Tyler Jones

321000444
Texas A&M Main Utility Plant

Introduction
On November 13th a group of thirteen EHSC students along with Dr.
Wilkinson toured the Texas A&M Main Utility Plant on campus lead by Darryl
Peterson. In the facility, the group discussed the different rules and regulations as
well as the different processes of the facility.
The Texas A&M Main Utility Plant provides electricity, heat and cooling
services, and some other water services to the University. This plant produces
around 55,000 tons of cooling capacity, 450,000 million BTUs/hr in heating hot
water, 440,000 pph of steam production and 50 megawatts of power generation
capacity.. This production is to allow Texas A&M the ability to produce most of its
energy needs in house rather than paying larger amounts for it through the grid.
This plant was built in 1893 and has been producing power for the university ever
since1.
Below I will expand on the plants features and the different regulations and
guidelines used for the facility. This will be done by a superscript relating it the
guideline or regulation that pertains to it and where I have obtained that
information.
Site Features
The Utility Plant is located Ashbury Street and serves a population of around
60,000 people. The plant is composed a main natural gas engine that powers a main

generator. Also included are a steam turbine with a generator, steam turbine driven
chillers and dispersers to the University.
Most of the initial energy is produced
through the gas engine and the attached generator,
which can produce up to 34 megawatts by itself
(Figure 1). The excess heat from the engine is used
to create stream that can be used in a variety of
ways. This engine was installed to replace the
previous one in the 1970s.
One of the methods the steam used is
Figure 1: Natural Gas Engine with the attached
through a Dresser-Rand Steam Turbine and Hyundai Generator.
Ideal Generator. This uses the heat in the steam to
generate energy through the turbine.
This can generate up to 11 megawatts.
The rest of the steam produced by
the engine heat is used to power other
turbines that cools the steam and
produces cool water. This water can be
pumped out to the rest of campus or to
the golf course to be used in its
creeks(Figure 2).
The combination of these systems
Figure 2: Cooling Tank for created steam.
produce around 300,000 gallons of
waster water per day, which is either pumped out to the rest of the University to be
used in the ways described above, or are sent to the Wastewater Treatment Plant to
be treated and released into Whites Creek.
The Utility plant also houses the Boiler number 12 which is attached to the
iconic A&M College smoke stack (Figure 3).
This boiler is a separate power generator
from the rest of the system and had to have
the smoke stack refitted to properly work
with Boiler 12.
In addition to the natural gas
engines that are used for regular
production, Texas A&M also possesses
diesel engines to use in the case of an
emergency where natural gas access might
be shut off. This ensures that Texas A&M
Figure 3: Boiler 12 attached to A&M College Smoke Stack
can continue having power even during
other outages.
Regulatory Requirements
The main permit that the Texas A&M Utility Plant operates under is the their
Title V Permit. This includes the Annual reporting of compliance, which is a report

that must be submitted to TCEQ office by May 31st each year reporting their
accomplishment or failure to stay within compliance of the Title V Permit2,4.
An Opacity monitor certification must be acquired for Boiler 12s CEMS unit.
This ensures that the steam, since the plant does not produce smoke1, is monitored
by the CEMS unit to make sure it is not too thick causing possible adverse effects
locally2,4.
Still under the Title V permit is an Annual Emission Inventory report that is
electronically reported to TCEQ by a program called STEERS2,4. This must be
submitted every year by March 31st.
The last requirement under Title V for the plant is a Quarterly Visible
Emissions Observations on Stationary Vents. This requires workers to be trained to
be able to recognize different levels of emissions coming out of a stack by eye sight
alone. These observations must be conducted and recorded by the UES
environmental staff during the first week of each new quarter2,5.
Other permits are required through TCEQ that are not associated through
Title V and include the following2,6.
A Bi-annual report of non-compliance issues of Boiler 12 is required to be
submitted to TCEQ on both November 23rd and May 23rd. This is a report
summarizing any issues or nonissues that have been recorded with the operation of
Boiler 12.2,7
There must be a Bi-annual report to TCEQ of the GTG1/ Boiler 1 for any noncompliance issues. This report is dues by August 17th and February 17th each
year2,8.
If a Boiler 12 or GTG1/Boiler 1 CEMS units go offline due to equipment
unavailability a report must be submitted to TCEQ within 48 hours of the incident2,9.
Since the Utility Plant discharges some of its water into both the golf course
and to the Texas A&M Wastewater Treatment Facility, they are required to test and
report the findings of their discharge to TCEQ2,10.
Comparisons
Texas A&M Utility plant is a much cleaner and greener operation compared
to a full municipal facility. Large municipal facilities must produce excess electricity
to keep up with any possible large demand and therefore over produce energy the
majority of the time. Instead of natural gas, a cleaner burning fuel, large municipal
plants burn coal and other more readily available fuels. By operating on a smaller
scale, Texas A&Ms Utility Plant is able to conserve and extract the most amount of
energy from a source as it can.

References

Word of mouth from Darryl Peterson.

Compliance Reporting Handout from Darryl Peterson.
Utility Plant Slide Presentation from Darryl Perterson.
Title V
Bi-annual reporting of Boiler 12 (Permit No. 44762) non-compliance
issues.
6. Bi-annual reporting of GTG1/Boiler 1 (Permit No. 91611) noncompliance issues.
7. Boiler 12 or GTG1/Boiler 1 CEMS units offline due to equipment
unavailability.
8. Compressed Gas Audit (CGA) for Boiler 12 or GTG1/Boiler 1 CEMS
Units.
9. Relative Accuracy Test Audit(RATA) for GTG1/Boiler 1 CEMS
Unit.
10. 16,000 Hour/3 year emission compliance testing of GTG1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.