PowerMagazine March 2015 - International

March 2015 Vol. 159 No.
Vol. 159 No. 3 March 2015
New Ways to Manage

Water & Wastewater
Going Natural with Boiler Room

Ventilation
CCGT Steam Cycle Low-Load Ops
Issues
Flex-Gen Early Performance Results
Geothermal New Zealand
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CIRCLE 1 ON READER SERVICE CARD
Established 1882 Vol. 159 No. 3
March 2015
ON THE COVER
National Oilwell Varco, in partnership with Oasys, offers forward osmosis systems for use
in the oil and gas industry for treating exploration and production wastewaters. Forward
osmosis, especially as a companion to reverse osmosis, is beginning to see use in the
power industry as well. Courtesy: Oasys Water
COVER STORY: WATER & WASTEWATER

22 Water and Wastewater Treatment Technology Update
Youve heard of reverse osmosis (RO), but now its being joined by a new treatment known as forward osmosis (FO). In addition to RO, FO, and membrane bioreactors, advances in membranes and zero-liquid discharge offer new options to power
plants.
28 Feedwater Chemistry Meets Stainless Steel, Copper, and Iron

Whether you operate an older plant with a mix of piping metals or a newer one with
the latest alloys, this article covers the chemistry options that operators have to
minimize corrosion in a critical area of the plant.
22
34 Mining for Lithium in Geothermal Brine: Promising but Pricey

Brine, the wastewater stream from geothermal power production, is highly corrosive and hard on piping systems. Recently, a U.S. company developed a method
that both recovers valuable minerals from that brine and makes the remaining fluid
much less problematic for reinjection. Trouble is, an inability to fund the enterprise
may spell the companys demise.
SPECIAL REPORT: AUXILIARY SYSTEM

EFFICIENCY & RELIABILITY
36 Save Power with Natural Cooling for Building Ventilation
Coal-fired power plants release a large amount of heat during the combustion process. Switching from forced to natural ventilation in the boiler building can yield
potential energy savings.
38 SCR Reheat Burners Keep NOx in Spec at Low Loads

Optimal NOx removal by a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system requires the
inlet gas temperature to remain within a prescribed range. How does a baseload unit
meet NOx permit limits when its cycled and SCR inlet gas temperatures dip?
34
FEATURES
COMBINED CYCLE GAS TURBINES
42 Protecting Steam Cycle Components During Low-Load Operation of Combined

Cycle Gas Turbine Plants
Know the tradeoffs when operating combined cycle plants at low loads. The solution
to one problem may trigger another problem or cause actual damage to your plant.
46 Are Flexible Generation Plants Performing as Expected?

Designed from the start for cycling and fast starts, the new flex generation combined cycle plants promised to avoid the trauma inflicted upon earlier gas plants by
more aggressive operational modes. One of the earliest plants to adopt the technology reports positive results.
36
|
March 2015 POWER
www.powermag.com
RENEWABLES
48 New Zealands Geothermal Industry Is Poised for the Future

Geothermal generation in New Zealand increased more than 20% per year from
2010 to 2014, and a current total capacity over 1,000 MWe typically contributes
about 16% to the countrys supply. However, with flat load growth, developers are
looking abroad for new opportunities.
FUELS
52 Nuclear Industry Pursues New Fuel Designs and Technologies

New fuel rod cladding technologies and fuel assembly options are being developed
to make nuclear fuel safer.
DEPARTMENTS
42
SPEAKING OF POWER
6 Speaking of Cuba, Change, and Coincidence

GLOBAL MONITOR
8
8
9
11
11
12
14
15
16
48
Cambodias Largest Hydropower Plant Begins Operation

U.S., Netherlands Harness Waste Gases for Distributed Generation
Entergys Ninemile 6 Plant Completes Construction
Google Backs Norwegian-Developed Solar Plant in Utah
DOE Wind Forecasting Grant Goes to Finnish Firm
Power Shortages Challenge Eskom, Force Load Shedding in South Africa
A Handheld Fuel Cell Generator
Manufacturing Supercapacitors from Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
POWER Digest
FOCUS ON O&M
18 Advanced Bearing Technology Eliminates Subsynchronous Steam Turbine

Vibrations
LEGAL & REGULATORY
20 Cape Wind Finally Blows Out

By Thomas W. Overton, JD
COMMENTARY
60 FERCs Work on the Clean Power Plan

By Cheryl LaFleur, Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Online-Only Stories You Might Have Missed
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subscribe to the weekly POWERnews eletter so you dont miss the latest developments.)
Mississippi Supreme Court Strikes Down Kemper County IGCC Rate Increase
ARPA-E Summit Takes the Pulse of Energy Technology Innovation
New Zealand Strives to Maximize the Value of Geothermal Wastewater
Even More Delays and Cost Overruns for Vogtle Expansion
MIT Study: Carbon Sequestration May Not Work as Advertised
U.S. Electric Utility Toxic Releases Decrease 49% During the Past Decade
European Power Markets Force Changes at RWE, E.ON, and Vattenfall
Desert Sunlight PV Plant Comes Online
Japan Mulling $800 Million Stimulus for Battery Storage and Efficiency
AEP Looks to Sell Merchant Coal Fleet
www.powermag.com
POWER March 2015
This generation is smarter.

Siemens Smart Generation Solutions optimize and manage complex,
decentralized power assets.
siemens.com/energy/controls
Todays power generation sources are diverse and
dynamic. Renewables such as wind and solar offer
clean, sustainable energy sources and are an
important part of the total mix. However, with all
these new energy sources come concerns of stability
and management. Siemens Smart Generation
Solutions help provide a reliable and efficient energy
supply while keeping up with rapidly changing

technology. More than simply filling in the energy lulls
and absorbing surges, Smart Generation customized
solutions dont just manage your power generation,
they optimize it. That means exceptional performance
in terms of profitability, reliability and sustainability
a smart choice indeed.
Answers for energy.

EDITORIAL & PRODUCTION

Editor: Dr. Gail Reitenbach
editor@powermag.com
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Associate Editor: Sonal Patel
Associate Editor: Aaron Larson
Contributing Editors: Brandon Bell, PE; David Daniels, PE; Steven F. Greenwald;
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POWER March 2015
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SPEAKING OF POWER
Speaking of Cuba, Change,

and Coincidence
ometimes, circumstances have a way
of developing in such an unexpectedly serendipitous way that they
practically force one to take notice. So it
is with Cuba and its power sector.
Coincidence
It all started with a letter to the POWER
editorial team from Cuba that I received
in mid-December. It had been written in
October and was forwarded by our corporate office. The very next week, on Dec. 17,
President Obama announced the administrations changes in policy toward Cuba. After
sharing news of the letter with Contributing Editor Ken Maize, I learned that he was
headed to Cuba in January for a cultural exchange trip. (See Cuban Revolucion Energetica? at powermag.com/blog.) Then, in
mid-January, I received another letter from
Cubathis time via email. (Both the letter
and the email were from the same person,
to whom I have replied.)
Several things made these developments interesting. First, the stamp on the
letter bore a picture of a lizard not unlike
those in my backyard. It was also the first
letter to the editor Ive seen in hard copy.
Usually, if we get something via the mail
service, its marketing materials or an unsolicited article. (Note that both hit the
recycle bin because were a totally digital
organization.) As for the messages, both
were very complimentary about a wide
range of work written and published by
POWER and its editors. Usually, when we
get comments about content, its either
strongly for or against a single article and
is typically fueled by the writers political
or economic views. But this author noted
that his team of professionals discuss almost all the articles.
I appreciated the messages from Cuba
because its gratifying to know that ones
work is useful, but I also learned something about Cubas power sector and the
dedicated people working in it, and that
prompted me to research further.
Cubas Energy Revolution
Most readers are familiar with Germanys Energiewende, or energy transition;
fewer are aware that Cuba instituted a
6
plan in 2005 that goes further, in some

areas, according to German consultant
and author Dieter Seifried. One example:
A complete switch from incandescent to
compact fluorescent lamps was made in
Cuba five years earlier than in Germany
and the rest of the European Union. This
revolution entails efficiency measures,
adding distributed generation (DG), improving transmission and distribution
(T&D), developing renewable energy as
well as domestic fossil fuel resources,
and increasing both international cooperation and public awareness of energy
issues. Theres still a long way to go with
this revolution, as Kens post notes.
According to the International Energy Association, in 2012 the majority of
Cubas 18,432 GWh for its roughly 11.3
million citizens was generated by oil
(15,652 GWh), with gas supplying 2,082
GWh. As for renewables, biofuels supplied
555 GWh, hydro 111 GWh, wind 17 GWh,
and solar photovoltaics 5 GWh. The U.S.
Energy Information Administration (EIA)
estimates that 2012 installed capacity
was 6.24 GW. The EIA notes that, In an
effort to diversify its energy portfolio,
Cuba has set a goal of producing 24% of
its electricity from renewable sources by
2030. To meet this goal, Unin Elctrica,
the state-owned power company, is planning 13 wind projects with a total capacity of 633 MW. In addition, Cuba plans
to add 755 MW of biomass-fired capacity,
700 MW of solar capacity, and 56 MW of
hydroelectric power.
Multiple sources note that the island nation has a high proportion of mostly diesel-fueled distributed generation. The DG
emphasis makes sense for a largely rural,
sparsely populated, elongated island nation
that covers a relatively large area. Cuba is
the largest Caribbean islandslightly
smaller than the state of Pennsylvania.
The sudden loss of economic support
resulting from the collapse of the Soviet
Union was another driver of DG, according to a 2008 article by Mario Alberto Arrasta Avila, energy specialist at Cubas
Centre of Information Management and
Energy Development. Oil consumption fell
20% in two years, Avila notes, affecting
www.powermag.com
all sectors and making 16-hour blackouts

common. Hurricanes in 2004 and 2005
made matters worse, particularly for the
T&D system. Emergency generators, most
capable of burning diesel or fuel oil, were
the fastest way to restore service in many
areas and to ensure less-widespread loss
of power in the event of future hurricanes. DG accounted for as much as 40%
of total generation by 2009, according to
one source.
Change and Common Interests

More recently, renewable DG is being pursued. The email I received mentioned a
new five-year program to develop solar
and wind projects. Today, the writer said,
almost all rural schools are equipped with
solar panels to power everything from TVs
and computers to lamps, water pumps,
and air conditioners; this DG model is being expanded to other sectors. Though
the country still relies on fossil fuels for
the vast majority of generation, it is betting, he said, on a future that will rely
on diversity and efficiency. And although
he and his group are in the business of
providing technical services to existing
fossil plants, they are fully supportive of
renewables.
POWER covers the global power industry, even though the majority of our audience is in North America, because power is
of global concern. That is more true today
than ever before, as all nations look for
ways to develop and use energy affordably
but in more environmentally benign ways.
Heres hoping we all can continue to learn
from each other, even when the politicians
and leaders of our many different countries disagree.
Gail Reitenbach, PhD is POWERs editor.
POWER March 2015
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Zeeco, Inc. 2015
Cambodias Largest
Hydropower Plant Begins
Operation
The 338-MW Russey Chrum Krom hydropower plant in southwestern Koh Kong
province, Cambodia, was inaugurated on
Jan. 12. The Chinese-built project is the
largest hydropower station located in the
Southeast Asian country of more that 15
million people.
The dam was constructed by China Huadian Corp. at a cost of about $500 million
under a 35-year build-operate-transfer
contract with the Cambodian government.
The first five years of the contract were
designed to accommodate construction,
which officially began on Apr. 1, 2010. It
is the largest investment China Huadian
has made in Cambodia.
The hydropower facility comprises an
upper and a lower station. The upperstation dam was completed on Dec. 28,
2010. The lower portion was completed in
June 2013 and began to impound water
on Dec. 13, 2013. The upper dams generation capacity is 206 MW, while the lower
dam contributes 132 MW to the total.
Cambodia is in desperate need of reliable power. According to The World Bank,
electricity cost and access is a key constraint to further growth of the countrys
manufacturing sector. Even so, Cambodias
average annual growth rate was 7.7% during the past two decades, making it the
sixth-fastest growing country in the world
during the period.
The Cambodian Ministry of Industry,
Mining, and Energy (MIME), forecasts
power demand will more than double by
2020. While that sounds daunting, with a
current nationwide capacity of only 1,072
MW, adding a plant the size of Russey
1. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun

Sen cuts the ribbon. The Russey Chrum
Krom inauguration ceremony included several
dignitaries and company executives. Courtesy: Samdech Hun Sen, Cambodian Prime
Minister
Chrum Krom goes a long way toward meeting new demand requirements.
MIMEs electricity supply development
plan depends upon the construction of
four more hydropower projects (totaling
1,326 MW) and three coal-fired power
plants (totaling 1,235 MW) to accommodate growth to 2020 and beyond. While
some estimates have pegged Cambodias
theoretical hydropower potential to be
greater than 10,000 MW, prior to 2002 virtually none of it had been developed.
Since 2002, five hydropower stations
have been added, and a sixth is expected to come online soon. The operational
sites are: Kirirom 1 (12 MW), Kirirom 3
(18 MW), Stung Atai (120 MW), Kamchay
(194.1 MW), and Russey Chrum Krom (338
MW). The 246-MW Stung Tatai station is
said to be complete and will be put into
service later this year.
In addition to generation from the hydropower plants, Cambodia imports power
from Vietnam (170 MW) and Thailand (120
MW). It also gets power from two 50-MW
coal-fired units at the Sihanoukville project, which came online in January 2014.
But just adding capacity is not enough.
Cambodia currently lacks the transmission
and distribution infrastructure to get the
electricity where it needs to go. Although
the Russey Chrum Krom hydropower plant
is technically a 338-MW facility, The Cambodia Daily reports that its current output
is only about 5% due to its inability to
transmit the power outside of the provincial town.
In time, Cambodian Prime Minister
Hun Senwho was on hand for the inauguration ceremony (Figure 1)says the
transmission network will be in place to
distribute the dams power nationally, but
that could take years.
Aaron Larson
U.S., Netherlands
Harness Waste Gases for
Distributed Generation
Methane emissions are garnering increasing attention because of their potential
impact on the climate. Though far less
methane is released to the atmosphere
than carbon dioxide, methane has 20 to 25
times the potential warming effect. Thats
spurred regulatory attention, highlighted
by the January announcement from the
Obama administration that it would roll
out a series of initiatives designed to sub-
www.powermag.com
2. Waste to power. Ener-Cores FP250

system is capable of generating 250 kW from
very lowBtu waste gases that might otherwise be flared or vented. This system is installed at the Fort Benning U.S. Army base in
Georgia. Courtesy: Ener-Core
stantially cut methane emissions from the

oil and gas industry.
But methane emissions are a problem
beyond oil and gas production, as the gas
is generated by a wide variety of industrial
and agricultural processes. Because these
emissions are typically impure, mixed with
other gases such as oxygen and carbon
dioxide, their low Btu value can make capturing and using them uneconomic. Even
where there are economic incentives, such
as in associated gas production from oil
wells, the lack of gathering infrastructure
can lead to the waste gases being flared
or simply released to the atmosphere.
A variety of approaches are available to
convert such waste gases to power, but
they can come with additional challenges,
such as generating harmful emissions of
their own. In addition, they do not work
with all types of waste gas.
Irvine, Calif.based company Ener-Core
believes it has a technology to harness
these waste gases for power generation
while producing far lower emissions. Rather
than combusting the gases in a turbine or
reciprocating engine, the companys FP250
Powerstation employs an oxidizer that produces useful heat energy but does it at low
enough temperatures to avoid producing
harmful pollutants such as NOx (Figure 2).
The output from the oxidizer is then fed
into a 250-kW gas turbine generator.
The use of oxidizer technology allows
the FP250 to accept a much wider range
of fuel qualities, including very lowBtu
POWER March 2015
waste gases that are unusable with other

methods. The system can be configured to
produce virtually undetectable levels of
NOx, CO, and volatile organic compounds.
The first FP250 system was installed
as a demonstration project at a landfill
at the Fort Benning, Georgia, Army base.
That one-year trial was funded by the Department of Defense. The first commercial
FP250 system went online at a landfill in
the Netherlands this past June.
Ener-Core also recently completed a license deal with Dresser-Rand to deploy the
technology at an ethanol plant in California. That two-unit facility, using a larger
version that integrates Ener-Cores oxidizer
system with Dresser-Rands KG2 turbine,
will produce 3.25 MW for Pacific Ethanols
refinery in Stockton and will include a
heat-recovery steam generator. Generating
its own power from previously flared waste
gases is expected to save the plant about
three to four million dollars a year. The $12
million project is projected to come online
in the second quarter of 2016.
According to spokesman Colin Mahoney,
Ener-Core is looking to enter into license
agreements with other turbine manufacturers with larger size turbines, as well as
with manufacturers of steam-generating

technologies that would enable its technology to generate industrial-grade steam
from waste gases.
Thomas W. Overton, JD
3. Ready to roll. Entergy Louisiana completed construction on its new Ninemile 6

combined cycle plant months ahead of schedule and about $70 million under budget. The
plant was dedicated in January. Courtesy: Entergy Louisiana
Entergys Ninemile 6 Plant

Completes Construction
Entergy Louisianas two-unit, 560-MW combined cycle plant in Westwego, La., just outside New Orleans, completed construction
on Dec. 26, both under budget and several
months ahead of its original schedule (Figure 3). Its the first new plant Entergy Louisiana has added in nearly 30 years.
The Ninemile Point site has been generating power for New Orleans since 1951,
but the original two boiler units have
been retired for years. Unit 3 is nearing
end-of-life, and the new Unit 6 will help
replace the retired capacity. Construction,
led by CB&I, began in early 2012.
Unit 6 will operate on natural gas but
has the ability to burn fuel oil if necessary. This is an important concern given
the location, which was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In the event natural gas delivery is disrupted, the plant will
be able to switch over seamlessly to fuel

oil drawn from on-site tanks. The building pad was also raised 4 feet to protect
against possible flooding.
Though budgeted at $721 million, the
plant was completed for about $655 million. Ninemile 6s output will be shared
among Entergy Louisiana (55%), Entergy
Gulf States Louisiana (25%), and Entergy
New Orleans (20%) via life-of-unit power
purchase agreements.
March 2015 POWER
www.powermag.com
IS YOUR POWER
PROJECT A WINNER?
Find out by nominating it for a POWER award
All nominated projects must be in commercial operation by the nomination
deadline of April 30, 2015. Youll find award information, lists of former winners,
and nomination forms at www.powermag.com/power-awards
0DUPCFSt7PMt/P
7PMr/Pr0DUPCFS
The 2015 categories are:

" Plant of the Year Award
Coal Top Plant

Award Winners
" Reinvention Award (formerly

Marmaduke Award)
" Water Award
" Smart Grid Award
Prepare Your Plant for Cold

Weather Operations
Boosting Combustion Turbine
Response
Getting New Hydro Projects
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" Top Plants Awards (in gas, coal, nuclear,

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NOMINATION DEADLINE:
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4. High power. The Red Hills Renewable Energy park, under development at a site in southwest Utah and shown here in this photo
mock-up, will comprise 325,000 solar photovoltaic modules. Courtesy:
Scatec Solar
108&3
Google Backs Norwegian-Developed

Solar Plant in Utah
The Utah Red Hills Renewable Energy Park, a 104-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant under development by Norwegian firm Scatec
Solar at Parowan in southwest Utah, closed financing on Jan. 7
thanks to an investment from Google in the $188 million project.
It will be the largest PV plant in Utah when completed.
Google has poured more than $1.5 billion into 18 renewable
energy projects around the world with a total capacity of 2.5
GWamong them POWERs 2014 Plant of the Year, the Ivanpah
Solar Electric Generating System in California. Though the company has made a commitment to minimize its carbon footprint
and power its enormous, power-hungry data centers with renewable energy, it is also investing in these projects because of the
potential returns. Google will be the tax equity investor in Red
Hills, which means it will receive the projects tax incentives in
addition to a portion of the income.
According to Scatec, the site has excellent solar irradiance, in
part because it is situated at an elevation of about 8,500 feet
(Figure 4). The project will sell its power to PacifiCorp subsidiary
Rocky Mountain Power under a 20-year power purchase agreement and is expected to come online by the end of 2015.
Despite the states impressive potential, Utah has lagged
well behind other western states in solar energy deployment,
largely because it has only a voluntary renewable energy standard. It currently has about 18 MW of installed solar PV capacity, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a
small fraction of that operating in neighboring states such as
Nevada and Arizona.
DOE Wind Forecasting Grant Goes to

Finnish Firm
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a $2.5 million contract to Finnish environmental and industrial data firm
Vaisala to coordinate a study of methods to improve wind energy forecasting in complex landscapes. The Wind Forecasting
High performance. Long life.

Sealezes patented brush-based
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extended functional service life.
Replace seals less often
t$POTJTUFOUFGGFDUJWFTFBMJOH UJNFTMPOHFSUIBO
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5. For better wind data. The U.S. Department of Energy is funding a study to improve
forecasting models for wind energy in difficult terrain. Part of the initiative will involve deploying
wind-measuring equipment like Vaisalas Triton wind profiler. The Triton is a self-powered, mobile
SODAR (SOnic Detection And Ranging) unit that uses sound waves to collect high-level wind
speed and direction data. Courtesy: Vaisala
Improvement Project 2 (WFIP2) is a DOE

initiative targeted at enhancing the reliability of wind forecasting, specifically in
challenging areas. The goal is to improve
the accuracy of short-term 0- to 15-hour
wind power forecasts in mountainous
areas across North America and worldwide, and thereby reduce the cost of grid
integration and optimize performance
through better short-term modeling of
wind variability.
Accurate wind forecasting has become
a key issue in wind generation, as developers have discovered that existing models do not always reliably predict wind
volumes and energy over the long term.
This creates uncertainties for financing
and development, and can challenge the
profitability of seemingly viable projects
(see Reducing Weather-Related Risks in
Renewable Generation in the January
2015 issue).
The WFIP2 project will comprise a
comprehensive three-phase study of atmospheric phenomena in complex terrain, with the goal of enhancing the
widely used Weather Research and Forecasting model and the National Oceanic
12
and Atmospheric Administrations Rapid

Refresh and High Resolution Rapid Refresh models. Following a design and
planning phase, the project will collect
18 months of data to analyze environmental characteristics affecting wind
flow patterns, ranging from soil moisture and surface temperatures to the
topographical features of mountainvalley regions (Figure 5).
The data will then be used to update
and improve the physics that underpin
current forecasting models. Enhanced
model predictions produced during the
third phase of the project will then be
compared with baseline forecasts produced by existing models to evaluate the
success of the initiative.
The project partners include Vaisala;
the National Center for Atmospheric Research; researchers from the University of
Colorado at Boulder, Texas Tech University,
and the University of Notre Dame; Lockheed Martin; wind energy firms Iberdrola
Renewables and Eurus Energy; meteorology consulting firm Sharply Focused; and
several western utilities.
www.powermag.com
Power Shortages
Challenge Eskom, Force
Load Shedding in South
Africa
The South African power system is severely
constrained and will remain tight until at
least the end of April, according to Eskom.
The company generates approximately
95% of the electricity used in South Africa
and approximately 45% of the electricity
used in all of Africa.
In a media presentation, CEO Tshediso
Matona explained that Eskoms reserve
margin is very low and that the company
does not currently have enough capacity
to meet demand. The situation has necessitated planned, controlled, and rotational
load shedding to protect the power system
from a total countrywide blackout.
The company says it avoided load shedding over the past seven years by subscribing to a keeping the lights on at
all costs philosophy. As a consequence,
much needed maintenance has been postponed over the years, resulting in a severe
maintenance backlog and an increase in
equipment breakdowns.
One measure Eskom uses to track reliability is its unplanned capability loss factor (UCLF). An increasing UCLF percentage
indicates deteriorating plant health. From
2005 through 2009, the UCLF averaged
4.43%. However, since that time, as more
and more maintenance has been deferred,
the percentage has risen steadily, reaching 14.85% by the end of 2014.
We have arrived at a point that does
not allow us to ignore the health of our
plants, Eskom said. Our reserve margin
is so thin, that every incident creates a
major systems issue and could also have
safety implications for the plant. The massive usage of diesel helps to bridge the
problem somewhat, but cant help the systemic healing and a shortage of capacity
for the coming three years appears to be
unavoidable.
This summer has seen increased use of
open cycle gas turbines and other reserves
6. Koeberg Power Station is like a

beacon in the night. With an average
availability over the last three years of 83.1%,
Koeberg is Eskoms most reliable power station. Courtesy: Pipodesign/Phillipp P. Egli
POWER March 2015
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to balance supply and demand, but Eskom

says, new generating capacity and other
levers are needed in order to ease the
pressure on the system.
The maintenance season in South Africa
is usually from September to mid-May
the Southern Hemispheres summer
when Eskom typically sees lower demand
for electricity. This year, planned outages will place additional stress on an
already fragile system. Unit 1 at the
Koeberg Power Stationthe only nuclear
power station in Africa and Eskoms selfproclaimed best in class operatoris

expected to come offline on Feb. 9 for
a lengthy refueling outage, which will remove 900 MW from service (Figure 6).
Eskom completed a return-to-service
program in 2014 that included re-commissioning three previously mothballed coalfired stations, including the Camden Power
Station, a 2014 POWER Top Plant award
winner (see the October issue). More capacity is needed though. In the first half
of 2015, the 100-MW Sere wind farm is

expected to enter service along with the
first of six 794-MW coal-fired units at the
Medupi facility, a greenfield project. Other
capacity additions will follow, including
the Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme Project next year and the 6 x 800-MW Kusile
Power Station Project beginning in 2017.
For the time being though, load shedding will be the norm. Eskom predicts insufficient generation capacity and a high
probability of load shedding on 62 of the
89 days from Feb. 1 through Apr. 30. It
says that there is a medium probability of
load shedding on 18 additional days during the period, leaving only nine days in
which generation capacity is expected to
be adequatemostly over weekends.
Aaron Larson
before
A Handheld Fuel Cell

Generator
after
5(/,$%/( PROVEN
'867
&21752/
After decades of potential but limited

deployment, fuel cells are beginning to
carve out a role in grid-scale generation
(see 59-MW Fuel Cell Park Opening Heralds Robust Global Technology Future in
the May 2014 issue). Now, continually
falling costs are bringing fuel cell generation all the way down to the consumer
level.
In December 2014, Dresden, Germany
based firm eZelleron launched a fundraising effort on crowd-sourcing website
Kickstarter for a personal charging device
based on its proprietary microtubular fuel
7. Portable power. The kraftwerk portable charger can recharge a variety of electronic devices using an internal fuel cell and
liquefied petroleum gas. Courtesy: eZelleron
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POWER March 2015
Manufacturing
Supercapacitors from
Atmospheric Carbon
Dioxide
Researchers at Oregon State University
(OSU) have developed a method to manufacture nanoporous graphene for use in
supercapacitors from atmospheric carbon
8. Small pores, big potential. A method for manufacturing nanoporous graphene

holds the potential for creating vastly more powerful supercapacitors. Courtesy: Oregon State
University
300
Specific capacitance (F/g)
cell technology. Called kraftwerk (German

for power station), the charger generates power from liquefied petroleum gas
(LPG) such as propane or butane using
commonly available recharge canisters.
Most of the palm sized, 7-ounce unit is
taken up by the LPG fuel tank; the actual
fuel cell is smaller than a cigarette (Figure
7).
The Kickstarter project reached its
funding goal in a week, and the company is promising to begin delivery of the
units in December 2015. According to the
companys website, the microtubular fuel
cells can also be packed into arrays for
larger capacity. It offers 250-W modules
that can be combined into stacks of up to
80 kW capacity.
200
5 mv/s
200 mv/s
500 mv/s
1,000 mv/s
2,000 mv/s
100
0
-100
-200
-300
0.0
dioxide (CO2). Graphene is a form of carbon that is essentially a one-atom-thick

layer of graphite, in which the carbon atoms are arranged in a hexagonal lattice.
Because of its virtually two-dimensional
character, it has a variety of fascinating
chemical and physical properties. Graphene is 100 times stronger than steel
and is an excellent conductor of heat and
electricity.
Nanoporous graphene is graphene in
which nanopores have been created in
0.2
0.4 0.6
Voltage(V)
0.8
1.0
the lattice (Figure 8). It has a very high

specific surface area, about 1,900 square
meters per gram. This gives it an electrical conductivity at least 10 times higher
than the activated carbon currently used
to make commercial supercapacitors.
However, the method developed at OSU
to create nanoporous graphene is faster,
less expensive, and has less environmental impact than previous methods such as
chemical etching, which often use toxic
materials. Rather than etching graphene,
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15
the OSU method uses a mixture of magnesium and zinc metals that are heated
to high temperature in a flow of carbon
dioxide. This produces a controlled reaction that converts the elements into their
metal oxides and nanoporous graphene.
Because of its simplicity and low cost,
OSU researchers believe the method has
good potential to be scaled up for commercial manufacture. Supercapacitors
with nanoporous graphene electrodes
could potentially have far higher storage
capacity than current designs using activated carbon.
POWER Digest
TIC to Build First U.S. J-series GT
Plant. The Industrial Co. (TIC), a wholly
owned subsidiary of Kiewit Corp., was
recently awarded an engineering, procurement, and construction contract to
build a gas turbine (GT) power plant for
the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA),
Oklahomas state-owned electric utility.
The 495-MW Grand River Energy Center
Unit 3 will feature the first U.S.-installed
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems
Americas Inc. M501J-series GT. Construction will begin in early 2015 in Chouteau,
Okla. The new plant will help GRDA meet
new emissions regulations by reducing its
dependence on coal-fired power generation. The project is scheduled to become
operational in May 2017.
South Africa to Develop Continents

First CSP Project. The South Africa Department of Energy awarded preferred
bidder status for a 100-MW concentrating
solar power (CSP) project to a consortium
led by SolarReserve, a global developer
of utility-scale solar power projects, and
International Company for Water and
Power Projects, the Saudi water and
power developer, owner, and operator. The
Redstone Solar Thermal Power project is
scheduled to achieve financial close later in 2015 and commence operations in
early 2018. It will be the first of its kind
in Africa and will feature SolarReserves
molten salt energy storage technology in
a tower configuration, providing 12 hours
of full-load energy storage. The project
also features dry cooling to minimize water use.
Saudi Arabia Plans First CSPCombined Cycle Plant. The Green Duba
project will integrate 50 MW of parabolic
trough concentrated solar power (CSP) in
a combined cycle plant with a total capacity of 600 MW. Saudi Electricity Co.
selected General Electric to supply the
16
gas turbinebased plant, to be built in

the western Red Sea port of Duba. Project
completion is expected by 2018. The technology provider for the CSP component
was not named.
Morocco Adds Solar Thermal Capacity. The Moroccan Agency for Solar
Energy (MASEN) has selected a consortium including SENER to construct the
200-MW Noor 2 and 150-MW Noor 3,
which represent phases 2 and 3 of the
countrys largest solar complex, located
in Ouarzazate, in southern Morocco.
SENER will perform the engineering, construction, and commissioning of the two
solar thermal power plants, which make
use of different technologies: Noor 2 will
use SENERtrough parabolic troughs (designed and patented by SENER), while
Noor 3 will use a central tower and an
array of heliostats. Noor 4, for which a
contract has not yet been awarded, will
use photovoltaic technology.
B&W to Design and Manufacture

Equipment for Vietnamese Plant.
The Babcock & Wilcox Co. (B&W) subsidiary Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group Inc. has been chosen to
design and manufacture a supercritical
coal-fired boiler and selective catalytic
reduction system for the Duyen Hai 3
Extension power plant in Vietnam. The
selection was made by Japanese prime
contractor Sumitomo Corp., which will
build the 688-MW plant for Power Generation Corporation 1, a subsidiary of
Electricity Vietnam. It will be B&Ws
sixth steam generator in Vietnam. B&W
has received a full notice to proceed,
engineering is under way, and the plant
is scheduled for commercial operation in
mid-2018.
Siemens Delivers Three F-Class

Gas Turbines to Peru. Siemens has
received an order for three SGT6-5000F
dual-fuel gas turbines from Peruvian utility EnerSur. The turbines will be used for
the Nodo Energtico del SurPlanta No. 2
Regin Moquegua project in the port of
Ilo, in the Moquegua region of southern
Peru. They will power three simple cycle
plants with a combined capacity of 600
MW. Commercial operation is scheduled for
March 2017.
Construction Begins on UK Biomass

Plant. Ground was broken on Jan. 20 for
the Snetterton Renewable Energy Planta
44.2-MW straw-powered biomass plant
located in Norfolk County, England. Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor
A/S (BWSC) will oversee the construction
process and will own the plant in partnership with a Danish infrastructure fund
www.powermag.com
managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure

Partners A/S.
The project was originally developed by
Iceni Energy Ltd., with renewable energy
project developer Eco2 Ltd. later joining
forces to take the project forward to financial close. The plant is expected to be
operational by mid-2017. BWSC will be in
charge of the operation and maintenance
of the plant for a 15-year period and has
contracted for supply of straw for the next
12 years.
This is the second biomass power plant
the group is constructing in the UK. The
other is the Brigg Renewable Energy Plant
in Lincolnshire, further north in England.
Novel Wind Power System to Be

Tested in Florida. SheerWindan energy technology company based in Chaska, Minn.will design, manufacture, and
commission its unique INVELOX wind power system at Tampa Electrics Big Bend
Power Station in Apollo Beach, Fla. While
the system utilizes conventional wind
power equipment, the design is completely
different. Wind enters an omnidirectional
intake area at the top of the structure and
is funneled down to a venturi, where it
is concentrated and further accelerated.
Turbine generators are placed inside to
take advantage of the velocity increase
and convert the wind to electrical power.
A diffuser section on the outlet slows the
wind speed prior to exiting the system at
the bottom.
One of the advantages of the INVELOX
solution is that turbines and rotors are
installed at ground level for easier, safer,
and cheaper operation and maintenance.
The system is capable of operating in a
wide range of wind speeds (from 2 mph
to over 100 mph) and is said to pose no
harm to birds or other animals. Multiple
turbines can be installed in series to increase output capacity from each tower.
A 200-kW system will be installed this
year as a pilot project. If the technology
is proven to be viable following collection
of sufficient data (expected to take from
six to eight months), Tampa Electric may
consider purchasing a utility-scale 1.8-MW
INVELOX system.
Another Massive Coal Plant Planned

for India. Hong Kongbased China Light
& Power Holdings Ltd. is planning a
2,000-MW coal-based power plant in Gujarat, India, at a projected investment of
$2 billion. The new plant would join to its
existing 600-MW gas-fired power plant in
the state and will most likely be fueled by
imported coal.
Thomas W. Overton, JD; Aaron Larson;
and Gail Reitenbach, PhD
POWER March 2015
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Advanced Bearing Technology Eliminates Subsynchronous Steam Turbine

Vibrations
A facilitys steam turbine ranks at, or
at least near, the top of the list of vital
power plant equipment. Without it, the
thermal energy in pressurized steam can
not be converted to rotary motion, which
is required to generate electricity. That is
why it is imperative for a plants steam
turbine to operate flawlessly.
Abnormal vibrations are a good indication that somethings not right. If ignored, the problem causing the vibration
will frequently worsen, and in a turbine it
could result in damage to blades or other
internal components. In extreme cases,
catastrophic failure of the equipment can
occur, endangering personnel and costing
millions of dollars to repair.
Commissioning Hiccup
Doosan koda Power understands that abnormal turbine vibration requires action.
The company has more than a centurys experience manufacturing steam turbines and
has invested in research and development
to be an international leader in the delivery
of advanced clean energy technologies.
For one of its power generation customers in Scandinavia, Doosan koda Power
engineered a 46-MW steam turbine as part
of a combined cycle system for generation
of electricity as well as heat recovery. During the initial commissioning process, the
turbine experienced rotor instability that
prevented the drive train from operating
at full load. High subsynchronous vibrations forced a trip in turbine operation at
just 27 MW versus the rated 46 MW.
Changes to the bearing clearances and
configurations mitigated the vibrations
but were not able to eliminate them completely. Doosan koda Power decided to
contact Bearings Plus, a Waukesha Bearings business, for a damper solution.
Assessing and Solving the Problem
Bearings Plus performed a system-level
rotordynamic assessment of the turbine,
which evaluated the rotor, bearings, and
seals. The cause of the vibrations was
confirmed to be a flexible rotor (caused
by the large span between the bearings)
combined with steam whirl forces in secondary sealing locations.
The steam turbines original five-pad
18
1. Abnormal vibrations identified. The waterfall spectrum shows subsynchronous vibrations at 30 Hz with the original five-pad tilt pad journal bearings. Courtesy: Waukesha Bearings
rocker pivot tilt pad journal (TPJ) bearings were designed with asymmetrical oil
film stiffness to try to accommodate the
rotordynamics of the combined cycle system. However, the rotor flexibility and destabilizing steam whirl forces resulted in
a negatively damped system and, consequently, strong subsynchronous vibrations
at about 30 Hz (Figure 1).
For a solution, Bearings Plus suggested
soft-mounting the rotor system on TPJ bearings with trademarked ISFD technology. In
contrast to the original design, bearings
with this integral squeeze film damper technology provide low-stiffness and high-effective damping to maximize the damping ratio
and eliminate subsynchronous vibrations.
How It Works
The ISFD design is manufactured through
electrical discharge machining. Integral
S shape springs connect an outer and
inner ring, and a squeeze film damper
land extends between each set of springs.
Bearing pads are housed in the inner ring
(Figure 2). The unique design allows for
high-precision control of concentricity,
stiffness, and rotor positioning. It produces superior damping effectiveness by
separating stiffness from damping.
While a conventional squeeze film
damper (SFD) experiences a dynamic stiffness from the damper film that is dependent on amplitude and frequency, in the
ISFD design, the stiffness is defined only
by the springs. This allows for good predictability, and precise placement of critical speeds and rotor modes, regardless of
vibration amplitudes and frequencies.
Whereas damping in a conventional SFD
is generated by squeezing in the damper
www.powermag.com
film and governed by circumferential film

flow, the segmented ISFD design prevents
circumferential flow and absorbs energy
through the piston/dashpot effect. Flow
resistance at the oil supply nozzle and end
seals controls ISFD damping.
Both the stiffness and the damping of the
ISFD design are optimized for the application
through a rigorous rotordynamic analysis. For
the steam turbine, because steam whirl was
one of the root causes of the subsynchronous
vibrations, the analysis of the ISFD solution
paid careful attention to modeling destabilizing seal forces and stage forces.
A damped eigenvalue analysis without
those forces showed a better stability margin by a factor of 12 with the ISFD design
compared to the original bearings. With the
destabilizing forces, the ISFD solution maintained a high stability margin. The combination of low stiffness and optimum damping at
2. The ISFD design. This four-pad tilt

pad journal bearing utilizes integral squeeze
film damper technology. Courtesy: Waukesha Bearings
POWER March 2015
3. Problem solved. The waterfall spectrum shows the subsynchronous vibrations were
eliminated using the ISFD design. Courtesy: Waukesha Bearings
the bearing support is the key in transforming

bending modes to more rigid body modes and
improving the overall stability and damping
ratio of the rotor/bearing system.
Proven Results
Field vibration data after installation
proved that the solution worked. The subsynchronous vibration spikes experienced at
the initial commissioning were eliminated
with the use of the ISFD design (Figure 3).
The larger stability margin provided by the
bearings with ISFD technology freed the

system from significant subsynchronous vibrations and enabled full-speed, full-power
operation of the turbine.
More than 3,200 bearings with ISFD
technology have been supplied over the
last 20 years and have established this
unique design as a leading solution to vibration problems in turbomachinery. ISFD
technology is successful in a broad range of
turbomachinery due to the flexibility of its
design. The technology can be used with
Joe Accetta (top)

President
tilt pad bearings, as described above, as

well as with Flexure Pivot bearings, fixed
profile bearings, and rolling element bearings, in sizes from 10 mm up to 400 mm.
ISFD technology has successfully improved stability, shifted critical speeds, and
reduced amplification factors in steam and
gas turbines, integrally geared air and process compressors, centrifugal compressors,
turbo-expanders, radial turbines, supercritical CO2 power turbines, generators, motors,
and overhung process equipment. The cost to
implement an ISFD bearing-damper solution
is nominal compared to the ongoing, potentially significant costs that can result from
vibration problems effects across a machine.
In many applications, the minimal space
requirements of the ISFD design allow
bearings with ISFD technology to serve
as drop-in replacements to existing bearings. Most importantly, the ISFD bearingdamper solution can be engineered to a
specific support stiffness and damping for
each applications operating conditions to
maximize the ratio of energy transmitted
to the bearing locations, thus significantly
improving the stability of the system.
Jong Kim is senior principal engineer of
Waukesha Bearings.
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March 2015 POWER
www.powermag.com
19
Cape Wind Finally

Blows Out
f ever there were a case of winning all the battles and
losing the war, it would be the saga of the long-delayedand-now-probably-dead Cape Wind offshore wind project in
Massachusetts.
As I wrote last year (see When States Try to Manipulate
Wholesale Power Markets in the March 2014 issue), this project
that hoped to be the nations first offshore wind farm has been
fighting headwinds since it was first proposed more than a decade ago. The fundamental problem has always been the price
tag. Even with the help of subsidies and loan guarantees, Cape
Wind was going to be so expensive that its developers could
not offer its power into the ISO-New England power market at
competitive prices.
The issue is not, as some supporters have claimed, an opposition to wind power amongst the regions utilities. Theyre already
buying quite a lot of it under various state renewable portfolio
standards, including Massachusetts Green Communities Act. The
problem is that land-based wind power is substantially cheaper
than anything Cape Wind could offer.
When National Grid and NStar were bullied into signing power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Cape Wind (for 50% and
27.5% of its power, respectively) by the Massachusetts state
government, they were forced to pay an initial rate of 18.7
cents/kWhmore than twice what they were paying for landbased windwith a 3.5% increase every year. That made a lot
of people unhappy.
Escape Clause
But those PPAs had an out. Cape Winds developers had to either
close financing and begin construction by the end of 2014 or
post a $645,000 security deposit to extend the deadline by six
months (or $1.29 million for another year). Cape Wind still needs
to raise a lot more money (and sell the remaining 22.5% of its
output), but having PPAs in place is pretty much a prerequisite
for a project like this to proceed. With the total cost projected
to be around $2.5 billion, one would have thought committing
$645,000 to save the PPAs would be a no-brainer. For whatever
reasonthe developers may not have had the money to do it
Cape Wind chose to forgo the deposit.
Instead, Cape Wind invoked what is known as a force majeure
clause in the PPA. Force majeureFrench for superior forceis
the name given to a common provision in most contracts that
can free the parties from performing their obligations when an
extraordinary event beyond their control makes performance impossible. Though the term had a traditional meaning, U.S. courts
nowadays strictly construe these clauses as drafted in the contract. For an event to trigger force majeure, it has to fit within
the terms of the agreement.
On Dec. 31, Cape Wind chief Jim Gordon wrote to NStar and
National Grid, as well as Massachusetts regulators, asserting that
20
the repeated litigation against Cape Wind excused it from its

obligations to close financing by that date.
In one respect, Gordon had a point. Opponents of Cape Wind
have filed a rather impressive 26 lawsuits against the project,
including the one I wrote about last March. Every single one of
them failed, with the most recent one having been dismissed in
May. The groups behind them, starting with billionaire and bte
noire of the left Bill Koch, have been frank about their aim to
delay Cape Wind as long as they could.
Its chances of closing financing

. . . without a PPA in place are
basically nil.
Out the Door
The utilities feelings about the PPAs can probably be judged by
the alacrity with which they abandoned them the moment they
had the opportunity. On Jan. 6, the second business day after the
deadline had passed, both NStar and National Grid announced
that they were jumping ship. Overnight, Cape Wind went from
having sold 77.5% of its power to 0%. Northeast Utilities (which
merged with NStar in 2012) CEO Tom May later told The Boston
Globe he was waiting for the first possible moment to get out.
Cape Wind has since responded that the joint move is invalid,
because its failure to begin construction was excused by force
majeure. Unfortunately for Cape Wind, thats a dispute that wont
be resolved without more litigation. The force majeure clause in
the PPA is too long to quote here, but it does require that the
triggering event be both unusual and unexpected, and that
it not be anything that merely increases the costs or causes an
economic hardship to a Party.
With the Koch-funded litigation over the project having become a fixture in the process well before the PPAs took effect,
it may be tough for Cape Wind to convince a court that there
was anything unusual or unexpected about it at the time the
agreement was signed. Meanwhile, its chances of closing financing, let alone beginning construction, without a PPA in place
are basically nil. (As I write this in late January, Cape Wind has
been suspended from participation in the ISO-New England power
market, and its developers just abandoned two leases they had
entered to support construction.)
If theres a lesson to be drawn here, its probably that there is a
limit to how far governments can go to force energy projects through
when the market is resisting them. Had Cape Wind made more financial sense, its likely that the customers for its power wouldnt have
bolted for the exits the moment the doors were unlocked.
Thomas W. Overton, JD is a POWER associate editor.
www.powermag.com
POWER March 2015
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WATER & WASTEWATER
Water and Wastewater Treatment

Technology Update
Courtesy: U.S. Water
The handling of power plant water and wastewater is becoming increasingly complex. Fortunately, innovative treatment technologies can help. Recent advances include forward osmosis, membrane bioreactor wastewater treatment systems, and
reverse osmosis membrane improvements.
Aaron Larson
ater is the lifeblood of a thermal

power plant. As such, obtaining
clean and pure makeup water and
dealing with wastewater has been a requirement since the first steam generating unit
went into operation. As rules and regulations
change, new technology is often necessary to
meet more restrictive guidelines. The desire
for energy savings, more reliable treatment
methods, and solutions to water availability
challenges can also lead to innovations.
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a widely used
technology in the power industry. Developed in the 1950s, the first commercial RO
plant began operating in 1965. The process
uses a semipermeable membrane to purify
water by applying pressure to overcome osmotic pressure, forcing water from a region
of high-solute concentration through the
membrane to a region of low-solute concentration. A newer membrane technology that
22
may not be as familiar to readers is forward

osmosis (FO).
Fast Forward to Forward Osmosis

The first FO water treatment plant was built
in 1998 for use on landfill leachate; today,
research and development continues to refine
the process. While not as common as RO, FO
systems are proving to offer a new solution for
some challenging situations. Boston-based Oasys Water recently installed a system to treat a
Chinese coal-fired power plants flue gas desulfurization (FGD) wastewater (Figure 1).
Lisa Marchewka, vice president of strategy
and marketing for Oasys, explains, We use
membrane technology, but instead of using hydraulic pressure to force water through a membrane, we instead use a high-molarity draw
solution that pulls freshwater across the membrane rather than pushing it on the surface.
The key ingredient in the system is the
www.powermag.com
draw solution. Oasys uses ammonium bicarbonate, which is an off-the-shelf product

available in bulk. Although ammonium bicarbonate is not completely harmless, it is
a relatively safe product that was once used
in homes before modern day baking powder
became available. In fact, Oasys obtains its
product from the well-known baking soda
company Arm & Hammer.
Feedwater enters the FO system at one
end of the membrane module (Figure 2). The
draw solution flows on the opposite side of the
membrane, counter to the direction of feedwater flow, and pulls water molecules through the
membrane. The draw solution becomes more
and more diluted until it exits the module and
is directed to the thermal process.
In the thermal recovery device, the diluted
draw solution is heated to evaporate only the
draw solutes, leaving behind the clean, purified water. Because evaporation of the water
POWER March 2015
WATER & WASTEWATER

1. In with the new. Oasys Waters forward osmosis technology is installed to treat flue
gas desulfurization wastewater at the Changxing Power Plant in China. Courtesy: Oasys Water
3. The draw solution thermal recovery system. Heat is added in the thermal column to evaporate the draw solution,
leaving behind purified water. Courtesy: Oasys Water
2. No magic involved. This process diagram shows how a forward osmosis system
produces purified water. Source: Oasys Water
Saline water
Organics,
minerals,
pollutants
Salt-rejecting
membrane
Recovery
system
Water
diffusion
Draw
solution
Salt
Draw
solutes
Heat
Clean water
Concentrated brine
is not required in the thermal column (Figure 3), less energy is consumed than would
otherwise be necessary. Another advantage
of this arrangement is that no impurities enter the thermal process, therefore scaling and
foaming are not a problem.
By design, the closed loop system should
not require additional ammonium bicarbonate to be added. The plant has typical mechanical components though, such as tanks,
valves, pumps, and piping, so there is always
the potential for leaks or a component failing. For that reason, Oasys suggests that additional draw solution be kept on hand.
Benefits of FO
Oasys says its FO system offers some advantages over other more common water treatment options. According to Marchewka, in
RO systems used for seawater desalination,
the typical water recovery rate is only about
March 2015 POWER
50%. In other words, for every two gallons of

seawater taken into a system, one gallon of
purified water is produced and one gallon of
reject water is discharged back to the source.
The FO process can be used to take the reject
from a seawater desalination RO system and
concentrate that to achieve an additional 80%
recovery. Therefore, combining the two systems can result in an overall recovery of 90%.
RO systems also are limited in the salinity
that they can handle. Once the system reaches
its maximum hydraulic pressure, water can
no longer be pushed through the membrane
to achieve recovery. In contrast, FO technologies can treat water up to 150,000 ppm of
total dissolved solidsfour times the maximum for conventional RO systemsand concentrate it to over 280,000 ppm. So not only
can much higher recovery be achieved using
FObecause it is not limited by an osmotic
gradientbut it also operates at a lower preswww.powermag.com
sure, which offers an energy savings.

Thermal systems, such as multiple effect
distillation, multi-stage flash, or mechanical
vapor recompression, offer another option
for desalination of seawater and brine concentrating. Although thermal systems can be
designed to work well in many situations,
they have limitations of their own.
For one thing, thermal systems are capital intensive to install. The materials used
have to be capable of handling the corrosive
effects of seawater, so they are frequently
constructed of more expensive alloys. The
energy consumed by a thermal system is also
much higher than in FO systems.
In thermal systems, the feedwater must be
heated to its vaporization temperature, which
requires significant energy. The vapor is then
condensed to produce the distillate. In that
process, impurities in the water can cause
scaling or foaming, resulting in a very maintenance-intensive operation. As noted previously, only the draw solution and clean water
enter the thermal recovery column of the FO
system, which eliminates this problem.
Innovative FO Uses
Although FO and RO may sound like rival systems designed using similar technologythe
membrane portion of an FO system does look
nearly identical to that of an RO system, at
least on the outsideOasys views its FO system as more of a complement to RO systems
rather than a replacement for them. It suggests
FO systems are better able to compete directly
with thermal evaporation systems.
The focus of the company, right now,
is more on industrial high-salinity recov23
WATER & WASTEWATER

4. A state-of-the-art wastewater
treatment process. The submerged
membrane bioreactor configuration relies on
course bubble aeration to produce mixing and
limit fouling. Courtesy: Ovivo USA
ery projects, specifically in zero-liquid

discharge, or near zero-liquid discharge systems, said Marchewka.
In addition to the FGD wastewater treatment system Oasys installed at the Changxing Power Plant, it has another FO system
already operating in China. That system has
the flexibility to be used for seawater desalination or for treating cooling tower blowdown, depending on the plants needs.
Through a partnership with National
Oilwell Varco (NOV), Oasys technology
is being deployed in the oil and gas industry too (see this issues cover photo).
NOV says the system is suitable for onshore unconventional shale plays, and it
markets the solution as a means of treating
exploration and production wastewaters. It
touts that these streams can be converted
to freshwater quality, fully treated for reuse in new drilling and completion fluids
or for surface discharge in remote areas
where disposal options have traditionally
been limited and expensive.
Oasys says it is the first company to deploy an FO-based brine concentrator. The
company can also imagine using the technology for things like brackish desalination and
other municipal applications.
One final advantage that really benefits
operators is the FO systems ability to handle
variation. Marchewka noted that the company
has learned from its experience in China that
the water chemistry from the FGD process
is quite variableseasons, load, and various
other operating parameters all factor in. Although changes can be problematic for many
systems, because the FO system operates at
lower pressure and pulls the water across the
membrane with the draw solution, it is much
less prone to fouling and scaling, and it can
handle the challenge.
It actually gives operators a nice benefit when dealing with fluctuations and
24
5. Waste not, want not. The Palo Verde Water Reclamation Facility can treat up to 90
million gallons of secondary effluent from the Phoenix metropolitan area and provides all of the
cooling water for the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. Courtesy: Arizona Public Service
changes in water quality and water chemistry, says Marchewka.
Utilizing Treated Municipal

Wastewater
Power plants continue to face greater restrictions in the usage of water from traditional
sources, such as oceans, lakes, rivers, and
wells. In the U.S., regulations like 316(b) are
forcing facilities to consider alternatives to
business as usual. State-of-the-art technology
has made treated municipal wastewater generated by publicly owned treatment works
(POTW) an attractive source of cooling water
makeup for many power plants.
A study conducted at the University of
Pittsburgh, evaluating more than 400 existing
coal-fired power plants, revealed that 49.4%
of them could have sufficient cooling water
supplied by POTWs within a 10-mile radius
of their plant. If the radius were expanded to
25 miles, the percentage increased to 75.9%.
It also evaluated 110 proposed power plants
and found that 81% of those facilities could
meet their cooling water supply requirements
from POTWs within 10 miles of their proposed locations. The 25-mile radius satisfied
all but three of the plants.
According to Kaveh Someah, vice president of global energy for Ovivo USA, the
use of reclaimed water started decades ago
and is gaining in popularity. There are a
number of treatment technologies that must
be considered based on an individual plants
situation, but one of the more advanced
methods includes the use of a membrane
bioreactor (MBR).
An MBR is a wastewater treatment process
utilizing biological treatment alongside filtration all in one common tank. MBR systems
are considered the best available technology
for wastewater treatment and reuse applicawww.powermag.com
tions, because they are reliable, space efficient,

and cost effective. Ovivoformerly known as
Eimco Water Technologiesworked with a
power plant in Texas to develop a solution that
uses an MBR system to provide makeup water
to the plants cooling pond.
The Membrane Bioreactor

Treatment Process
At the Texas facility, the screen box design
handles course screening, allowing raw
wastewater to be pumped straight into a finescreening system to remove particles that
could potentially damage the membranes.
The screened influent enters the equalization
basin, which maintains flow forward up to
the peaking capacity of the membranes.
If sufficient hydraulic pressure is not
available, the plant is designed with an emergency overflow to a basin located adjacent to
the equalization basin. Once plant flow and
level return to normal, any overflow can be
pumped back to the equalization basin for
feed forward.
From the equalization basin, screened and
equalized wastewater is pumped to the anoxic basin. The level in the anoxic basin varies,
depending on hydraulic loading conditions.
Control of the MBR plant is based on level in
the anoxic basin.
A programmable logic controller (PLC) receives a level input and varies the flow rate of
treated water to accommodate influent flow. It
also initiates an intermittent mode to preserve
biology, reduce power consumption during
low plant loading, and protect equipment.
A mixer in the anoxic basin operates continuously to mix the activated sludge with
incoming wastewater, maintaining a uniform
concentration of mixed liquor suspended solids. Pumps in the anoxic basin are used for
feeding forward and internal recycling.
POWER March 2015
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WATER & WASTEWATER

6. Managing alternatives. Multimedia filters offer an option for removing suspended
solids, iron, and manganese from incoming water, which can improve RO performance. Courtesy: U.S. Water
to use the secondary treated water and treat it

further for use for cooling water source and,
with further treatment, for boiler feedwater.
Membrane Innovations
Diversion valves on the pump discharge

allow operator-controlled manual wasting of
waste-activated sludgethat is, removing a
portion of itin order to maintain a proper
mixed liquor suspended solids concentration.
Waste-activated sludge is pumped to a sludge
holding tank that is aerated to prevent septic conditions. Sludge may be removed via
pump truck, if necessary.
From the anoxic basin, activated sludge is
pumped to the pre-aeration basin. Fine bubble diffusers evenly disperse air, providing a
residual dissolved oxygen concentration to
prevent premature fouling of the membranes
in the MBR basin. The aerated mixed liquor
gravity feeds into the adjacent MBR basin.
Submerged membranes in the MBR (Figure 4) filter the sludge to produce an extremely clean effluent referred to as permeate. The
flow rate of permeate is controlled using a
modulating valve to maintain a constant level
in the basin. The membranes foul over time,
so the PLC automatically opens the control
valve to adjust flow until parameters signal
that fouling warrants an in-situ cleaning.
During the cleaning process, the membranes are relaxed by closing the permeate
control valve and scouring the membranes
with the blower. Excess membrane biofilm
is scoured away to recover flux and improve
performance. A maximum relax time is set to
prevent membrane abrasion.
Permeate from the membranes is pumped
to an in-line chlorine tablet feeder for disinfection prior to discharge. Disinfected effluent then flows by gravity to the discharge
26
point. Sludge is processed through a belt

press for dewatering, and dry solids are removed for disposal. The recovered water is
recycled back into the process for treatment.
The system in Texas is sized to treat
100,000 gallons of wastewater per day, providing effluent water suitable for makeup to
the plants cooling pond. Ovivo has many
other systems using various technologies operating all around the world.
Zero-Liquid Dischargeand Beyond

One of the largest zero-liquid discharge
(ZLD) systems is at the Palo Verde Water
Reclamation Facility in Arizona (Figure 5).
It is a 90 million gallon per day tertiary treatment plant that reclaims treated secondary effluent from the cities of Phoenix, Scottsdale,
Tempe, Mesa, Glendale, and Tolleson. According to Someah, the Palo Verde Nuclear
Generating Station is a ZLD facility and the
only nuclear power station that uses 100%
reclaimed water for its cooling.
Palo Verdes process includes a series of
trickling filters to achieve biological de-nitrification. Next, first- and second-stage solid
contact clarifiers remove hardness-causing
minerals and calcium from the water. Final
polishing is accomplished in mixed media
gravity filters, after which the softened water
enters the plants cooling water cycle.
The technology to treat the water has
come a long way and has advanced drastically over the last decade, said Someah.
Today there are cost-effective technologies
offered by Ovivo that will allow the industry
www.powermag.com
The RO process is well understood and has

proven to work satisfactorily in many applications. Even so, membrane manufacturers
continue to improve upon thin-film composite technology used in their elements.
According to U.S. Water Services Inc. (U.S.
Water), a Minnesota-based integrated water
management solutions provider, a couple of
significant advances have enabled design and
operation improvements in RO systems.
One improvement is in the fouling characteristics of some membranes. Power plants
are frequently being forced to use poorer
quality water as a source for makeup to circulating and demineralized water systems. The
latest fouling-resistant membranes have been
designed to meet the more difficult working
conditions while reducing cleaning frequency and minimizing pretreatment.
Pressure requirements for low-energy elements have also been improved. Historically,
low-energy elements have had rejection rates
too low to gain much acceptance in the power
industry. The negative impacts of increased
salt ion passage to downstream components,
such as mixed bed demineralizers or electrodeionization systems, were too great.
However, newer membrane technology is
lowering pressure requirements while keeping the rejection at, or near, traditional rates
of brackish water membranes. The improvement allows original equipment manufacturers, like U.S. Water, to reduce pump and
motor sizes, which saves energy and improves net plant heat rate.
While membrane improvements are helpful, the control of microbiological activity is
still extremely important to aide in the longterm reliability of RO systems. Many facilities have large water tanks that serve as
process and firewater reserves. Holding times
in these tanks can be very long. As the water
sits relatively stagnant, controlling the microbiological growth in these tanks needs to be
considered. When they are left unmanaged,
operators often struggle to maintain control
and will be required to clean RO systems
more frequently.
Challenges can also result from active biological growth on RO membranes or from the
slimy byproduct shed from biofilms upstream
of the RO. U.S. Water strongly recommends
that plants maintain a free halogen level in
the process water tank and upstream multimedia (Figure 6) or ultrafiltration systems at
all times to help minimize these issues.
Aaron Larson is a POWER associate

editor.
POWER March 2015
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WATER & PROCESS SOLUTIONS
WATER & WASTEWATER
Feedwater Chemistry Meets

Stainless Steel, Copper, and Iron
Courtesy: Plymouth Tube Co.
Developing a feedwater chemistry program that will minimize corrosion across a

variety of metallurgies doesnt have to be difficult. This article reviews the requirements for three common metallurgies in condensate and feedwater piping and the
chemistry options that operators have to minimize corrosion in this critical area of
the plant.
David Daniels
lloys found in the condensate and

feedwater systems of power plants include carbon steel for piping, pumps,
and in some cases heat exchangers. Many
systems still have some copper-based alloys
from admiralty brass, and copper-nickel (CuNi) alloys all the way to 400 Series Monel,
primarily as feedwater heater tubes.
The major corrosion mechanisms affect
the carbon steel and copper alloys. These include flow accelerated corrosion (FAC) and
corrosion fatigue in carbon steel as well as
ammonia-induced stress corrosion cracking,
and ammonia grooving in copper alloys. FAC
can have a variety of appearances (Figures 1
and 2).
28
Gradually, as aging feedwater heaters are

replaced, plants often choose to go with a
stainless steel alloy such as 304 or 316 for
feedwater tubing. When the last copper feedwater heater is replaced, a change in feedwater chemistry is in order.
Stainless Steel
Stainless steel is protected by a tight adherent chromium oxide layer that forms on the
surface. Stainless steels alloys are resistant to
essentially all the corrosion mechanisms that
commonly affect copper and carbon steel alloys in feedwater.
There is the tendency to think that stainless
steel is the perfect alloy to replace copperwww.powermag.com
alloy feedwater heaters. However, stainless

steel has its own Achilles heel: Chlorides can
cause pitting, and chloride and caustic have,
in some cases, led to stress corrosion cracking (SCC).
Typically, these chemicals are not present
in sufficient concentration to cause corrosion
on the tube side of feedwater heaters. However, there are cases where contamination of
the steam that feeds the shell side of the stainless steeltubed heat exchanger has resulted
in SCC.
Remember, it is not the average concentration of the chloride or caustic that is of
concern. Spikes in contamination can collect
and concentrate in the desuperheating zone
POWER March 2015
WATER & WASTEWATER

1 Typical. Classic flow-accelerated corrosion
(FAC) orange peel texture with no oxide coating.
Courtesy: M&M Engineering Associates Inc.
may offset some of the thermal conductivity

loss, and there are other design factors, such
as susceptibility to vibration damage, to consider in selecting a material.
Carbon Steel
2. Atypical. Compare the previous example with this one showing an unusual pattern
of FAC in a deaerator. Courtesy: M&M Engineering Associates Inc.
of the shell side of the feedwater heater and

in crevices. These are the areas that can fail,
even if the steam is pure most of the time.
Where there is a potential for chloride or
caustic contamination of the steam, stainless
steels may not be the best fit or, at a minimum, alloys should be considered that have
a higher resistance to chloride attack, such
as 316 or 904L. In general however, it may
be more productive to work on eliminating
the potential for contamination than to alloy
around the problem.
The most commonly quoted downside to
the replacement of copper-alloy feedwater
heater tubes with stainless steel is the difference in thermal conductivity. A quick
look at the reference values will show that
a 304 stainless steel has only one-seventh
the thermal conductivity of admiralty brass
and about one-third the conductivity of 9010 Cu-Ni alloy. Numerous papers have been
published discussing why these textbook
values are unlikely to be experienced in the
real world. This is certainly an important
consideration with condenser tubes, where
the potential for cooling waterside deposits
and condenser cleanliness is likely to have a
much more prominent effect on heat transfer
than the textbook thermal conductivity of the
tube metal. However, feedwater heater tubes
should have little steam- or water-side fouling. Other factors, such as tube thickness
March 2015 POWER
Carbon steel is passivated by the formation

of a dual layer of magnetite (Fe3O4). The
layer closest to the metal is dense but very
thin, whereas the layer closest to the water is
more porous and less stable. Hydroxide ions
are necessary for the formation of magnetite.
Due to the common utility practice of using
feedwater to control the final temperature
of superheat and reheat steam, the source of
hydroxide in feedwater must be volatile, and
ammonia or an amine is generally used for
this purpose. A solid alkali such as sodium
hydroxide must never be introduced ahead
of where the takeoff to the attemporation is
located.
Ammonia is very volatile, remaining in
gaseous state during initial condensation.
This may occur in the deaerator, condenser,
or on the shell side of a feedwater heater. This
lowers the effective pH of the first condensate
and increases the solubility of the magnetite
layer in that area. This can increase the rate
of FAC in these areas.
For carbon steel, higher pH values are better for the production and stability of magnetite. Operating with low pH values in the
feedwater and condensate destabilizes magnetite and increases the rate of FAC on carbon
steel in the feedwater system. It also increases the iron in the feedwater, which generally
winds up on the waterwall tubes. This iron
deposition increases the risk of under-deposit
corrosion mechanisms, inhibits heat transfer
across the tube, and increases the frequency
of chemical cleaning.
A case can be made for the use of carbon
steel feedwater heater tubes, particularly alloys such as T-22, which contains 2.25%
chromium (Cr) and 1% molybdenum (Mo).
It has better thermal conductivity than stainless steel, is highly resistant to chloride SCC,
and because it contains 2.25% Cr, is generally considered immune to FAC.
3. Weakened. Dealloying, dezincification in brass alloys, or removal of nickel from

copper-nickel alloys will destroy the strength
of the material. Courtesy: M&M Engineering
Associates Inc.
termed ammonia grooving, where steam

and ammonia condense on the tube sheet and
support plates of the feedwater heater and run
over the tubes, creating a narrow group of
corrosion directly adjacent to the tube sheet
or support plate. Copper alloys containing
nickel are far less susceptible to ammoniainduced SCC.
Admiralty brass alloys have the additional
concern of corrosion of zinc in the alloy due
to low-pH conditions in the feedwater or
steam. Over time, the zinc can leach from
the brass matrix, leaving only the copper
sponge, which has little structural strength.
This mechanism is called dezincification. Although not as common, copper-nickel alloys
can also suffer from dealloying (Figure 3).
There are three separate rates associated
with the rate of corrosion of any copper alloy.
These have been referred to as:
Rdthe rate at which corrosion products

leave the surface as a dissolved species
in the water (typically copper ammonium
complexes).
Rfthe rate at which corrosion products
(copper oxides in operating steam and
condensate systems) form on the surface
of the metal.
Rsthe rate at which copper corrosion
products (typically oxides) leave the surface as suspended particles.
Copper Alloys
Copper alloy corrosion in the power industry
has been studied in depth due to problems
with copper deposits on the high-pressure
(HP) turbine that reduced turbine efficiency
and the maximum load that the unit could
produce.
Zinc-containing brass alloys such as admiralty brass are particularly susceptible to
attack from ammonia vapors. This can result
in ammonia-induced SCC on the steam side
of the condenser or feedwater heater. The
same alloys are susceptible to a mechanism
www.powermag.com
These rates are not necessarily correlated

with each other and may not occur under the
same chemical conditions. Copper oxide formation (Rf) can be protective, minimizing
further corrosion of the alloyas long as it
remains intact. When chemical conditions
change, such as moving from an oxidizing to
a reducing condition, Rd and Rs may increase
dramatically. Protective copper oxides are
aggressively dissolved by the combination of
ammonia, carbon dioxide, and oxygen. The
most common place for all three of these to
29
WATER & WASTEWATER

be present is in a copper-tubed condenser that
has air in-leakage issues.
Once these corrosion products are dissolved or entrained, they are subject to downstream chemical conditions, where a change
in the at-temperature pH or the oxidation reduction potential (ORP) in a specific location
can cause the copper to plate out as copper
metal on suction strainers, pump impellers,
or on another feedwater heater tube surface
in the form of a pure copper snakeskin.
They may also continue on through the feedwater system and deposit on a boiler or superheater tube or on the HP turbine. Similar
conditions (plating out) can occur in stainless
steel sample lines, making the accurate measurement of copper corrosion products in a
conventional sample line difficult.
Chemical Control of Feedwater

Proper alloy selection, either in the initial
construction or as equipment is replaced,
should be carefully considered. Once the
decision is made, the water chemistry program must follow to minimize corrosion of
the feedwater equipment and deposits in the
boiler and turbine. The more metals there are
in the mix, the more things need to be considered in the chemistry program. Copper alloys, in particular, force compromises, as the
Measuring pH
Accurate pH measurement in high-purity
water is difficult. The very low specific
conductivity of the water combined with
the potential for ammonia to be lost and
carbon dioxide to be simultaneously absorbed by the sample while it is being
collected and measured can lead to confusing results. Inaccurate pH monitoring
can result in over- or under-feeding of
ammonia or amines.
Continuous online pH monitoring using
pH probes specifically developed for highoptimum chemistry requirements for copper
and iron cannot be met simultaneously.
Feedwater pH Control. The pH limits
recommended on all ferrous-alloy condensate
and feedwater piping are now a minimum of
9.2 with an upper limit of 9.8 or even 10.0
in systems with an air-cooled condenser. If
there are no copper alloys in the system, the
biggest downside to having too much ammonia in the system is the frequent replacement
of cation conductivity columns rather than
corrosion in the carbon steel.
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purity water can improve the accuracy and

reliability of the measurement.
The pH of high-purity waters can also be
calculated from a combination of the specific conductivity and cation conductivity
results. This can be done manually, or there
are commercially available instruments that
display a calculated and measured pH.
Due to these issues with pH, specific
conductivity is often used to control the
ammonia feed instead of controlling directly from a pH meter.
generators (HRSGs), there can be a significant drop in pH of the low-pressure (LP)
drum water as ammonia (and some amines)
leaves with the LP steam. It is important that
the LP drum pH be monitored continuously
and controlled certainly within the range of
9.29.8. Some suggest a minimum pH of 9.4
for water in the LP drum to protect downstream high-pressure and intermediate-pressure economizers.
The current recommended pH range for
systems that have copper in either the main
condenser or feedwater heaters is 9.09.3.
(See the sidebar for an explanation of the necessity of accurate pH measurement.) Laboratory studies have shown that is actually the
minimum range for avoiding copper corrosion in the copper alloys used in feedwater
heaters and condensers. Lower feedwater and
condensate pH values (for example, pH 7.0)
have higher copper corrosion rates than pH 9,
particularly under oxidizing conditions.
Ammonia or Amines. The addition of
ammonia to condensate is the simplest and
most direct way to raise the pH of the condensate and feedwater into the desired range
to create and stabilize the magnetite layer. In
all-ferrous systems, there should be a clear
case or desired objective for using any other
chemical for pH control. On the other hand,
the use of neutralizing amines in the utility
steam cycle has a long, successful history,
particularly in units that have copper alloys
in the feedwater heaters.
The decision to use neutralizing amine
for iron corrosion should be based primarily on the need to provide more alkalinity (a
higher pH) in an area of concern than can be
achieved simply by increasing the ammonia
levels. This may include areas where steam
is first condensing into water, such as in an
air-cooled condenser, or where water/steam
mixtures are being released, such as in the
deaerator.
Although amines are more common when
copper alloys are found in the feedwater sys-

30
www.powermag.com
POWER March 2015
WATER & WASTEWATER

tem or condenser, their presence does not
necessarily require the use of a neutralizing
amine. There are many mixed-metallurgy
units that operate using ammonia and that
carefully control air in-leakage with very low
copper corrosion rates.
The choice of which neutralizing amine to
use (and there are many) should be based on
where and how it is to function. It is critical that
both the basicity (amount of pH rise per ppm of
amine) and volatility of the amine (the ratio of
what goes into the steam versus what remains
in the water) is matched to the application.
The criticism of the general use of amines
in high-pressure utility cycles is centered on
two issues: the degradation of these organic
molecules in the steam cycle (particularly in
the superheater and reheater) and the consequence of these degradation products
namely, an increase in the cation conductivity
of the condensate and feedwater.
It has been long known that as neutralizing amines pass through the steam cycle, they
break down into ammonia and organic acid
byproducts such as acetic acid, formic acid,
and carbon dioxide. The percentage of degradation is certainly specific to the particular
amine and concentration in the steam, but it is
also unit specific and depends, at a minimum,
on the size and complexity of the superheater
and reheater piping, where it appears most of
the degradation occurs.
Those who advocate for the sole use of
ammonia instead of amines point to the degradation of these products and see them as
single-use chemicalsgood for only one
trip around the steam cycle. If all the amine
degrades with one trip through the superheater and reheater, it cannot be available to
minimize the corrosion of copper condenser
tubes or affect the pH of a steam/water mixture in the feedwater, and so it would not be
worth the trouble.
However, there are many different factors that affect amine degradation rates and,
therefore, how beneficial an amine might be
in the system. These include the operating
pressure of the unit, where the copper alloys
are located, and whether the unit even has a
reheater. For example, in the standard tripledrum HRSG, a significant percentage of the
amine may leave with the LP steam, where it
recycles through the condenser and preheater sections of the HRSG and never sees the
high-temperature areas. This would significantly increase its longevity and usefulness.
All these factors need be taken into account
when considering whether an amine would
be beneficial at a particular plant. It would
behoove anyone who is considering trying
an amine to set up to sample and test for the
amine and degradation products around the
cycle and also quantify improvements to iron
March 2015 POWER
and copper corrosion rates. That will help

them determine, for their particular unit, if
the benefits of amine use outweigh the costs.
The degradation products of any amine
will add to the cation conductivity of the
condensate and feedwater. The longevity and
chemical structure of the amine will affect
the cation conductivity bump that the plant
will experience. Degassed cation conductivity can remove carbon dioxide but generally
not all the other organic acids produced by
amines. So if amines are used, the normal
cation conductivity will need to be adjusted
for the presence of these products.
condensate pump discharge, there is no protection for the copper alloy condenser tubes
against the combined effect of dissolved oxygen, carbon dioxide, and ammonia. This is
why it is so critical to minimize air in-leakage
and control feedwater pH.
Many units have been replacing copper
alloy feedwater heaters with carbon steel or
stainless steel tubes over the years. When the
last copper feedwater heater is replaced, the
reducing agent can almost always be eliminated, regardless of whether the condenser
contains copper alloys or not.
Carbon steel corrosion is inhibited by the
When the last copper feedwater heater is

replaced, the reducing agent can almost
always be eliminated, regardless of whether
the condenser contains copper alloys or not.
Controlling Oxidation Reduction
Potential
It can be generalized that the ability of an
alloy to withstand corrosion is a function of
the stability and tenacity of the oxide layer
that forms on the metal surface. As discussed
above, stainless steel has a very tight and
tenacious layer of chromium oxide that prevents corrosion of the metal from oxygen and
from the common pH ranges found in feedwater.
Establishing and maintaining a good oxide
layer on carbon steel is critical to minimizing
FAC. Copper oxides are also protectiveas
long as they remain in place.
Particularly in the case of copper alloys,
the oxide layer can be easily disrupted. Research has shown that one of the most corrosive times for copper alloys is when they
cycle between a reducing and oxidizing
condition. Therefore, it is imperative that
mixed-metallurgy feedwater systems contain
sufficient reducing agent such as hydrazine
or carbohydrazide to maintain a reducing
condition at all times.
A reducing condition is not the same as
the absence of dissolved oxygen. Regardless of how well the deaerator is functioning,
if there are copper feedwater heaters in the
system, the continuous addition of a reducing
agent is required to achieve the negative ORP
that is protective of copper alloys.
All volatile reducing agents used in utility
cycles break down at temperatures typically
associated with HP feedwater heaters or the
economizerand certainly by the time the
water reaches the boiler. Therefore, regardless of which reducing agent is added to the
www.powermag.com
presence of small amounts of dissolved oxygen. Research has shown that as little as 5
ppb to 10 ppb of dissolved oxygen significantly reduces the rate of FAC under feedwater conditions. This occurs because the
dissolved oxygen present in the low-temperature feedwater (from the condenser to the
deaerator) forms iron oxides that fill in the
pores of the outer layer of the magnetite, dramatically improving its stability. Even in the
absence of any measurable dissolved oxygen,
after the deaerator, the ORP remains positive
and increases the stability of the magnetite
layer through the HP feedwater heaters and
economizer.
The formation of these more resilient
protective oxides is the basis of oxygenated
treatment, which is successfully used on all
supercritical plants in North America and
many HP drum units. However, simply discontinuing the use of a reducing agent should
never be confused with oxygenated treatment, where pure oxygen is purposefully
injected, the deaerator vents are closed, and
the dissolved oxygen levels in the feedwater
are an order of magnitude higher than in a
conventional feedwater system.
Stable feedwater chemistry in the absence
of a reducing agent continues to strengthen
the passive oxide layer throughout the feedwater piping over time. Therefore, although
dissolved oxygen levels may temporarily
spike during a startup, it is also unnecessary
to add a reducing agent during layup or for
the subsequent startup.
David Daniels is a POWER contributing editor and senior principal scientist at

M&M Engineering Associates Inc.
31
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WATER & WASTEWATER
Mining for Lithium in Geothermal

Brine: Promising but Pricey
Courtesy: EnergySource
Brine, the waste stream of the geothermal power production cycle, is usually considered a nuisance. High in corrosive minerals, even when reinjected, its challenging to manage. So when Simbol Inc. showed it had a way to turn this waste stream
into a revenue stream by mining it for high-value minerals like lithium, a lot of
people got excited. However, just as this article was going to press, a lot of people
got laid off.
Gail Reitenbach, PhD
orldwide, the U.S. is the largest

producer of geothermal power;
however, geothermal energy provides less than 0.5% of total generation in
the U.S. Given geothermals small piece of
the U.S. electricity pie, it may surprise you to
learn that the nation is leading the way with
breakthrough technology to capitalize on
the economical use of valuable constituents
found in geothermal wastewater.
From Brine to Mine

Worldwide, geothermal wastewater, the
produced water or brine, is either disposed of by release to waterways (which
may cause adverse environmental effects
due to both its constituents and higher
temperature) or return to the geothermal
reservoir via reinjection wells. Use of this
wastewater, when that is an option, falls into
34
two main categories: using the brines energy value for a variety of heating purposes
and using the brines constituent elements.
The former is technically simpler. The latter
is often called a cascade use and has been
challenging to commercialize.
In the U.S., federal government funding
for geothermal research increased in 2014
and 2015 after a decline in previous years.
Though the bulk of those funds (well below what is provided for wind and solar) is
directed toward power production, byproduct uses are also considered. They include
support for Surprise Valley Electrification
Corp., a nonprofit Oregon rural cooperative
that has plans for a 3-MW geothermal power
plant that will send its waste heat for use by
aquaculture, greenhouse heating, and district
heating. The Department of Energy (DOE)
Geothermal Technologies Office Vision
www.powermag.com
Study also includes consideration of lowtemperature mineral recovery as an additive

value proposition. A previous DOE grant
(among others) went to a company that has
demonstrated such a value-added use of the
geothermal process.
In 2010, Simbol Mining Corp. received
$3 million from the DOE for a $9.6 million
project that was to produce battery chemicals
lithium, manganese, and zinc from Californias Salton Sea geothermal reservoir. The
company, formed in 2008, licensed technology from Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory. Simbol said, in a presentation
for the DOE, that its business model puts
mineral extraction into a separate company,
shielding the geothermal operator from risk
and letting each company focus on its core
competencies.
Former President and CEO Dr. John Burba
POWER March 2015
WATER & WASTEWATER

was previously technology director at FMC
Lithium, where he pioneered selective extraction of lithium from saturated salt brines. (A
Simbol representative told POWER on Feb. 5
that Burba was no longer with the company.)
By 2013 the Pleasanton, Calif.based company had demonstrated production of a high-purity lithium hydroxide through the electrolysis
method, produced the worlds first batterygrade lithium carbonate from a geothermal
brine, and achieved more than 9,000 hours of
demonstration plant operation.
Process Details
Simbol says its proprietary process eliminates traditional methods of invasive mining
or evaporation ponds that require significant
land, water, and energy use. The process is
said to produce virtually zero waste, while
consuming CO2, waste water, and other emissions from the geothermal power plant.
Although the company does not provide
details about its process, a January 2013 U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) report on lithium
says that it involves utilizing a unique reverseosmosis process, which eliminates the need
for solar evaporation, a crucial and lengthy
procedure in common brine operations.
Commercialization of Simbols technology began with a demonstration facility in
2010 and was followed by the opening of
what it says is the worlds highest purity
lithium carbonate plant in September 2011.
At the beginning of this year, the company
said it was preparing to break ground on its
first commercial lithium plant, which at full
capacity, is expected to produce enough
lithium for about 1.6 million plug-in hybrid
electric vehicles per year.
Why It Matters
The materials Simbol is extracting from
geothermal brine are high-value minerals
used in everything from the batteries used to
power electronic devices and electric cars to
military applications. As worldwide demand
grows for these materials, supplies and prices
have become a concern, and more countries
have begun development of their resources.
Worldwide lithium resources, for example,
are approximately 39.5 million tons, with 5.5
million tons of that total in the U.S.
According to the USGS, in 2012, Chile
and Australia both produced the largest volume of the super-light metal (13,000 metric
tons). From 2008 to 2011, the U.S. imported
96% of its lithium from Argentina and Chile.
As of 2012, the U.S. had only one commercially active lithium mine, in Nevada, and
only 68 people were employed by mine and
mill operations.
The Salton Sea area is believed to be the most
prolific mineral-rich brine source in the world,
March 2015 POWER
which explains why it is an ideal place to commercialize this technology. Other locations may
be more restricted to using other geothermal reservoir minerals and gases, depending on market
needs for those constituents. (See the web exclusive New Zealand Strives to Maximize the
Value of Geothermal Wastewater, associated
with this issue online, for a look at how New
Zealand is exploring these opportunities.)
When Tesla Motors opens what will be the
worlds largest battery factory in 2017, in Nevada, it will need lots of battery-grade lithium
from a reliable source. Even though Nevada
is said to have large lithium deposits, the cost
of production is lower in other countries.
The Desert Sun reported on Jan. 15 that
Simbol expects full-scale production to begin in 2018; if the first plant finds success,
the company said it could eventually build
10 more in the valley, which would have a
productive life of 600 years, according to
Tracy Sizemore, the companys vice president of business development. The promise
of a high-demand value-added product could
boost prospects for additional geothermal energy development in the area.
Simbol believes it can produce these materials at a competitive price, in part because
its raw materials source is a secure, scalable,
and sustainable resource base. The company
expects the Salton Sea will yield many decades of lithium, manganese, and zinc materials securing our critical materials future.
Co-Location Advantage
The Simbol pilot plant is co-located with
the John L. Featherstone Geothermal Power
Plant shown in the header photo (formerly
known as Hudson Ranch 1) in Californias
Imperial Valley. When the 49-MW plant,
owned and operated by EnergySource, went
into commercial operation in March 2012, it
was the first stand-alone geothermal plant to
go online in the Salton Sea area in 20 years.
Power from Featherstone is sold to Salt River
Project, an Arizona public power and irrigation district.
The Simbol Minerals extraction plant will
use Featherstones spent, but still warm brine
as a feedstock, before it is reinjected into the
reservoir. By extracting the corrosive minerals that are the bane of geothermal plants everywhere, before the brine is reinjected into
the reservoir, Simbol would help the power
plant minimize pipe damage. (This article
was written Feb. 1. When I contacted several
Simbol executives over the following week,
they did not respond to POWERs requests
for information about any leasing, revenue
share, or other financial details of the partnership with EnergySource.)
To support the Simbol plants expected demand for about 200,000 MWh per year, the
www.powermag.com
Imperial Irrigation District has said it is considering plans to build a natural gasfired plant
next to the lithium plant. The minerals plant is
also expected to use roughly 2,400 acre-feet of
water each year, which would come from the
Colorado River via the All-American Canal.
The New York Times reported last spring
that from 2011 to March 2014, Simbols pilot
plant had extracted about 100 metric tons of
lithium from the Featherstone plants brine. As
the Times noted, another benefit of colocation
is that geothermal companies have an exemption from water laws that allows them to pump
their brine back into the ground. That exempts
Simbol from any future potential cleanup or
environmental mitigation costs.
More recently, on Jan. 15, The Desert Sun
reported that construction of the large-scale,
commercial plant is expected to employ 400
people during an 18-month construction period and between 120 and 150 people once finished. Many of those high-wage jobs could
go to residents of the Imperial Valley, one of
the states most impoverished areas.
From Boon to Bust

Then, on Feb. 3, local news sources started
reporting that Simbol had fired the majority
of its employees the previous week. Chief
Financial Officer Pete Sunada told The Desert Sun that the company can produce the
high-quality lithium, as advertised, but that
there wasnt enough funding to build the fullscale extraction plant, so it didnt make sense
to keep so many employees on the payroll.
When I spoke very briefly with Sunada on
Feb. 4, he sounded flustered but did not share
information about the layoffs.
The local paper said Sunada insisted the
company still plans to build the full-scale
plant and that executives are actively in
talks with a group interested in purchasing
a majority stake. Others, including EnergySource CEO Dave Watston, are more skeptical. Watson told the paper that even though
the two companies had settled on terms for
brine use in 2014, he hadnt heard from Simbol since December.
Nevertheless, EnergySource isnt writing
off the technology. Watson was quoted as
saying, We do feel very confident that this
technology will be picked back up at some
point in the not-very-distant future. It really
needs good management, and the focus was
on all the wrong things (at Simbol).
Developing game-changing technologies,
especially in the energy space, is just the first
step. Taking the much bigger leap of securing
sufficient start-up capital to prove the technologys commercial feasibility has been the downfall of many enterprises. Whether Simbols
name is added to that list remains to be seen.
Gail Reitenbach, PhD is POWERs editor.

35
AUXILIARY SYSTEM EFFICIENCY & RELIABILITY
Save Power with Natural Cooling

for Building Ventilation
Tougher environmental regulations are pushing for more energy efficient coal
plants. Every kilowatt counts, and the boiler building ventilation system
can free up many of them.
Brandon Bell
ith the final Clean Power Plan rule

covering existing power plants
scheduled for release this summer,
and the amount of flexibility that has been
afforded to the states to meet emissions targets, states have a variety of options that can
be explored to meet this regulation. Plant
upgrades, improving energy efficiency, fuel
switching, and promoting renewable energy
are just a few. With these options in mind,
generators that expect coal-fired units to
remain operational in the long term need to
start evaluating all plant systems for potential
auxiliary power savings.
In all thermal power plants a portion of
the electricity produced is needed to operate
the plants auxiliary systems. These consist
of fans, pumps, compressors, and even plant
lighting. With more efficient plant auxiliary
systems, more electrical energy is available
for sale, and the plant operates at a higher efficiency, with reduced carbon pollution.
One system to consider when evaluating
potential energy savings is the boiler building ventilation system. In coal-fired power
plants, a large amount of heat is released during the combustion process. The intent of this
process is to transfer thermal energy from the
combustion process to a working fluid (water
and steam) to be used for electric power generation. In order to contain as much thermal
energy in the boiler as possible, thick insulation is installed on the boiler casing to retain
thermal energy in the working fluid.
Unfortunately, insulation is unable to contain all the thermal energy, and some heat
is transferred to the ambient surroundings
inside the boiler building. In addition to the
heat from combustion, many other forms
of heat generation exist within these buildings. All the fans, pumps, and compressors
required to operate the plant are driven either
by electric motors or steam turbine drives.
Electric motors convert electrical energy to
mechanical energy. This conversion of energy is not ideal, and the inefficiencies result in
heat rejection to the environment. Steam tur36
bine drives have the same issue as the boiler,

and insulation is unable to contain all their
thermal energy.
Cool-Down Options
If they are not controlled, heat losses from all
sources in the boiler building would increase
internal ambient temperatures to a point where
workers would not be able to enter the building for safety reasons. To counter the large
amount of heat generated from combustion
and equipment, boiler buildings are equipped
with very large ventilation systems to continuously draw in cooler air from outside and remove hot air from within the building.
At the majority of coal-fired boiler buildings, a forced ventilation system is used to
remove hot air from the structure and draw
cooler air in. Large fans are installed on the
roof, with intake louvers at the base of the
structure to accomplish the needed ventilation. Because of the large amounts of air being moved, some boiler building ventilation
systems may require in excess of 450 kW of
operating power for a single boiler.
In addition to using auxiliary power for
operation, forced ventilation systems require
regular maintenance to remain operational.
Routine maintenance tasks include belt replacements, motor rewinds, bearing replacements, and fan realignments. Some existing
systems may also contain known hazardous
materials such as asbestos insulation or lead
paint. Over time, the asbestos insulation will
deteriorate and fall off, and lead paint begins
to chip or peel from surfaces. These substances are hazardous to workers and require
special, costly removal processes.
However, alternatives to forced ventilation
systems exist that both reduce auxiliary loading and the need for continuous maintenance
activities. Natural ventilation systems, sometimes referred to as gravity ventilation systems, are typically used as replacements for
forced ventilation systems. Their designs are
simple in nature, have very few moving parts,
and require little to no maintenance.
www.powermag.com
Leveraging the Stack Effect

In a natural ventilation system, large openings in a structures roof are used in lieu of
the smaller openings that are common to most
forced ventilation systems. These larger openings promote movement of hotter, buoyant air
out of the structure, resulting in the stack effect. Multiple sources of heat rejection inside
the boiler building will drive the ambient air
temperature up until it is higher than the ambient temperature outside the building.
The difference in temperature creates a
difference in air density and air pressure
(Figure 1). Because the warmer air inside the
boiler building has a lower density than the
cooler air outside, a difference in air pressure
is created, with the higher pressure located
outside of the boiler building.
Due to this developed pressure differential,
cooler, outdoor ambient air will naturally try
to infiltrate the lower portion of the structure
while trying to equalize internal/external air
pressures. In the case of a forced ventilation
1. Stacks are stacks. The same forces

that govern pressure differentials in combustion system stacks will apply to boiler building
ventilation. Courtesy: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
POWER March 2015

2. Same principle, different name. A ridge vent uses the same principle as the clam-
3. Wind-cooled structure. Louvers
shell but is smaller and has a slightly different shape. Ridge vents like this MoffittVent are common in the power industry. Courtesy: Moffitt Corp.
placed around a building can take advantage

of wind cooling. Courtesy: NREL
system, the fans induce a large pressure differential that drives the movement of air. Because
the pressure differential is large, only a small
opening in the roof is required. By contrast,
the pressure differential in a natural ventilation system is much smaller than that of a
forced ventilation system; therefore, a larger
open area on the top of the boiler building is
required to lessen flow restrictions and compensate for the reduced pressure differential.
Various commercial products are available
to appropriately address the need for additional open roof area. Depending on the heat
distribution within the building and the ambient environment, a simple louver may suffice.
This will provide the building with additional
open roof space while protecting the buildings
contents from weather elements such as rain.
These louvers can either be manually adjusted
or motor driven to vary the amount of roof
opening required for adequate ventilation.
For structures requiring high airflow
movement, a clamshell-style natural ventilator may be the most appropriate solution
(Figure 2). A clamshell-style natural ventilator will provide the same benefits as a louver;
however, the percentage of free area to face
area will be greater.
For a louvered application, the free area to
face area ratio typically ranges from 50% to
60%. With a clamshell-style natural ventilator, the free area to face area is 100%. This
equates to more equivalent roof opening area
while still protecting the interior from outdoor weather events. Similar to a louvered
application, dampers inside the clamshell
natural ventilator can be opened or closed to
allow the appropriate amount of airflow in
and out of the structure. Manual chain drive
or motor actuators can be provided to accomplish this function.
An equation for estimating stack effect
ventilation follows:
QS = Cd A
2 g Hd
March 2015 POWER
TI TO
TI
Where:
Qs = ventilation airflow rate
Cd = discharge coefficient for an opening
A = cross-section area of opening
g = gravity
Hd = distance between the middle upper
and lower openings
TI = average indoor temperature
To = average outdoor temperature
Wind-Powered Ventilation
Wind can also play a role in improving the
efficiency of a natural ventilation system.
When a building is exposed to winds, the
windward side of the structure will experience an increase in ambient pressure, while
the leeward side will experience a decrease
in ambient pressure. Similar to the buoyancy
forces that contribute to the stack effect, the
pressure of the windward and leeward sides
of the structure will try to equalize. With adequate openings in the sides of a boiler building (Figure 3), additional air movement can
be achieved, resulting in lower indoor ambient temperatures.
The equation for estimating airflow induced by wind follows:
QWIND = A x V x k
Where:
QWIND = volume of airflow
V = outdoor wind speed
A = area of smallest opening
k = coefficient of effectiveness
Additional Considerations
Natural ventilation systems can be designed
to operate without the need for electrical
power. In some instances, it may be advantageous to utilize power for adjustments of
the effective open space on the rooftop, but
for most of the systems operation, the equipment is static, resulting in minimal wear and
tear on components.
www.powermag.com
However, a conversion to natural ventilation may not be practical for all coal-fired
units. A feasibility and cost/benefit analysis should be performed to determine the
amount of effective area required for natural
ventilation within a structure. The required
area might not be attainable due to existing
roof configuration; in such cases, at best, a
partial conversion may be possible.
Some plants dont have to worry about
this issue. There are a number of coal-fired
units (located in fair weather states) that
have been constructed as outdoor units. This
open type of construction means that no
building surrounds the boiler, steam turbine,
and auxiliary systems; thus, no ventilation
system is required or installed.
Given that only the most energy efficient
coal plants are expected to remain economic
once the Clean Power Plan is finalized, every kilowatt of auxiliary power savings will
be needed to increase the odds of continued
operation. The conversion from a forced ventilation system to a natural ventilation system
can free up approximately 90% of the power
used by a purely forced ventilation system.
For a typical 600-MW power plant, this can
equate to approximately 400 kW of power
savings.
Even without the regulatory consideration, existing forced ventilation systems
will continue to age, become increasingly
unreliable, and replacement parts will be
increasingly harder to find. For all of these
reasons, a new approach to boiler building
ventilation using natural forces should be
considered for future operation.
Brandon Bell (bbell@valdeseng.com)

is a senior project manager for Valdes
Engineering Co. and a POWER
contributing editor.
37
SCR Reheat Burners Keep NOx in

Spec at Low Loads
Optimal NOx removal by a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system requires
the inlet gas temperature to remain within a prescribed range. How does
a baseload unit meet NOx permit limits when its cycled and SCR inlet gas
temperatures dip?
Robert Parent and Bruce Rivera
elective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems installed in steam generators for

NOx reduction are ordinarily designed
for full boiler load conditions, when SCR
inlet temperatures normally exceed unitspecific temperatures in order for the catalyst
to function efficiently. Under full-load conditions, SCR units operate at optimum levels of NOx reduction, often exceeding 90%,
with minimal ammonia slip, although the
optimum temperature range heavily depends
on the type of catalyst used and the flue gas
constituents.
The unit operating profile when an SCR
was added often bears little resemblance to
its operating profile today, now that low-load
operation has become increasingly common.
Low natural gas prices have spurred construction of high-efficiency combined cycle
plants that now compete with coal-fired generation in many regions of the U.S. for the
top spot in the dispatch order. Also, some
units are disadvantaged in the dispatch order
because large amounts of renewable energy
are available, principally wind and particularly at night, which tends to push coal-fired
units into cycling or load-balancing service.
A coal-fired unit originally built as a
baseload unit but now forced into cycling
service will experience lower SCR inlet gas
temperatures, which in turn will reduce the
SCR catalysts ability to efficiently remove
NOx. In addition, reduced gas temperatures
can reduce SCR catalyst activity due to pore
blockage on the catalyst surface from the
condensation of ammonium bisulfate (ABS)
and ammonium sulfate (AS).
At full load, the SCR inlet temperature
exceeds the salt dew point; therefore, salt
condensation is avoided. At below design
gas temperatures, ammonium salts are
formed when ammonia is injected into the
flue gas to react with NOx due to undesirable
side reactions with SO3 and H2SO4. As these
salts deposit on the SCR catalyst, there is a
38
resulting loss of catalyst de-NOx capability,

as access for the SCR reactants (NOx, NH3v
and O2) is inhibited.
The natural consequence of reduced SCR
inlet temperatures is to experience catalyst
deactivation and/or increased ammonia slip.
Increased ammonia slip can also cause plugging or corrode downstream components,
and ammonia absorption by fly ash may affect disposal or reuse of the fly ash.
SCR Performance Problem Solving

Coal-fired units experiencing one or more
SCR problems caused by cycling or loadfollowing service just described have three
potential solutions to their problem.
One common option is to install gas-side
economizer bypass ductwork to divert a portion of the hot flue gas that would normally
enter the economizer and send it directly to
the inlet of the SCR. This option has three
important issues that must be addressed.
First, an economizer bypass can be an
expensive option due to the high capital and
installation costs for the structural steel, bypass ducts, diverting dampers, actuators, and
expansion joints. The existing flue gas ductwork often makes locating new ductwork
for the economizer bypass difficult. Second,
some plants have required pressure part modifications associated with split economizer
designs. Third, less energy is transferred to
the boiler feedwater with an economizer bypass. The consequence is a small reduction in
boiler efficiency and, therefore, a corresponding increase in fuel consumption in order to
maintain required steam production.
Another option that has found favor is to
make a fuel switch to low-sulfur coal. A coal
that produces a lower concentration of SO3
at the SCR inlet will reduce the formation
of ABS and AS. This option can be very expensive, as the delivered cost for low-sulfur
coal is often higher than for medium- to highsulfur coal. Many other unit and plant equipment upgrades are required to efficiently
and safely burn low-sulfur coal. If refueling
is a viable option, then begin your research
1. Heating flue gas. Register burners can be added to existing ductwork upstream of the
ammonia injection grid to heat the flue gas in order to obtain optimum performance of the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system under all operating conditions. Source: Forney Corp.
Boiler
Ammonia injection
grid
Coal
Air
SCR
reheat
burners
SCR
reactor
Air
preheater
Electrostatic
precipitator
www.powermag.com
POWER March 2015

2. Retrofit register burner. A fully assembled register burner system includes a
combustion chamber, combustion air blower,
and burner management system. Courtesy:
Forney Corp.
Noteworthy Case Study

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO),
one of the seven energy distribution companies
of NiSource Inc., produces and supplies electricity to the northern third of Indiana. NIPSCO
is also the states largest natural gas distribution
company. NIPSCOs Bailly Generating Station
(BGS) is located in Chesterton, on the shore of
Lake Michigan, in northwest Indiana (Figure 3).
The plant consists of two supercritical coal-fired
units.
Unit 7, which entered service in 1962,
uses a Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) cyclone

boiler that produces 160 MW. Unit 8, also
using a B&W cyclone boiler, has a net fullload output of 320 MW and was installed
in 1968. The plant burns bituminous coal
containing about 3% sulfur. Both units are
equipped with SCR for NOx control, electrostatic precipitators for particulate matter
(PM) control, and SBS Injection for SO3
control. The two units share a common wet
limestone flue gas desulfurization system
and stack.
3. Indiana plant on Lake Michigan.

NIPSCOs Bailly Generating Station consists
of two coal-fired supercritical units built in the
1960s that share a common stack. Courtesy:
NIPSCO
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
Reference Project:
RIGA TPP-2, 2nd Unit, Latvia
by contacting the PRB Coal Users Group

(www.prbcoals.com).
The third and lowest capital cost option
for solving low SCR inlet gas temperature
problems is to install one or more SCR reheat burners in the ductwork upstream of the
SCR inlet (Figure 1). Typically, one or more
register burners can be strategically mounted
directly on the outside of the existing SCR
ductwork, which is particularly effective in
high-ash environments.
Register burners inject high-velocity, hightemperature air directly into the flue gas stream
across the width of the duct. This results in
even mixing and a uniform temperature distribution to the SCR ammonia injection grid
that is critical for efficient SCR operation.
Also, the register burner design eliminates the
problems of slagging, ash buildup, and burner
fouling. The external burners also minimize
added system pressure drop.
A typical register burner system consists
of a gas or oil burner, igniter, flame detector, combustion air blower, combustion
chamber, and a burner management system
(Figure 2). Design and layout of the burner
system is determined using computational
fluid dynamics modeling, ensuring optimal
heat distribution across the ammonia injection grid.
Water & Steam Sampling & Analysis Systems
Designed, manufactured and tested in Switzerland
SWAN SYSTEME AG
www.swansystems.ch
March 2015 POWER
www.powermag.com
39

4. Adding burners. NIPSCOs Bailly Generating Station added three natural gasfired 40
MMBtu/hr register burners to Unit 8 (whose data are shown in the figure) and one to Unit 7 in
2011. Each burner has a maximum firing temperature of 1,000F. Burners are engaged when the
flue gas temperature entering the SCR drops below 633F (marked by the red line) and the gas
is reheated to approximately 633F. The dotted line illustrates the maximum capability of the Unit
8 SCR reheat system. Data are for Unit 8 operations during October 2010. Source: NIPSCO
5. Assembling burners. The three

burner systems are preassembled prior to installation on Unit 8. Courtesy: NIPSCO
750
SCR inlet temp. (F)
700
650
6. Burner lift. A register burner is lifted

into place on Unit 8. Courtesy: NIPSCO
600
550
SCR reheat system design point with three SCR
reheat burners (1,000F injection temperature)
500
450
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Unit load (MW)
The plant has been operating, since

January 2011, under the terms of a legal
settlement between NIPSCO and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency regarding
compliance with the Clean Air Act. The consent decree specifies the maximum 30-day
rolling average emission rates for NOx, SO2,
and PM emissions for both units combined.
Emissions data are collected by the plants
continuous emissions monitoring system
mounted on the combined stack, and a new
30-day rolling average is calculated each
calendar day. The average emission rates
that occur during the daily averaging period specifically include startup, shutdown,
and malfunctions that may occur each day.
The consent decree does allow for specific
malfunctions that qualify as a force majeure
event that arent factored into the rolling average emission rate.
Both units are operated based on system
demand and are regularly cycled. During
reduced load conditions, the flue gas temperature often drops below the 645F minimum temperature setpoint for the operation
of the Unit 8 ammonia injection system for
the SCR, as the June through October 2010
operating data illustrates (Figure 4). This
system limitation means that when the plant
is dispatched to lower loads that reduce the
flue gas temperature below 645F, the ammonia injection system does not start, SCR
efficiency remains low, and the plant could
fail to meet the 30-day rolling average NOx
limit (0.18 lb/MMBtu) specified in the consent decree.
BGS determined that adding four Forney
40
natural gasfired register burners (three on

Unit 8 and one on Unit 7) minimizes the risk
of the plant failing to meet NOx emissions
limits during low-load operation and thereby
avoids expensive penalties associated with
noncompliance. The four register burners
were installed in 2011.
The register burners were delivered to BGS
three months after drawing approval. The
three Unit 8 burners were lifted into place in
June 2011 and placed onto a structural foundation adjacent to the SCR inlet ductwork.
Each SCR burner assembly weighs approximately 17,600 pounds (Figures 5 and 6).
The SCR register reheat burners are
monitored and modulated by two separate
control systems: the burner management
system (BMS) and the combustion control system (CCS). An Invensys I/A Series
distributed control system (DCS) using
a dedicated pair of fault-tolerant CP270
controller modules manages each of the
three control systems. BGS also uses the
Invensys DCS platform in other areas of
plant operation.
During operation, the heat load at the
outlet of the economizer is calculated by
the CCS by multiplying the difference
between the economizer average outlet
temperature and SCR inlet temperature
with the specific heat of the flue gas and
the flue gas mass flow rate. This value is
trimmed by the SCR inlet temperature
trim controller, and the final calculated
value is used by the CCS as the heat that
must be added to the economizer outlet
gas (heat) to maintain the necessary SCR
www.powermag.com
inlet temperature. The number of burners

required (Unit 8 only) is determined by dividing the heat by the maximum thermal
energy available from a single burner. The
BMS determines when burners are started
and stopped once the system is in service.
Multiple burners are operated in parallel in
order to maintain a uniform exit gas temperature across the duct at the ammonia
injection grid.
Compliance Risks Avoided

The 320-MW BGS Unit 8 has experienced
no loss of ammonia injection at reduced load
since the SCR reheat burners were installed
in June 2011. The burners have worked flawlessly in maintaining the minimum ammonia
injection temperature above 635F under all
operating conditions. BGS also reports that
the 635F permissive temperature for ammonia injection can be maintained down to 180
MW, which gives the utility additional flexibility in plant dispatch.
An added benefit is the ability to use the
SCR reheat burners during unit startup time
from cold start to full load. Depending on
the specific boiler conditions during rampup, one, two, or three reheat burners are engaged. This can reduce the startup time by 2
to 6 hours as the ammonia injection permissive temperature is achieved faster. This has
a positive influence in the compliance emission rate calculations.
Robert Parent (robert.parent

@forneycorp.com) is sales manager for
Forney Corp. Bruce Rivera (brivera
@nisource.com ) was NIPSCOs project
manager for the installations.
POWER March 2015
Navigating the
CCR Ruling
Were partnering with clients nationwide
to lay the groundwork for safe and costefective CCR management. If youre ready
to take the next step, were ready to help
you navigate all the critical compliance
factors. This is where great begins.
hdrinc.com
Protecting Steam Cycle

Components During Low-Load
Operation of Combined Cycle Gas
Turbine Plants
How low can you go? Thats the question owners of gas turbine combined cycle plants are asking these days as they are being called upon to operate
those units for rapid response in markets where load following is becoming the norm. The resulting cyclic operation introduces challenges that
can result in damage to steam cycle components if you arent careful.
Dave Moelling, Peter Jackson, and Jim Malloy
riginally, the modern combined cycle

gas turbine (CCGT) unit was developed to act as a largely baseload
source of generation due to its high thermal
efficiency and low initial capital cost. But as
markets developed for independent power,
the service requirements changed. Many
markets were essentially energy only (MWh)
and while high-efficiency CCGT plants were
competitive during peak daytime hours, their
limited turndown capability and high partload heat rates were uneconomic at night.
The result was that most new CCGT units
were required to do overnight shutdowns
(two-shift cycling) during the work week and
longer shutdowns over weekends. As natural
gas prices have dropped in North America,
and renewables with significant tax credits
and take-or-pay contracts expanded, markets
have had to change to a combination of energy and capacity supply plus related ancillary services. This has increased the need for
operational flexibility in CCGT units.
Historically, large gas turbine units have
been limited in turndown to about 60% of rated
power while maintaining acceptable exhaust
gas emissions of NOx and CO. Turndowns
were controlled in such a way that exhaust
gas temperatures would rise as load dropped.
As operational demand for better low-load
capabilities increased, GT original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs) offered modifications
to equipment and controls to allow good emissions performance down to 40% to 50% of
design load. The Alstom sequential combustor
design in the GT24/26 designs could go even
lower: 20% to 30% of design power.
Having the ability to operate at lower
power levels, plants can keep the steam sys42
tem hot and online rather than go offline at

low-demand periods. This reduces wear and
tear on the gas turbine and steam turbine (ST)
from frequent starts, as in equivalent start
formulations. The cost to start a large GT is
typically estimated at $12,000 to $15,000 per
start. Thermal cycling of the heat-recovery
steam generator (HRSG) is also reduced by
eliminating extra starts.
The primary driver in many markets is
the ability of a plant to participate in 10- and
30-minute synchronized reserve markets. Increasing wind generation, especially in takeor-pay systems, increases the need for rapid
online reserve capability both day and night.
For 2 x 1 CCGT units, taking only one unit
offline while running the remaining unit at
low load can maximize a plants rapid reserve
capacity while minimizing fuel expense.
Reduced power and fuel use at extended
low load also reduces total NOx and CO2
emissions per hour. This can be valuable in
plants that have tight air permits.
One of the largest areas of concern for
low-load operation is a CCGTs steam cycle.
This article provides an overview of the components that may be affected by low-load
operation and highlights some potential solutions and the trade-offs involved.
A Vulnerable Steam Cycle

The gas turbine generator sets the operating limits of a CCGT unit, but can the steam
cycle handle them? Changes to CCGT plants
for low-load operation are usually started as
GT modifications. Often these are part of
general GT improvement packages and are
implemented before considering the entire
plant capabilities at low loads. The ability of
www.powermag.com
the steam cycle elements of HRSG, power

piping, steam turbine generator, and condenser to function reliably at lower GT loads
is essential to effective low-load operation.
HRSGs
Heat-recovery steam generators are optimized for full-power GT operation and often
include the ability to add substantial heat via
duct burners. At low loads, the amount of
steam produced is significantly lower than at
full-power conditions. The operating steam
pressures are also lower than in full-power
operation. These pose challenges to ensure
that the HRSG is operating within design
limits and avoiding any unnecessary damage
to HRSG components. Brief discussion of
several such challenges follows.
Keeping Metals Cool Enough. At
low-load conditions it is often difficult to
keep heat exchange surfaces below design
temperatures or operationally limited temperature. The finned tube designs of pressure
parts in HRSGs are very effective in moving
heat from the exhaust gas to the tube wall. At
part loads, several things happen to make this
problem worse. The total mass flow of the GT
exhaust is reduced, but often the temperature
is increased. This results in lower steam flow
from evaporators that is available to cool superheater and reheater tubes. Maintaining
the required outlet steam temperatures while
keeping intermediate metal temperatures below limits can be a challenge.
As an example, consider a large (170-MW)
GT in combined cycle service. At design fullpower conditions, exhaust gas flow is around
3,400,000 lb/hr at 1,150F to the HRSG. At
low load (85 MW) flow is 2,456,000 lb/hr
POWER March 2015

Table 1. HRSG design tube temperature comparison. Source: Tetra Engineering
Tube location
Design tube temperature (F)
Max. operating tube

temperature (F)
Tube temp. at 50%

load; TEG 1,214F
HPSH4
1,125
1,100
1,095
RH31
1,125
1,100
1,098
RH32
1,125
1,100
1,090
HPSH3
1,065
1,040
951
RH2
1,061
1,036
965
HPSH21
1,125
1,100
All well below design
HPSH22
1,125
1,100
RH1
1,100
1,075
935
910
HPSH1
Notes: HPSH = high-pressure superheater, RH = reheater, TEG = turbine exhaust gas.
and 1,210F1,215F.
Recently, a large GTCC plant in the U.S.
implemented an extended turndown with
a GT performance upgrade. The increased
turbine exhaust temperature was around
1,208F1,215F at about a 50% output level.
Problems were observed with the existing
desuperheater spray valves, which prevented
raising spray flows, so steam temperatures
rose from 1,048F to 1,058F1,060F. This
raised owner concerns about exceeding design tube metal temperatures in the superheaters and reheaters.
The maximum tube temperatures set for
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code
calculation is the design midwall (average)
tube temperature allowed. The design allowance for spread in tubes temperatures is
typically around 25F. Thus, the average tube
temperatures should be 25F below the design
temperature. The tube temperatures at the actual operating conditions were checked at the
higher steam temperature for acceptability, as
shown in Table 1. The values were acceptable
but close to limits. Operation was not feasible until the desuperheater spray valves were
modified to allow greater spray amounts.
Keeping Steam Cool Enough for Making Power. With lower steam flows and
higher GT exhaust temperatures, the final

steam temperatures from main steam and
hot reheat can be more difficult to keep at required values. Often at low loads, the steam
turbine will also have reductions in allowed
steam inlet temperatures.
Almost all modern drum type HRSGs regulate final steam temperatures (main steam
and hot reheat steam) with interstage spray
attemperators. These are typically located
between the primary and secondary stages of
superheaters (SH) and reheaters (RH). This
arrangement avoids risks of water intrusion
to the steam turbine and allows some control
of tube metal temperatures in the final stages
of superheat and reheat.
Desuperheaters usually have a minimum
March 2015 POWER
steam velocity and upstream enthalpy requirements set by the OEM to ensure good
droplet evaporation. The area of the SH/RH
surface is fixed, and at low flows the effectiveness ( ) of the surface is much higher than
at higher flows. Effectiveness is defined as:
=
Ch(th,in th,out)
Cmin(th,out tc,in)
The values Ch and Cmin are the heat capacity rates of the hot fluid (gas) and the minimum
(steam) rate as mass flow x heat capacity.
As flow is reduced (steam side), Cmin is reduced, increasing effectiveness because the
outlet steam is more easily heated to the gas
temperature range.
The derivative of Tc,out to Tc, in is simply
(1 ).
At low flows (<50%) the change in outlet temperature for a given inlet temperature
change is only 40% or so of its value at full
flow. Large changes in inlet temperature after desupereaters are required for even small
reductions in final steam temperature. This
high spray water to steam flow ratio can lead
to incomplete evaporation and liquid water
accumulation on pipe and header walls.
Improved sprays and spray controls can
allow additional spray capacity without violating limits on approach to saturation temperature, but they still cannot fully compensate
for reduced steam flow in some units. The addition of terminal attemperation sprays in the
outlet steam lines is possible, but the installation should be in compliance with ASME
TDP-1 (Prevention of Water Damage to Steam
Turbines Used for Electric Power Generation:
Fossil-Fuel Plants).
Adding Steam Attemperation. Some
newer HRSGs have steam attemperation to
help control final steam temperature. Typically, some amount of colder steam is taken
from the saturated steam outlet of the steam
drum (for main steam) or the cold reheat piping (for hot reheat steam). This colder steam is
www.powermag.com
then piped to the steam outlet to cool the steam

flow to the turbine. With no liquid water, the
risk of thermal shock damage to the piping or
steam turbine is eliminated. However, using
this bypass steam reduces the steam flow to
the superheater and reheater sections in the
HRSG. This can result in higher tube metal
temperatures due to inadequate cooling.
A newer HRSG has been equipped with
steam attemperation instead of interstage
desuperheaters in the reheat steam. At extended turndown, the steam attemperation
was successful in maintaining final RH temperatures, but because the system reduced
steam flow in the RH tube panels, local steam
temperature limits were exceeded. These
were set to prevent overheating of the tubes
and headers in the RH system.
Managing Inlet Exhaust Gas Attemperation. Cooling the inlet exhaust gas to
lower temperatures is another method of

controlling metal temperatures in the HRSG
at low loads. This cooling can be done by
water spray or ambient air fed into the hot
exhaust gas. In both cases, the actual process
of mixing with the highly turbulent, swirling exhaust gas must be carefully designed
to achieve a uniform cooling and avoid damage to the HRSG inlet duct or pressure parts.
Failure of air attemperation components can
result in consequential damage to pressure
partstypically, the finish high-pressure
(HP) superheater or reheater tube panel
immediately downstream.
Figure 1 shows a system where water is
sprayed into the inlet exhaust gas. It worked
well, but overspray can damage the liner
plates, as seen in Figure 2. At other plants
with water sprayed into the duct, repair of
spray nozzles has become a regular maintenance issue.
Colder ambient air can be used to reduce
exhaust gas temperature. Figure 3 shows a
system to blow cold ambient air into the inlet
exhaust gas at a CC unit with a GE Frame
7FA gas turbine. The system works, but the
highly turbulent inlet duct flow can lead to
damage in the air inlets and consequential
damage to HRSG heat transfer surfaces, as
seen in Figure 4.
Keeping Gas Hot Enough. At the inlet
to the HRSG, the problem is exhaust gas that
is too hot, but as the exhaust travels through
the HRSG, it can be cooled to an excessively
low temperature. In many cases, additional
operational constraints are required.
For example, plants with NOx control by selective catalytic reduction systems (SCRs) will
have a specific temperature range for operation.
SCRs are usually located just after the HP evaporator sections for this purpose. At low loads
in sliding pressure operation, the HP evaporator
pressures can be low enough that the low satu43

1. Solution. This water spray attemperation nozzle is part of a system used to spray
water into the inlet exhaust gas. It worked, but
overspray can damage liner plates, as shown in
the next figure. Courtesy: Tetra Engineering
ration pressure, combined with large evaporator heat exchange surface, will produce low gas
temperatures entering the SCR.
Recently, a plant in the European Union
(EU) commissioned extended turndown at
20% using the Alstom sequential combustion
system. The operation was successful, but gas
temperatures were very low in the HRSG. No
SCR was required in the plant, but local gas
temperatures would have been too low for
operation if an SCR were required. At plants
with SCRs, raising the HP drum pressure by
modulating turbine admission valves may be
necessary to keep the SCR functioning and the
unit in compliance with emissions permits.
Avoiding Pressure Part FAC and LDI
Damage. Lower exhaust gas flow and ener-
2. Unanticipated
consequence.
This is the inlet duct liner damage from the

water attemperation shown in the previous
figure. Courtesy: Tetra Engineering
3. A cool breeze. At this plant a system

was devised to blow cold ambient air into the
inlet exhaust gas at a combined cycle plant
with a GE Frame 7FA gas turbine. It works,
but turbulent inlet duct flow can lead to damage in the air inlets and consequential damage to heat-recovery steam generator heat
transfer surfaces, as shown in the next figure.
Courtesy: Tetra Engineering
44
gy can result in changes in the low-pressure

evaporator and economizers sections. Reduced production of low-pressure (LP) steam
can produce problems with local steaming in
economizers, circulation stability in LP evaporators, and steam separation problems.
Lower pressures in the LP evaporators
leads to high circulation ratios and consequent fluid velocities. These high velocities
can produce excessive flow accelerated corrosion (FAC) and liquid droplet impingement
(LDI) erosion of tubes, piping, and headers.
In drum type HRSGs, steam pressures
will drop in sliding pressure mode for the HP
system and will tend to drop in intermediatepressure (IP) and LP systems due to less heat
being available and thus less steam production.
These natural circulation systems are designed
to have good flow stability in their circulating
sections at normal operating loads. At very low
loads, reduced steam production and pressures
can lead to unstable configurations.
Power Piping
Power piping is affected by low-load operation due to reductions in steam flow that
correspond with lower MW output and the
potential for higher steam temperatures. In
addition, elevated requirements for steam
attemperation will increase vibration and fatigue damage. For plants with Grade 91 main
steam and reheat steam piping, this may accelerate consumption of remaining reliable
lifetime, depending on plant-specific conditions. Enhanced maintenance and inspection
programs may be required to maintain power
piping reliability.
Low-load operation for 1 x 1 plants has
a direct effect on unit operating conditions.
However, for 2 x 1 and 3 x 1 plants in lowload operation, the result is significant thermal gradients at fittings (including tees and
laterals), where the steam flows combine to
common near the steam turbine. These higher thermal stresses contribute to accelerated
consumption of remaining reliable lifetime.
www.powermag.com
4. Ouch! Here, loose parts from a failed air

attemperation inlet duct are impacted on the
lead row of the high-pressure superheater.
5. Never assume. A piping engineer

evaluates a pipe hanger prior to low-load operation. Courtesy: Tetra Engineering
Good engineering design practice for 2 x 1

and 3 x 1 configurations requires that piping
system designers consider the full set of permutations in units being on or off to ensure
that ASME B31.1 Code stress limits arent exceeded. Sometimes, unintended high stresses
result in certain configurations, which then require that the pipe hangers be reevaluated for
low-load operation (Figure 5). This should be
a standard activity when contemplating a transition to low-load operation. Enhanced nondestructive testing inspection is recommended to
monitor power piping integrity.
Mitigating Creep and Fatigue Damage. Low-load operation also introduces
enhanced risk of fatigue damage and accelerated life consumption for Grade 91 materials.
It is well known that Grade 91 components
have a higher frequency of deficient material
properties and expected in-service lifetimes.
Improperly maintained pipe support systems
exacerbate the conditions associated with
low-load operations, raising local stresses in
some configurations to much higher values
POWER March 2015

6. Cracked. This example of cracked
8. The low-down. Low-load operation has recirculation of low-pressure (LP) steam flows
Grade 91 hot reheat latrolet was caused by

fatigue and Type IV creep damage Courtesy:
Tetra Engineering
at the exit of the LP section of the steam turbine. This can result in trailing edge blade erosion.
7. Hammered. Water hammer damage

to large-bore HP steam piping supports can
be significant. Courtesy: Tetra Engineering
pipe spool pieces, destruction of pipe supports

(Figure 7), and a resulting piping system that
is no longer operating within the maximum
allowable stresses specified by ASME Code
design. The result is generally premature and
costly inspections and repairs.
Steam Turbines
than predicted by design analysis.
For Grade 91 components, Type IV creep
cracking, enhanced by fatigue loads is a predominant damage mechanism leading to macroscopic cracks (Figure 6) and, in some cases,
leaks. This damage is more likely for components with inadequate metallurgical properties
but is an issue of concern for all components,
especially those subjected to higher stresses in
1 x 1 operation than expected under the original
design. CCGTs in low-load operation require
a comprehensive approach to assess and maintain power piping condition, which should be
an integral part of the Covered Piping System
Program in accordance with the recent ASME
Code Section B31.1 Power Piping, Chapter
VII, Operations and Maintenance.
Preventing Water Hammer. Water hammer is a well-known issue for CCGT plants.
The more common types of damage at low
load will be caused by inadequate drain capacity downstream of attemperator spray stations and attemperator system malfunctions,
including controls logic inadequacies. At
low-load operation, there is increased likelihood of condensate and spray water accumulation; therefore, it is essential that drain
capacity be capable of removing water from
HP and hot RH steam piping that accumulates after or during shutdown.
Damaged or inadequately maintained nonreturn and stop valves will contribute to higher
risks of water hammer damage. Water hammer
events are generally severe, with yielding of
March 2015 POWER
Establishing a minimum floor pressure for

HRSG operation at low loads is essential.
The trade-offs are that at low pressures, steam
flow increases, which can be helpful for LP
steam turbine operation but raises steam velocities in HRSGs and piping. Low pressures
for HRSG operation can also reduce stability
in evaporator circulation.
At low steam flows, the performance of
the LP turbines is key. Low steam flows (and
enthalpies) result in poor turbine efficiencies.
Internal flow distribution and recirculation
can cause power loss and local heating.
Steam is pushed to the outer regions of
the turbine blades, and a recirculation flow
is established (Figure 8). This windage heating can be reduced by using exhaust hood
sprays. These sprays can result in blade erosion if caught up in the recirculation. At these
conditions the average temperature of the LP
turbine rotor is increased, which increases
the rotor expansion.
Excessive expansion of the rotor is a critical operational limitation on low-load operation, both limiting the absolute lower load
and limiting the time that low-load operation
can be maintained. These are site-specific
impacts that are assessed in assessments of
low-load operations.
Condensers
The use of hood sprays at low loads to cool
windage-heated LP steam raises the risks of
droplet impingement and damage to tubes.
www.powermag.com
Good maintenance and monitoring of sprays

is essential to preventing condenser damage.
Many low-load contracts require the capability of running in 100% bypass of steam
from the steam turbine to the condenser. In
this way dispatched power is less but fuel
consumption is the same as for low-load GT
operation without bypass. Extended bypass
raises risks of damage to internal baffles,
dummy and live condenser tubes and piping,
as well as the steam conditioning valves. In
general, the increased maintenance costs for
long-duration bypass can be substantial. Few
plants expect to run in this mode, but the capability is necessary.
Careful Attention Is Essential

Its a given that low-load operation is becoming a familiar fact of life in an increasing number of markets. To ensure you get
the most reliable, long life out of your unit,
you need to understand the potential effects
of low-load operation on the steam cycle and
the tradeoffs involved in mitigating them. In
most cases, enhanced maintenance and inspection programs may be required.
Dave Moelling (dave.moelling@tetraeng.com) is chief engineer at Tetra Engineering Group, consults on HRSG thermal
design evaluations, and leads low-load
operations assessments. Peter Jackson
(peter.jackson@tetra-eng.com) is director of field services at Tetra Engineering Group, responsible for HRSG field
services, power piping, balance of plant,
and leading root cause failure analysis
and fitness-for-service assessments. Jim
Malloy (jim.malloy@tetra-eng.com) is
managing director at Tetra Engineering
Europe and is responsible for managing
CCGT engineering services for Europe,
Middle East, and Africa.
45
Are Flexible Generation Plants

Performing as Expected?
Highly flexible, fast-ramping, fast-cycling combined cycle plants hit the market
with a big splash a few years ago. But are they performing as advertised?
Though the few operational plants are still new and still learning, the initial results are encouraging.
he Lodi Energy Center (LEC) is a 296MW 1 x 1 combined cycle plant in

Lodi, Calif., just north of Stockton and
east of the San Joaquin River delta (Figure 1).
From the outside, theres little to distinguish
it from the many other combined cycle plants
large and small that power the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) grid.
On the inside, though, theres much to set
this plant, which began commercial operations in November 2012 and earned a POWER
Top Plant award that year, apart from its older
brethren. LEC was one of the first plants in
a new generation of combined cycle facilities
specifically designed for fast starts and fast
ramping while maintaining both high efficiency and low emissions.
LEC is operated by the Northern California
Power Agency (NCPA) and owned by NCPA
and a coalition of local public power agencies in the area. A turnkey plant delivered by
Siemens, which refers to the design as a FlexPlant 30, its built around Siemens SCC65000F gas turbine, which is paired with a
Nooter Eriksen triple-pressure reheat heatrecovery steam generator (HRSG) equipped
with a once-through Benson high-pressure
section, high-capacity steam attemperation,
and full-capacity steam bypass systems.
LEC also utilizes innovative piping warmup strategies, a Siemens SPPA-T3000 control
system and steam turbine stress controller,

and optimized plant stand-by using auxiliary
steam to maintain vacuum. The plant has as
many analyzers and system drains as a conventional 3 x 1 plant.
Another Siemens Flex-Plant, NRG Yields
two-unit, 550-MW El Segundo Energy Center, came online in 2013; two more, Panda
Power Funds Temple I and Sherman plants
(both 2 x 1 758-MW plants), started up in
Texas in 2014.
Designed for intermediate to continuous cycling duty, LEC manages efficiencies
above 57% with startup times that are as
short as half those of earlier plants due to the
integration of fast-start features. Ramping at
13.4 MW/minute from a cold start, the plant
can reach 150 MW output in a little over
10 minutes, and the fast ramp rate means it
reaches CO compliance in 23 minutes and
NOx compliance in 40 minutes.
Thats performance that is becoming
critically important with continually increasing amounts of renewable generation being
added to CAISO. California already has the
nations highest state renewable portfolio
standard, 33% by 2020, and Governor Jerry
Brown announced in January that he would
seek to raise it even further, to 50% by 2030.
That means the states gas-fired fleet will be
called upon to back up an enormous amount
1. Fast start for a fast starter. The Lodi Energy Center in California was the first U.S. plant
to employ Siemens Flex-Plant technology. In the first two years, its totaled 380 starts and achieved
94% availability. Courtesy: Siemens
46
www.powermag.com
of variable wind and solar generation.
But Does It Work?

All that, at least, was the intent. But are LEC
and the new highly flexible plants like it living up to the hype?
The question is not an idle one. A 2012
study by the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory and Intertek APTECH found that
shifting to faster ramping and startups from a
baseload role resulted in considerably higher
operational and maintenance costs for typical combined cycle plants. Worse, these costs
increased with greater penetration of renewable generation into the energy mix.
In the case of LEC, at least, according to
Plant Manager Michael DeBortoli, the answer is an unqualified yes.
It has lived up to our expectations, he
told POWER in an interview in January. So
far, the plant has been running very well. We
cycle a lot and have a lot of starts and stops
almost on a daily basis, and everything has
been running fine.
DeBortoli confessed some concern with
being what amounted to a guinea pig for the
new design. Being the first one in the country
with this new technology, he said, I thought
we were going to encounter a few hiccups, but
the plant has been operating to expectations.
LEC has been a workhorse since it came online. From November 2012 through the end of
January 2015, the plant racked up an impressive
380 starts despite two planned outages. Over
that period, its achieved 94% availability.
The plant is regularly being ramped from
165 MW minimum load to maximum output.
Thats basically achieved within a 10-minute
interval, DeBortoli said. The gas turbine is
being run at the max ramp rate.
And its being done without any excessive
wear and tear on the HRSG. The Benson
technology, which is the once-through HP
section, we have not had any issues on that,
DeBortoli said. All of our bypass valves
have been working very well.
In the Benson once-through natural-circu-
POWER March 2015

lation design, the drum is replaced by a thinwalled external separator. The change allows
for higher temperature transients and simpler
chemistry control.
Rafael Santana, LEC maintenance manager, said the number of problems has been
surprisingly small. We did encounter some
minor hiccups with our HP turbine control
valve, he said. But its not the fast-start
plant that caused that issue, but rather a manufacturing defect, probably aggravated by the
number of starts.
The gas turbine as well is performing
admirably.
We have had multiple planned outages to
conduct inspections, and in the most recent inspection of the turbine in November, all the components looked pristine, so they were returned
back to operation instead of replacing them.
Though greater demands are placed on
the plant with the additional cycling, the demands on the plant staff are not unusual. I
wouldnt say there is much difference, Santana said. In terms of normal maintenance
and intervals of operation, its the same.
think that we havent really changed anything

major with the logic or the operation.
DeBortoli concurred: The overall process
is pretty much where we want it to be. Not
ongoing improvements from here on out, but
just really minor things.
Moving On
With the uncertainty and changes in the California energy market, particularly the drought
that is challenging hydroelectric generation,
DeBortoli said LEC expects to continue seeing
demand for its fast-ramping capabilities going

forward. The market condition is very dynamic right now, so we dont know whats going to
happen in the next couple of months.
Last July, General Manager Ken Speer likened NCPAs experience with LEC to driving a Ferrari rather than a Chevy. LEC and
its sister unit in El Segundo appear to have hit
the ground running when it comes to meeting
the role they were intended for.
Thomas W. Overton, JD is a POWER

associate editor.
Minor Growing Pains

As with any plant, there was a learning curve.
Siemens provided remote monitoring of LEC
for the first year, using networked instrumentation to track the operating parameters from
its service center in Orlando, Fla. This enabled
Siemens to give LEC feedback any time anything wasnt operating in an optimal fashion.
There were some growing pains in the
beginning, Jeremy Lawson, LEC plant engineer said, such as properly tuning the water
levels in the HRSG up to the bypass valves.
There were a few little hiccups with the
HRSG, with one of the lower acoustic baffles
coming loose due to the cycling regime and a
lack of support. There was also a minor leak
in one of the tube bundles in the #1 preheater
at the tube support a few months after operations began. Both problems were corrected
and have not recurred.
The plant also encountered high-temperature trips of the steam turbine (ST) across the
intermediate-pressure exhausts. This was resolved through faster ST starting and loading.
DeBortolis staff also found some ways to
reduce the plants already low CO emissions.
Working with Siemens, the plant staff made adjustments to the fuel flow and positioning of the
inlet guide vane (IGV). We ended up keeping
our IGV closed until we got to 50 MW.
These tweaks, plus boosting the ramp rate
to its 13.4 MW/minute maximum, helped cut
CO emissions by 350 pounds per start.
But all in all, these were minor challenges.
Out of the box, there is just a little bit of dialing in so the operators understand what works
and what doesnt, Santana said, but overall I
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47
RENEWABLES
New Zealands Geothermal

Industry Is Poised for the Future
Geothermal power is New Zealands most reliable renewable energy source.
The country, which is justifiably proud of its geothermal facilities, faces
economic forces familiar to the rest of the developed world. The geothermal industrys solution: diversify and innovate.
Chris Webb
ontact Energy fully commissioned New

Zealands largest geothermal power
plant last year, nudging installed geothermal capacity to a shade over 1 GW. Nearly 80% of the countrys electricity is sourced
from renewables, placing it among the highest
in the world. New Zealand also is ranked in the
top 10 globally by the World Energy Council
for achieving the right balance between reliability, sustainability, and affordability.
Though New Zealand aims to be the
first nation to go 100% renewable, that accolade may elude it, as Iceland edges ever
nearer that coveted target; New Zealand has,
nonetheless, progressed rapidly in its bid to
achieve domestic energy security. According
to government data, in 2013, hydro provided
the largest amount of the countrys power
(22,815 GWh), gas came in second (8,134
GWh), followed by geothermal (6,053 GWh),
coal (2,238 GWh), wind (2,000 GWh), and
other thermal and bioenergy providing the
remainder (618 GWh).
Why Geothermal?
First commercially tapped by the Kiwis (as New
Zealanders are known) in the 1950s, significant
underground geothermal resources made the
country one of the earliest large-scale users of
the technology. It is widely considered to be
the most attractive new source of energy, as
easy hydropower sites have been largely exploited, and the country is rigorously pursuing
a low-carbon goal. In 2014 geothermal electricity contributed approximately 7,000 GWh to a
total of 43,000 GWh, roughly 16% of the total,
according to GNS Science.
New Zealand is rich in geothermal resources because of its many volcanic areas
(Figure 1), faults, and tectonic features. But as
geothermal fluid is much lower in temperature
than steam produced by a coal boiler or gas
turbine exhaust gas, the conversion efficiency
to electricity is much loweraround 15%
(see sidebar). For this reason geothermal energy supply produces a relatively low fraction
of New Zealands electricityabout 15%
48
though it also provides some district heating.

New Zealand has seen a period of rapid
growth in the utilization of geothermal energy over the last decade. The availability of
high-temperature, productive geothermal resources has made geothermal plants the lowest cost generation facilities to construct and
operate (on an energy unit cost basis) compared to other renewable energy or fossilfueled options.
The increase in geothermal generation
from 2010 to 2014 of some 1,500 GWh is
significant, being greater than a 20% per
year increase over the four-year period. The
current total of over 1,000 MWe geothermal
capacity typically contributes about 16% of
total generation today, now that the Te Mihi
plant is fully online (an increase from 13% in
2010). New Zealand today produces almost
80% of its electricity from renewable energy
and is strategically targeting 90% by 2025,
a figure that analysts, among them, PricewaterhouseCoopers Chris Taylor, believe is
comfortably achievable. Its just a question
of when the market is ready for the new capacity, he says.
and high temperatures, and susceptibility to

liquefaction required 30-meter-deep bored
piles to support plant structures, including
the turbine hall; the generator and turbine
weighed a combined 325 metric tons.
A Fuji Electric technical paper explains
that the steam turbine for Nga Awa Purua is
a triple-pressure inlet, single-casing, singleshaft, double-flow HP, IP and LP sections,
bottom exhaust, and its nominal output is 139
MW. Both steam turbines utilize 31.4-inchlong last-stage blades, which are the largest
in any geothermal application. That made it
possible to build what the company says is the
largest single-casing geothermal power station
utilizing multi-flash cycle technology.
Te Mihi. In 2014, Contact Energy, which
supplies 22% of the countrys power, com-
1. Powerful steam. New Zealands

North Island has several craters and active volcanoes. The popular Tongariro Alpine Crossing
trail brings hikers to a saddle with a view of
Emerald Lakes (top) and Red Crater (bottom),
where steam can be seen and felt below ones
feet. Courtesy: Gail Reitenbach
Major Players and Plants

State-owned Mighty River Power (MRP),
Contact Energy, and Maori Trusts have been
the key entities in the geothermal development space over the past 10 years. Both Contact Energy and MRP have had billion dollar
geothermal investment programs in the last
decade, and total geothermal expenditure
topped NZ$2.4 billion (US$1.75 billion).
Nga Awa Purua. The 140-MW Nga Awa
Purua Geothermal Power Station (Figure 2),
a joint venture between MRP and the Tauhara
North No. 2 Trust, was completed in 2010.
The plant was constructed by Sumitomo
Corp. in partnership with Fuji Electric, the
main suppliers, and Hawkins Construction.
Beca geotechnical engineers, as subcontractors to Hawkins, confronted difficult construction conditions. The company notes that
Weak volcanic soils, aggressive groundwater
www.powermag.com
POWER March 2015
RENEWABLES
2. World record holder. The 140-MW Nga Awa Purua Power Station near Taupo, New
Zealand, boasts the largest single-shaft geothermal steam turbine in the world. Courtesy: Kevin
McLoughlin, CEO, Credit Ringa Matau
pleted the 166-MW Te Mihi Power Station

(Figure 3) in the Wairakei steam field north
of Taupo. (It was the 2013 POWER Marmaduke Award winner; see the August issue at
powermag.com for technical details.) The
NZ$623 million plant forms part of a larger
local investment, which includes a bioreactor
and new wells, making Wairakei the seventhlargest geothermal field in the world.
Contact CEO Dennis Barnes says, With
two 83-MW steam turbines, the plant has
been designed to make the best use of steam
and maximise capacity. A vast network of
pipes connects Te Mihi to the Wairakei steam
field, increasing overall efficiency and generation reliability.

Te Mihi consists of two Toshiba mixedpressure units and began generating in 2013.
It is located near the center of the current
Wairakei production field, at high elevation
(about 400 meters above sea level), which assists reinjection, gas dispersion, and cooling
tower performance.
Originally conceived as a three-unit replacement for the elderly Wairakei plant, Te
Mihi was built as a two-unit plant with space
for a future third unit. Steam that was originally conceived for use in the third Te Mihi unit
From Heat to Power

Electricity generation can only be undertaken commercially in high-temperature
(roughly 193C/380F) geothermal fields.
The fluid collection and disposal system
for these developments is similar to those
for heat applications, consisting of:
Wells with multiple casings, typically

drilled to 2 to 3 kilometers deep.
Separators and associated water vessels
large pressure vessels that separate the
phases through centrifugal action.
Pipes of various sizes for taking the
steam-water mixture from the wells to
the separators, then steam to turbines
or heat exchangers, or water to reinjection wells or to other heat exchangers,
and condensate to reinjection.
The main New Zealand geothermal power station designs include:
Simple back-pressure turbines.
March 2015 POWER
Condensing turbines (potentially receiving steam at up to three different

pressures).
Binary cycle plantsessentially reverse
refrigeration cycles taking advantage
of the organic Rankine cycle. A more
recent innovation uses a working fluid
that is a mix of ammonia and water and
is known as the Kalina cycle.
Some research is being undertaken in

New Zealand on the use of Stirling engines to generate electricity from geothermal energy or waste heat sources,
according to Brian R. White of the New
Zealand Geothermal Association. White
says a number of the high-temperature
fields use a hybrid plant consisting of
back-pressure turbines discharging at
just above atmospheric pressure plus
a binary cycle plant to condense the
steam. A binary plant may also be used
to extract heat from brine.
www.powermag.com
3. Steamer. New Zealands 166-MW Te

Mihi Power Station was the 2013 POWER
Marmaduke Award winner. Courtesy: Steve
Boniface and Contact Energy
is supplied to Wairakei, which remains in service, albeit operating at a lower than previous
load. This development strategy has met the
required environmental performance improvements at lower cost than full replacement and
offers a future potential path for renewal.
The original Wairakei power station began
operation in 1958, so some key parts of the
plant are more than 50 years old. Increasing maintenance and refurbishment requirements, and the expectation that continued
operation using river water for cooling will
not be possible, suggest that it is nearing the
end of its useful life and is unlikely to run beyond 2026, when its current suite of resource
consents expire, according to Barnes.
Yet, the Wairakei steam field as a whole is
predicted to be able to supply steam for electricity generation for many more decades. To
enhance the use of this renewable energy resource, Contact developed Te Mihi.
Te Mihi added 574 GWh per year compared
to Wairakei. Other benefits include higher efficiency due to lower steam transmission losses,
superior location, better energy utilization
using dual-flash technology, and significant
reductionover timein cooling water discharges into the Waikato River.
Ngatamariki. The 82-MW Ngatamariki
Power Station, less than two years old, is the
worlds largest single-site binary geothermal
power plant (Figure 4). The plant, built under
a NZ$142 million supply and engineering,
procurement, and construction contract by
Ormat Technologies, features Ormat energy
converters that are directly fed by a hightemperature (193C/380F) geothermal fluid.
Previously, only steam turbines or geothermal combined cycle plants had been used.
In the case of Ngatamariki, 100% of the
exploited geothermal fluid is reinjected, resulting in zero water consumption and low
emissions, minimizing the impact on the environment and with no depletion of the underground reservoir.
Former MRP chief executive Doug Heffernan said the plant near Taupo was completed
within the cost forecast detailed in the compa49
RENEWABLES
4. Record holder. The 82-MW Ngatamariki Power Station, less than two years old, is the
worlds largest single-site binary geothermal power plant. Courtesy: Mighty River Power
nys prospectus and had proven performance

above design specifications in testing.
Then the largest of its type in the world,
Ngatamariki was, he said, a milestone, and
with power output now expected to be 3 MW
(4%) higher than spec, shows what can be
done with such technology.
Market Slowdown
The euphoria over Te Mihi and Ngatamariki was short-lived. The two plants were
welcomed by the energy market, with the
baseload generation they provided helping to
smooth out supply from more volatile renewable power sources such as wind. But flat demand for electricity means power companies
have put further plans on hold.
In early 2007, when Contact announced plans
to invest up to NZ$1 billion in the construction
of two new geothermal power stations in the
Taupo regionone at Te Mihi and another at
Tauharademand for electricity was growing
strongly at around 2% per year, and New Zealand needed large amounts of new capacity to
power its growing economy. At the same time,
concern about the impact of climate change and
the need to reduce the level of greenhouse gas

emissions meant it was important that as much
new electricity generation as possible derived
from renewable sources.
But the slowdown in load growth has affected generators across the board. Brian R.
White, executive officer at the New Zealand
Geothermal Association (NZGA), says, I
think it will be quiet in New Zealand for a
while in terms of a wide range of geothermal
generation. My view is that in the immediate
future new geothermal generation will come
from the line [distribution] companies who
can see niche opportunities and dont need to
build 100-MW plants.
Another company to apply the brakes to new
development is MRP, which just 15 months
ago marked the completion and handover of
the Ngatamariki power station, expanding the
companys geothermal production to more
than 40% of its total generation.
A year ago, Top Energy announced plans
to lodge a resource consent application in
2015 for additional Ormat binary power stations, very similar to the units currently at
Ngawha. The Ngawha field is the only hightemperature geothermal resource in New
Zealand outside the Taupo Volcanic Zone and
is thought to be between 20 and 40 square

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POWER March 2015
RENEWABLES
kilometers in area. The springs at Ngawha village are among the very
few external signs of the huge natural boiler buried deep below.
It was anticipated that these could start generating electricity as
early as 2020. Weve been conducting scientific research and modelling . . . to understand how much geothermal resource might be
available, Top Energy chief executive Russell Shaw says. Although
we wont know exactly what we have until we explore through test
drilling, we believe there could be enough resource for an additional
100 MW of energy.
The original Ngawha geothermal power station opened in 1998
with a capacity of about 8 MW. An expansion was completed in 2008,
increasing it to 25 MW. The Ngawha Power Station was the first
power station to come into operation via a resource consent applied
for and issued under the Resource Management Act. It is owned and
operated by Top Energy and uses a binary cycle manufactured by Ormat Industries. Plant Manager Ray Robinson says the Ngawha plant
had a complex resource consent. Its subject to continual audit by
the Northland Regional Council and also to peer review by an independent panel of environmental experts. Such considerations add a
further dimension to developing geothermal power in New Zealand.
Many ambitious plans are currently on hold. Drilling and exploratory work scheduled for 2014 has been pushed back as part of a
series of cost-cutting measures Top Energy has had to implement as
a result of a softening New Zealand electricity market and a corresponding drop in projected revenues from Ngawha. There are still
plans, however, to apply for its first resource consent with a view to
expanding the existing 25-MW station by 50 MW in two stages.
Economic Conditions Prompt Developers to Look

Abroad
Since 2013 the hiatus in construction of geothermal capacity due to
flat demand growth has prompted developers to shift their focus. New
Zealand geothermal operators are concentrating instead on sustaining
and maintaining existing developments, looking to share experience
by partnering in international developments, and investigating some
new prospects.
Greg Bignall, coauthor of a paper to be presented at the upcoming
World Geothermal Congress in Melbourne, Australia, and senior scientist
at GNS Science, says several New Zealand companies have invested significantly in large-scale industrial direct geothermal energy applications
in the past five years. They include Ngati Tuwharetoa Geothermal Assets
Ltd. supplying the Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget tissue mill at Kawerau
and Tuaropaki supplying clean steam generated from geothermal energy
to the Miraka milk powder processing plant at Mokai.
Despite these new developments, there has been a reduction in
geothermal direct use overall since 2010, primarily a consequence
of Norske Skog Tasman closing one of the paper production lines at
its Kawerau facility in January 2013. There is more that needs to be
done in New Zealand to further foster direct geothermal heat use, and
the uptake of geothermal heat pumps, Bignall says.
Developers also are responding to the downturn by setting their
sights offshore. MRP for example, is now applying its geothermal
expertise in Chile and in the U.S. through EnergySource.
Geothermal Investment and Cost Trends
pumps and smaller direct heat applications, but data on such uses is
difficult to obtain.
Another indication of investment activity is well drilling, with well
costs being a substantial, and growing, proportion of total project
costs, whether for electricity generation or heat supply. There is a
startling contrast between efforts in earlier decadeswhen drilling,
exploration, and development were controlled by the New Zealand
governmentand the past decade, during which these efforts have
been driven by market conditions and a combination of public and private investment. Recent drilling efforts have exceeded those of former
years in both number of wells drilled and diversity of fields in which
drilling has been undertaken. Recent wells are generally deeper and
larger in diameter than early wells, and so are more costly.
There have been reports of significant drilling cost increases outrunning inflation, but rising costs are also said to be attributable to
changes in well design and construction methods. Basically, investment has been enabled on fields that were previously investigated by
the New Zealand government, and the heritage exploration data has
facilitated additional investigation activities, leading in some cases to
further drilling and field development.
Each project will have its own peculiarities with respect to concept
and cost, the costs being highly dependent on the nature of the reservoir (especially temperature and productivity of wells). The scale
of development has less effect on the cost/MW installed. Given that
most future developments will be of a larger scale, typical investment
will be on the order of NZ$4/MW installed. With approximately
1,000 MW of viable, consentable generation, this indicates upcoming
investment of the order of NZ$4 billion.
Chris Webb (www.bluegnumediasolutions.com) is a freelance

energy journalist based in Auckland, New Zealand.
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A steep increase in geothermal investment that took place in New Zealand about 10 years ago looked set to continue and was sustained until
the middle of 2014. On the whole, investment in the past five years has
been similar to the previous five years but has shifted from the stateowned MRP to the publicly listed Contact Energy, although both companies and a range of others have been active throughout the period.
There has also been significant investment in large industrial direct heat projects in the past five years, as well as in geothermal heat
March 2015 POWER
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51
FUELS
Nuclear Industry Pursues New

Fuel Designs and Technologies
Enriched uranium, the most commonly used fuel in commercial nuclear reactors worldwide, has many well-known advantages; however, recent
events have underscored its disadvantages. Can new fuel technologies be
developed and proven effective fast enough?
Kennedy Maize
ate last year, Japanese engineers and

technicians accomplished a major milestone nearly four years after the most
damaging light-water reactor accident in
history at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station. They removed the last of the undamaged
fuel rods from the devastated Unit 4 reactor
building, some 1,500 assemblies stored in a
pool above the reactor (Figure 1). Hydrogen
explosions shortly after the Mar. 11, 2011,
earthquake and tsunami nearly destroyed that
reactor, while it did destroy three others.
Removing the fuel from reactor 4 was the
easiest task related to the radioactive fuel at
the plant. Units 1, 2, and 3 suffered complete
fuel meltdowns. The New York Times commented, These reactors were so damaged
and their levels of radioactivity remain so
highthat removing their fuel is expected to
take decades. Some experts have said it may
not be possible at all, and have called instead
for simply encasing those reactors in a sarcophagus of thick concrete.
Among the advantages of nuclear power,
fuel is one of the more important. Uranium
packs a lot of punch and is widely available.
Atomic power plants offset high capital
costs with low fuel costs. But nuclear fuel
presents big challenges because of the enormous amount of energyand heatpacked
into a small package. Even when nuclear
fission stops, as happens in conventional
light-water reactors during a loss-of-coolant
accident, enormous heat remains. Nuclear
fuel rods can melt, in the worst case into a
glowing, radioactive blob in the bottom of
the reactor vessel.
The Pros and Cons of Zirconium

Cladding
Conventional fuelenriched uranium oxide
pellets in long rods encased in metaloffers
the first line of defense in a reactor accident.
Metal cladding housing the uranium is designed to protect the fuels integrity while
52
emergency cooling equipment removes residual heat. AREVA explains on its website,
Zirconium cladding is the reactors primary
safety barrier. Zirconium is the leading material for nuclear fuel assemblies used in light
water reactors . . . because it is transparent
to neutrons, it has good temperature performance, and it withstands corrosion.
But experience has shown, first at Three
Mile Island (TMI) near Harrisburg, Pa., in
1979 and again, in spades, at Fukushima, that
this first line of defense can fail.
At TMI, as the events of a small loss-ofcoolant accident progressed, General Public
Utilities operators were confident that the
fuel would not melt. As fuel damage became
obvious, plant officials consistently underestimated the extent of the damage. According
to the written material accompanying the
TMI exhibit at the Smithsonian Institutions
Museum of American History, plant officials
always took an optimistic view when trying
to understand the unfolding picture of the
fuel damage. In the end, it was clear that a
majority of the fuel had melted down and the
accident completely destroyed the core. Yet,
the conventional wisdom about the accident
is that the reactor experienced a euphemistic
partial meltdown, because less than 100%
of the fuel melted.
At Fukushima, there is no challenge to the
observation that the three reactors suffered
complete fuel melting. But that may not have
been the worst event in the accident. A 2013
news release from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) observes that the
zirconium alloy cladding of the Fukushima
fuel played a major role in the events at the
multi-reactor site. Noting the series of spectacular hydrogen explosions at the site, the
MIT release says that hydrogen buildup was
the result of hot steam coming into contact
with overheated nuclear fuel rods covered by
a cladding of zirconium alloy, or zircaloy
the material used as fuel-rod cladding in all
www.powermag.com
water-cooled nuclear reactors, which constitute more than 90 percent of the worlds
power reactors. When it gets hot enough,
zircaloy reacts with steam to produce hydrogen, a hazard in any loss-of-coolant nuclear
accident.
The Hunt for New Fuel Assembly

Options
MIT researchers are working on a ceramic
cladding for enriched uranium fuel pellets to
offer characteristics similar to zircaloy while
reducing the risks of hydrogen evolution by
roughly a thousandfold. MITs focus is on
silicon carbide (SiC). Mujid Kazimi, the
TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Co., owner
and operator of the Daiichi plant) professor
of nuclear engineering at MIT, who is lead-
1. Old fuel, new pool. This Nov. 22,

2013, photo shows a fuel rod removed from
the destroyed Unit 4 at the Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear station being moved to the common
pool elsewhere on the site. Courtesy: Tokyo
Electric Power Co.
POWER March 2015
FUELS
2. Cross-section view of proposed silicon carbide cladding for
nuclear fuel rods. The fuel pellets are in
3. Adding Mo protection. Fuel cladding incorporating molybdenum (Mo) offers one potential technological pathway toward accident-tolerant nuclear fuel concepts. Courtesy: EPRI
the center, shown as a gray crosshatch. Then,

after a thin layer of inert helium gas, the three
layers of cladding are shown in black (solid
SiC), green (composite material made up of
SiC fibers infused with SiC), and blue (another
solid layer of SiC). Courtesy: Mujid Kazimi and
Youho Lee
ing the research team, said, We are looking

at all sides of the issue, regarding replacing
the metal cladding with ceramic. SiC, he
says, is very promising, but not at the moment ready for adoption (Figure 2).
According to Kazimi, SiC cladding has potential advantages beyond reducing accident
risks. Because it reacts slowly with water,
says Kazimi, under normal conditions, SiC
should degrade less and remain in the core
longer than zircaloy, allowing operators to
squeeze extra energy out of the rods before
refueling. That would also reduce the amount
of spent fuel produced by the reactor.
Other industry teams are also looking at
ways to increase the accident tolerance of
reactor fuels. Last fall, an AREVA-led team
including the Tennessee Valley Authority,
Duke Energy, the universities of Wisconsin
and Florida, and the Department of Energys
(DOEs) Savannah River National Laboratory won a DOE contract to examine technologies to increase the tolerance of reactor fuel
to loss-of-coolant accidents. In a press release, AREVA said the researchers are focusing on coatings on the zirconium cladding,
additives to the uranium pellets as well as
modifications to the coolant loop. AREVA
said it hopes to launch tests in commercial
reactors in 2022.
The Electric Power Research Institute
(EPRI) in 2011, responding directly to Fukushima, started a program to examine fuel
technology innovations for improving nuclear
plant safety by reducing hydrogen generation
and preventing core meltdown during severe
loss-of-coolant accidents. EPRI is focusing
on molybdenum (Mo) as a potential break-
March 2015 POWER
through for meeting performance targets during normal operations while maintaining fuel
integrity at temperatures exceeding 1500C.
EPRI says it is working on proof-of-concept
of dual cladding with thin-wall Mo tubes
coated with oxidation-resistant layers of either zirconium alloy or aluminum-coated
stainless steel, as well as a three-layer design (Figure 3). EPRI says it hopes to expose
the new fuel assemblies to radiation this year,
supporting in-plant demonstration within a
decade.
The DOE is supporting multiple research projects on new ways to clad fuel,
because of the safety advantages and for
the prospect of extended burnup of the
fuel. The DOEs nuclear energy program
has been looking at ways to extend fuel life
in reactors for over 20 years. A 2008 paper
in Nuclear Engineering and Technology
described obstacles in extending the life of
conventional reactor fuel, which has a useful life of around four years before removal
from the reactor. The article said, To stay
competitive the industry needs to reduce
maintenance and fuel cycle costs, while enhancing safety features. Extended burnup
is one of the methods applied to meet these
objectives. However, there are a number of
potential fuel failure causes related to increased burnup. All of those are related to
problems with zircaloy cladding.
Apparently, some small progress is being made. In January, Westinghouse announced that its next-generation fuel,
called CE16NGFthe CE is for the Combustion Engineering pressurized water
reactor (PWR) fleetwould be used at Arwww.powermag.com
izona Public Services Palo Verde Nuclear

Generating Station. It has also been used at
two other U.S. sites. Westinghouse, which
is a single-source global fuel provider for
PWRs, says the new fuel incorporates
proprietary materials, such as advanced
cladding material and burnable absorbers, and advances in structural design that
improve the fuels efficiency and reliability while also increasing its service life.
CE16NGF provides improved economic
performance and greater operational flexibility in fuel duty, thermal margin and uprate capability.
Alternatives to Conventional
Technologies
As researchers examine ways to make conventional nuclear fuel safer and more economical, on a longer time scale, other scientists
are looking at ways to move away from lightwater reactor technology and the current fuel
cycle. In the U.S., the focus of this work has
been at the DOEs Idaho National Laboratory, traditionally the place where new reactor
designs have been tested, going back to 1951,
and at the DOEs Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago, where reactors have long
been conceived and designed.
Argonnes Mark Peters told The New York
Times, Theres a whole class of reactor that
are not evolutionary concepts relative to what
you have out there nowtheyre really different. While theres no market for these
designs today, that could change in 30 years
or so. In a carbon-constrained world, said
Peters, with that time frame, you better
have some advanced reactors ready to go.
53
FUELS
(For a look at reactor designs under development, see THE BIG PICTURE: Advanced
Fission in the November 2012 issue or at
powermag.com.)
Most of these advanced concepts are not
exactly new. Nuclear researchers have long
looked at liquid sodium as a reactor coolant,
because sodium has attractive characteristics,
including excellent heat transfer, a low melting point, and a high boiling temperature.
Using sodium coolant could provide extended fuel burnup. But sodium is inherently
dangerous, capable of burning or exploding
when exposed to water or air.
GE has put many years and millions of
dollars into its PRISM sodium-cooled, fast
neutron reactor design. TerraPower, a company with financial backing from Microsoft
founder Bill Gates, is designing a sodiumcooled traveling wave reactor using depleted uranium (U-238 left after enrichment
has removed much of the fissionable U-235),
optimistically projecting commercialization
in the late 2020s.
There is also widespread work on developing a fuel cycle based on the naturally
occurring element thorium. Bombarding
thorium with neutrons can transmute the
element into U-233, which does not occur
in nature and is fissile. The late nuclear

energy pioneer Alvin Weinberg long advocated thorium reactors, because they cannot
melt down and do not produce plutonium,
used in weapons. The Atomic Energy Commission experimented with thorium reactors
in the 1960s, but the technology lost out to
light-water reactors, as also occurred with
sodium-cooled reactors.
Thorium has its own set of inherent technical and economic problems, among them
the need to reprocess the irradiated thorium
to get the U-233. A 2012 article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists claimed that a
thorium fuel cycle would be considerably
more expensive than the current uranium fuel
cycle and would require too great an investment and provide no clear payoff.
Research into the thorium fuel cycle continues. India has the most ambitious program.
India refused to sign the 1968 Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty and exploded its own
atomic bomb in 1974, largely cutting itself
off from international assistance in developing a nuclear power program. The country has little indigenous uranium but lots of
thorium. That led India to explore a thorium
fuel cycle. The country is now getting international assistance for conventional light-
water reactors, but its interest in thorium has

not waned.
According to World Nuclear News, India
is building a 500-MW prototype thorium reactor, expected to be in operation this year.
This step, said the publication, will set
the scene for eventual full utilization of the
countrys abundant thorium to fuel reactors.
Six more such 500-MWe fast reactors have
been announced for construction, four of
them by 2020.
Less-ambitious thorium research and development (R&D) efforts are under way in
Canada, China, Germany, Israel, Japan, Norway, the UK, and the U.S. An article in The
Economist a year ago breathlessly touted the
thorium fuel cycles advantages as if they
were newly discovered. U.S. interest is reportedly at a very low level at the DOE. Sens.
Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Orrin Hatch (RUtah) have pushed to revive the governments
research into the liquid fluoride thorium reactor, abandoned in the 1960s because it lacked
a military connection. Reid and Hatch have
repeatedly introduced legislation to revitalize
thorium R&D. Congress has shown no interest so far.
Kennedy Maize is a POWER

contributing editor.
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than 4,500 U.S. and Canadian generating plants.
The directory provides:
Nearly 8,100 plant management and support
contact names, titles, and primary job functions.
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For more detailed information and a list of all available data,

visit us online at UDIDATA.COM or contact the UDI Editorial
team at UDI@Platts.com.
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POWER March 2015
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57
ADVERTISERS INDEX
Enter reader service numbers on the FREE Product Information Source card in this issue.
Reader
Service
Number
Page
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Service
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Applied Bolting Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 . . . . . . . .15
MD&A
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 4 . . . . .20
www.appliedbolting.com
www.mdaturbines.com
Baldor Electric. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 . . . . . . . . 7
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 3 . . . . .19
www.baldor.com
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Brand Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . 5
Sealeze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 . . . . . . . . 6
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Dow Water & Process Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 . . . . . . . .14
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GE Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 . . . . . . . .12
Swan Analytical Instruments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 . . . . . . . .16
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Kalenborn Abresist Corporation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 . . . . . . . .11
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KSB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 . . . . . . . .17
U.S. Water Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CV2 . . . . . . . 1
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Martin Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . 8
Victory Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 . . . . . . . . 9
www.martin-eng.com
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Matrix NAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . 3
Zeeco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . 4
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Kansas City Marriott
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
COMMENTARY
FERCs Work on the Clean

Power Plan
Cheryl A. LaFleur
ne of the most controversial issues facing the energy world
today is how our electric sector will respond to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agencys (EPAs) proposed Clean
Power Plan (CPP). If finalized, the CPP would, under Section
111(d) of the Clean Air Act, require states to significantly reduce
carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is not an
environmental regulator, and is not tasked with writing the final
rulethat is clearly the EPAs responsibility. And FERC is not
responsible for developing implementation plansthat is the
states responsibility. But FERC will have an essential role to play
as the CPP is implemented.
I believe that we as a nation can achieve real environmental
progress, including on climate change, but only if were willing
to build the infrastructureboth gas and electricand adapt
the energy markets to make that possible.
That is where FERC comes in. We will have responsibilities
across three areas: infrastructure, markets, and convening and
facilitating discussions about how to balance the core values of
reliability, cost, and the environment.
Infrastructure Development
First, I believe that additions to both gas and electric infrastructure will be needed to implement the CPP. In the case of
interstate natural gas facilities, FERC is responsible for issuing
permitswhich includes performing environmental reviews
and setting rates.
Building block two of the CPP calls for substantially increasing the utilization of the natural gas plants that exist all around
the country. I believe the CPP will also lead to construction of
additional gas generation because it may be, in many areas, the
most cost-effective way to meet the overall targets of the plan.
But while new gas infrastructure will be needed, it is facing
unprecedented opposition from local and national groups. Our
nation is going to have to grapple with our acceptance of gas
generation and gas pipelines if we hope to achieve our climate
and environmental goals.
FERCs responsibility under the Natural Gas Act is to consider
and act on pipeline applications, ensuring that needed pipelines
can be built safely and with limited environmental impact. Our
work on gas infrastructure permitting is going to be essential
to the successful implementation of the CPP. I am dedicated to
ensuring that the process is fair, clear, timely, and transparent.
FERC is also going to have a role to play in facilitating the
development of electric transmission that will need to be built
to support compliance with the CPP. Building Block 3 of the
CPP points to increasing reliance on location-constrained renewable generation like wind and utility-scale solar that, because
they are usually built far from population centers, are highly
transmission-dependent.
60
Although electric transmission siting decisions are made at

the state level, FERC is responsible for planning and setting rates
for interstate transmission. FERC is working hard to help needed
transmission get built by implementing our landmark Order No.
1000, which requires broad, transparent, and competitive transmission planning processes that explicitly consider public policy
requirements, like state implementation plans under the CPP.
These processes are intended to result in the most cost-effective
projects, not just for one small area, but for an entire region
and even between regions. We also ensure that needed lines are
built at reasonable cost by balancing the needs of investors and
consumers in approving fair rates and incentives.
Market Adaptation
Second, FERC will have a great deal of work to do to adapt wholesale electric markets to the CPP. Regional capacity and energy
markets incentivize investment and dispatch power over large
regions based on cost. Both have made some limited adaptations to support state environmental preferences like renewable
portfolio standards, but not always easily.
However, under the CPP, 49 states will develop individual
implementation plans that will require changes in utilization of
power sources. These plans may not be automatically compatible with the existing least-cost model. Regional cooperation
will help markets make these adaptations, but that cooperation
itself will require considerable change and compromise.
So FERC, the market operators, and stakeholders will have
to work together to adapt the existing market model to support the state plans while still delivering the benefits of
competition. FERC will also need to continue to ensure that
markets support investment in resources needed for reliability. Our fuel assurance order issued earlier this year is one
example of this effort.
Honest Broker
FERCs final job is to serve as an honest broker as work on the
CPP is finalized and implemented. We are beginning this effort
with a series of technical conferences to examine reliability, infrastructure, and market issues tied to the CPP. Our objective is
to hear from a wide range of entities about how compliance with
the rule might impact them and to begin to prepare for the work
FERC will need to do as compliance moves forward. We must also
continue our engagement with agencies, especially the EPA and
the states, to lend our expertise, share information, and provide
constructive suggestions.
I am honored to be a part of FERCs work, and look forward
to continuing change, challenge, and progress on the nations
energy and environmental aspirations.
Cheryl LaFleur is chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission.
www.powermag.com
POWER March 2015
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March 2015 Vol. 159 No.

Vol. 159 No. 3 March 2015

New Ways to Manage

Going Natural with Boiler Room

" " W "a;I W " " " "" water

cWW " ; W "vW ""

CIRCLE 1 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Established 1882 Vol. 159 No. 3

COVER STORY: WATER & WASTEWATER

28 Feedwater Chemistry Meets Stainless Steel, Copper, and Iron

34 Mining for Lithium in Geothermal Brine: Promising but Pricey

SPECIAL REPORT: AUXILIARY SYSTEM

38 SCR Reheat Burners Keep NOx in Spec at Low Loads

42 Protecting Steam Cycle Components During Low-Load Operation of Combined

46 Are Flexible Generation Plants Performing as Expected?

March 2015 POWER

48 New Zealands Geothermal Industry Is Poised for the Future

52 Nuclear Industry Pursues New Fuel Designs and Technologies

6 Speaking of Cuba, Change, and Coincidence

Cambodias Largest Hydropower Plant Begins Operation

18 Advanced Bearing Technology Eliminates Subsynchronous Steam Turbine

20 Cape Wind Finally Blows Out

60 FERCs Work on the Clean Power Plan

Online-Only Stories You Might Have Missed

POWER March 2015

This generation is smarter.

supply while keeping up with rapidly changing

Answers for energy.

EDITORIAL & PRODUCTION

GENERATING COMPANY ADVISORY TEAM

Petra Trautes, +49 69 5860 4760, ptrautes@accessintel.com

POWER (ISSN 0032-5929) is published monthly by Access

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POWER March 2015

Supporting North Americas

OIL, GAS &

866 367 6879

Speaking of Cuba, Change,

plan in 2005 that goes further, in some

all sectors and making 16-hour blackouts

Change and Common Interests

POWER March 2015

Make Ultra-Low NOx Retrofits

Fact is natural gas is the new standard to meet emissions regulations.

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Zeeco, Inc. 2015

1. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun

2. Waste to power. Ener-Cores FP250

stantially cut methane emissions from the

POWER March 2015

waste gases that are unusable with other

with manufacturers of steam-generating

3. Ready to roll. Entergy Louisiana completed construction on its new Ninemile 6

Entergys Ninemile 6 Plant

be able to switch over seamlessly to fuel