US
NY Regulators approve 1,000 MW Cricket Valley Energy Power Plant
The New York State Public Service Commission approved a proposed 1,000 MW natural gas-fired power plant February 13. Cricket Valley Energy Center LLC, an affiliate of Advanced Power AG, will construct the combined cycle power plant. Cricket Valley Energy and GE Energy LLC have entered into a joint development agreement to develop the facility. GE will supply 7FA gas turbine technology and the steam turbines for the project. Construction of the power plant could potentially begin in 2014.
Wood Group completes Gas Turbine Control upgrade at Jonesboro City Water and Light
Wood Group GTS completed an upgrade of the controls system on a GE LM6000 natural gas-fired turbine at Jonesboro, Ark.’s 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.
MidAmerican considering Nuclear Power
MidAmerican Energy isn’t ready to completely turn to natural gas and is considering the option of nuclear power generation, company President William Fehrman said in a report to the Iowa Utilities Board. According to the Des Moines Register, Fehrman told the board “the nuclear option is still there” and the company is planning on a diverse power generation mix to avoid putting “too many eggs in one basket.” MidAmerican agreed to quit burning coal at several of its units as part of a settlement of a 2007 lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club. The coal-burning units will be converted to natural gas-fired units. Fehman said part of his hesitation on relying too heavily on natural gas is based on the possibility the fuel will not stay at its current low price.
Olkiluoto 3 Nuclear Power Plant delayed
The troubled Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant in Finland will probably not start operating before 2016, the power utility said Monday, another delay to a project that is already four years overdue. Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) said recent progress reports received from the plant supplier, the Areva-Siemens consortium, suggested that a previous forecast of a 2014 start was unlikely to be met. A failure to gain timely regulatory approval for the reactor’s digital instrumentation and control equipment has also delayed the start of operations, TVO said.
Construction delayed until 2014 for 4800 MW Akkuyu Power Plant in Turkey
Work on the 4800 MW Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey will begin in early 2014, Director General of Akkuyu NGS A.S. Alexander Superfin said. It is expected that the first 1200 MW unit will begin producing electricity in 2022, with other units commissioned at intervals of one year. The nuclear power plant will be Russian built with VVER-1200 reactors.
BUSINESS
CB&I completes acquisition of The Shaw Group
CB&I announced that it has completed the acquisition of The Shaw Group. The deal was approved in December 2012 by shareholders of both companies. Under the terms of an agreement signed in July 2012, CB&I acquired Shaw for $3 billion in a cash and stock transaction. The combined companies will operate under the name CB&I Shaw.
The U.S. and Europe have embarked on Hundreds of Projects to Automate and Control Coal-fired Power Plants
The U.S. and Europe face an unusual situation. They must utilize existing coal-fired power plants and at the same time they want to reduce CO2 emissions. Some of the biggest and most immediate CO2 reductions will come from increasing the efficiency of the existing fleet. At the same time, due to the age of many of the plants, there are big savings to be made by upgrading the control systems. McIlvaine is tracking the activities of these plants in Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System. (www.mcilvainecompany.com)
There are 2,000 boiler units generating electricity in the two regions. A few new units will be added and a few retired. This means that most of these units will be continually evaluating upgrade options. Regulatory requirements and cost reduction will be the two main drivers.
Investments are ranging from SCADA systems to more sophisticated optimization systems. Neuco, for example, has a suite of optimization systems which combine to lower emissions and improve efficiency.
The benefits of control have increased as the cost of compliance with environmental laws has risen. The most recent air toxic rules (MATS) are forcing U.S. utilities to extensively utilize activated carbon for mercury removal. Reagents are also required to remove HCl. Any improvement in efficiency not only reduces coal usage but the amount of reagents needed.
Controlling ammonia consumption not only reduces costs but also build-up on air preheaters. A number of companies such as Sick and Yokogawa are supplying ammonia slip measuring instruments. Fuel Tech, CISCO and others are supplying integrated systems.
Advanced Process Control is proving its merit. Yokogawa combines the Exasmoc multivariable model predictive control package and Exapilot operation efficiency improvement package to gain multiple benefits. By combining DCS, Exapilot and Exasmoc, the workload on the operators is reduced. There is also typically a reduction in the number of process alarms.
Siemens, Invensys, ABB and others are also supplying systems to make significant efficiency improvements.
For more information on: Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System, click on: http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72
HOT TOPIC HOUR
“NOx Control for Gas Turbines” was Hot Topic Hour on Thursday, February 14, 2013
Thomas D. Martz, Senior Project Engineer Fossil Energy Research Corp., covered “Gas Turbine SCR Performance Optimization and Management.” There are several common causes of diminished gas turbine SCR performance, including poor NH3/NOx distribution, flue gas bypass and catalyst deactivation. Fossil Energy Research Corporation (FERCo) has developed instrumentation and methodologies to help the gas turbine operator quickly identify and fix SCR performance problems. There are also practical steps the operator can take to monitor and manage SCR performance, such as monitoring catalyst activity and ammonia slip. Being proactive with SCR optimization and management can extend catalyst life and help the operator avoid unplanned and expensive outages due to NOx non-compliance. FERCo has developed a catalyst activity in-situ measuring device which can be very useful in the planning of catalyst replacement.
Stewart Bible, Senior Manager Process Engineering at Fuel Tech, Inc, offered "An Economical Alternative for HRSG SCR Reagent Supply." Fuel Tech's ULTRA™ process is a patented approach that converts urea to ammonia for use in new SCR systems and in retrofit applications for existing systems. The ULTRA technology offers a cost-effective solution for simplifying on-site ammonia generation for SCR applications of all types. Urea products are non-hazardous sources of ammonia, so their transport, storage and use are greatly simplified. Presently urea systems are competitive with alternatives. China has opted for this approach for several reasons including the lack of ammonia
Robert (Bob) McGinty, Senior Manager Business Development SCR NOx Control Systems at Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas, Inc, reviewed fundamental SCR system design, catalyst selection, ammonia vaporizing and distribution technology, tempering air systems and maintenance concerns for reliable control of NOx from simple cycle and combined cycle gas turbine applications and for long life of the NOx control systems. Bob pointed out that while catalyst can be operated at high and low temperatures, the economics dictate medium temperatures even if tempering air is required. Mitsubishi offers to supply the SCR system in modules for substantial reduction in construction cost
Kelly M. Flannery, Chief Thermal Engineer at Vogt Power International, covered three product lines for emissions control from combustion turbine exhaust: 1) Simple Cycle Exhaust Catalyst System, 2) Combined Cycle HRSG Installation with Catalyst and 3) Steam Injection for NOx Control. Vogt has over 500 HRSG installations. The company has considerable experience in adding HRSG and SCR to existing turbine installations.
Donald Wyatt of Yokogawa reviewed the history of tunable diode lasers for measuring ammonia slip and other gases. The company now has over 50 installations of ammonia slip monitors. These include coal-fired power plants with SNCR, gas turbines with SCR, and a number of installations on industrial boilers in refineries. The TDLS 200 operates in situ and can accurately measure both high and low levels of NH3. It is most frequently used as a control instrument due to its quick reaction time. However, it can also be used for regulatory measurement even though it achieves a wet gas value. Moisture can also be measured and simply deducted from the primary reading. Solids are not an obstacle. In a coal-fired power plant the accuracy has been proven despite the presence of substantial flyash. As long as a portion of the beam reaches the detector, accurate measurements will be achieved.
One of the most important uses of the TDLS 2000 is as a catalyst management tool. Increases in ammonia slip are proportional to decreases in catalyst activity. Catalyst replacement is one of the more costly aspects of NOx reduction. With the TDLS 2000, the utility can better manage the catalyst replacement cycle.
The advantages of TruePeak 200 vs. Straight Extractive or Dilution Extractive System
Yokogawa links.
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/images/video/hth2-14-13addendum.html
https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/733353679
NOTE: If first link doesn’t work try the second link.
The entire February 14, 2013 recording can be heard at:
https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/274689511 130 minutes
You will need to enter your name and email address after clicking link to view recording.
Bios, Abstracts and Photos can be seen at:
BIOS, ABSTRACTS, PHOTOS - February 14, 2013.doc
The individual presentations are as follows:
NH3 Slip Measurement by Donald Wyatt, Yokogawa Electric - Hot Topic Hour February 14, 2013
“Monitoring and Controlling Boiler Water/Steam Cycle Chemistry” is Hot Topic Hour on Thursday, February 21, 2013
Safe, reliable and efficient operation of steam generating boilers and HRSGs requires the maintenance of physical and chemical conditions throughout the water/steam circuit that minimizes corrosion and deposit formation. This is especially true in the older plants that are prevalent in our electricity production network. Deposition of contaminants, scaling and corrosion are the cause of many forced outages resulting in lost power generation or product output costing billions of dollars per year. Frequent blow-downs required because of excessive contaminants in the water/steam also contribute to lost production. Inadequate cycle chemistry will cause boiler tube and turbine blade/disc failures and flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) throughout the circuit.
The method chosen to control the water/steam chemistry depends on the boiler or HRSG type, water/steam circuit design, materials of construction, physical parameters (temperatures, pressures, heat fluxes, etc.) and the operating cycle of the plant. In all cases, it is essential to be able to measure the key parameters of the water/steam so that operators are able to properly manage and adjust the control method (typically chemical addition) to ensure that physical and chemical targets for the water are achieved.
The following speakers will discuss how to monitor and manage boiler water/steam physical and chemical properties in order to reduce unplanned outages, reduce operation and maintenance costs and improve unit economics. The speakers will describe the instruments and technology available for monitoring water/steam properties and chemistry with a discussion of capital and operating costs and their experience with the instruments or technologies. They may also describe the various control chemicals and technologies available with a discussion of which particular chemicals or technology is appropriate for specific boiler/HRSG types and water/steam circuits.
Joe Zimmerman, Director of Marketing and Power Industry Sales Manager at Chemtrac, Inc., will present “Continuous Real-Time Corrosion Product Transport Monitoring using Particle Counter Instrumentation.” The adverse effects of particulate material in steam cycle waters are frequently seen throughout the power generation process. Steam cycle corrosion products (transient metal oxides) can lead to deposition and equipment failure. This presentation introduces basic technologies used for continuous detection of insoluble particles at very low concentrations. When such monitoring methods are utilized, real-time corrosion product transport measurement can be implemented as a potential parameter for controlling the power plant cycle.
Greg Thomas, Key Account Manager for Nuclear Power at Hach Ultra Analytics, will present a comparison of the long time standard amperometric technology to the new optical technology for measurement of low level dissolved oxygen (dO2) in steam cycle water. The presentation will briefly discuss amperometric and optical technology for the measurement of low level dO2. Performance comparison data of the two technologies in steam cycle applications will be presented, along with advantages and disadvantages.
David M. Gray, Senior Product Manager at Mettler-Toledo Thornton, Inc., will present “New Technology for Monitoring Cycle Chemistry.” He covers online analytical measurements of conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen, sodium and silica. Intelligent Sensor Management incorporates digital sensors with improved performance, wider range and predictive diagnostics. He will discuss how these capabilities can improve cycle chemistry monitoring while reducing maintenance.
To register for the February 21, 2013 “Hot Topic Hour” at 10 a.m. Central time, click on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/hot_topic_hour_registration.htm.
On Thursdays 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 either Power Plant Air Quality Decisions or Utility Environmental Upgrade Tracking System subscribers. The cost is $125.00 for non-subscribers. Market Intelligence Webinars are free to McIlvaine market report subscribers and are $400 for non-subscribers.
|
|
2013 |
|
|
DATE |
SUBJECT |
|
|
February 21 |
Monitoring and Controlling Boiler Water/Steam Cycle Chemistry |
Power |
|
February 28 |
Implementation of the Utility MACT Rule |
Power |
|
March 7 |
HRSG Design, Operation and Maintenance Considerations |
Power |
|
March 14 |
Inlet Air Pretreatment for Gas Turbines |
Power |
|
March 21 |
Industrial Boiler MACT Impact and Control Options |
Power |
|
March 28 |
Mercury Measurement and Control |
Power |
|
April 4 |
Fabric Selection for Particulate Control |
Power |
|
April 11 |
Air Pollution Control for Gas Turbines |
Power |
|
April 18 |
Multi-pollutant Control Technology |
Power |
|
April 25 |
Control Technologies for Fine Particulate Matter |
Power |
ACCESSING ALL THE PROJECTS AND INFORMATION ONLINE
This Utility E-Alert is part of the Utility Upgrade Environmental Tracking System. The system allows you to instantly retrieve project details, profiles of each coal-fired plant worldwide, the right contacts at the OEM and A/E firms and summaries of all the scheduled FGD and SCR projects. You need a user name and password to access this system. If you have forgotten your user name or password or are not sure whether you are eligible to access this system, email:
*** The Utility E-Alert is for the exclusive use of the registered subscriber to whom it is electronically delivered. Unauthorized distribution is prohibited. ***
© 2013 McIlvaine Company