Domestic May 2010 PDF

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Vol. 154 No. 5 May 2010

Yucca
Mountain
Dies ...
Onsite
Storage
Lives
Safely Purge Your Gas Pipes
Three Forensic Case Studies
Burning Concern:
Combustible Dust
01_PWR_050110_Cover.indd 1 4/16/10 3:40:20 PM
Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas, Inc. 100 Colonial Center Parkway Lake Mary, FL 32746 USA 1-407-688-6100 www.mpshq.com
Evolutionthe Answer
to High-Performance
Turbine Technology
Small Stepsthat Add Up to Big Returns
Just as our G-Series turbines built on the success of reliable
predecessors like the M501F, our new M701G2 takes that
evolution one step further combining the proven pedigree
of the basic G design with innovations from the worlds frst
load tested H technology to achieve a new benchmark
output of 334MW at 39.5% efciencyand a 2x1 combined
cycled output of up to 999MW at a fuel-squeezing efciency
of 59.5%. Te same evolutionary discipline is applied across
our complete line of the worlds best boilers, steam turbines
and renewable energy products. We are the Diamond Edge
for complete power generation.
Mitsubishi technology. Te best of the known, and the best of
the newin designs that are ready to work for you, now.
Mitsubishis current generation of G-Series turbines have 26 units
running with 875,000 actual operating hours (September 2009),
28 new orders booked and the M701G2 with 23% higher output
are strong examples of our afordable lifecycle technology.
Visit mpshq.com for
Rewarding Career Opportunities
How do you build next-generation performance
into existing turbine designs? At Mitsubishi,
were melding proven concepts and advanced
technologies to create a best-of-breed gas
turbine that combines todays reliability
with tomorrows output and efciency.
Operational, Financial, Political...with these types of Risks
out there who needs Technology Risk. Mitsubishis
proven development process brings new innovation to
commercial operation with no risk to the customer.
Tats why we believe that evolution is better than
revolution. And thats why our design philosophy
has always been to integrate the most promising
technologies of tomorrowwith the most
proven technologies of today.
Turbine Tech_R1.indd 1 2/10/10 8:51 AM
CIRCLE 1 ON READER SERVICE CARD
02_PWR_050110_TOC_p1-5.indd 4 4/19/10 11:35:23 AM
May 2010
|
POWER www.powermag.com 1
nuclear
nuclear
coal
coal
hydro
hydro
wind
wind
SUCCESSFULLY
MANAGI NG & STAFFI NG
PROJECTS FOR 30 YEARS
800. 225. 0385
WWW. BARTLETTI NC. COM
No matter how you
produce your energy,
weve got the
people to power it. people to power it.
wind
hydro
nuclear
fossil
VI SI T US AT
WI NDPOWER
BOOTH #9732
or at
WWW. PEMI NC. NET
864- 375- 9030
No matter how you
produce your energy,
we have the
PEOPLE TO POWER IT.
A B H I E n e r g y C o mp a n y
SUCCESSFULLY
MANAGI NG & STAFFI NG
PROJECTS FOR 30 YEARS
Power Equipment Maintenance
ON THE COVER
Scott Burke, a system engineering and electrical instruments & components principle
engineer at Columbia Generating Station near Richland, Wash., holds a $15 uranium fuel
pellet. One pellet is equivalent to the energy provided by 149 gallons of oil, or 1,780
pounds of coal, or 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas. After the fuels six-year lifespan in a
nuclear reactor, it may be recycled for reuse, as is the case in Japan, France, and Russia,
though the technology is not currently funded in the U.S. Nearly 95% of Columbias used
fuel can be recycled and reused. All of Columbias used fuel storage casks (seen in the
background)containing 25 years of spent fuelcan fit inside a building the size of a
typical convenience store. If recycled, the fuel needing storage would fit inside the soda
cooler in the same convenience store. Photo courtesy Energy Northwest
COVER STORY: RENEWABLES
18 The U.S. Spent Nuclear Fuel Policy: Road to Nowhere
With the gate on Yucca Mountain essentially padlocked, where will the U.S. send its
spent nuclear fuel? Nowhere, if history is any indication of how the latest investiga-
tion by a federal commission will fare. To put the recent Yucca Mountain saga in per-
spective, we look at the origins of U.S. nuclear waste policy and its many dead ends.
SPECIAL REPORTS
PLANT SAFETY
42 Natural Gas Piping: Its Time for Better Risk Control
Gas piping is unlike every other type of piping encountered in a power plant, yet
virtually all of the teams that might work on gas piping do so without adequate
knowledge and training. Consider this articlewhich includes the top 10 gas piping
hazardsyour first step toward avoiding a disaster like the one recently experienced
at the Kleen Energy plant.
50 Forensic Engineering: A Valuable Tool in Incident Investigations
Case studies of three serious power plant incidents demonstrate the value of foren-
sic engineering. Every plant can learn something from the recommended corrective
actions designed to prevent similar incidents from occurring.
58 A Burning Concern: Combustible Dust
Governments at all levels, standards-making organizations, and industry entities
must work together to promote the safe and efficient handling of coal. Here are
some recommendations for how you can prepare to play a role in preventing coal
dust fires, explosions, and implosions.
64 POWER IN MEXICO
The latest in-depth country report on the power business from Global Business Re-
ports looks at a U.S. neighbor. Mexico is one of the few countries in Latin America
that maintains state control of its power sector, yet private capital has a role to play.
Though it enjoys a diverse mix of fuels and (to date) few serious financing obstacles,
the country is confronting many of the same challenges that face electricity infra-
structure developers worldwide. (Continued on next page)
18
Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas, Inc. 100 Colonial Center Parkway Lake Mary, FL 32746 USA 1-407-688-6100 www.mpshq.com
Evolutionthe Answer
to High-Performance
Turbine Technology
Small Stepsthat Add Up to Big Returns
Just as our G-Series turbines built on the success of reliable
predecessors like the M501F, our new M701G2 takes that
evolution one step further combining the proven pedigree
of the basic G design with innovations from the worlds frst
load tested H technology to achieve a new benchmark
output of 334MW at 39.5% efciencyand a 2x1 combined
cycled output of up to 999MW at a fuel-squeezing efciency
of 59.5%. Te same evolutionary discipline is applied across
our complete line of the worlds best boilers, steam turbines
and renewable energy products. We are the Diamond Edge
for complete power generation.
Mitsubishi technology. Te best of the known, and the best of
the newin designs that are ready to work for you, now.
Mitsubishis current generation of G-Series turbines have 26 units
running with 875,000 actual operating hours (September 2009),
28 new orders booked and the M701G2 with 23% higher output
are strong examples of our afordable lifecycle technology.
Visit mpshq.com for
Rewarding Career Opportunities
How do you build next-generation performance
into existing turbine designs? At Mitsubishi,
were melding proven concepts and advanced
technologies to create a best-of-breed gas
turbine that combines todays reliability
with tomorrows output and efciency.
Operational, Financial, Political...with these types of Risks
out there who needs Technology Risk. Mitsubishis
proven development process brings new innovation to
commercial operation with no risk to the customer.
Tats why we believe that evolution is better than
revolution. And thats why our design philosophy
has always been to integrate the most promising
technologies of tomorrowwith the most
proven technologies of today.
Turbine Tech_R1.indd 1 2/10/10 8:51 AM
Established 1882 Vol. 154 No. 5 May 2010
02_PWR_050110_TOC_p1-5.indd 1 4/19/10 11:35:34 AM
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2010 Exxon Mobil Corporation

Mobil, Mobil SHC, Mobilgear, and the Pegasus design
are trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries.
Keep maintenance costs down and send productivity soaring with the complete range of Mobil SHC synthetic lubricants and greases.
Each one is formulated to offer outstanding all-around performance, including equipment protection, keep-clean characteristics, and
oil life. Take Mobilgear SHC XMP. Used in more than 30,000 wind turbine gearboxes worldwide, its trusted by builders, proven in the
eld, and supported by exceptional application expertise. Just a few of the reasons we dont simply make things run. We make them y.
Visit mobilindustrial.com for more.
We can take wind turbines to new heights.
This mechanical prepared by
MRM Worldwide
This mechanical should not be modified in any way
without prior written direction from MRM Worldwide.
Safety: 7x 9.5 Client: Exxon Mobil Job Number: EXOD0011
Trim: 7x 9.5 Mech Due Date: 1/20/10 Job Name: Wind Turbine Ad
Bleed: None Project Manager: Jordon Giles 1-646-865-6462
Color: 4C Production Contact: Linda Herskovic 1-646-865-6371
Publications:
Maintenance Technology | May, Novemebr
POWER | May, August
Machinery Lubrication | May, September
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Publication: Power 5/10
MOBI L I NDUSTRI AL LUBRI CANTS
PRODUCTI VI TY ADVI SORY

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Helping you get
the most out of
your wind turbine
When it comes to wind turbines,
Mobil Industrial Lubricants dont just
make them run they make them fy.
How? By helping you get the most out
of your machines.
Designed to excel even in some of
the most demanding conditions such
as high heat, heavy load, and water
contamination Mobil SHC synthetic
lubricants and greases help keep wind
turbines operating in top form.
These lubricants can help reduce
unschedul ed downt i me, l ower
maintenance costs, even extend
oil life.
Extensive builder approvals and
proven eld performance
Today, Mobi l SHC synt het i c
lubricants are used to power wind
turbines around the world.
In fact, Mobilgear SHC XMP 320 is
used to lubricate more than 30,000
wind turbines worldwide and is the
initial-fll gear oil of choice for the
majority of the worlds top 12 wind
turbine builders.
In addition to Mobilgear SHC XMP 320,
ExxonMobil offers a wide range of
lubricants that are formulated to deliver
exceptional protection for all parts
that make up a wind turbine, including
greases to lubricate bearings and
hydraulic oils that help pitch rotor blades.
T:2.125
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9
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66 A Brief History of Mexicos Power Sector

68 Mexicos Generation Mix
74 Renewables Remain More Desired than Real
80 A Regulatory Framework with Little Flexibility
85 Three Keys to Success for the Service and Manufacturing Sector
89 Risks and Rewards
FEATURES
BOILER DESIGN
95 First Posiflow Benson Boiler Completes Seven Years of Service
The worlds first low mass flux vertical tube once-through furnace was a retrofit put
into operation in China seven years ago. The owner has since ordered a second ret-
rofit. Much-improved unit availability, the units ability to rapidly change load, and
minimal maintenance concerns have been the boilers primary selling points.
HYBRID PLANTS
104 Adding Desalination to Solar Hybrid and Fossil Plants
How can you simultaneously make the most of scarce water resources, justify build-
ing solar thermal power projects, and store the work performed by that solar re-
source? By adding solar-powered desalination to a hybrid solar/fossil generating
plant. Heres your guide to the technology options.
EMISSIONS
114 Dry Injection of Trona for SO
3
Control
The use of trona for SO
3
control is gaining popularity thanks to the technologys low
capital cost, small installation footprint, ease of operation, and flexibility to adapt to
fuel changes. Among its added benefits: Trona is all natural!
CONFERENCE REPORT
120 Resurrecting Nuclear: We Have to Get It Right
Everyone who monitors the nuclear generating industry can recite from memory
the problems that have plagued it in the past. If the industry has any hope of re-
deeming itself, it will have to show from square one that its not going to conduct
business as usual. Recent headlines suggest that the learning curve is steep.
DEPARTMENTS
SPEAKING OF POWER
6 Bridge to a Dead End
GLOBAL MONITOR
8 CERAWeek 2010: Energy: Building a New Future
FOCUS ON O&M
12 Laser Hole-Shaping Improves Combustion Turbine Efficiency
14 Competitive Maintenance Strategies, Part III
LEGAL & REGULATORY
17 Defining the Elephant: Smart Grid Status Check
128 NEW PRODUCTS
COMMENTARY
136 How Green Is Green Power?
By Melinda E. Taylor, executive director of the Center for Global Energy, International
Arbitration, and Environmental Law at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin
104
02_PWR_050110_TOC_p1-5.indd 2 4/16/10 3:28:42 PM
Cyan
Magenta
Yellow
Black
LH: RELEASED
Save Date: 4-6-2010 1:26 PM
Previous User: Gina.Ko
Document Path: Macintosh
HD4:Users:holly:Desktop:0011_EXOD_Wind-
Turbine_AD.indd
Job #: EXOD0011
Client: Exxon_Mobil
Job Name: Wind Turbine Ad
Studio Artist: HVV
Proof #: 5-release
S:7
S
:
9
.
5
2010 Exxon Mobil Corporation

Mobil, Mobil SHC, Mobilgear, and the Pegasus design
are trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries.
Keep maintenance costs down and send productivity soaring with the complete range of Mobil SHC synthetic lubricants and greases.
Each one is formulated to offer outstanding all-around performance, including equipment protection, keep-clean characteristics, and
oil life. Take Mobilgear SHC XMP. Used in more than 30,000 wind turbine gearboxes worldwide, its trusted by builders, proven in the
eld, and supported by exceptional application expertise. Just a few of the reasons we dont simply make things run. We make them y.
We can take wind turbines to new heights.
MRM Worldwide
Safety: 7x 9.5 Client: Exxon Mobil Job Number: EXOD0011
Trim: 7x 9.5 Mech Due Date: 1/20/10 Job Name: Wind Turbine Ad
Bleed: None Project Manager: Jordon Giles 1-646-865-6462
Color: 4C Production Contact: Linda Herskovic 1-646-865-6371
Publications:
Maintenance Technology | May, Novemebr
POWER | May, August
Machinery Lubrication | May, September
0011_EXOD_WindTurbine_AD.indd 1 4/6/10 1:27 PM
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|
May 2010 4
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The fuel handling marketplace is changing
The need to contain cost, increase efficiency, and ensure governmental
compliance is more urgent than ever. Benetech has you covered. We're
committed to helping you face today's tough challenges with our innovative,
proven technologies and over 25 years of leading industry experience.
Real solutions
Leverage the power of our Total Dust Management (TDM
) technologies and
the expertise of our highly trained team of Plant Professionals (P
2
), and you'll
have everything you need to implement effective solutions for risk mitigation,
asset optimization, governmental and combustible dust compliance.
Trust the company with more than 195 projects relating to coal conversion,
blending, and plant assessments for safety improvements. Trust Benetech.
We're on your side.

With Benetech on your side,
you know youre covered
FUEL THE FUTURE
FUEL THE FUTURE
See Us At Electric Power Booth #1521. Call 800-THE-COAL x241, or visit BenetechUSA.com
Governmental Compliance
and Safety Assessments
Industry-leading
Technologies and Products
Turn-key
Projects
Plant Services
and Maintenance
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
BENETECH_POWER_May2010.pdf 4/5/2010 1:55:43 PM
02_PWR_050110_TOC_p1-5.indd 4 4/16/10 3:29:01 PM
The fuel handling marketplace is changing
The need to contain cost, increase efficiency, and ensure governmental
compliance is more urgent than ever. Benetech has you covered. We're
committed to helping you face today's tough challenges with our innovative,
proven technologies and over 25 years of leading industry experience.
Real solutions
Leverage the power of our Total Dust Management (TDM
) technologies and
the expertise of our highly trained team of Plant Professionals (P
2
), and you'll
have everything you need to implement effective solutions for risk mitigation,
asset optimization, governmental and combustible dust compliance.
Trust the company with more than 195 projects relating to coal conversion,
blending, and plant assessments for safety improvements. Trust Benetech.
We're on your side.

With Benetech on your side,
you know youre covered
FUEL THE FUTURE
FUEL THE FUTURE
See Us At Electric Power Booth #1521. Call 800-THE-COAL x241, or visit BenetechUSA.com
Governmental Compliance
and Safety Assessments
Industry-leading
Technologies and Products
Turn-key
Projects
Plant Services
and Maintenance
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
BENETECH_POWER_May2010.pdf 4/5/2010 1:55:43 PM
02_PWR_050110_TOC_p1-5.indd 5 4/16/10 3:29:10 PM
|
May 2010 6
SPEAKING OF POWER
Bridge to a Dead End
T
he Brattle Group released a provoca-
tive study paper in March in which
the authors postulate that using more
natural gas for generating electricity could
reduce our dependence on coal-fired gen-
eration and reduce carbon emissions. Also
discussed is an unexpected side effect:
Renewables could push natural gas plants
down in the dispatch mix in the future. Just
because natural gas reserves are at a record
high and the price is at historic lows doesnt
mean that gas demand will increase.
Bridge Fuel to the Future
The report, Prospects for Natural Gas Un-
der Climate Policy Legislation, authored
by Steven H. Levine, Frank C. Graves, and
Metin Celebi, examines the role that natu-
ral gas might play as a bridge fuel that
would link todays mix of power-generating
resources to a future mix of nuclear power,
coal plants with carbon capture and seques-
tration, and renewable energy sources. In
this scenario, when the cost of carbon al-
lowances (in a carbon-regulated economy)
rises high enough, generators will migrate to
the cheaper (both in carbon emissions and
price) and more-plentiful natural gas, which
will spur coal-to-gas plant conversions as
an interim carbon reduction step until new
low-carbon-technology plants can be built.
For proponents of a carbon-reduced future,
the price of carbon allowances determines
the time it takes to cross the bridge.
There are two major problems with this
scenario. First, the cost of allowances, the
amortized capital cost of converting coal
plants to burn natural gas, higher fuel costs,
and fuel volatility risk will always flow to
the ratepayers in terms of increased elec-
tricity prices. Proponents are quick to forget
that the price of natural gas has historically
been volatile and unpredictable (gas prices
at the Henry Hub pushed $15/mmBtu sev-
eral times in 2005; today the price is less
than $4). The second problem is that plant
efficiency post-fuel-switch will be much less
than that of a modern combined-cycle plant
(never mind the myriad technical problems
to make the fuel switch and the price of lost
capacity during an outage). This will push
a baseload coal plant from first place to an
also-ran in the dispatch order, again push-
ing up electricity rates.
Controlling Carbon Prices
The authors, quite rightly, point out that
carbon allowance prices will surely take
more than a decade to rise high enough to
make the fuel switch attractive, given the
damping effect that rapidly rising electric-
ity costs would have on our economy. Lets
take a quick look at the authors assump-
tions of what economic conditions must
exist for fuel switching to occur.
First, compare an inefficient coal
plant (14,000 Btu/kWh) burning coal fuel
at $1.70/million Btu to an efficient gas-
fired combined-cycle plant (7,000 Btu/
kWh) firing natural gas at $6/million Btu.
The break even point is a carbon allow-
ance price of $10/ton. If the carbon al-
lowance price increases, then conceptually
the coal plant will move down the dispatch
order but normally remain well above a gas
plant. If the coal plant is efficient (9,000
Btu/kWh) then the break-even point climbs
to $80/ton. The authors note, Thus, coal
is not thoroughly displaced by gas until CO
2

prices are in the range of $50$100/ton,
levels that may not be observed (per EIA
forecasts) until 2030 or later. There are
numerous caveats to this rather simplistic
analysis, but the relative values are illus-
trative of the senseless economics (at least
from the viewpoint of a ratepayer) even in
a carbon-constrained economy.
Renewables Continue Growth
The authors also note the importance of the
latest U.S. Energy Information Administra-
tion (EIA) gas consumption trends on their
analysis: Specifically, gas-fired generation in
the U.S. falls from roughly 900 billion kWh in
2008 to about 700 billion kWh in 2015, while
generation from renewables increases from
about 400 billion kWh to 650 billion kWh in
that same period (while coal increases slight-
ly). This means that even if these costly gas
conversions are forced by policy rather than
economics, then the EIA data show that the
displacement of gas by new renewables de-
velopment is the dominant effect.
This is a shocking observation by the
authors. Indeed, there is the possibility
that the U.S. may experience a perverse
outcome in which renewables serve to back
out natural gasfired generation rather than
coal-fired generation. This situation occurs
when the development of renewable energy
resources combined with the effects of en-
ergy efficiency measures may serve to crowd
out natural gasfired generation in some re-
gions. When gas-fired plants (be they new
combined-cycle plants or much less efficient
gas conversion projects) are pushed down
the dispatch order, then ratepayers will pay
the freight in four distinct ways: for rising
allowance costs, the cost of the gas con-
versions and new gas-fired plants that will
dispatch less, the added cost of removing
the same amount of carbon from gas plants
rather than from coal plants (gas has about
40% of the carbon emissions of coal), and
the economic costs of the tax credits and
subsidies enjoyed by renewable projects.
Natural gas enjoys many advantages
when used to generate electricity, but a
codependency on natural gas as a bridge
fuel is unhealthy given the fuels volatile
price and supply history. Lower projections
of the demand for natural gas for power
generation make coal-to-gas conversions
a poor investment given the current car-
bon policy proposals.
One final observation. Once a coal-to-
gas conversion is made, that bridge be-
comes a one-way street.
Dr. Robert Peltier, PE, is POWERs
editor-in-chief.
Carbon allowance prices will surely take
more than a decade to rise high enough to
make the fuel switch attractive.
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03_PWR_050110_SOP_p6-7.indd 7 4/16/10 3:42:22 PM
|
May 2010 8
CERAWeek 2010: Energy:
Building a New Future
For the past 26 years, Cambridge Energy
Research Associates (CERA) has hosted an
annual CERAWeek conference in Houston
that is renowned for high-profile attendees
from around the world. During the week of
March 8, security was tight as oil ministers
from the Middle East and CEOs from the
largest oil and gas companies and electric
utilities rolled into Houston to exchange
ideas and forecasts. More than 1,200 del-
egates from 55 countries attended to hear
more than 100 distinguished speakers
discuss a business that seems to have re-
newed optimism about the future.
The first three days of the conference
were focused on worldwide supply and
demand issues for oil and natural gas.
Days four and five of the five-day con-
ference were dedicated to electric power.
Those days began with a discussion be-
tween Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prizewin-
ning author of The Prize: the Epic Quest
for Oil, Money and Power and chairman
of IHS-Cambridge Energy Research Asso-
ciates, which hosts the conference, and
Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the
International Energy Agency.
China Leads Global Power Growth
The focus of the keynote discussion was
Asias rebound from the global economic
crisis in general, although China was the
main focus. Unlike the U.S. and Western
Europe, where demand for electricity is
flat at best, China seems to be experi-
encing the strongest recovery from the
worldwide economic downturn. China is
now projecting a gross national prod-
uct growth of 10% for 2010 with growth
in electrical consumption of 10% dur-
ing 2010 and 8% in 2011. During 2009,
China ordered 45,000 MW of new steam
turbine generation equipment, about
50% of all orders worldwide. Of these
orders, approximately 26,000 MW were
for coal-fired units and 16,000 MW for
nuclear plants.
China is also working diligently to
ensure its future coal supplies. In Feb-
ruary of this year, China signed a 20-
year, $60 billion take-or-pay contract
for 300 million tons/year of coal from
Australia. Today, China produces about
75% of its electricity from coal, and the
terms of this contract made it clear that
coal will remain Chinas favorite fuel for
many years to come.
In contrast, GE Power & Water presi-
dent and CEO Steve Bolze presented his
projections: Approximately 2,700 GW of
power generation investment will occur
worldwide in the coming decade, with
coal plants still getting about a third of
each investment dollar (Figure 1).
China added 12 GW of wind genera-
tion to its grid during 2009, more than
any other country. By comparison, the
U.S. added 10 GW of wind in 2009, mak-
ing a solid claim for second place in
the wind race. Another interesting sta-
tistic: In 2009 more automobiles were
delivered to Chinese customers than to
U.S. customers. Only a few years ago,
a number of economists were ridiculed
for predicting that China would surpass
the U.S. in automobile purchases with-
in 10 years. Now, all power generation
products and products that consume
electricity, even electric cars, are being
tailored for the Chinese market. We are
witnessing the evolution of a Chinese
middle class that desires automobiles,
better housing, appliances, and crea-
ture comforts. Taken together, the world
should expect a rapid increase in the
per capita consumption of electricity in
China (Figure 2).
U.S. Utilities Face Reduced Demand
Ironically, while China and India are back
to fast track growth with principally coal
Yes, Global Monitor
Is Different
Just for the May issue weve changed
the format for this department to
bring you a single story of global
scope. Let us know what you think
about this storyor any othersby
using the comment tab at the bottom
of the web version of all our stories
at www.powermag.com. (Please note
that it may take a day or so for the
comment to go live, as that process
requires editor approval.)
Wind 19%
Coal 34%
Gas/oil
21%
Hybrid 9%
Other
renewable
7%
Nuclear 6%
Solar 4%
1. Mixed generation ahead. GE fore-
casts a mix of orders for the 2,700-GW global
power generation market during the next 10
years. Coal is expected to get a third of the
business, but solar and wind have much up-
side potential. Source: General Electric
2. Market growth centers shift. Much of the power generation equipment market
growth will occur in nondeveloping economies over the next decade. Source: General Electric
24,000
18,000
12,000
6,000
T
W
h
2006 2007 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020

OECD

Non-OECD
Year
04_PWR_050110_GM_p8-11.indd 8 4/19/10 11:39:01 AM
May 2010
|
and nuclear power, the U.S. and Western Europe are coping
with a drop in demand for electricity. A panel of four promi-
nent CEOs of U.S. investor-owned utilities provided the buzz-
kill on the future for increased U.S. electricity consumption:
Edison International CEO Ted Craver noted that Southern
California retail sales of electricity fell 10% during 2009.
He sees the market stabilizing in 2010 but predicts, It will
be 2016 before we sell the same amount of electricity as we
sold during 2008. The industrial segment of the electricity
market in California now only represents 10% of electric-
ity consumption. In 1990 industrial consumption was about
20% of the California market. What part of this reduced in-
dustrial consumption is due to businesses fleeing Califor-
nia for states that are more business-friendly, with lower
electricity rates, and what is due to the general economic
malaise was not discussed.
Peter Darby, CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), sees demand
for distributed generation accelerating. Our customers want
solar generation of electricity. This sentiment is echoed by
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, by a Sep-
tember 2009 executive order, required electric companies to
supply 33% of electricity sold in California from renewable
resources by 2020. Because it is too difficult to predict how
fast the solar generation segment will evolve, PG&E wants
to be on both sides of the marketthat is, building solar
central station generating plants on the supply side and also
making investments in smaller rooftop installations to reduce
demand. If customers install their own solar generation, that
means less demand for electricity that PG&E must generate.
Mike Morris, CEO of American Electric Power Co., said indus-
trial power consumption was off 15% for 2009 versus 2008.
Overall electricity consumption was off 6%. Morris projects
that 2010 overall electricity consumption for AEP customers
will be flat, or perhaps up 1% at best.
David Ratcliffe, CEO of Southern Company (parent of Georgia
Power, Mississippi Power & Light, Alabama Power, and Gulf
Power), addressed the situation in the Southeast. Ratcliffe
said that sales overall were down 6% for 2009 versus 2008.
We think weve reached the bottom, he said. Ratcliffe is
projecting 1.5% to 2.0% overall growth for 2010 in his ser-
vice territory.
One clear theme was prevalent during the CEO discussions
about recent electricity production statistics. Each utility
was beginning to recover from some amount of demand
destruction over the past two years that far exceeds any
similar downturn in electricity purchases in U.S. history.
Prior to 2008, Americans consumed more electricity every
year since 1900 with only a few exceptions. These excep-
tional years (1974, 1982, 2001, 2008, and 2009) coincided
with economic recessions. However, the two-year period of
2008 to 2009 was the first time U.S. electricity consump-
tion declined for two consecutive years (Figure 3). Another
discussion point: While the Department of Energy is now
forecasting an increase in electricity consumption for 2010,
there was no consensus about whether this growth will ac-
tually materialize.
U.S. Equipment Sales Down in 2009
Orders for gas turbine and steam turbine power generation
equipment fell sharply in 2009. For example, global orders
for turbomachinery fell 45% year over year in 2009, and
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|
May 2010 10
only a small bump of a recovery is ex-
pected in 2010. In the U.S., business
dropped about 25% over the same pe-
riod (Figure 4). GEs Bolze described
the combustion turbine market as
stabilizing. He went on to say, The
fourth quarter of 2009 was up a bit,
but we expect the recovery in orders to
appear first in regions outside of North
America.
The big question raised at CERAWeek
about the combustion turbine market:
Are we now setting up for another or-
ders boom in 2011 or 2012, given
the predicted volumes of natural gas
that will soon come to market? Since
1998 there have been two boom-bust
cycles, but no one was ready to pre-
dict another boom cycle coming. His-
tory teaches us that the combustion
turbine market has never been stable
enough to make such predictions.
Mark Axford is the principal of
Axford Consultants LP and a POWER
contributing editor.
3. Will electricity growth return in 2010? After a two-year contracting market,
CEOs at CERAWeek predicted that total electricity consumption in the U.S. will resume a
positive slope in 2010. Source: EIA
4. Markets holding steady. Worldwide combustion turbine sales dropped signifi-
cantly during 2009, with the U.S. seeing much less sales volatility. Projections for sales
of combustion turbines larger than 10 MW in 2010 are that the international market will
see a modest increase in sales, with the U.S. market remaining flat. Source: Axford
Consultants LP
1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 1996 1994 1992 1990
M
V
Year
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
Worldwide USA
delivers headline
news for power
generators weekly
Subscribe now to
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WANT POWER
INDUSTRY
NEWS MORE
OFTEN?
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Print/Export Time: 4-14-2010 7:29 PM
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Created by Interface
Graphics, a division of
McCann Erickson
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2010Verizon Wireless.
FINAL ART IN PLACE
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Product: Business (BS)
Job #: M10VW041
Ad #: 59
Headline: The smarter the grid
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Gutter: None
AD: None
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CD: None
AP: None
PP: April Gallo
Created by Interface
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FINAL ART IN PLACE
04_PWR_050110_GM_p8-11.indd 11 4/16/10 3:45:32 PM
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May 2010 12
Laser Hole-Shaping
Improves Combustion
Turbine Efficiency
Cylindrical holes were once the industry
standard for air film cooling on turbine
engine components. The cooling holes
were traditionally formed using an elec-
tro-discharge machine (EDM) with a round
electrode that slowly eroded the compo-
nent alloy away until a complete hole was
formed. The task was time-consuming and
costly, because a typical combustion tur-
bine blade required hundreds of holes.
As coatings technology progressed,
turbine manufacturers added a ceramic
thermal barrier coating (TBC) to protect
blades as the pursuit of higher operating
efficiencies pushed up gas temperatures
some years ago. Unfortunately, that made
EDM shaping through a TBC coating ap-
plied to blades and vanes impossible. One
major limitation of the EDM process is
that it requires a surface material to be
conductive, because the process requires
an electrical circuit path to function.
The process of applying shaped holes on
turbine airfoils then evolved into a two-
step machining process sandwiched around
the application of a TBC. Before a ceramic
nonconductive coating could be applied,
cylindrical airfoil holes were drilled with a
laser. Laser drilling focuses a high-energy
beam of coherent monochromatic light at
the surface of the airfoil to melt the alloy.
Next, the external TBC was applied to
the surface of the turbine components
to protect the alloy. However, the laser-
drilled holes could be blocked if over-
coated, thus reducing the efficiency of the
intended blade cooling design. Normally,
a mathematical formula was used to de-
termine hole coatdown based on hole size
and amount of coating thickness. The final
application of the TBC also created yet an-
other airflow disturbance step.
In the second machining step, a spe-
cially shaped EDM electrode was super-
imposed in each laser hole to produce a
round metering hole with a diffuser shape
at the surface. This diffuser shape (unlike
the traditional round exit hole) spreads
the exiting airflow and promotes more
uniform surface cooling effect. Because it
was a two-step process, there was a possi-
bility for many hole-to-shape mismatches
that impede the smooth transition of the
airflow. The entire process was time-con-
suming, and rework was often required to
produce a blade that met specification. At
the time, this process technology helped
to usher in the next generation of ad-
vanced turbine engine components.
New Laser Technology
Speeds Drilling
Today, most turbine components require
some form of nonconductive TBC, thus,
final dimension shaping through the TBC
is made possible by the many new devel-
opments in laser shaping technology. And
this laser shaping technology is not lim-
ited by the application of coatings prior
to the hole drilling or shaping process. La-
ser shaping technology has evolved from
a two-step process into a single process
that drills and shapes holes through a
TBC, bond coat, and airfoil base metal to
create a finished product (Figure 1).
This one-step process drills hole open-
ings shaped like a trapezoid with the
downstream portion of each hole opening
at the airfoil surface, either flaring or wid-
ening relative to the narrower upstream
portion of each hole opening. This design
allows the cooling air to be distributed
completely over the convex and concave
surfaces of the airfoil or platform. The in-
creasing cross-sectional area of the cool-
ing hole opening functions as a diffuser
to reduce the velocity of the cooling air-
streams exiting the holes. Lower-velocity
airstreams are more inclined to cling to
the blade surface than to separate and re-
duce the effectiveness of the film cooling
of the component surface.
Laser Drilling and Shaping
The latest laser shaping processes also al-
low for much more complex heat transfer
designs to be added to the surface of a
blade or other component, also in a single
step. All of the cooling holes and shape
segments are formed with a single drill
and shape process, seamlessly producing
complex diffuser shapes that previously
required multiple processes. The shape,
also perfectly superimposed over the hole,
creates the uniform airflow over the air-
foil surface, as the heat transfer engineer
originally intended. Another advantage:
1. Full service. Todays advanced laser
drill and shape tools can produce a completed
blade by drilling through the ceramic ther-
mal barrier coating applied earlier. The earlier
process required the ceramic coating to be
applied after the laser drill and ship, causing
quality problems. Courtesy: Chromalloy
2. Laser hole shaping. The laser can
produce shaped and directional holes to man-
age the cooling air flowing through the blade.
This blade has completed its laser drilling and
shaping and is ready for a final quality check
before shipping. The white portion of the blade
is the ceramic thermal barrier coating that pro-
tects the blade so that it can operate at higher
temperatures. Courtesy: Chromalloy
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May 2010 14
The final dimension of the laser-drilled and -shaped component
is the finished dimension, as all the coatings were applied earlier
in the process. The mechanical impact of the laser drilling and
shaping process on the TBC is negligible (Figure 2).
Today, Chromalloy uses this single-step laser drill and shape
technology to produce a significant number of turbine airfoils
for industrial gas turbine operators plus other commercial and
military aircraft operators.
Contributed by Frank J. Wos (fwos@chromalloy.com), director
of laser technology, Chromalloy.
Competitive Maintenance Strategies,
Part III
In the previous two installments of Competitive Maintenance
Strategies, we examined several best practices that should be
part of the workday routine for high-performing plants. In Part
I, we discussed the characteristics of a good reliability-centered
maintenance program, the use of root-cause analysis as a main-
tenance tool, and ways to improve your predictive maintenance
program (March 2010). In Part II, we focused on combined-cycle
plants, especially heat-recovery steam generators, to identify sev-
eral operating practices that are directly linked to the cost of plant
maintenance. One specific area discussed was the need for a good
valve maintenance program (April 2010). This third and final in-
stallment addresses three more areas where an investment in good
maintenance practices pays operating availability dividends.
Give Batteries More than Specific-Gravity Tests
The time-honored method of assessing the overall condition of
lead acid, wet-cell battery banks is to manually measure cell
voltage, current, and electrolyte specific gravity, and to visually
check fluid level and terminal post connections. While this is sat-
isfying to some, most experts say that you should conduct more
tests to get a true measure of the health of their batteries.
One way to do this is to deep-discharge new batteries once
every five years, increasing the frequency of deep-discharge later,
as the batteries reach the end of their 20-year life. A typical
flooded-cell battery is rated for 50 deep discharges in its 20-year
life, so 10 to 15 deep discharges for testing are not detrimental
to the battery. In addition, a discharge serves to agitate the
electrolyte, which is good for the battery.
But many substation engineers are opposed to deep dis-
charges, partly because they feel this takes away from the life
of the battery, and also because the battery string must be
taken off-line to discharge it. Discharge tests are costly as well,
because a utility must invest in its own battery-loading bank to
absorb the energy. Consequently, utilities have always wanted
a simpler indicator of battery strength and remaining life that
is easy to apply, less labor-intensive, and less risky to both
personnel and batteries.
Hence, battery monitors, as contrasted with single-function
testing devices, should be included in any battery room. Single-
function testers, such as hydrometers or voltmeters, check just
one parameter, such as specific gravity or voltage. By contrast,
battery monitors continuously check a variety of parameters,
such as voltage, temperature, fluid level, float current, and cell
impedance or resistance. Two developments have promoted the
use of monitors: automation through electronic sensors coupled
with computers, and the downsizing of large, labor-intensive
maintenance organizations to reduce costs.
Hunt Down Sources of Condenser Air In-leakage
Air leaking into a steam turbine condenser robs a plant of capac-
ity and efficiency and contributes to corrosion because of the
higher levels of dissolved O
2
and CO
2
in the condensate. It also
can lead to serious tube-freezing incidents if the condenser is
air-cooled and located in a cold-weather climate. To stay on top
of the problem, some power plant engineers have installed on-
line instruments that determine air in-leakage rates based on gas
concentrations in the condensate. However, the instruments can
be problematic, and they only indicate the presence of a leak,
rather than pinpointing the actual leak sites.
Most plants find it more effective to routinely test the steam
components that are under vacuum, using mass spectrometry
and helium as a tracer gas. One technician sprays helium around
potential leak sitessuch as expansion joints, flanges, and
valveswhile another uses the mass spectrometer to detect the
inert gas at the discharge of the air-removal system: air ejector,
vacuum pump, or hogger. Mass spectrometry is considered more
effective than other inspection methodssuch as ultrasound,
infrared, decay tests, and condenser floodingbecause it can:
Pinpoint the location of leaks as small as 3 x 10
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per minute, thanks to heliums tiny molecular size.
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May 2010 16
You should perform a leak-detection survey prior to a major
outage to plan work items and immediately after the outage to
check tightness on components that were disassembled. A survey
also can be conducted when a sudden increase in air in-leakage is
detected, based on condenser backpressure, decay tests, dissolved
oxygen concentration in the condensate, or air-removal rates.
Many leaks found through mass spectrometry can be stopped al-
most immediately. A typical example is a drain valve that was inad-
vertently left open. Other leaks, such as the gaskets around rupture
discs or manway covers, can be temporarily repaired until the next
scheduled shutdown. Leaks in pump-shaft or turbine-gland seals,
however, usually cannot be repaired online. Because it can deter-
mine the rate of air in-leakage at any one leak site, mass spectrom-
etry can help a plant decide how long the repairs can be deferred.
Consider Online Cleaning of Generator Coolers
Managing riskas opposed to completely avoiding itmeans tak-
ing calculated gambles to cut expenses and sustain availability.
Some maintenance groups are doing just that when they attack
heat-exchanger fouling in their hydrogen-cooled electric genera-
tors. The hydrogen is cooled by service water in a tube-and-shell
heat exchanger, which, over time, becomes fouled with deposits.
Traditionally, plants have cleaned the deposits by shutting
down the plant and manually brushing the heat exchanger tubes.
This procedure is somewhat effective at restoring cooler perfor-
mance, but hard deposits that are not removed by brush eventu-
ally began to build up. Besides, taking the units out of service
means the plant availability will take a hit.
To improve on the traditional practice, innovative plants have
considered two methods: liquid-fill-and-circulate and foam clean-
ing. The former raises concerns about spills, aggressive liquids
leaking through to the generator, and the handling and disposal
of waste liquid. Foam cleaning, by contrast, is faster and neater,
with more control of cleaning parameters such as flow, tempera-
ture, and velocity. Plus, if hydrogen leaks occur during a foam
cleaning, the hydrogen will be carried safely outdoors by the
foam and detected immediately by a flammable gas analyzer.
The first step is to determine an appropriate concentration for
the foam cleaner by laboratory testing of deposit samples. Often,
straight hydrochloric acid is effective in dissolving the deposits,
but a formic/oxalic acid mixture may be selected because of its
lower aggressiveness to the Cu-Ni and steel materials. The clean-
ing procedure begins by reducing the stations electrical load to
where one water-to-hydrogen cooler can be taken out of service;
typically, plants have four, and three can carry about 75% of the
load. Then the one heat exchanger is isolated, drained of service
water, and injected with the formic/oxalic acid foam. The entire
procedure takes about four hours for each cooler, with the foam-
injection stage taking only about one hour.
According to plant managers who have tried it, the procedure
is remarkably effective, reducing hydrogen temperatures in elec-
tric generators by as much as 45F with no indications of hydrogen
leakage or excessive thermal stress on any of the cooler bundles.
In at least one case, generators that had been derated because of
temperature limitations were restored to full capacity.
Dr. Robert Peltier, PE, is POWERs editor-in-chief.
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May 2010
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Defining the Elephant:
Smart Grid Status Check
By Haeryung Shin
T
here is no doubt that the year-plus since passage of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery
Act) has borne witness to a great deal of activity among the
diverse groups of smart grid stakeholders. On May 18, 2009, U.S.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu declared: The Smart Grid is an urgent
national priority that requires all levels of government as well as in-
dustry to cooperate. . . . We still have much to do, but the ultimate
result will be a much more efficient, flexible power grid and the op-
portunity to dramatically increase our use of renewable energy.
In the fall of 2009, the federal government announced Re-
covery Act awards totaling more than $4 billion to 132 smart
grid projects around the country. In January 2010, the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), acknowledging
the need to accelerate the establishment of a flexible, uniform
and technologically neutral set of standards to guide smart grid
component vendors, published its final Phase 1 report entitled
NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability
Standards, Release 1.0. In short, the federal government has
made its priorities clear.
Something Different for Everyone
The story of the blind men and the elephant has resurfaced as a
popular metaphor for describing smart grid development to date.
It is hard to imagine stakeholders with less in common: venture
capitalbacked software and technology vendors and electric utili-
ties. The former have been entering the space in large numbers
since about a year ago, offering home energy management systems
(HEMS), home area networks (HANs), in-home displays (IHDs), and
other Internet-age data processing and management products. The
electric utilities, on the other hand, are necessarily circumspect in
their approach to overhauling the grid while simultaneously deliv-
ering uninterrupted, reliable, stable electrical service.
The overall vision of a smart electricity grid is exhilarat-
ing: integrating software, communications, and automation tech-
nology to digitally monitor, process, and communicate massive
amounts of real-time data bi-directionally, all for the purpose
of reducing our energy consumption, enabling the deployment
of more renewable and distributed generation energy resources,
and delivering less-expensive electricity to consumers in a reli-
able and secure way. But given the complex realities of the grid,
its not surprising that initial attempts at smart grid deployment
have been marked by fragmentation.
Finding Common Goals
The smart grid enterprise is beginning to come into focus. From
the utilities side, deployment of smart meters and advanced
metering infrastructure represents the first foray into new tech-
nology integration. Spurred by Recovery Act funding, the smart
meter market is expanding rapidly, and according to one report,
the number of installed smart meters worldwide is expected to
grow from 46 million in 2008 to 250 million in 2015. Given their
familiar form and functionality, smart meters enable utilities to
take a nonthreatening first step in the migration to a smarter
grid. Utilities can initially use them to collect energy usage data
in real time, where it can be used for billing purposes and remote
connection and disconnection of customers. As utilities become
acclimated to the data collection and two-way communications
capabilities of smart meters, they are also beginning to apply
what they are learning to systems optimization, thereby paving
the way to integrate new technologies that will improve the reli-
ability and efficiency of the grid.
Coming at it from another direction, the deployment of smart
meters has spawned a wave of innovation by privately funded
start-up companies focused on electricity consumers and offer-
ing HEMS, HANs, and IHDs. One industry analyst projects that
the HAN market alone will reach $3 billion annually within the
next two years. These products and devices promise to enable
consumers of electricity, both commercial and residential, to use
the data collected by smart meters to monitor their energy usage
and make informed consumption decisions. Ultimately, real-time
data and bi-directional communications between utilities and
electricity consumers could yield more systemic benefits. They
include leveling the load curve by offering consumers time-of-use
pricing that will incentivize them to do things like program their
home systems to turn off air conditioners and appliances during
high-demand times (when electricity is more expensive).
The froth in this nascent smart grid technology space makes
it difficult to differentiate among different companies offerings
or determine their relative longer-term value to the smart grid
endeavor. Companies that have adopted go-to-market strategies
that directly target electricity consumers while largely sidestep-
ping utilities may enjoy a modest first-mover advantage from
early adopters of technology on the end user side of the equation.
It is logical to assume, however, that companies that prove suc-
cessful at leveraging relationships with utilities, whether directly
or through technology aggregators, will enjoy deeper and more
widespread penetration into homes and commercial buildings.
Smart Vendors
The smartest smart grid vendors, however, may be those who
take the time to engage utlities now. Those that put together easy-
to-deploy, out-of-the-box, end-to-end solutions that combine low-
cost, user-friendly interfaces with stable, secure, thoughtful, and
sufficiently powerful data processing and management functions,
as well as flexible open platforms that allow utilities to drop in
new applications as their needs evolve, likely stand to gain the
most. Although utilities are historically slow-moving and circum-
spect customers of new technologies, when it comes to under-
standing how electricity is bought, sold, delivered, and managed,
no one knows more, and the customer is always right.
Haeryung Shin (haeryungshin@dwt.com) is chair of the Clean
Technology Group at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.
06_PWR_050110_L&R_p17.indd 17 4/16/10 4:00:30 PM
|
May 2010 18
NUCLEAR POWER
The U.S. Spent Nuclear Fuel
Policy: Road to Nowhere
T
he U.S. Department of Energys
(DOEs) two-paragraph March 3 press
release describing its motion to with-
draw its pending license application for
Yucca Mountain was an indecent obituary
for the disposal sites brief 23-year life and
$8 billion cost. The relatively short history
of nuclear power in the U.S. reminds us that
the Yucca Mountain project may have been
doomed from the start. A number of per-
manent nuclear waste storage site projects
have been cancelled over the past 45 years,
although Yucca Mountain was exponentially
the most expensive failure. History also tells
us that political considerations will always
trump technology when it comes to siting a
nuclear waste repository.
The DOEs terse statement was expected
given the funding death spiral for the proj-
ect over the past few years and a new presi-
dent who promised to close Yucca Mountain:
The U.S. Department of Energy today filed
a motion with the Nuclear Regulatory Com-
mission to withdraw the license application
for a high-level nuclear waste repository at
Yucca Mountain with prejudice.
This decision again leaves the power gen-
eration industry without a long-term spent
nuclear fuel (SNF) disposal site, despite
the federal governments legal obligation to
provide one. The pivotal difference between
Yucca Mountain and previously cancelled
projects: This time nuclear utilities collected
NUCLEAR POWER
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act and Amendments of 1982 and 1987 established a
national policy and schedule for developing geologic repositories for the
disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive wastes. Those
deadlines have come and gone; the cancellation of Yucca Mountain was
only the latest failure of this policy to become reality. The task of finding
a new storage location is now a political committees homework assign-
ment. History tells us that committee members have been given an im-
possible task.
By James M. Hylko and Dr. Robert Peltier, PE
Source: NRC
Answers for energy.
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1130_SiemensPG_E3000_PowerMag2.indd 1 3/29/10 3:02 PM
NUCLEAR POWER
|
May 2010 20
billions of dollars from ratepayers to pay for
the project (Figure 1).
Ratepayers Pay to (Not) Play
The nuclear industry is unique among energy
producers in its contractual commitment to
cover the full costs for managing its waste. The
Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982 di-
rected utilities to levy fees on electricity gen-
erated by nuclear power and to pay those fees
into a federal Nuclear Waste Fund (NWF) that
was to be used to develop and operate a national
repository. In return for the payment of fees, the
NWPA directed the federal government to ac-
cept ownership and begin disposing of the SNF
and other high-level waste (HLW) no later than
January 31, 1998. Those fees included the cost
of transporting SNF to the repository.
Since 1983, consumers of electricity from
nuclear power plants have paid approximate-
ly $32 billion into the NWF. Consumers in
Alabama and Georgia, for example, have sent
more than $1 billion to the NWF and con-
tinue to contribute over $44 million a year.
The current balance in the NWF exceeds ap-
proximately $22 billion, and consumers na-
tionwide are contributing about an additional
$750 million a year. The difference between
total collections and the current balance is
roughly equal to the approximately $9 billion
already spent on preparing the Yucca Moun-
tain site to date.
The key unanswered question: Is the fed-
eral government responsible to reimburse
ratepayers for the cancellation of Yucca
Mountain? The U.S. Senate Committee on
Environmental and Public Works weighed in
on this issue in 2008 and prepared an estimate
of the potentially huge long-term liabilities.
The committee estimated additional liabili-
ties of $7 billion by 2017 and $11 billion by
2020 should Yucca Mountain be cancelled.
The committees estimates seem to be in the
ballpark, given the torrent of federal lawsuits
that have been filed by utilities. First up was the
suit filed by Energy Northwest in 2006. The
U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled on March
5, 2010, that the DOE owes Energy Northwest
nearly $57 million in damages for breach of
contract involving the former repository. The
amount awarded offsets costs incurred by En-
ergy Northwest to construct a used fuel stor-
age area at its Columbia Generating Station
Unit 2, located in Hanford, Washington (see
this issues cover photo). The court found the
breach of contract was the failure of the DOE
to begin accepting SNF from nuclear power
plants in 1998 when Yucca Mountain was to
be in operation per the DOEs Standard Con-
tract with nuclear power plants.
The Energy Northwest suit is the first of
more than 60 similar suits filed by nuclear
utilities. If each nuclear plant in the U.S. re-
ceived the same award as Energy Northwest
did for Columbia, then almost $6 billion
would be owed to those utilities to cover fu-
ture costs of storage and processing.
1. Gone but not forgotten. View of
the above-ground support structures and
north and south portals at the now-defunct
Yucca Mountain repository. Source: Depart-
ment of Energy/Office of Civilian Radioactive
Waste Management (DOE/OCRWM)
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NUCLEAR POWER
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May 2010 22
If Not at Yucca, Then Where?
If the desolate Yucca Mountain location (on
federal land) is unacceptable, can there pos-
sibly be another politically acceptable location
for such a repository in the lower 48 states?
Probably not. However, the second paragraph
of the DOE press release describes the next
steps in the process that the DOE has been
directed to take: President Obama is fully
committed to ensuring that the Nation meets
our long-term storage obligations for nuclear
waste, said DOE General Counsel Scott Blake
Harris. In light of the decision not to proceed
with the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste re-
pository, the President directed Secretary Chu
to establish the Blue Ribbon Commission on
Americas Nuclear Future to conduct a com-
prehensive review of policies for managing
the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle and to
provide recommendations for developing a
safe, long-term solution to managing the Na-
tions used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste.
If we are enlightened by history, this com-
mittee will be unable to identify a politically
acceptable site within the two years given to
produce a final report. We believe that, absent
suitable representation from the utility indus-
tryExelons John Rowe is the only utility
representative on the 15-member commission
composed mainly of former politicians and
political appointees, five university profes-
sors, and several think tank associatesthe
process will be troubled from the start. The
commission is being co-chaired by former
Congressman Lee Hamilton, who represent-
ed Indianas 9th congressional district from
1965 to 1999 and served on the 9/11 Com-
mission, and Brent Scowcroft, who served
as the national security advisor to Presidents
Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.
Once the interim report is released in 18
months (and rest assured the candidate lo-
cations will be leaked early and often), the
extreme political pressure on Chu will surely
delay the final report.
This commissions report is reminiscent of
the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and its provi-
sions for identifying Corridors of National
Interest. In that case, the DOE prepared an
interim report for the Federal Energy Regu-
latory Commission (FERC) listing perhaps
a dozen regions where FERC should take
action to enforce construction of interstate
transmission lines when they were blocked
by individual states. Within weeks, political
fallout caused the draft report to be removed
from the DOE website. When the DOE re-
port was finally issued many months later,
only two regions were listed. Moreover, ab-
solutely no further progress has been made
over the past two years.
Why should we expect faster progress by
the DOE on a much more contentious issue
than power lines? In addition, the time given to
committee members to complete their work is
out of balance with that of past studies, which
well discuss later. Also, witness the fine hand
of Nevada Senator Harry Reid. Withdrawing
the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Regulatory Com-
mission (NRC) application with prejudice
eliminates that site from further consideration
by the Blue Ribbon Commission.
Underlying motives are always unclear
when blue ribbon commissions are appoint-
ed. Yes, the political landscape has changed
since a similar location survey was complet-
ed about 20 years agothat one identifying
Yucca Mountain by name in legislation as
the nations SNF repository. Nevertheless,
appointing this blue ribbon commission and
apparently pushing for a new long-term SNF
repository was an excellent strategic move
for the administration. If the federal govern-
ment does not continue its quest for a long-
term repository for SNF, then ratepayers are
due a $33 billion refund from the NWF (plus
interest, we would assume, since 1983). Fur-
NUCLEAR POWER
|
May 2010 24
thermore, each of the nuclear utilities will
sue for the cost of providing individual long-
term on-site storage of SNF, transportation,
and other costs, if they havent already.
We believe the total liability of the federal
government could quickly surpass $50 billion
plus operating costs of the many facilities in per-
petuity should a Yucca Mountain replacement
not be found. Pursuing a new repository appears
to push into the future these NWF repayments
and reimbursements caused by DOEs contraact
breach with each nuclear plant owner.
The Birth and Slow Death
of Yucca Mountain
Congress established a national policy for
the disposition of commercial SNF and
HLW with passage of the NWPA in 1982.
When it was passed, the NWPA required the
DOE to identify and evaluate two different
sites to ensure regional equity for the per-
manent geologic disposal of SNF and HLW.
Initially, nine sites were identified, and
eventually three were short-listed. In 1987,
Congress officially designated Yucca Moun-
tain, located about 85 miles by air north-
west of Las Vegas, Nevada. The selection of
Yucca Mountain as the nations permanent
nuclear waste repository was then codified
with passage of Nuclear Waste Policy Act
Amendment (NWPAA). The DOE expected
to begin accepting nuclear waste in an oper-
ating geologic repository by 1998.
But official selection did not build a
straight desert highway for the depositorys
development to follow, as we detail below.
Most recently, while Yucca Mountain re-
mained on the books, progress was limited by
extreme budget cuts over the past two years.
The March 3 announcement was the equiva-
lent of a death sentence. The final time of
death pronouncement will come only when
the administration asks Congress to update
the NWPAA by removing the specific refer-
ence to Yucca Mountain.
Meanwhile, ongoing responsibilities under
the NWPAA, such as administration of the
NWF, continue under the Office of Nuclear
Energy, which will continue to lead future
waste management activities.
Should the blue ribbon commission and
Congress ever come to a consensus on a
new repository site, expect a revision to the
NWPAA to replace Yucca Mountain with
the new site in order to codify the decision.
In the meantime, Yucca Mountain remains
codified as our nations nuclear waste reposi-
tory, although the designation is meaningless
without funding and an approved license ap-
plication from the NRC.
Origins of the U.S. Nuclear
Waste Management Policy
The record shows that enactment of U.S. nu-
clear waste management policies has always
been problematic. Yucca Mountain is not the
first time that U.S. taxpayers and the nuclear
industry have lost their investment to es-
tablish a geologic repository for SNF.
During the U.S. reactor development pro-
grams of the 1950s and 1960s, there was
every expectation that that SNF would be
reprocessed and its valuable components,
uranium and plutonium, would be recycled
into new fuel. At the same time, nearly 2.4
billion gallons of HLW, the aqueous waste
resulting from the solvent extraction cycles
after reprocessing, were projected to accu-
mulate by the year 2000. These projections
convinced the Atomic Energy Commission
(AEC), the predecessor agency to the NRC,
to address the unprecedented issue of how to
safely isolate radionuclides from the environ-
ment for long periods. The AEC was also to
ensure that neither catastrophic acts of nature
nor inadvertent or malicious actions of this or
future generations would cause the material
to enter the environment.
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May 2010 26
NUCLEAR POWER
In 1955, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) began formu-
lating the scientific basis for establishing a U.S. nuclear waste man-
agement program. The NAS, National Research Council, and Earth
Sciences Committee on Waste Disposal appointed an eight-man
committee, at the request of the AEC. The eight-member committee
consisted of prominent geologists and geophysicists whose mission
was to consider the possibilities for disposal of HLW in geologic
formations within the U.S. Note the extreme difference in the tech-
nical qualifications of the study committee members now and 55
years ago.
The state of the technology in 1955 was to dissolve nuclear wastes
in liquid until they reached relatively low concentrations prior to
storage. This approach to storing nuclear waste was obviously fa-
vored by the committee, as evidenced by several discarded options.
For example, the use of granite and other crystalline rock quarries,
including permeable noncrystalline rocks, such as sandstone and
limestone, was discounted because of the near impossibility of seal-
ing a facility against leaks. The uncertainties surrounding sealing
nonpermeable materials such as clay and shales seemed too for-
midable. Other options, such as injecting the waste into deep-lying
porous media, inter-stratified with impermeable beds, were feasible
in principle but deemed impractical to put into operation because of
concerns with filter media clogging.
The committee believed the most promising repositories were
medium-stable salt formations. The prevailing view was that aban-
doned salt mines or cavities especially mined to hold waste are, in
essence, long-lasting tanks. Two primary factors made salt the ap-
propriate answer. First, a relatively stable salt formation is essentially
impermeable to water and other fluids that could leak waste. Second,
fractures in the salt would be self-sealing because of the plastic flow
properties of the material at typical repository depths. The commit-
tee also backed salt for these additional reasons: the wide distribu-
tion and large reserves of salt formations, salts structural properties
(it has the structural strength of concrete), the relatively low cost of
developing space in salt, thermal conductivity (salt has a high ther-
mal conductivity compared with most geologic materials), and the
location of salt deposits in areas of low seismicity.
The NAS committee believed it had determined the types of ac-
ceptable geologic formations that would be capable of isolating and
storing radioactive waste for thousands of years. Furthermore, the
committees position was based on the assumptions that neither the
chemical nor physical properties of the waste nor the salt would be al-
tered when exposed to the heat and radiation generated by the waste.
If these assumptions were validated, then all that was necessary was
to find a suitable salt formation to dispose of the waste. The com-
mittee would eventually publish its findings in the September 1957
report, The Disposal of Radioactive Waste on Land, which heavily
influenced waste management policy over the next two decades. The
report is available from Google Books (http://books.google.com).
Over the next four years (ca. 1957 to 1962), small-scale research
projects were initiated to test the validity of the committees assump-
tions. Also in 1962, the U.S. Geological Survey evaluated the suit-
ability of more than 200 salt domes throughout Texas, Louisiana, and
Mississippi, thereby initiating the process for conducting siting stud-
ies for nuclear waste disposal. Concurrently, substantial improve-
ments in fuel reprocessing technology were being made, the most
important being a 20-fold reduction in liquid waste volumes. These
advances facilitated transforming the remaining aqueous waste into
a solid form but substantially increased the heat and radiation levels
of the final waste form. This breakthrough redirected the AEC to ex-
amine the effects of packaged radioactive wastes in salt by perform-
ing the first major in-situ test to obtain the data needed to design a
waste repository. This experiment was called Project Salt Vault.
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Project Salt Vault
The primary objective of Project Salt Vault
was to demonstrate the safety and feasibil-
ity of handling and storing HLW solids from
power reactors in salt formations. The engi-
neering and scientific objectives were to:
Demonstrate waste-handling equipment
and techniques required to handle packag-
es containing HLW solids from the point
of production to the disposal location.
Determine the stability of salt formations
under the combined effects of heat and ra-
diation (approximately 4,000,000 curies
of radioactive material, yielding up to 109
rads).
Collect information on creep and plastic
flow of salt that was needed for the design
of an actual disposal facility.
Monitor the site for radiolytic chemical
reactions, if such should occur.
The demonstration site selected was the in-
active Lyons, Kansas, mine of the Carey Salt
Co. The 1,020-foot deep salt mine had operated
from 1890 to 1948 and had been kept open for
possible future use. Preparations for the demon-
stration began in 1963, and the first radioactive
material was placed in the mine in November
1965. The tests involved the emplacement of
actual irradiated fuel assemblies from the En-
gineering Test Reactor (ETR) in Idaho. The
ETR assemblies were chosen because of their
availability on a dependable schedule and their
relatively high radioactivity levels.
Seven sealed canisters containing 14 SNF
assemblies were transported by truck in a
lead-shielded carrier to the site. Those canis-
ters were lowered into the mine one at a time
through a 19-inch-diameter charging shaft. In
the mine, the canisters entered a lead-shielded
vessel on a trailer pulled by a diesel-powered
tractor called the waste transporter. The
hauler delivered the canisters, one at a time, to
an array of lined holes drilled in the floor. The
waste transporter was also used to recover and
transfer the canisters at the end of the tests.
The canisters were placed in a ring-like ar-
rangement in the floor of the mine (Figure 2).
Electrical heatersused to compensate for
lower heat release rates of the fuel elements
compared with actual waste were attached
to the lower liners to raise temperatures in the
central pillar in order to obtain information
on its in-situ structural response to heat.
The program plan called for replacing the
waste every six months to maximize the radi-
ation dose to the surrounding salt formations.
At the end of each phase, the spent fuel was
retrieved and returned to Idaho.
The results showed that the structural prop-
erties of salt were not significantly altered by
the high radiation levels. Useful information
was gathered with respect to thermal stresses,
migration of brine-filled cavities, and salt-flow
characteristics as a function of temperature. For
example, the demonstration revealed that inclu-
sions of moisture, or brine, in the salt beds had
a tendency to migrate up a thermal gradient to-
ward a heat source placed in the salt. Quantities
of brine were measured as migrating and inter-
acting with the deposited waste canisters.
All the predictions of thermal and radiation
effects based upon theoretical modeling and
laboratory experiments were confirmed by the
in-situ demonstration. Despite the rather high
radiation levels and high thermal loading, no
measurable radiolytic or excessive structural
effects in the salt were observed. In addition,
operations at Lyons, both at the surface and in
the mine, were carried out without the use of hot
cells (shielded nuclear radiation containment
chambers used to protect workers). Maximum
personnel recorded dose during any quarter was
200 mrem, principally to the hands of a worker.
The results of the Project Salt Vault dem-
onstration led many in the AEC to believe that
the use of bedded salt was satisfactory for the
disposal of radioactive wastes. The experi-
mental phase of Project Salt Vault was termi-
nated in June 1967 when the last canister was
removed from the mine. The Lyons Mine was
then placed on standby on February 1, 1968.
The Beginning of the End
Workers from Project Salt Vault recall that it en-
joyed the support of the local community. Four
factors contributed to this climate of acceptance:
The experiment was designed from the
beginning to be reversible; that is, once
it was completed, all the waste would be
completely removed.
Consultations were held with local groups
before the project began.
Efforts were made by Oak Ridge National
Laboratory personnel to conduct the stud-
ies in full view of Kansans.
Once the research started, regular tours
were conducted in which the general pub-
lic could visit the mine.
However, two intervening events forced the
AEC to withdraw from the Lyons site. The first
was a fire in 1969 at the Rocky Flats facility
in Colorado, which produced pits for nuclear
weapons. The accident generated a large vol-
ume of low-level, plutonium-contaminated de-
bris. Following standard operating procedures,
the managers of Rocky Flats sent the waste to
the National Reactor Test Station in Idaho for
storage. That action outraged Idahos politi-
cal leadership, which saw no reason why their
state should become the dumping ground
for waste created in Colorado. They acted and
ultimately extracted a commitment from AEC
Chairman Glenn Seaborg (19611971) that all
of the waste would be removed from Idaho by
1980. That pledge necessitated the construc-
tion of a disposal facility. The second factor,
dominating an entire decade, was the growing
opposition to nuclear power punctuated by the
Three Mile Island accident in 1979.
Confronted with the immediate need for a
repository, and given the available informa-
tion at the time, the AECs siting strategy
was to quickly identify a site for storage of
nuclear wastes in a salt dome underlying
about 500,000 square miles in portions of 24
states. Most importantly, bedded salt deposits
were completely free of circulating ground-
water and were isolated from underground
aquifers by impermeable shale. Any fractures
that might develop would be sealed by plas-
tic deformation and recrystallization of the
salt. The regions considered cut down the site
options because only salt deposits 200 feet
thick and lying within 2,000 feet of the sur-
face were deemed suitable for the first waste
repository. The largest areas meeting these
criteria lay in central Kansas, although there
were two smaller areas in Michigan and one
in west central New York. In 1970, the AEC
announced that, pending confirmatory tests,
the Lyons site was being selected as the first
full-scale national repository.
The degree to which the AEC had consult-
ed with state and local officials before this
announcement is in dispute. What is clear is
the AECs decision did not receive the same
ringing endorsement as the earlier experi-
mental tests had. Moreover, state and local
political opposition to the Lyons site was in-
tense, particularly when technical problems
with the site became apparent. The political
arm-twisting had just begun.
Political Opposition Begins
A widely held view among leaders of the Kan-
sas Geological Survey was that there was in-
sufficient knowledge about repository design,
the heat-flow models were primitive, and there
were large gaps in the understanding of waste-
rock interactions and rock mechanics. These
concerns, among others, were the basis for op-
2. Working in a salt mine. In-situ test-
ing of nuclear wastes was conducted in the
mid-1960s at the Carey salt mine. Source:
Kansas Geological Survey
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NUCLEAR POWER
|
May 2010 30
position from U.S. Representative Joe Skubitz,
who represented a Kansas district that did not
include Lyons, and Governor Robert Docking.
What followed was a barrage of criticism, and,
despite the agencys best efforts, protests assert-
ing that the AEC was tramping on state interests
took hold in the public mind.
As an example of the political discourse
at the time, Skubitz inquired why the Kansas
salt fields were selected instead of a site in the
Salina Basin, which would have been closer to
the operating and planned reprocessing plants
in New York, Illinois, and South Carolina.
The agency responded by saying the Kansas
site possessed geologic characteristics more
favorable than those of the salt in the Salina
Basin. The AEC furthermore justified the long
transport routes to Kansas by suggesting a re-
processing plant would be built in California,
thus making the Lyons site centrally located.
In retrospect, the AEC was tone deaf when
responding to the nontechnical factors, rely-
ing on its highly technical justifications for the
Lyons site. Furthermore, it is believed that the
Kansas salt mine was chosen because of prior
local acceptance of Project Salt Vault and be-
cause the AEC did not have the resources to
investigate other locations, nor did it wish to
spend two years studying other sites.
By August 1971, the controversy escalated
to the level of involving both Kansas senators,
Robert Dole and James Pearson, who spon-
sored an amendment to the AECs authorizing
legislation. The amendment prohibited buying
land or burying waste materials at Lyons until
such time as an independent advisory council,
appointed by the president, reported to Con-
gress that the establishment of a repository
and burial of waste could be carried out safely.
Thus, the AECs inability to satisfy concerns of
state officials resulted in its losing considerable
autonomy in implementing a major policy.
In September 1971, newly discovered tech-
nical difficulties would severely threaten the
projects future. Roughly 20 oil and gas bore-
holes in the area were found to be impossible
to plug, and the unexpected disappearance of
water from a nearby solution mining opera-
tion raised many questions about the geologic
integrity of the salt domes for storing liquid
nuclear waste. In February 1972 the AEC
withdrew from further operations at the Lyons
site, citing technical uncertainties and prob-
lems with political and public acceptance.
In the 1980s, Kansas refused to issue a
permit for low-level nuclear waste to a new
contractor. The shaft was permanently sealed
in December 1994. (Though this article does
not concern waste from the DOE defense
program, it should be noted that transuranic
radioactive waste from that program (and
from nuclear power generation) has been
transported to and stored at the Waste Isola-
tion Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M., since
March 1999. That geological repository is in
the Permian Salt Basin.)
The Retrievable Surface
Storage Facility
The AEC announced plans (circa May/June
1972) to construct an engineered, at-grade Re-
trievable Surface Storage Facility (RSSF) to be
used until a permanent geological repository
would be available. The plan was to locate the
RSSF at an AEC or federal site in the western
U.S. However, the environmental impact state-
ment (EIS) issued by the AEC in support of the
RSSF concept drew intense criticism from the
public and the Environmental Protection Agen-
cy (EPA). Both criticized the plan because of
the possibility that economic factors could later
dictate using the facility as a permanent reposi-
tory, contrary to the planned interim use of the
RSSF. In this instance, it was unacceptable to
proceed with an interim storage system unless
there were unambiguous assurances that a per-
manent repository would be developed.
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In 1975, Dr. Robert Seamansin one of
his first acts as administrator of the Energy
Research and Development Administration
(ERDA)withdrew the EIS associated with
the RSSF and decided that a permanent waste
repository should be given budget priority.
ERDA was created to assume the responsibli-
ties of the then-dissolved AEC that were not
covered by the newly formed NRC.
In 1976 a multiple-site strategy was initi-
ated that would have led to the development of
several repositories by 2000. Letters were sent
to 36 state governors, informing them of these
plans and asking for their cooperation in site ex-
ploration activities. A number of generic stud-
ies were undertaken at the Nevada Test Site,
the Permian Basin and Palo Duro sub-basin in
Texas, and Salina Basin in Michigan, Ohio, and
New York. Exploration of specific sites would
begin in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Wash-
ington, and Nevada for the site that would host
the first commercial waste repository.
As a group, these states realized the impor-
tance of becoming more intimately involved in
the nuclear waste management decision-making
process. ERDA offered to work closely with
the states and to keep the governors informed
of how its programs were progressing. It also
promised to terminate a project within a state
if technical issues were not resolved through
mutually accepted procedures. The states, in ef-
fect, were being offered what they believed to be
veto power over construction of a waste facility
within their jurisdiction. Thus, what began as a
new initiative to involve states in participative
decision-making soon devolved into individual
states halting projects because they were reluc-
tant to consider a facility in their state.
The AFR Storage Concept
Because of the geologic disposal programs rela-
tively late start and the federal governments de-
ferral of commercial reprocessing (see How to
Solve the Used Nuclear Fuel Storage Problem,
POWER, August 2008), concerns were raised
that a number of operating reactors would run
out of room to store their SNF on-site. Should
that occur, and if there were no alternative loca-
tions for storing the SNF, the reactor would be
forced to shut down. To address this particular
concern, and while ERDA was reorganized into
the current DOE, in 1977, ERDA pursued an
away-from-reactor (AFR) storage concept for
any spent fuel that utilities wished to transfer to
the federal government. The government would
then take title to the fuel and be responsible for
its permanent disposal. At the time of transfer,
the utilities would pay a one-time charge that
would fully pay for storage and disposal costs.
The AFR concept was initially designed to
serve four different functions: preventing the
shutdown of reactors pending repository de-
velopment; providing time for the geologic dis-
posal program to mature; allowing the U.S. to
accept limited amounts of foreign spent fuel to
achieve nonproliferation objectives; and main-
taining access to plutonium and uranium in the
SNF should reprocessing become viable again
in the future. However, the AFR concept was
viewed very much as the RSSF concept had
been several years earlier. The result was also
similar: The project was terminated in 1981.
Nuclear Waste Policy Act
In 1982, Congress enacted the Nuclear Waste
Policy Act, which was signed by President
Ronald Reagan on January 7, 1983. The
NWPA represented the most expensive civil
works project in history, establishing a schedule
for the DOE to site and for the NRC to license
geological repositories for permanent disposal
of SNF and HLW. The DOE was directed to as-
sess numerous locations around the country for
possible sites and present a minimum of three
finalist sites. Although this legislation was a
decisive step forward, its attempted implemen-
tation again raised a public outcry based on ac-
cusations that government agencies were acting
in secret to identify storage sites.
To finance the project, the NWPA estab-
lished the NWF, to which electricity consum-
ers would pay a fee of one-tenth of a cent
for every nuclear-generated kilowatt-hour
of electricity consumed. The DOE would
draw upon the NWF to finance the siting,
construction, and operation of repositories.
In exchange for payment into the NWF, the
DOE was required to take title to the SNF
and HLW following the opening of the first
repositoryscheduled for January 31, 1998.
In February 1983, the DOE carried out the
first requirement of the NWPA by formally
identifying nine potentially acceptable loca-
tions (the host rock is shown in parentheses),
for the first repository:
Vacherie dome, Louisiana (domal salt)
Cypress Creek dome, Mississippi (dom-
al salt)
Richton dome, Mississippi (domal salt)
Yucca Mountain, Nevada (welded tuff)
Deaf Smith County, Texas (bedded salt)
Swisher County, Texas (bedded salt)
Davis Canyon, Utah (bedded salt)
Lavender Canyon, Utah (bedded salt)
Hanford Site, Washington (basalt flows)
By 1984, the DOE believed that one or more
repositories would be available by 20072009
and that sufficient repository capacity would be
available 30 years beyond the expiration of any
reactor operating license to dispose of SNF and
HLW generated during that time. In addition,
the DOE reaffirmed its obligation to accept SNF
assemblies beginning in January 1998, whether
or not a permanent disposal facility was ready.
This announcement was to enable utilities to
plan for their projected waste disposal needs
with confidence and certainty.
After evaluating the nine candidate sites, the
DOE selected three finalists: Yucca Mountain,
Deaf Smith County, and Hanford. These sites
advanced into the next round of intensive scien-
tific study described as the site characterization
process. Critics had claimed the sites were re-
cycled from surveys performed in the 1970s and
that the NWPA required the DOE to conduct
a new screening process rather than proceed
with sites considered prior to the passage of
the NWPA. On May 28, 1986, President Ron-
ald Reagan approved Yucca Mountain for site
characterization under the NWPA. By that time,
nearly $1.5 billion had been spent surveying,
drilling, recording seismic information, moni-
toring, and analyzing the Yucca Mountain site.
Nuclear Waste Policy
Amendments Act
President George H.W. Bush signed the
NWPAA on December 22, 1987, which sup-
posedly settled the waste storage issue by
codifying the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada
as the nations first geological waste nuclear
fuel repository. Characterization of each
site had been estimated to take five to seven
years, costing somewhere around $1 billion
to $2 billion, so work on the other two finalist
sites was postponed indefinitely.
The NWPAA outlined a detailed approach
for disposal involving review by the presi-
dent, Congress, state and tribal governments,
the NRC, and other federal agencies, while
retaining the 70,000 metric ton limit on the
amount of SNF and HLW that the DOE could
place in the first repository. According to the
amendments legislative history, the intent
of this limitation was to ensure that no state
would have to bear the entire nuclear waste
disposal burden. The DOE also extended the
timetable for opening the first repository from
1998 to 2003. However, if Yucca Mountain
was found to be unsuitable, Congress was to
be notified and provided alternatives.
Regional Equity Concerns
Regional equity concerns were being raised
over a majority of the SNF being generated
in the eastern U.S., yet having the final candi-
date sites for a repository located in the west-
ern U.S. At one time, however, there were 12
potential sites in seven eastern states for a
second repository.
To counter the regional equity issue, a
monitored retrievable storage (MRS) facility
would be integrated into the ultimate disposal
system and preferably be located in the east-
ern U.S. Also, the licensing process would
be straightforward because the MRS did not
have to isolate wastes for thousands of years
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May 2010 34
but simply serve as a temporary, multi-decade
storage facility; then shipments would be con-
solidated in dedicated trains and trucks taking
waste to the repository. Three sites had been
identified in Tennessee, with the preferred site
being Oak Ridge, which was originally iden-
tified for the postponed Clinch River breeder
reactor in 1983 when funding was terminated.
The State of Tennessee was against designat-
ing Tennessee alone as a contender and sued.
The proposal was held up and ultimately went
to the Supreme Court. The DOE won the case
and submitted its proposal to Congress.
Nevertheless, in order to prevent the MRS
from becoming a de facto repositorysimilar
to the RSSF and AFR facilitythe DOE rec-
ommended certain conditions linking MRS
development to repository development. The
license for the MRS would contain condi-
tions allowing construction and operation of
the MRS only when repository construction
and operation was proceeding and would
limit the total capacity of the MRS to 15,000
metric tons of waste.
The NWPAA had also established the Of-
fice of the Nuclear Waste Negotiator to nego-
tiate agreements with states or Indian tribes
willing to host a repository or an MRS. Such
an agreement could contain different condi-
tions than those imposed on a DOE-sited facil-
ity. However, the office was not reauthorized
by Congress and was eliminated in 1995.
The Yucca Mountain Saga
Between 1987 and 2001, the DOE would
spend another $3.8 billion on scientific and
technical studies of Yucca Mountain. For in-
stance, in 1997, a 5-mile tunnel through Yucca
Mountain was completed to function as an
Exploratory Study Facility. In 1998, a second
2-mile cross drift tunnel would facilitate addi-
tional experiments in the potential repository
host rock. These tunnels, and the numerous
niches and alcoves, created the worlds largest
underground laboratory (Figures 3 and 4).
From the surface, more than 180 bore-
holes were drilled deep into the geology and
its surrounding features. Independent scien-
tists working for Nye County, Nevada, drilled
additional exploratory holes and collaborated
with DOE scientists on their findings. These
efforts were further supplemented by numer-
ous laboratory experiments and excavation of
similar geologic features both nearby and at
sites around the world. The results ultimate-
ly provided an understanding of the Yucca
Mountain geology and its ability to safely
contain radioactive wastes.
In 2001, the DOE issued reports contain-
ing thousands of pages of information, sum-
marizing the extensive site characterization
effort. Over the next year, the department
would hold more than 65 public hearings,
sending 6,000 letters to individuals, corpora-
tions, and groups, eventually responding to
more than 17,000 comments. In 2002, Presi-
dent George W. Bush approved the secretary
of energys recommendation of Yucca Moun-
tain as the site for a nuclear fuel repository.
In April 2002, Governor Kenny Guinn (R)
of the State of Nevada, as provided for by the
NWPA, vetoed this decision. In the NWPAs
unprecedented procedure for ensuring that any
site decision received thorough and fair con-
sideration, the governors veto could only be
overridden by a majority vote in both houses of
Congress. For three months, Yucca Mountain
was debated in Congress, in committee hear-
ings, and on the floor of the House and Senate.
Eventually, Congress would vote to override
the objection by approving the Yucca Moun-
tain site 306-117. Later, the Senate would ap-
prove the Yucca Mountain site by voice vote
following a procedural motion to proceed
vote, 60-39. This approval, known as the Yuc-
ca Mountain Development Act (YMDA), was
signed into law by the president on July 23,
2002, allowing the DOE to prepare and submit
a license application to the NRC.
By the time the YMDA was enacted, the
DOE had spent $7.1 billion on the evalua-
tion of multiple sites, detailed study of Yucca
Mountain, the preparation and defense of
the site recommendation, and related waste
acceptance and transportation planning ac-
tivities. It would spend another $1.5 billion
preparing the Yucca Mountain license appli-
cation, including transportation and waste ac-
ceptance plans. After years of delay, the DOE
submitted the 8,600-page license application
to the NRC in June 2008 (Figure 5).
After a preliminary 90-day screening peri-
od, the NRC determined that the application
contained sufficient information to formally
docket the application and move on to the
next stage of technical and scientific review.
Approximately 40 NRC staff members and
consultants reviewed the license application
prior to the docketing decision. The license
application was not reviewed for merit during
this screening period, but rather to determine
whether it was complete enough for the NRC
to proceed.
According to federal legislation, the NRC
must complete the Yucca Mountain license
application review within four years. How-
ever, there is no penalty if the NRC fails to
finish the review within the required time
period. According to the DOE, the earliest
the repository could start accepting waste,
given a smooth licensing process and con-
sistent funding, was 2020. The total system
life-cycle cost that includes the cost to re-
search, construct, and operate Yucca Moun-
tain for 150 years, from the beginning of
the program in 1983 through closure and
decommissioning in 2133, was estimated to
exceed $96 billion.
The Only Option Remaining:
On-Site Storage
Today, the only available solution for utilities
is to store SNF on-site in water pools or in
long-term above-ground storage casks. The
volume of the water pools within each reac-
tor limits the number of fuel assemblies it can
hold at one time. Conceptually, the number
of dry casks that can be used to store SNF is
unlimited.
3. Holes in the mountain. View of
the South Portal of the Exploratory Studies
Facility showing the 25-foot-diameter tunnel
boring machine. Source: DOE/OCRWM
4. Boring holes. Tunnel boring machine
cutter head at the South Portal in April 1997.
Source: DOE/OCRWM
5. The Yucca Mountain license ap-
plication. Source: DOE/OCRWM
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NUCLEAR POWER
|
May 2010 36
The water-pool storage option involves
storing SNF assemblies under at least 20
feet of water to provide shielding from the
radiation and removal of decay heat (Fig-
ure 6). About one-fourth to one-third of the
total fuel load is removed from the reactor,
typically every 18 months, and replaced
with fresh SNF. You may recall that early
in the development of commercial nuclear
reactors, the government was expecting to
construct a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant
and the pools were sized to hold and cool
SNF until it could be transported to the re-
processing facility. On April 7, 1977, Presi-
dent Jimmy Carter banned the reprocessing
of commercial reactor fuel in the U.S. Since
then, many of the nuclear plant spent fuel
pools have either reached or are nearing ca-
pacity (Figure 7).
Current regulations permit re-racking of
the storage pool grid and fuel rod consolida-
tion, subject to NRC review and approval, to
increase the amount of SNF that can be stored
in a pool. However, both of these methods are
constrained by the size of the pool.
In the early 1980s, utilities began look-
ing at using dry casks to increase on-site
storage capacity. The process of loading a
cask, consisting of a steel cylinder designed
to hold typically two dozen SNF assem-
blies, takes place underwater in the storage
pool. Once the assemblies have cooled for
given period of time, they are transferred
underwater from the storage racks to the
submerged cask. Next, the cask is removed
from the storage pool, where excess water
is removed. Then it is backfilled with an
inert gas to enhance decay-heat transfer ca-
pabilities, welded or bolted closed, inserted
into a concrete overstructure (depending on
design), and stored vertically on a concrete
pad. The cask itself provides the necessary
radiation shielding. Other above-ground de-
signs seal the SNF inside a steel cylinder,
which is then inserted either vertically into a
concrete silo or horizontally into a concrete
vault. The concrete provides the radiation
shielding (Figure 8).
The NRC approves dry-storage systems by
evaluating each design for resistance to acci-
dent conditions such as floods, earthquakes,
tornado missiles, and temperature extremes.
Some cask designs can be used for both stor-
age and transportation. The dry-storage casks
are located in an independent spent fuel stor-
age installation (ISFSI). Such storage may
be either at the reactor site or elsewhere (see
How to Solve the Used Nuclear Fuel Stor-
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6. Pool party. Storing spent fuel assemblies
underwater in a storage pool. Source: DOE
7. Limited nuclear fuel pool capacity. This chart shows the cumulative number of
filled pools at nuclear power plants. All operating nuclear power reactors are storing used fuel
under NRC licenses in spent fuel pools. Some operating reactors are using dry cask storage.
Source: NRC
100
80
60
40
20
0
1990 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 2015
Spent fuel pools at capacity
Year
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

f
i
l
l
e
d

p
o
o
l
s
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Placement of the containment vessel
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Placement of the containment vessel
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NUCLEAR POWER
|
May 2010 38
Site-Specific and General Licenses
The NRC authorizes storage of SNF at an
ISFSI under two licensing options: site-spe-
cific licensing and general licensing. Under a
site-specific license, an applicant submits a
license application to the NRC, and a techni-
cal review is performed on the safety aspects
of the proposed ISFSI. If the application is
approved, the NRC issues a license that is
valid for 20 years. The license contains tech-
nical requirements and operating conditions
(including fuel specifications, cask leak test-
ing, surveillance, and other requirements) for
the ISFSI and specifies what the licensee is
authorized to store at the site.
A general license authorizes a nuclear
plant licensee to store SNF in NRC-ap-
proved casks at a site that is licensed to
operate a power reactor under 10 CFR Part
50. Licensees are required to demonstrate
that their site is adequate for storing SNF
in dry casks. The licensee must also make
any necessary changes to its security pro-
gram, emergency plan, quality assurance
program, training program, and radiation
protection program to incorporate the ISF-
SI at its location. In addition, these evalu-
ations must show that the casks technical
specifications covered in the Certificate of
Compliance (CoC) can be met, including
analysis of earthquake intensity and tor-
nado missiles (objects accelerated by very
high winds). The NRC issues a CoC to the
vendor following a technical review and
approval of a dry storage systems design
in accordance with 10 CFR 72. The cer-
tificate expires 20 years from the date of
8. On-site storage. Spent nuclear fuel storage canisters are designed to be placed either
vertically in aboveground concrete or steel structures, or stored horizontally in aboveground
concrete vaults. Courtesy: NRC
C
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May 2010 40
issuance and can be renewed in additional
20-year increments.
The first U.S. commercial ISFSI was li-
censed by the NRC in 1986 at the Surry
Nuclear Plant in Virginia. Since then, dry
cask storage has become common among
licensees needing additional SNF storage
capacity. According to the NRC, SNF is
currently in dry storage at 40 general li-
cense ISFSIs and 15 site-specific license
ISFSIs. For example, Southern Nuclears
Hatch and Farley nuclear plants safely
store spent fuel in above-ground dry stor-
age casks (Figure 9).
Southern Nuclear is the operator of the
Vogtle nuclear plant (see Plant Vogtle
Leads the Next Nuclear Generation, POW-
ER, November 2009). At Vogtle, all all of
the used fuel for both units is stored safely
under water in two storage pools located in
the protected area of the plant. There is still
storage capacity available in the existing
pools to last for years. Therefore, by comb-
ing the existing capability of the storage
pools and dry-storage facilities when the
spent fuel pool does reach capacity, all of
Southern Nuclears sites have the capability
to safely store spent fuel on-site for the du-
ration of each plants operating license.
Hard Lesson Learned
It remains unclear if a logical and politically
acceptable path toward developing a nation-
al, long-term storage facility for SNF and
HLW is possible. It is our opinion that there
is not. The DOE and its predecessor agency
has tried and failed multiple times, over sev-
eral decades. State veto power over siting a
storage facility makes approval of a facility
essentially a national referendum on nuclear
power, given that a veto must be overridden
by the Senate and the House. Also, the ex-
tremely long period of time required to devel-
op any storage facility would certainly span
presidential administrations of both political
parties, making any project like Yucca Moun-
tain susceptible to closure when the political
winds change. Why would we expect a dif-
ferent result at a new site a decade hence?
History can be a stern teacher, and we
should learn this important lesson. There
is no long-term, politically expedient
road to a Yucca Mountaintype facility
anywhere in the U.S. We expect the blue
ribbon commission to spend the next two
years or more studying the problem only
to come to the same conclusion.
As a nation, we would be better served
if Congress would amend the NWPA and
NWPAA to delete the statutory responsi-
bility of the DOE to store SNF, refund the
NWF contributions, and quickly settle the
60-plus lawsuits pending to cover all cur-
rent and future nuclear plant SNF storage
costs. The elegant solution is nuclear fuel
reprocessing, perhaps primed by repro-
gramming NWF money into building such
a facility. But well hold that discussion for
another day.
James M. Hylko (jhylko1@msn.com) is
a POWER contributing editor. Dr. Robert
Peltier, PE is editor-in-chief.
9. Workable solution. Southern Nucle-
ars dry-cask storage system at Hatch Nuclear
Plant. Courtesy: Southern Nuclear
|
May 2010 42
PLANT SAFETY
Natural Gas Piping:
Its Time for Better Risk Control
At least 10 workers have died from natural gas piping explosions in the past
12 months. The most recent disaster, which occurred during gas system
purging at the Kleen Energy Systems plant, claimed five lives and injured
27 workers. Its time the industry understood the unique design and safety
requirements for working with and purging natural gas piping.
By John Puskar, PE, CEC Combustion Safety
G
as piping design, operation, and safety
require a very specialized level of ex-
pertise. Recent events graphically il-
lustrate the inherent hazards of improperly
designed natural gas piping that is commis-
sioned in a poorly planned and haphazard
manner. Beyond the obvious risk of death
and injury, explosions on the scale of the
Kleen Energy Systems plant in Connecticut
can cause extreme property damage worth
hundreds of millions of dollars, cause sig-
nificant lost production time, and irreversibly
damage a companys reputation (Figure 1).
To avoid a repeat of this and similar di-
sasters, engineers and designers must be
thoroughly trained in the code and practical
design requirements for natural gas piping.
Contractors should be especially cognizant of
the safety requirements and worker training
required when purging natural gas piping. In
our experience, few engineers and contractors
have the necessary knowledge or experience
to safely purge and start up natural gas pip-
ing systems. Its time to take a deep breath and
reevaluate our commitment to safely handling
natural gas in utility plants (Figure 2).
Whats So Special About Gas Pipes?
We have also found that many designers, en-
gineers, contractors, and maintenance work-
ers do not understand that natural gas piping
is quite different from the more familiar fluid
or air piping, and therefore requires special
knowledge and training. There is often a huge
and dangerous lack of knowledge among
those who routinely manage or perform gas
piping repairs.
Six major steps are taken when perform-
ing a gas piping repair. Each of these steps
should be the subject of hours of careful
consideration. In general, these six important
steps are:
1. Planning/layout
2. Isolation
3. Making the repair
1. Preventable tragedy. Workers at the Kleen Energy Systems plant in Middletown, Conn., attempted to clean debris in the plants fuel
gas line with 650 psi natural gas. The gas purge, vented inside the plant building, found an ignition source and exploded. Six workers were fatally
injured. Courtesy: Chemical Safety Board
2. Never completely clean. Weld slag
and contamination are rarely completely re-
moved from a piping system. A well-designed
pipe purge configured with strainers and sedi-
ment traps can be safely accomplished with
the right planning and training. Courtesy: CEC
Combustion Safety Inc.
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|
May 2010 44
PLANT SAFETY PLANT SAFETY
Chemical Safety Board Shares Lessons Learned from Gas Purge Explosions
On the afternoon of June 9, 2009, five workers were fatally injured
and dozens of others were hospitalized after an explosion at the
ConAgra Foods facility in Garner, North Carolina. In addition, the
explosion caused serious structural damage to the 87,000-ft
2
fa-
cility, including a roof collapse (Figure 3).
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB)
has yet to issue its final report on the incident, although the
facts about the cause of the explosion were included in its interim
report. In sum, natural gas used to purge a pipe was vented in-
side a centrally located utility room intermittently over a 2.5-hour
period and was somehow ignited. The complete report is available
on the CSB website: www.csb.gov.
The CSB published key lessons learned from the ConAgra Slim Jim
plant explosion in a September 2009 Safety Bulletin, hoping to draw
attention to the serious dangers endemic to fuel gas purging opera-
tions. The CSB bulletin highlights the following five key lessons learned
that the agency recommends for increasing workplace safety.
1. Purging new or existing gas piping into buildings can be highly
hazardous due to the possible accumulation of gas above the
lower explosive limit (LEL) and the associated danger of fire and
explosion. LEL, also known as the lower flammable limit (LFL),
is defined as that concentration of a combustible material in
air below which ignition will not occur. See Recommended
Practice for Handling Releases of Flammable and Combustible
Liquids and Gases (NFPA 329, 2005).
Wherever practicable, directly vent purged gases to a safe
location outdoors, away from people and ignition sources. This
can be done using a temporary hose or piping or permanently
installed vent pipes, depending on the facility design.
2. Purging indoors should only be done in limited circumstances
where purging outdoors is not practicable. In such cases:
Nonessential personnel should be evacuated.
All ignition sources should be controlled or eliminated.
Ventilation should be adequate to maintain the gas concen
tration well below the lower explosive limit at all times.
3. Never rely on odor alone to detect releases of fuel gases. An
odorant, such as T-butyl mercaptan (typically described as hav-
ing a skunk-like odor), is typically added to fuel gases, such
as natural gas and propane, to warn workers and consumers
of releases. However, the perception of odor is highly subjec-
tive and varies from one person to another. People also become
desensitized to odor during prolonged exposures. Additionally,
new gas pipes and containers can react with or otherwise re-
move the odorant, an effect known as odor fade.
4. Always use combustible gas detectors that show the combus-
tible/flammable gas concentration as a percentage of the LEL,
to monitor the gas concentration during purging operations.
To provide the most accurate information about combustible
gas levels, sampling should be conducted frequently or continu-
ously at appropriate locations.
The evaluation of appropriate locations for combustible gas
monitoring should include consideration of the purge location,
characteristics of the gas (lighter or heavier than air), stratifica-
tion or mixing of the gas, and existing ventilation. See the Inter-
national Society for Automation (ISA) RP 12.13, Recommended
Practice for the Installation, Operation, and Maintenance of
Combustible Gas Detection Instruments (2003) and the American
Petroleum Institute 2009, Safe Welding, Cutting, and Hot Work
Practices in the Petroleum and Petrochemical Industries (2002).
5. Ensure that personnel involved in gas purging operations are
fully trained and knowledgeable about safe gas venting practic-
es, the proper use of gas detectors, and the danger of relying on
the sense of smell alone to detect gas releases. Include training
on the problem of odor fade in new gas piping systems.
Dr. Robert Peltier, PE is POWERs editor-in-chief.
3. Deadly consequences. Workers at a ConAgra plant vent-
ed natural gas used to purge a fuel supply pipe to a water heater into
an enclosed space. An ignition source ignited the gas, causing an ex-
plosion that resulted in fatalities. Courtesy: Chemical Safety Board
4. Pressure testing
5. Post-repair purge
6. Re-introduction and light-off (the most
dangerous part)
Step 6 may be the most important step be-
cause it is clearly the most dangerous. When-
ever gas piping is repaired, extended, or newly
installed, it must be purged. However, a safe
and successful re-introduction of natural gas
into the pipe and start-up of the equipment only
occurs when good planning and execution oc-
curred during the first five steps (see sidebar).
Even those conducting the work often mis-
understand the fundamental rules and best prac-
tices for handling gas piping system start-up. But
if a good plan is prepared by engineering experts
and the correct precautions are taken by the con-
tractor, you can have an incident-free project.
Consider this short list of important tasks
and key questions when planning a gas-pip-
ing repair:
Is there a written purging plan (pre-
repair and post-repair) that identifies
all of the pressure-testing needs and
standards that must be complied with?
Does everyone on the team understand
the plan and the role they play in its
execution?
Has a gas re-introduction plan been pre-
pared? Has re-introduction and start-up
been discussed with the start-up team, in-
cluding any unique hazards?
May 2010
|
PLANT SAFETY
Were the local emergency services or fire
department involved in the planning? Is
fire fighting equipment centrally located
for workers?
Has the gas piping design been reviewed
for mechanical issues, including piping
materials, rated valves and fittings, purge
points, and blinds? Where are the isola-
tion points, and how will isolation be
safely achieved?
Is there a natural gas isolation and equip-
ment lockout plan? Is there a plan for clean-
ing lines and re-testing automatic valves
after the project has restarted? Verify that
all special shutoff valves are serviced. Veri-
fy that all piping is properly marked.
Is the gas utility involved in the purge pro-
cess (or should it be)? Do they have any
special requirements?
Have you determined the amount of ni-
trogen needed for the purges and leak
checks and how it will be introduced to
the piping system? Does everyone under-
stand nitrogen hazards? Conduct safety
training on the use of nitrogen as part of
the planning process.
Where will the purge be directed? What are
the prevailing winds? Are there building
vents or other equipment air inlets nearby?
If a high-pressure pipeline blowdown or
pressure release is to occur, modeling of
the plume may be helpful (Figure 4).
Are all electrical services secured in the
area of the gas purge and where the vent-
ing of natural gas may occur? An explo-
sion can only occur when an ignition
source is nearby.
The portion of the project site where gas
purges take place should be cleared of all
4. Vent safely. This is a typical piping vent.
Unfortunately, it points straight down in an at-
tempt to keep rain water from entering the pipe.
Releasing a high-pressure line through vent con-
figuration can create a ground level flammable
cloud. Courtesy: CEC Combustion Safety Inc.
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|
May 2010 46
PLANT SAFETY
workers, except those performing the gas
purge. Spectators should not be allowed.
Document all of the pressure testing re-
sults (such as test pressures and how long
they were held).
What Codes and Rules Apply?
There are many codes that can have some ap-
plication to natural gas piping repairs. One such
code is OSHA 1910.147 for lockout/tagout
of hazardous energy sources. Much has been
written about these requirements, and most
workers make some attempt to comply with
themat least for electrical devices. However,
the OSHA requirements also cover other plant
systems, such as natural gas and steam piping.
For instance, we often find a lock on electrical
disconnects, but seldom on a closed gas valve.
Even when workers attempt to isolate equip-
ment correctly, we find that they often do not
understand the issues surrounding lubricated
plug valves used in gas lines. Lubricated plug
valves, which represent 60% to 80% of natu-
ral gas piping system manual shut-off valves,
have a small gap between the plug and the
valve body. If a sealant is not applied annually,
as required by code and the manufacturer, gas
will leak past the plug even when the valve is in
the closed position. We find that most facilities
do not have the knowledge or the equipment to
seal these and have never sealed them during
the life of the valve. Hence, closing or locking
out a valve in this condition does not necessar-
ily isolate the energy source. The more serious
issue is that if these are not regularly sealed,
the valve can become impossible to close. This
means you can have an emergency and lack the
ability to secure the gas supply.
The other code that applies to natural gas
piping is NFPA 54: The National Fuel Gas
Code (www.nfpa.org). The rules are rather
lengthy, and it does take time and effort to
fully understand the intent and requirements
of the code. Often we run across consulting
engineering firms and contractors that do not
understand the basic code requirements. This
lack of understanding often appears with a
plant design that lacks isolation points (that
is, blanks, blinds, and pancakes) and/or purge
points. There seems to be little thought given
to the NFPA requirements in the installation
of the gas pipe or to how the gas pipe will
be commissioned after installation or will be
inspected and serviced in the future.
Top 10 Gas Piping Hazards
During our years of inspecting and testing
fuel trains, weve repeatedly come across
many of the same gas piping issues and
hazards. Our top 10 most common hazards
involved in conducting natural gas piping
installation and repairs are provided below,
along with insights on how to avoid them.
Any time natural gas piping systems are de-
signed or worked on, these potential hazards
should be evaluated and addressed. Although
the process is not simple, it can be completed
safely if well-planned and properly imple-
mented. These tips and techniques should be
incorporated into your procedures for natural
gas piping purging and equipment start-up.
1. Purge Points. Purge points are pipe
nipples installed at strategic locations in the
piping system for the purpose of introducing
or removing nitrogen and natural gas at vari-
ous stages of the process (Figure 5). These are
generally 1-inch schedule 80 nipples (thicker
and stronger than common schedule 40 pipes)
with natural gasrated ball valves on the ends.
It is important to select locations or orienta-
tions that ensure that these are less susceptible
to damage from things like vehicle traffic (be-
ing run into with a tow motor or scissors lift).
2. Isolation Points. Ensure that your fuel
trains are not exposed to excessive pressures
that can damage components during pressure
testing. Use line blinds to isolate components
that are pressure sensitive. Valves can ac-
cidentally be left open or leak when in the
closed position. Blinds provide positive iso-
lation and eliminate the possibility of damag-
ing devices in a fuel train that are not rated
5. Good design practice. Typical purge
points should be designed into piping sys-
tems. Courtesy: CEC Combustion Safety Inc.
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May 2010 48
PLANT SAFETY
PUB: Power Magazine
ISSUE: May 2010
TRIM: 7.875 x 10.75
LIVE: 7 x 10
BLEED: 8.125 x 11
2010 ConocoPhillips Company. ConocoPhillips, Conoco, Phillips 66, 76, and their
respective logos, and Diamond Class are trademarks of ConocoPhillips Company in
the U.S.A. and other countries. T3-CPL-1428
Were raising the bar on cleanliness.
If oil cleanliness is critical to your operations, turn to us; our dedicated bulk trailers can be dispatched to supply best-in-class
turbine oils with a guaranteed ISO Cleanliness Code rating of 18/16/13. Our product line includes Ultra-Clean Turbine Oil and
top-tier Diamond Class
Turbine Oil, which is proven to resist varnish formation for more than 35,000 hours in lab tests.
This offering of two premium oils with extended oxidation stability and guaranteed cleanliness is an industry exclusive.
Long-lasting turbine protection starts here. Call 877-445-9198 or visit conocophillipslubricants.com/POWER to learn more.
Clean on arrival.
Guaranteed.
19552_T3_CPL_1428_POW_MAY.indd 1 4/6/10 3:03:10 PM
for the elevated test pressures, such as regula-
tors and pressure switches (Figure 6).
3. Piping Support. During repairs, sec-
tions of piping may be disconnected to allow
the addition of tees or to install blinds. It is
important that adequate pipe supports exist to
ensure that sections of pipe will not fall when
disconnected. The closest support may be on
the other side of the disconnected joint.
4. Gaskets. NFPA 54 does not allow the re-
use of flange gaskets even if they appear to be
in good shape. To ensure leak-free joints, it is
important that new gaskets are used as well as
properly rated bolts for the flanges. Remember
that if you are mating up flanges, it is raised
face to raised face and flat face to flat face.
5. Material Specifications. It is important
that only proper-rated pipe and fittings are used.
Validate that reputable suppliers are used and
that material is free from manufacturing and in-
stallation defects. This would include checking
for pinholes in cast fittings, misaligned threads,
and pipe that is not the proper grade.
6. Nitrogen. The air we breathe is 78% ni-
trogen, but two full breaths of pure nitrogen
can kill you. This inert gas is nothing to fool
with. Make sure that everyone understands
this hazard and ensure that purge points are
marked and located in well-ventilated areas.
Also, verify pressure ratings of hoses and reg-
ulators; large liquid nitrogen tanks are capable
of producing high discharge pressures. When
discharging nitrogen, the purge discharge ar-
eas need to be monitored. Everyone involved
in the purging and pressure testing needs to be
trained on the safe handling of nitrogen.
7. Discharge Locations. Make sure that
purge end points where natural gas may be re-
leased are outside and located away from air
intakes, building openings, and ignition sources.
NFPA 54 has just released an emergency TIA
(tentative interim amendment) that provides
more details on this aspect of repair safety.
8. Sampling Devices. Having the proper
instrumentation during natural gas introduction
and removal is also important. Stopping the
process due to instrumentation error can cre-
ate a hazard. Make sure that two high-quality,
recently calibrated lower explosive limit (LEL)
meters are available. One LEL meter can be
used as a barrier protector for the people near
the purge end point; the other can be used with
at least a 6-foot-long sensing tube that can
monitor conditions at the actual discharge point
for parts of the process. Do not actually stand
in harms way at the discharge point. Instead,
do a timed and measured discharge and then,
while the flow is stopped, carefully approach to
do an LEL check in the end of the purge hose.
You will need to flush the piping at least three
times, regardless of what the LEL meter reads.
You will also need a different metering technol-
ogy like a PID meter for the gas re-introduction
and possibly even the initial purge process.
Most LEL meters are not designed to be used
in oxygen-deficient atmospheres.
9. Piping Integrity. NFPA 54 requires that
you have documentation of pressure testing
for new or repaired piping systems prior to
introducing natural gas. The results of these
tests should be retained for the life of the pip-
ing system. Any section of piping that has
undergone recent additions or repairs should
be evaluated if no test records exist. As a best
practice, our firm uses pressure chart record-
ers to document all test results. These paper
and pen battery-powered recorders come with
very small pressure increment gradations (1
psig) and provide an excellent record of pres-
sure and hold times of tests (Figure 7).
10. Emergency Isolation. After the post-
repair purge, it is imperative that the natural
gas source valve be continuously attended
during the re-introduction of natural gas. Com-
munication with the individual observing the
source should be continuously maintained. If
a problem is detected, the supply of natural
gas will need to be immediately isolated. In
addition, valves should be serviced, handles
installed, and valve function verified.
Managing the Risks
So whose job is natural gas piping and purging
safety? The design engineers may prepare the
drawings to the applicable codes and standards
but may never even visit the project site. The
project manager must ensure that the project
meets those codes and standards but is usually
consumed with schedules and budgets. Con-
tractors are focused on meeting the project
specifications, staying on schedule, and mak-
ing a profit. The project safety director is usu-
ally worried about lock out, trip hazards, slips
and falls, tie-offs, and other more common
issues. Most city inspectors dont understand
the intricate details of gas piping commission-
ing because there arent any local ordinances
with which the project must comply.
In the most recent disasters, very experienced
people were conducting the work. However, in
the heat of battle, many safety issues can be
overlooked. There are countless daily stresses
and pressures on a construction site. Thats why
proper planning and commitment to safety from
the top down is needed to provide the focused
disciplined that can make the difference between
success and failure. When the responsibility for
safe natural gas pipe purging is everyones re-
sponsibility, then its no ones responsibility.
John Puskar, PE (jpuskar@combus-
tionsafety.com) is a principal with CEC
Combustion Safety Inc. He serves as an
alternate on NFPA 86 and ASME CSD-1
committees and also serves on the NFPA
85 committee.
6. Leading the blind. Spectacle blind
installations should be designed for perma-
nent insertion. Positions can be changed
depending on the need. Courtesy: CEC Com-
bustion Safety Inc.
7. Test your plugs. The typical lubricated plug valve must be sealed and tested for function
on an annual basis. Courtesy: CEC Combustion Safety Inc.
PUB: Power Magazine
ISSUE: May 2010
TRIM: 7.875 x 10.75
LIVE: 7 x 10
BLEED: 8.125 x 11
2010 ConocoPhillips Company. ConocoPhillips, Conoco, Phillips 66, 76, and their
respective logos, and Diamond Class are trademarks of ConocoPhillips Company in
the U.S.A. and other countries. T3-CPL-1428
Were raising the bar on cleanliness.
If oil cleanliness is critical to your operations, turn to us; our dedicated bulk trailers can be dispatched to supply best-in-class
turbine oils with a guaranteed ISO Cleanliness Code rating of 18/16/13. Our product line includes Ultra-Clean Turbine Oil and
top-tier Diamond Class
Turbine Oil, which is proven to resist varnish formation for more than 35,000 hours in lab tests.
This offering of two premium oils with extended oxidation stability and guaranteed cleanliness is an industry exclusive.
Long-lasting turbine protection starts here. Call 877-445-9198 or visit conocophillipslubricants.com/POWER to learn more.
Clean on arrival.
Guaranteed.
19552_T3_CPL_1428_POW_MAY.indd 1 4/6/10 3:03:10 PM
|
May 2010 50
PLANT SAFETY
Forensic Engineering: A Valuable
Tool in Incident Investigations
Much like the crime scene investigators on the CSI TV shows, power plant
investigation teams are increasingly employing forensic engineering
methods to gather evidence and determine the causes of malfunctions of
equipment, materials, or products that result in personal injuries or prop-
erty damage. Case studies show how different investigation teams used
their forensic engineering expertise to examine a dust collector explosion,
a coal terminal fire, and the failure of a forced draft fan.
By Angela Neville, JD
I
ts common for a power plant that has
experienced a serious fire, explosion,
or equipment failure to assign a cross-
functional team to conduct an investigation.
A recent development, however, is investiga-
tion teams increasing use of sophisticated
forensic engineering techniques when they
conduct inquiries into serious incidents at
power plants that involve personal injuries or
damage to property.
Forensic engineering is the investigation
of products, materials, structures, or com-
ponents that fail or do not function properly
and, as a result of such malfunctions, cause
personal injuries, property damage, or mon-
etary losses to a business. This discipline
involves retracing processes and procedures
related to accidents in the operation of ma-
chinery, products, structures, or components.
Many universities and training facilities
now offer courses on incident investigations,
which usually incorporate forensic engineer-
ing methods. Such training typically covers
the principles of incident investigation, the
responsibilities in the investigation process,
investigation planning and preparation, the
tools and techniques used in investigations,
the collection and examination of information,
root cause analysis, preparation of the incident
investigation report, and effective real-world
corrective actions (see Lessons Learned from
a Hydrogen Explosion, POWER, May 2009).
The forensic engineering process can be
applied in civil law cases, although it also
may be used in criminal lawsuits. In particu-
lar, the law of products liability deals with
the consequences of failure of equipment and
machinery in the civil law arena.
The application of forensic engineering
ranges from investigations in industrial set-
tings such as electric power plants to inqui-
ries into incidents involving individuals in
automobile accidents that are suspected to
have been caused by malfunctioning vehi-
cles. Typically, the individuals or teams who
conduct such forensic engineering inquiries
seek to find the cause or causes of failure in
order to improve the performance or extend
the life of a machine or piece of equipment,
or to help a court of law in determining the
facts related to an accident.
In the context of power plants incidents,
such inquiries usually involve either a knowl-
edgeable team of plant personnel who use
Forensic Engineering Comes of Age
Although todays forensic engineers prob-
ably dont wear deerstalker hats like Sir
Arthur Conan Doyles famous literary de-
tective wore, these modern day truth
sleuths do resemble Sherlock Holmes in
their successful use of specialized training
and acute deductive reasoning to discover
the underlying causes of events.
Forensic engineering is defined as
the application of the art and science
of engineering in matters that are in,
or may possibly relate to, the jurispru-
dence system, according to the National
Academy of Forensic Engineers (NAFE)
(www.nafe.org). Formed in 1982, NAFE is
a professional organization dedicated to
advancing the art and skill of engineers
who serve as engineering consultants to
members of the legal profession and as
expert witnesses in courts of law, arbi-
tration proceedings, and administrative
adjudication proceedings. NAFE members
come from 38 different engineering dis-
ciplines, and their respective expertise
covers a wide range of specialty subjects,
including power plants, mechanical and
products design, and pollution control
technology.
1. Explosive situation. On Feb. 27, 2006, Plant Miller, a coal-fired power plant in Alabama,
had an explosion in its No. 10 dust collector on top of the yard silos. Courtesy: Southern Co.
09_PWR_050110_ForensicEngin_p50-57.indd 50 4/16/10 5:52:24 PM
May 2010
|
PLANT SAFETY
forensic engineering methods while conduct-
ing their incident investigation or the facility
hiring a consulting engineer who has been
trained and certified as a forensic engineer to
lead the investigation efforts (see sidebar).
Following are case studies of actual in-
cidents that occurred at three different U.S.
power plants. The investigation teams look-
ing into these three events used forensic en-
gineering methods to uncover the underlying
causes of each incident and provide formu-
lated recommended corrective actions to pre-
vent similar incidents from happening again
at these facilities.
Miller Electric Generating Plant
Dust Collector Explosion
Marley Perkins, the fire protection team
leader at Georgia Power Co.s Plant Scherer,
presented an overview of the Miller Electric
Generating Plant dust collector explosion at
the 2009 ELECTRIC POWER Conference.
The following profile of the incident is based
upon his presentation.
James H. Miller, Jr. Electric Generating
Plant is located along the Black Warrior River
near West Jefferson in Alabama (Figure 1).
Owned by Alabama Power Co., the coal-fired
plant first went into service in 1978 with the
completion of the first of four 705.5-MW gen-
erating units. Additional units were brought
online in 1985, 1989, and 1991. The plants
total nameplate capacity is 2,640 MW.
Plant Miller has four silos located outside
the plant in the fuels yard. No. 10 dust collec-
tor is located 220 feet up atop the fuels yard
silos. This dust collector is used during the
filling of the four yard silos. It also receives
dust from three other collectors. The four
yard silos are filled by a radial conveyor on
top of the silos.
Overview of the Explosion. On Febru-
ary 27, 2006, at 3:24 p.m., plant employees
heard a loud boom. The fuels personnel
looked up to see black smoke coming from
the No. 10 dust collector on top of the yard si-
los (Figures 2 and 3). At the same time a high
carbon monoxide (CO) alarm was received
for the No. 10 dust collector. Fortunately, the
CO detectors had recently been calibrated.
The fire alarm system also indicated that
the automatic sprinkler system for No. 10
dust collector had activated. This sprinkler
system is designed with automatic injection
of a wetting agent into the water. Coal was
not being run at the time. The last train had
finished dumping coal at 11:20 a.m. The No.
10 dust collector was running.
The structural fire brigade responded and,
after assessing the information available, sent
firefighters up to the dust collector for a closer
inspection. Upon reaching the top of the silos
they used a thermal imaging camera to deter-
mine there were no hot spots on the dust collec-
tor. Before proceeding further, they used a fire
hose to wet down the coal dust around the dust
collector. The fire brigade had the automatic
suppression shut down for a moment and deter-
mined that the CO level was low and not rising.
The fire brigade then advanced a hose line
up to the top of the dust collector entrance door
(Figure 4). They made entry and looked for hot
spots and wet the area with the fire hose and
wetting agent as a precaution. They also had the
hopper access panel open for inspection.
Investigation of the Incident. The plant
had an employee on-site who was the root cause
analysis coordinator trained to be in charge
of investigations of any facility incidents. He
quickly set up an investigation team to probe the
causes and impacts of the explosion. After he set
up the investigation team using plant personnel,
the team began inspecting the dust collector at
approximately 7:00 p.m. As part of this inves-
tigation they also looked at the dust collector
ducts leading to this collector.
Using a thermal imaging camera and laser
thermometer, they found a hot spot outside the
dust collector at the backdraft damper where the
34-inch-diameter duct meets the collector (Fig-
ure 5). Further inspection of the ducts identified
two bends in the duct that also had hot spots:
One was a 22-inch-diameter duct coming
from silo #2. External temperature was re-
corded at 110F.
The other was a 22-inch-duct coming
from silo #4. External temperature was
recorded at 140F.
The team gently removed both elbows and
kept a fire hose standing by. The internal tem-
perature of the smoldering coal was recorded
at 500F. These hot spots were extinguished us-
ing water and a wetting agent. The backdraft
damper access panel was opened, and water
and the wetting agent were applied to extin-
guish the smoldering coal dust. The backdraft
damper appeared to be operating properly.
The investigation team also requested that
the manufacturer provide support regard-
2. Dangerous discharge. The dust col-
lector is shown after the dust explosion. The
explosion relief panels are shown hanging
from the openings. Courtesy: Southern Co.
3. Back in business. The same dust col-
lector is shown after explosion venting panels
were replaced. It is located on the top of four
220-foot-tall coal silos. Courtesy: Southern Co.
4. Taking precautions. A fire brigade
member sprays water inside the top of the
dust collector bags after the explosion and
after the fixed sprinkler system was isolated.
This was a precaution to ensure that no em-
bers remained. Courtesy: Southern Co.
5. Highlighting hot spots. This in-
frared image shows the duct and backdraft
damper connecting into the dust collector.
This shot was taken several hours after the
explosion. Note the two white spots at the
backdraft damper, which show that hot spots
are still smoldering. Courtesy: Southern Co.
|
May 2010 52
PLANT SAFETY
ing the incident and inspect the system. The
manufacturer later sent a team of engineers to
inspect the system.
Proposed Corrective Actions. The in-
vestigation team determined that airflow
was out of balance, which caused some
coal dust, over time, to drop out of the air-
flow in the two elbows. Most likely, sparks
from the smoldering coal dust in the elbows
were drawn into the operating dust collec-
tor. Some modifications were required to
ensure that differential pressure across the
dust collector bags was maintained at the
proper level.
The following corrective actions were
suggested by the investigation team in order
to prevent similar incidents from happening
in the future:
Allowing more time for the air purge cycle.
Changing one stationary hood duct from
23 inches to 12 inches.
Installing clean-out ports or removing cer-
tain elbows periodically for inspection of
dust buildup as part of a predictive main-
tenance (PM) program.
Replacing some butterfly valves in ducts
because one was missing and others did
not operate properly.
Using a thermal imaging camera as part of
normal inspection of this area, especially
the ducts.
Cook Coal Terminals Fire
Bob Taylor, with American Electric Powers
(AEP) environmental, safety, and health or-
ganization, and Dennis Kovach, an engineer
with AEPs fire protection engineering group,
presented an overview of the Cook Coal Ter-
minal fire at the 2008 ELECTRIC POWER
Conference. The following profile of the in-
cident is based upon their presentation.
AEPs Cook Coal Terminal is located
along the Ohio River near Metropolis, Ill. It
was the first utility-owned rail-to-river coal
transfer terminal. It began operations in 1976
and transloads approximately 15 million tons
of coal annually (Figure 6). The investigation
of this incident focused on two stations: Sta-
tion 1, which houses dual rotary car dumpers
and conveyor 12 (455 ft long, 72 ft wide);
and Station 2, which was originally designed
as a crusher house (43 ft by 34 ft by 74 ft)
Overview of the Fire. Early in the morning
on Feb. 4, 2007, facility personnel discovered
a fire at the rail dumper and noticed a plastic
pipe was burning. Unloading was stopped, the
fire was extinguished, and unloading was re-
6. Cooked Cook. AEPs Cook Coal Termi-
nal, located along the Ohio River near Metrop-
olis, Ill., was the first utility-owned rail-to-river
coal transfer terminal when constructed in
1976. In 2007, the terminal experienced a rail
car fire. Courtesy: American Electric Power
www.zhi.com
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C O N S T R U C T I O N E N G I N E E R I N G I N D U S T R I A L S E R V I C E S N U C L E A R
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May 2010 54
PLANT SAFETY
started after about 1 hour. The south dumper
was not seating properly, so unloading was
moved to the north dumper at the facility.
Then personnel heard a large boom. Fire
was visible coming from the 1-1 dust collec-
tor. Workers also observed a fire located at
Station 2. The fire department was called at
5:22 a.m. and the firefighters remained on
scene until almost 9:00 a.m. Then, around
11:30 a.m., plant personnel observed smoke
coming from the 3-1 dust collector.
Facility employees had previously retrofitted
the vent doors with a cable that allows the dust
collectors to be opened from a safe distance in
the event of a fire. In response to the fire, per-
sonnel used this cable to open the dust collector
and then used a ground-mounted monitor noz-
zle on the bag house to extinguish the fire. No
employees were injured during this incident.
All the affected conveyors are protected with
an automatic deluge system. The facilitys trans-
fer stations have closed head sprinklers fed from
the deluge system, but none of these systems ac-
tivated automatically during the incident.
Investigation of the Incident. AEP
quickly formed an investigation team to de-
termine what caused the fires. The investiga-
tion team had many questions: How did the
fire get to so many different places? What
happened in Station 2? Why didnt the fire
system activate? How can this be prevented
from happening again?
The team had the following game plan:
Interview key personnel who were on site
the night of the fire.
Review each area where the fire damage
occurred.
Review design drawings for the dust col-
lection system.
Produce a written report with findings and
recommendations.
The initial fire at the rail dumper started at
the bear cage area, which is an intake to the
rail dumper dust collector. This dust collector
never caught fire. Several days after the fire,
personnel discovered damage on a feeder belt
below this area. It was unclear whether it was
caused by hot coal or burning plastic.
Feeders below the rail dumper as well as
Conveyor 12 are covered by the 1-1 dust col-
lector. The team concluded that burning mate-
rial was pulled into the collector where ample
fuel was available. When the second fire was
discovered, the vent doors on the 1-1 dust
collector were already open. The team deter-
mined that most likely this was the boom
that the personnel at the scene heard.
One of the witnesses the team interviewed
commented that Fire was dropping out of
the dust chute from the 1-1 dust collector
onto Conveyor 12, which travels into Station
2. Personnel later found remnants of dust col-
lector bags on this conveyor and also rem-
nants on Conveyor 23. This helps to explain
why the 3-1 dust collector, which pulls from
this conveyor, also caught fire.
The team focused in depth upon Station 2
as part of their investigation:
Damaged siding at Station 2. Witnesses
reported to the investigation team that the
fire immediately darkened when the del-
uge system was manually tripped. Every
upright sprinkler head on the top floor of
the station was opened. The investigation
team learned, however, that the fusible
links from these heads had previously
been removed to facilitate washdown. The
investigation team found damaged siding
along the south, west, and north walls of
Station 2 (Figures 7 and 8). Gaps were vis-
ible in the siding along all four walls and
large pieces of siding from the north and
west walls were observed on the ground
(Figure 9). Witnesses reported these may
have been blown off by the fire depart-
ments hose streams. Witnesses believed
the fire department did not use tools such
as pike poles to pull siding off. Heat dam-
age was observed on some of these pieces.
Coal buildup. Ledges under the south
wall of Station 2 provided minimal areas
for coal buildup. The investigation team
reviewed other transfer stations to con-
firm float dust buildup was not a problem.
The team ruled out the possibility of a fire
burning inside the ductwork for the 2-1
dust collector located under the south wall.
Through a chute inspection door, a hang-
up point with significant accumulation was
found about 10 feet below the magnet at
the head pulley for conveyor 12.
Inoperable fire detection system. The exist-
ing detection system was determined to be
31 years old. Despite the plant employees
diligent efforts to perform PM and repairs,
parts of this system were inoperable. The
site was in the midst of a multi-year effort
to replace its existing systems with Pro-
tectowire. Conveyor 12 had not yet been
converted. Even if the system had been
operable, the fire was probably would not
have been large enough to activate the sys-
tem until Station 2 became involved.
Tracking Down the Fires Origin. The
investigation team determined the fire at
Station 2 might have originated in the head
chute. When the 1-1 dust collector explosion
occurred, a large amount of burning material
may have been discharged onto conveyor 12.
This might explain the fire growth around the
same time as the explosion, according to the
teams research.
Conveyor 12 continued to run, which
should have created negative pressure pull-
ing air into the chute. Updraft from burning
material could overcome this negative pres-
sure, but a substantial fuel load would be
needed. Some observers initially believed the
open equipment hatch may have contributed
to the fire growth. Meteorological records,
however, leave that theory in doubt.
Contradictory Theories about a Possible
Dust Explosion. The investigation team tried
7. The scorched south wall. The ex-
terior south wall of Station 2 at the Cook Coal
Terminal showed damage from the fire. Cour-
tesy: American Electric Power
8. The fires aftermath. This photo
shows the head chute and south wall inside
Station 2, where the fire occurred. Courtesy:
American Electric Power
9. A room with a new view. This photo
was shot through the hole in the south wall of
Station 2 that was created by the fire. Note the
unburned conveyor belt in the foreground and
the open equipment removal door in the back-
ground. Courtesy: American Electric Power
If you process it,
load it, unload it,
stack it, stockpile it,
reclaim it, crush it,
blend it or convey it
Roberts & Schaefer can handle it.
From feasibility studies to turnkey projects, Roberts &
Schaefer is recognized around the world as the industry
innovator of bulk material, coal preparation and fuel
handling/blending systems. We provide total solutions for a
wide range of fuels, including PRB, bituminous, lignite and
anthracite coal; woodchips and petroleum coke; as well as
limestone and gypsum handling; and limestone grinding and
transport systems. For complete system development,
upgrades or modifications, we can handle it.
Roberts & Schaefer Company
222 South Riverside Plaza
Chicago, Illinois 60606
312/236-7292
www.r-s.com
Offices also in Australia, Indonesia,
Poland and Salt Lake City
Limestone/gypsum handling and
gypsum barge load out system
Barge unloading, conveying,
stack out and reclaim facility
Coal and woodchip
handling
Coal, limestone
and ash handling
Coal handling and
storage facility
Stacker/Reclaimer Coal preparation
and material handling
Coal blending for
Illinois Basin and PRB coal
Gypsum conveying and
barge load out facility
Conveying, screening and
crushing system
Rapid car unloading,
fuel blending
(Eastern or PRB coal)
Fuel and limestone handling
for CFB boiler
Coal handling for fuel
switch to PRB coal
Pet coke handling facility
894_R&S_"If You"_Single_Page_Ad_PM 7/24/06 1:51 PM Page 1
If you process it,
load it, unload it,
stack it, stockpile it,
reclaim it, crush it,
blend it or convey it
Roberts & Schaefer can handle it.
From feasibility studies to turnkey projects, Roberts &
Schaefer is recognized around the world as the industry
innovator of bulk material, coal preparation and fuel
handling/blending systems. We provide total solutions for a
wide range of fuels, including PRB, bituminous, lignite and
anthracite coal; woodchips and petroleum coke; as well as
limestone and gypsum handling; and limestone grinding and
transport systems. For complete system development,
upgrades or modifications, we can handle it.
Roberts & Schaefer Company
222 South Riverside Plaza
Chicago, Illinois 60606
312/236-7292
www.r-s.com
Offices also in Australia, Indonesia,
Poland and Salt Lake City
Limestone/gypsum handling and
gypsum barge load out system
Barge unloading, conveying,
stack out and reclaim facility
Coal and woodchip
handling
Coal, limestone
and ash handling
Coal handling and
storage facility
Stacker/Reclaimer Coal preparation
and material handling
Coal blending for
Illinois Basin and PRB coal
Gypsum conveying and
barge load out facility
Conveying, screening and
crushing system
Rapid car unloading,
fuel blending
(Eastern or PRB coal)
Fuel and limestone handling
for CFB boiler
Coal handling for fuel
switch to PRB coal
Pet coke handling facility
894_R&S_"If You"_Single_Page_Ad_PM 7/24/06 1:51 PM Page 1
|
May 2010 56
PLANT SAFETY
to determine if a dust explosion had occurred
at Station 2. The observed hang-up inside the
head chute consisted mainly of fines (fine coal
particles). A slug of burning material could have
raised this dust into suspension and provided an
ignition source. The investigation team found
there were many observations supporting this
theory. For example, they found torn siding and
gaps in the siding. They also observed burn pat-
terns on the ceiling and north wall.
On the flip side, the investigation team dis-
covered much evidence that contradicts this
theory. Melted siding shows that fire burned up
against the south wall for a period of time. Sid-
ing on the south wall was not blown away from
the building. Only one explosion was heard.
No security cameras were positioned to
view these areas. Additionally, no witnesses
could detail the beginning of events at Station
2. The investigation team concluded that with-
out an eyewitness account, it is impossible to
say exactly what the sequence of events was
at Station 2. Fortunately, in spite of recent
cold weather, Station 2 was still being washed
down on a regular basis. Those good house-
keeping practices limited damage and poten-
tially prevented a secondary explosion.
Proposed Corrective Actions. The in-
vestigation team came up with the following
recommendation to prevent future fires from
happening at the Cook Coal Terminal and to
more safely handle a fire should one occur:
Continue to fund replacement of the fire
detection systems.
Install Class A foam proportioning capa-
bility if the existing baghouses remain in
service.
Install CO monitors.
Develop a fire emergency handling pro-
cedure.
Evaluate the hydraulic design of the exist-
ing deluge systems due to concern about
all sprinklers in the transfer houses being
left open.
Investigate/remedy the cause of coal hang-
ups in the Station 2 chutework.
Limit the use of combustible construction
in coal-handling areas. If using noncombus-
tible materials is not an option, provide extra
attention to these areas during washdown.
Keep the maintenance doors closed and
secured when not in use
The Failure of a Forced Draft Fan
John Amoo-Otoo, PE, senior electrical engi-
neer at Exelon Nuclear, presented an over-
view of the failure of the Unit 2 forced draft
(FD) fan at an undisclosed U.S. coal-fired
power plant at the 2009 ELECTRIC POWER
Conference. The following profile of the in-
cident is based upon his presentation.
The coal-fired power plant where the draft
fans motor failed consists of three steam tur-
bines with a net generating rating of 750 MW.
The units began commercial operation in 1960,
1965, and 1970. Coal is received by rail and
limestone by rail or truck. Plant personnel un-
load the rail cars into a rotary car dumper at a
rate of 20 to 25 cars per hour. A 30-day supply of
coal is maintained in the on-site storage area.
Overview of the Equipment Failure. On
June 6, 2004, at 10.30 a.m., the Unit 2 FD fan
motor at the facility tripped. There was a double
phase to ground fault indication of the electro-
mechanical relay. The fan motor is protected by
an electromechanical relay, which has a disad-
vantage in respect to its capability of being used
for temperature monitoring. It cannot monitor
the temperature of the windings compared to
multifunction relays. When the Unit 2 FD fan
inadvertently failed, the fans motor erupted
into flames. The fire caused damage to the in-
sulation, ground wall, and the coil of the FD fan
motor (Figure 10 and 11)
Investigation of the Incident. Plant per-
sonnel formed an investigation team to de-
termine the cause of the malfunction of the
Unit 2 FD fan and to implement correction
actions to prevent similar incidents from oc-
curring in the future. The team decided to use
a root cause investigation approach. This
investigation method is highlighted in the
book TapRoot: Root Cause Analysis, Prob-
lem Investigation, Proactive Improvement by
Mark Paradies and Linda Unger.
Early in their investigation, the team con-
cluded that the FD fan 2B inadvertently failed
due to the destruction of a section of both the
winding and the ground wall insulation of the
motor, which set the motor on fire. Thermal
aging of the winding insulation of high-volt-
age motors has prompted the team to consider
ways to monitor the condition of the insulation
of the winding of its 4,160-V critical motors.
The electrical insulation used in stator
windings as well as the stator core lamina-
tions has a major impact on the reliability of
large motors. Failure of the insulation direct-
ly or indirectly will result in the failure of the
machine, which in turn will cause a forced
outage or derating of a unit. Many insula-
tion failures originate with aging that occurs
over many years. To operate cost effectively,
means to periodically assess the condition of
insulation of the winding are needed.
The investigation team decided to take the
following actions:
Conduct a root cause analysis of the inad-
vertent failure of Unit 2B FD fan.
Determine the steps that needed to be tak-
en to correct the failure.
Implement the corrective actions.
Six main areas were determined to be the
root cause of the Unit 2 FD fans failure: ex-
cessive heat that can lead to thermal aging
and deterioration, inadequate impregnation
of the ground wall, voltage surges, contami-
nation, abrasive particles, and inadequate end
winding spacing. The investigation teams
analysis showed that out of the six potential
causes, three of them were the most likely
causes: thermal aging, operators failure to
follow the manufacturers hot start and cold
start timing sequence, and excessive heat due
to poor maintenance work on cleaning and
changing the filters.
Implementation of Corrective Actions.
After the incident, plant personnel immedi-
ately repaired the badly damaged insulation
and winding of the motor. They later sent
the damaged motor to Joliet Motors to be re-
wound (Figure 12).
Based upon the findings they obtained
from their forensic engineering analysis, the
investigation team came up with a number
of corrective actions that they recommended
the plant personnel implement in order to
prevent future failures associated with Unit
1, 2, and 3 large motors. They suggested that
these proposed corrective actions be coordi-
nated with pre-outage and outage work. They
also recommended that online testing be per-
formed during pre-outage periods and that
off-line testing be conducted during outage
periods.
Plant personnel carried out the following
corrective actions that were recommended by
the investigation team:
10. Gone up in smoke. When the forced
draft fan inadvertently failed, the fans motor
erupted into flames. The fire caused damage to
the insulation, the ground wall, and the coil of
the fans motor. Courtesy: John Amoo-Otoo
11. Cooked coil. This photo shows the
damaged coil of the forced draft fan motor after
it caught on fire. Courtesy: John Amoo-Otoo
May 2010
|
PLANT SAFETY
Plant personnel awarded Illinois Elec-
tric Works the contract to conduct all the
predictive maintenance testing, which
provides detailed analysis of motor and
circuit conditions, on all the high-voltage
motors at the plant. This included off-line
and online testing.
Resistance temperature detectors or ther-
mocouples were installed by being em-
bedded in the stator slots between the top
and bottom bars or the coils and windings
of most motor windings at the facility.
Approximately ten 469 relay units were
installed on switchgear to protect motors
from temperature excursions and to isolate
the circuit. The plant also agreed to hire
General Electric to train all in-house relay
technicians how to set and troubleshoot
the 469 relay.
A yearly PM program was created so that
in-house personnel can periodically clean
the winding, change the filters to incom-
ing air, clean the environment, and clean
the oil out of the stator winding and the
ventilation.
Two craft personnel and an engineer from
each plant were approved to go to Joliet
Motors every time a motor is sent to the
shop to inspect the winding during the re-
wound, impregnation process, and inspec-
tion of the ventilation ducts.
A power quality tester was installed on the
motor feeder circuit to continuously mea-
sure the quality of the power and alarm an
operator in the control room of any abnor-
mality with power quality.
Plant personnel implemented PM for the
ventilation system of the motor to ensure
that it is checked, cleaned, and the filter
replaced when needed.
PM steps were taken to check the wedges,
the condition of all end-winding blocking
and ties, and the tightness of supports for
end turns.
An in-house training program was created
to train the electricians how to interpret
the results of the traditional Megger test
and also to consult an engineer if they are
in doubt.
The Growing Role of Forensic
Engineering at Power Plants
In the current competitive U.S. generation
market, worker safety and operational reli-
ability are paramount concerns at power
plants. Equipment malfunctions can not only
cause injuries to personnel, damage valuable
equipment, and interfere with plant produc-
tivity, they also can lead to costly litiga-
tion. Therefore, post-incident investigations
should be thorough and timely in order to as-
certain the causes of the incidents as swiftly
as possible. Just as power plant personnel
typically have emergency response plans in
place to deal with fires or explosions, they
also should be prepared to implement inves-
tigations using forensic engineering methods
quickly in the event that incidents occur at
their facilities.
Angela Neville, JD, is senior editor of
POWER.
12. Good as new. After the fire, the fans
motor was repaired with new winding and in-
sulation. Courtesy: John Amoo-Otoo

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|
May 2010 58
PLANT SAFETY
A Burning Concern: Combustible Dust
If not properly controlled, coal and coal dust can cause fires, explosions, and
implosions at power plants. Strategies for promoting safer management
of these combustibles include actions such as training personnel exposed
to the hazards of coal and coal dust about safe handling methods.
By Bob Taylor, American Electric Power
T
he serious losses in life and prop-
erty resulting annually from fires
cause me deep concern. I am sure
that such unnecessary waste can be reduced.
The substantial progress made in the science
of fire prevention and fire protection in this
country during the past forty years convinces
me that the means are available for limiting
this unnecessary destruction.
That statement was made 63 years ago as
part of President Harry S. Trumans address
to attendees of the Presidents Conference on
Fire Prevention. Trumans perspective on fire
prevention is as valid today as it was then.
Thirty-seven years ago, a group of topic
experts summarized their findings and recom-
mendations about fire prevention in a report
titled America Burning (Figure 1). Much of
this report focused on the three Es of safety:
engineering, enforcement, and education.
However, the significance of this 1973 re-
port was that it was the first time the federal
government focused on and recommended a
more coordinated approach to fire protection
and fire prevention. America Burning and its
follow-up, America Burning Revisited (1987),
provided a roadmap for improving fire safety.
My father, who gave me my own copy of
America Burning, spent a lifetime both starting
fires and preventing them. During his 58 years
in the fire service, he started fires in a controlled
environment to learn about fires behavior and,
more importantly, to train others how to effec-
tively mitigate the losses once one started. At
the same time, he used that knowledge to drive
change. He hoped to change peoples behaviors
so they would prevent and survive fires, and he
sought to modify regulations so that they are
clear and helpful. In that spirit, the goal of this
article is to draw our industrys attention to a
fire danger that often remains unacknowledged:
combustible coal dust.
Our Goal: Zero Harm from
Combustible Coal Dust
The struggle to minimize fires continues today.
In our industry we are primarily concerned
with fires in power plants, and coal plants are
particularly suceptible to fires because of the
presence of combustible dust (Figure 2).
Many entities must work together to create
a culture in which coal is safely and efficiently
burned in a steam generator: federal, state, and
local governments; standards-making organi-
zations; and industry (Figure 3). Substantial
progress has been made in the past 10 years by
one particular organizationthe PRB Coal Us-
ers Group (see sidebar). This organization suc-
ceeds by regularly bringing together users and
potential users of Powder River Basin (PRB)
coal plus other interested parties who share best
practices, educational and networking opportu-
nities, and a forum to support each other in the
safe and efficient handling of PRB coals. This
is evident in their collaborative efforts related
to developing recognized best practices, such as
those concerning mill inerting, coal silo/bunker
fire protection, electrical practices, and risk as-
sessment tools. The group is also responsible
for high-quality programming at its annual
meeting on combustible coal dust.
It should be clear that coal is combustible. Af-
ter all, we use it because its combustion can be
used to produce steam. We also know that many
fires, and even implosions and explosions, occur
in our industry that damage people and property
while causing financial and productivity losses.
It is clear that the federal government recognizes
the importance of addressing combustible dust,
1. A burning issue. The National Com-
mission on Fire Prevention and Control pub-
lished America Burning in 1973. The report
sought to bring attention to the serious issue
of losses of life and property caused by U.S.
fires. A pdf of the report is available at www.
usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/
fa-264.pdf. Courtesy: The National Commis-
sion on Fire Prevention and Control
2. Dust collector detonation. This
explosion was caused by combustible coal
dust in a dust collector. Courtesy: American
Electric Power
PRB Coal Users Group Meets in Baltimore
The PRB Coal Users Group was formed
in 2000 to meet the needs of generating
companies using, or considering the use
of Powder River Basin coal. Its objective
is to encourage the safe, economical use
of the resource. The highlight of the year
is the annual meeting that traditionally
attracts more than 300 delegates. The
groups annual meeting, co-located with
the ELECTRIC POWER Conference & Exhibi-
tion, is May 1820, 2010, in Baltimore,
Md. More information on the annual meet-
ing and PRBCUG membership is available
at www.prbcoals.com.
10_PWR_050110_SR_CombustDust_p58-63.indd 58 4/16/10 6:00:36 PM
May 2010
|
PLANT SAFETY
in part, through the U.S. Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA), which first
issued a National Emphasis Program (NEP)
and now is writing a combustible dust standard.
Most within the industry ask that whatever ve-
hicle (standard) OSHA issues be clear, achiev-
able, and avoid undue burden on the regulated
community. Any forthcoming legal requirement
must be realistic and practical so we can reach
our goal of zero harm.
Understanding the Hazards of
Combustible Coal Dust
We can learn how to prevent fire by understand-
ing what it takes to create a fire. Another one
of those life lessons from Dad: Whats common
in putting out a fire is common to what it takes
to prevent one. Four elements must be pres-
ent: fuel (coal), oxygen (air), an ignition source
(heat), and a chemical reaction. Whats often
misunderstood is the role that chemical reaction
has in the fire process. Simply put, coals can
sometimes spontaneously combust as a result
of an exothermic reaction (such as PRB coals
absorbing moisture). So removing at least one
element from the others is a simplified approach
to fire suppression and prevention (Figure 4).
Combustible dust is defined by the National
Fire Protection Association 654 (proposed) as
a combustible solid that presents a fire or defla-
gration hazard when suspended in air or some
other oxidizing medium over a range of con-
centrations, regardless of particle size or shape.
(Note the elimination of 420 micron size from
previous definitions.) Three main types of
events can be caused by combustible dust:
Flash fire: A fire that spreads rapidly
through a diffused fuel such as dust, gas, or
3. Destination Zero Harm. Federal, state, and local governments must have the
same goal as standards-making organizations and industries to promote the safe and efficient
handling of coal in power plants and other industrial facilities. Source: American Electric Power
Zero
Harm to people
Injuries
Fires & explosions
Environmental events
PRB Coal Users Group
(OSHA, MSHA, DHS, and others) Federal government
State and local government (building code, fire code,
enforcement and education
EPA
4. All fired up. Four elements must be
present to ignite a fire: fuel (coal), oxygen (air),
an ignition source (heat), and a chemical reac-
tion. Source: American Electric Power
Heat
O
x
y
g
e
n
F
u
e
l
Chain reaction
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|
May 2010 60
PLANT SAFETY
the vapors of an ignitable liquid without the
production of damaging pressure. (Source:
Definition from NFPA 654 proposed.)
Explosion: The bursting or rupture of an
enclosure or a container due to the de-
velopment of internal pressure from a
deflagration. (Source: NFPA Glossary of
TermsNFPA 69.)
Implosion: The rapid inward collapsing of
the walls of a vacuum component or de-
vice as the result of failure of the walls to
sustain the atmospheric pressure. (Source:
NFPA Glossary of TermsNFA 86.)
Much emphasis has been placed on explo-
sions, and they should be of great concern to
anyone who manages combustible dusts of
any kind. But in our business of using coal
to generate electricity, we also must concern
ourselves with flash fires. The reality is that
flash fires are likely to occur more often than
explosions as a result of the methods used
during housekeeping or maintenance.
Implosion is also a danger. Its amazing how
people will gather to watch an old building
come tumbling down. Sometimes implosion is
used to intentionally destroy buildings to control
the debris better. In a coal-fired power plant, the
opening of dust collectors, crushers, and mills
are a few examples of containers that under
the right conditionssuch as when smoldering
coal is contained withincan implode once a
doorway or other opening is breached with oxy-
gen/air. All too often a devastating result occurs
and affects fire department personnel who are
unfamiliar with the equipment, coal, and the in-
herent hazards of both.
The conclusions that the authors of America
Burning came to are the same ones we reach
when we discuss coal. That is, the frequency
and severity of coal fires do not result from a
lack of knowledge of the causes, means of pre-
vention, or methods of suppression, but rather
because we fail to adequately apply and fund
known loss-reduction strategies.
Strategies for Improving
Combustible Dust Management
Together, OSHAs NEP on combustible dust
and the PRB Coal Users Groups work pro-
vide a solid foundation for improving com-
bustible dust management. What follows are
some necessary overarching guidelines.
Collect and Analyze Fire Protection
Information. The continuous and complete
collection of data and, more importantly, the
analysis of information that identifies solutions
that prevent harm when placed into action are
so important yet so often incomplete. It has
been said that one is more likely to hear about
the big boom than the many flashes that oc-
cur. We must be attentive and take actions that
address flashes and other events that may seem
less significant but that in reality are possible in-
dicators of future hazardous incidents.
Create a Political Action Infrastructure.
There must be organized and coordinated ini-
tiatives at the federal, state, and industry levels
that strive to identify overall problems, establish
reasonable solutions, and make things happen.
Unlike many other social and economic issues
that have coordinated national representation,
fire and safety often receive extensive attention
only following a major event involving personal
injuries and/or property damage.
Some argue that combustible dust is a
safety and health issue, while others insist it
is a fire issue, but it is both. Representatives
of the relevant governmental agencies must
recognize this simple fact, work in harmony,
and collaborate with industry so that together
these different groups can identify and imple-
ment a clear and effective course of action.
Change the Cultural Orientation.
Some of the most critical factors to consider
are the attitudes, behaviors, and values of
companies, plants, and individuals related to
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PLANT OF THE YEAR:
ILLINOIS
MARMADUKE AWARD:
NETHERLANDS
TOP PLANT, GAS: ITALY
TOP PLANT, COAL: INDIA
TOP PLANT, NUCLEAR:
SOUTH CAROLINA
TOP PLANT,
RENEWABLES: NEVADA
The Power Plant of the Year award will be
presented to a plant that leads our industry in the
successful deployment of advanced technology
maximizing eciency while minimizing
environmental impact. In short, the Power Plant of
the Year, featured in the August issue of POWER, is
the best of class over the past year.
Nominations are due May 24, 2010.
Read about all the 2009 winners and
download entry forms from www.powermag.com
(under Also from POWER Magazine).
If you know of a plant thats worth
bragging about, nominate it for one
of POWER magazines annual awards.
Plants anywhere in the world have
three chances to win!
Award nalists and winners will be selected by the
editors of POWER based on nominations submitted
by you and your industry peerssuppliers, designers,
constructors, and operators of power plants.
The Marmaduke Award, named after the
legendary plant troubleshooter whose exploits
have been chronicled in POWER since 1948,
recognizes operations and maintenance excellence
at existing power plants. The Marmaduke Award
winner will also be proled in the August issue.
Top Plants Awards recognize the best in class over
the past year in each of four generation categories:
combined-cycle (September), coal-red (October),
nuclear (November), and renewable (December).
NOMINATE YOUR PLANT
for a Award
PLANT OF THE YEAR:
ILLINOIS
MARMADUKE AWARD:
NETHERLANDS
TOP PLANT, GAS: ITALY
TOP PLANT, COAL: INDIA
TOP PLANT, NUCLEAR:
SOUTH CAROLINA
TOP PLANT,
RENEWABLES: NEVADA
The Power Plant of the Year award will be
presented to a plant that leads our industry in the
successful deployment of advanced technology
maximizing eciency while minimizing
environmental impact. In short, the Power Plant of
the Year, featured in the August issue of POWER, is
the best of class over the past year.
Nominations are due May 24, 2010.
Read about all the 2009 winners and
download entry forms from www.powermag.com
(under Also from POWER Magazine).
If you know of a plant thats worth
bragging about, nominate it for one
of POWER magazines annual awards.
Plants anywhere in the world have
three chances to win!
Award nalists and winners will be selected by the
editors of POWER based on nominations submitted
by you and your industry peerssuppliers, designers,
constructors, and operators of power plants.
The Marmaduke Award, named after the
legendary plant troubleshooter whose exploits
have been chronicled in POWER since 1948,
recognizes operations and maintenance excellence
at existing power plants. The Marmaduke Award
winner will also be proled in the August issue.
Top Plants Awards recognize the best in class over
the past year in each of four generation categories:
combined-cycle (September), coal-red (October),
nuclear (November), and renewable (December).
NOMINATE YOUR PLANT
for a Award
|
May 2010 62
PLANT SAFETY
fire, safety and health, and safe and efficient
coal management (Figure 5). Success in pre-
venting fires, explosions, and other hazard-
ous incidents involving coal dust can only be
achieved if unconcerned attitudes and care-
less habits are changed.
Improve Education. Clearly, coal-han-
dling personnel require more knowledge
about the effective management of coal and
combustible dust. This means that continued
efforts need to be made in educating and cre-
ating awareness of methods for safely han-
dling coal and preventing fires. Those who
are exposed to coal dustincluding, but not
limited to operators, maintenance personnel,
contractors, engineers, managers, industrial
fire brigades, and public fire department per-
sonnelneed to be educated on its hazards
and risks as well as safe handling methods to
prevent harm.
The Road Ahead
We have indeed made great strides toward
protecting people from fire, but we have much
farther to go. Here are a few questions to pon-
der that are designed to help your organization
improve its fire prevention initiatives:
What do you do on a regular basis to pre-
vent fires?
What do you expect your subordinates (or
supervisors) to do routinely to prevent fires?
How are your and their prevention activi-
ties measured?
How do you reward (or how are you re-
warded) for performance?
What information do you have that shows
you have control over fire protection (or
that fire protection is under control) in the
organization?
Why do we continue to count the things
we dont intend to happen, such as the
number of fires, as our main performance
indicator?
How can we expect to manage results we
dont want to achieve?
America is still burning, and only we can
change the frequency and severity of fires.
Take a break from looking at a computer or
sitting in on another meeting to walk around
the first process at coal-fired power plants:
the coal-handling area. Seek knowledge from
proactive groups such as the PRB Coal Us-
ers Group, from industry technical experts,
and from within your company. Then put into
action methods to safely and effectively man-
age combustibles such as coal and coal dust.
Work in preventive mode!
Bob Taylor (rdtaylor@aep.com) is
with American Electric Powers envi-
ronment, safety and health organization
and currently serves on the board of
directors of the PRB Coal Users Group.
He is a principal member of the NFPA
1081 (Industrial Fire Brigades) Technical
Committee and has extensive back-
ground in fire, safety, health, security,
and management systems.
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5. Accident waiting to happen.
Good plant housekeeping practices are vital
when handling PRB coal. Ensuring that coal
dust does not accumulate should be a funda-
mental safety concern for every plant man-
ager. Courtesy: American Electric Power
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May 2010 64
POWER IN MEXICO POWER IN MEXICO
Mexico Balances Central Control
with Flexibility in Its Power Sector
A special report from Global Business Reports and POWER
POWER IN MEXICO
The El Cajn Dam on the Ro Grande de
Santiago River in the Mexican state of
Nayarit was completed in 2007. The 750-MW
hydroelectric project is owned by Comision
Federal de Electricidad (CFE) of Mexico.
Courtesy: CFE
11_PWR_050110_Mexico_p64-79.indd 64 4/16/10 6:04:30 PM
|
May 2010 66
POWER IN MEXICO
T
he Mexican electrical sector is federally
owned, as is required by the constitution,
with Comisin Federal de Electricidad
(CFE) directly responsible for around 70% of
all electricity produced in Mexico. Following
its recent takeover of Luz y Fuerza del Centro
(LyFC), the CFE controls 100% of the trans-
mission and distribution network in the coun-
try. Few countries have maintained this level
of government control over the industry. Pri-
vate companies can only participate in specific
tenders offered by the CFE.
The structure of Mexicos power sector re-
flects Mexicos radical revolutionary past and
the dominance of the Partido Revolucionario
Institucional (PRI), which came into exis-
tence under the guise of the Partido Nacio-
nal Revolucionario in 1929. This party was
formed as an attempt to keep the various fac-
tions of the Mexican revolution together and
to unite the country. The coalition comprises
a wide variety of interests and political opin-
ions, including a strong left-wing element.
This left-wing influence led to the creation of
the CFE in 1934 with the mandate of regulat-
ing the private vertically owned energy mo-
nopolies and also of supplying the areas that
the private sector neglected due to their being
perceived as unprofitable (Figure 1).
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the
CFE slowly and steadily acquired regional
concessions throughout the country. On Sep-
tember 27, 1960, under the administration of
Adolfo Lpez Mateos, the government fully
nationalized the sector, and constitutional ar-
rangements were enforced, making the state
the sole producer, provider, and distributor of
electricity in Mexico.
The concentration of the sector within
state hands allowed for considerable planned
expansion of energy supply during the 1970s.
This expansion was fueled by the availability
of fuel oil from Petrleos Mexicanos (PE-
MEX), which was provided at subsidized
prices to the CFE. PEMEXs vast profits
from high oil prices in the 1970s fueled the
CFEs investments.
The final piece of the social puzzle involved
subsidies on the price of electricity for the end
user. Though these tariffs supplied relief to
many lower-income families, they inadver-
tently subsidized higher-income households
too. The thinking at the time, which continues
today, is that electricity is a basic need and, as
such, the state has an obligation to provide it
at an affordable rate to its population. During
the 1970s the CFE was very successful at ex-
panding the reach of electricity to rural areas,
and the number of households with access to
electricity roughly doubled. Nevertheless, an
estimated 6 million Mexicans remain uncon-
nected to regular electricity today.
During the 1980s, Mexico, following
the global trend, allowed increasing private
participation in its economy; but electricity,
together with hydrocarbons, remained firmly
in the hands of the public sector. In 1992 the
government allowed for the introduction of
independent power producers (IPPs) with
the reform of the Ley del Servicio Pblico
de Energa Elctrica as well as cogenera-
tion and self-supply schemes. According to
the Mexican energy regulatory commission,
Comisin Reguladora de Energa, around
30% of the electricity currently produced in
Mexico is by private sources, be that through
autogeneration, cogeneration, or by IPPs.
Mexicos energy challenge is twofold.
First, it must determine whether the state can
continue to be the dominant energy provider
or whether radical reform is needed in which
the private sector takes a more prominent role.
The second concerns the role of renewables
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1930 1940 1950 1960
Mexican Impulsora Chapala CFE
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e
A Brief History of Mexicos
Power Sector
Mexico, one of the few countries in Latin America that has resisted the tide of
liberalization, retains a monopolistic state player in the electricity market.
In treading its own path by maintaining the governments predominance
in the sector, Mexico has an important question to answer: Is this path
sustainable?
By Clotilde Bonetto and Mark Storry, Global Business Reports
1. Percentage of new capacity by firm, 19301960. In 1960, when the con-
stitution was changed to designate the state (CFE) the sole electricity producer, provider, and
distributor, Mexican, Impulsora, and Chapala were all nationalized. Source: SENER
POWER IN MEXICO
May 2010
|
POWER IN MEXICO
within the Mexican energy mix. Mexicos
unique structure means that the CFE has an
obligation to obtain energy from the cheapest
source, and as renewables are in an incipient
state of development and therefore expen-
sive, this obligation makes it difficult for the
IPPs to develop such projects and leaves the
CFE itself little reason to encourage them.
Written and researched by Clotilde
Bonetto (clotilde@gbreports.com) and
Mark Storry (mark@gbreports.com) of
Global Business Reports.
Interview with Estfano Conde,
CFE Communications Director
Q. Can you please give us a brief back-
ground of the structure and role of the
Comisin Federal de Electricidad (CFE)?
A. CFE is a state-owned company headed by
a chairman who is the secretary of the Board
of Energy. There is a board which is headed
by a director and who is appointed by the
president. The current director has been
serving for 10 years. CFE is a completely
integrated company, and our duties include
generation, transmission, and distribution.
Q. What are the challenges of having to
supply electricity to everyone, regard-
less of profit viability?
A. This is a great challenge; it is one of the
reasons why being state operated is impor-
tant for us. The government is committed
to supply electricity to every place. Thus
the question of profitability becomes less
of a priority. The government has to real-
ize the social commitments that it makes
with the people. At present our cover-
age of electricity is 98%, which is among
the highest in the world. We have around
50,000 megawatts of installed capacity,
and we are very close to 26 million users,
which includes residential, commercial,
agricultural, and industrial. At present, we
have about 80,000 employees. Our net an-
nual sales are close to $20 billion.
We have a pretty well diversified in-
stalled capacity, which ensures security in
terms of continuous supply. Our geography
and natural resources have enabled us to
generate electricity from diverse sources,
including hydro plants (which account for
20%), natural gas (which accounts for 30%
of our total electricity generation), coal
(which generates 10% of the total electric-
ity), and nuclear (which accounts for 2%),
wind, geothermal, and the rest is from fuel
oil. But day by day, we are moving away
from reliance on hydrocarbons because of
the environmental constraints and costs.
Despite being a monopoly, we encour-
age competition inside the company
between various divisions that leads to
more efficiency.
Q. What future do you see for renew-
able energy in Mexico?
A. The president is completely convinced
about the importance of renewable ener-
gy, and his administration plans to reach
the 25% of total energy target to be pro-
duced from renewables by the end of his
term. This will include large hydropower
plants. Right now we are working on wind
energy in the south of the country.
Q. How are you going to resolve the di-
lemma of your commitment to provide
cheap energy and at the same time
working on producing energy from re-
newables, which may not be able to
compete on price?
A. Natural gas is cheap and clean, this
is true. Certain challenges are associated
with renewables. For example, if there is
no wind, there is no wind energy. Renew-
ables can work as complementary to other
sources. Unfortunately, they do not have
the full capacity to supply the energy on
a baseload basis.
Q. How is the demand for electricity in
the country evolving, and how you see
it in the future?
A. Generally, you add 1.5% to the annual
GDP growth rate, and that is our growth.
For example, if the economy grows 3%, we
need to grow 4.5%. In the last two years
the growth was very slow, but before that
our growth was around 6% annually. Year
by year, we incorporate around one mil-
lion new clients.
Q. Can you tell us about the challenges
for the future in the CFE?
A. Energy security is the main challenge.
We need to ensure a steady supply of the
fuels that we need to generate for the fu-
ture is available. Gas is going to be the
main source that we will rely on. We know
that the supply of gas has not been ad-
equate from PEMEX; 50% of our gas is
supplied by PEMEX, 30% we acquire from
the gas pipeline from the U.S., and about
20% from our LNG [liquefied natural gas]
facilities.
|
May 2010 68
POWER IN MEXICO
POWER IN MEXICO
M
exico relies on combined-cycle
plants, primarily running on gas,
to supply its base load. As Figure
1 shows, natural gas is the most prominent
energy source. The Comisin Federal de
Electricidad (CFE) has invested consider-
able capital in converting its existing com-
bined-cycle plants from running on fuel oil
to running on natural gas.
This conversion to natural gas has en-
couraged investments in liquefied natural
gas (LNG), resulting in the CFE becoming
the largest shipper and consumer of LNG
in Mexico.
To date there are three major LNG proj-
ects: in the cities of Ensenada, Altamira,
and Manzanillo. The U.S. company Sem-
pra Energy is operating a $975 million
LNG receipt terminal that has the capac-
ity to process up to 1 billion cubic feet of
natural gas per day. The LNG is designed
to supply the needs of Baja California,
with the excess being sold to the interna-
tional market. Regional Vice President,
External Affairs of Sempra Mexico, Tania
Ortiz Mena, argues that Sempras role has
been crucial in the regasification of Baja
California: California Baja has gone from
being a gas importer to a gas exporter. We
believe our inward investment, of around
$2,000,000,000 just in infrastructure plays
a major role in this.
Mexico is home to a 1,365-MW nuclear
plant, Laguna Verde, which is currently
being upgraded to increase its capacity by
20% (Figure 2). Enrique Gonzlez, presi-
dent and general director of Schneider
Electric Mexico, is an advocate of this
source: Every year the technology gets
better. It has significant benefits over fos-
Mexicos Generation Mix
Mexico enjoys considerable fuel diversity for powering its generating plants,
and its goal is to become even more diversified.
1. Energy sources for Mexicos
electricity generation. Source: LVHS
2. Laguna Verde. Located in Alto Lucero, Veracruz, this 1,365-MW nuclear generating plant is being upgraded to increase its capacity by
20%. Courtesy: CFE
Natural gas
Fuel oil
Coal
Conventional
hydro
Nuclear
Non-conventional
renewables
May 2010
|
POWER IN MEXICO
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clear energy.
However, critics of nuclear expansion
argue that there are still lingering doubts
over safety and that the long lag time
and the high upfront costs make it more
difficult to justify on a financial basis.
Andrs Flores Vargas, commercial di-
rector of General Cable Mexico, which
supplied certain cable components to
the CFE for the Laguna Verde plant,
predicts further investment in nuclear
generation in Mexico: We supplied
products for Laguna Verde, and one of
the reasons we have massively expanded
operations in Mexico is that we believe
that there are growth opportunities here
and not just in the nuclear area.
Unlike the U.S., Mexico neither has
an abundance of coal reserves nor a large
number of plants that run on coal. Coal
therefore accounts for just 6% of all gen-
eration. Shigeru Watanabe, vice president
of Hitachi Mexico, claims that the CFE
intends to tender two 700-MW coal-fired
plants in the future. He argues that after
a long period of building combined-cycle
plants there is a need for diversification in
the type of power plants being built.
On the renewables front, large-scale
hydro provides about 20% of all gen-
eration, but nonconventional renewables
amount for a very small percentage
around 2.2%.
The Governments Role in
Generation Development
The Comisin Federal de Electricidad is a
special case. On one hand it considers it-
self a world-class organization and claims
to work as if it were private. However, at
the same time it has to fight off criticisms
that it doesnt do enough to fulfill its social
responsibilities. Local manufacturers de-
mand more assistance, and approximately
6 million Mexicans lack access to reliable
electricity.
Most market participants agree that CFE
Director General Alfredo Elas Ayubs ten-
ure has improved the CFE by increasing ef-
ficiencies and winning more independence
for the state-owned company from the fed-
eral government. One of the changes that
Ayub has introduced was opening up the
bidding process for new generating plants
to independent power producers (IPPs) in
order to attract the participation of top in-
ternational companies, although this move
has arguably hurt local companies.
Ing. Ren Lechevalier, director general
of Sepac, an industrial automation com-
pany serving both the CFE and Petrleos
Mexicanos (PEMEX), says: In the past,
|
May 2010 70
POWER IN MEXICO
CFE used to show more preference for
domestic companies. However, in the last
10 to 15 years it has been partially open
to other participants. True, there has been
some degree of patronage towards na-
tional manufacture, but we have seen the
disappearance of a lot of companies in the
industry.
Independent Power Producers
Although the amendment to allow IPPs
was passed in 1992, the first IPP permit
was not awarded until 1997, when the U.S.
energy company AES won a contract to
build, own, and operate the 532-MW Mer-
ida III plant.
The IPP model was provided a fresh im-
petus in 2001 when President Vicente Fox
of the pro-business Partido Accin Nacio-
nal ended 70 years of Partido Revolucio-
nario Institucional (PRI) government. As
of December 2009, IPPs operated around
11,450 MW of capacity at 22 plants, and
2009 was the first year in which private
investment in energy exceeded public in-
vestment (Figure 3).
Mexico was able to attract world-class
companies to bid in an extremely compet-
itive process. Eduardo Andrade, corporate
director for Latin America of the Spanish
energy company Iberdrola, comments on
the IPP process: I believe that it has been
successful as the bidding process is very
competitive and open. IPPs have a clear
set of rules to comply with and companies
bid aggressively in order to win these con-
tracts. The CFE benefits greatly because
of this competition and they achieve ef-
ficiencies in terms of the end prices. The
fact that contracts are for the long term al-
lows us to be certain of the future. It helps
us in financing the project and enables us
ultimately to give the CFE a more com-
petitive price.
Carlos lvarez, vice president for Mex-
ico of Intergen adds: We accept it is a
competitive market and we firmly believe
that from a neutral perspective it has been
a successful process.
Leading energy attorney and former
head of the international legal department
for PEMEX, Rogelio Lopez-Velarde, of law
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
2007 2008 2009 2010
Investment scheme yet to be defined Private investment Budget investment
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
47.1%
52.9%
47.5%
58.5%
50.7%
49.3%
2.1%
52.1%
45.8%
6.8%
61.1%
32.1%
13.3%
49.6%
37.1%
21.7%
39.4%
38.9%
22.2%
40.0%
37.8%
29.7%
40.4%
29.9%
37.4%
43.2%
22.1%
3. Private vs. public investment in Mexico. Source: CFE & LyFC Eduardo Andrade, general director Latin
America, Iberdrola
P
e
s
o
s

(
m
i
l
l
i
o
n
s
)
May 2010
|
POWER IN MEXICO
firm LVHS, mentions that when lectricit
de France (EDF) sold its Mexican assets,
there were 55 bidders for the projects.
The IPP model has proved itself by
bringing world-class energy companies
to Mexico. Jaime de la Rosa, president
of the Mexican Energy Association AME
(Asociacin Mexicana de Energa) as well
as president of Gas Natural following its
takeover of Union Fenosa, observes that
the entry of IPPs has been vital for the
market and resulted in more than $25 bil-
lion of domestic investment in the sector.
The joining of forces between these two
Spanish giants has worldwide implications
and in Mexico pushes them into second
place in the market behind Iberdrola.
Jaime de la Rosa, when speaking in
his capacity as president of Gas Natural,
claims that the purchase of Union Fenosa
puts them in a very strong position in the
market. It added more than 2,000 MW to
their portfolio, which, when combined
with the purchase of EDF assets previ-
ously, demonstrates Gas Naturals interest
in the Mexican market. De La Rosa adds
that the extremely competitive nature of
the IPP bids and the relatively low internal
rate of return means that only long-term
committed players come to the market,
rather than short-term speculators.
Intergen Mexico is the third-largest IPP
player in the market, following its acquisi-
tion of Canadas Transaltas Mexican as-
sets. Intergen now operates 2,211 MW of
assets in Mexico. One of its largest facili-
ties is the 600-MW gas-fired plant located
in San Luis de la Paz, 500 MW of which
are contracted under a 25-year power pur-
chase agreement (PPA) with the CFE. The
remainder is used by local partners under
the cogeneration scheme.
Jaime de la Rosa, president of AME
and president of Gas Natural Unin Fenosa
Mxico
Jaime de la Rosa notes that the entry of
IPPs has been vital for the market and re-
sulted in more than $25 billion of domestic
investment in the sector.
|
May 2010 72
POWER IN MEXICO
Intergen also operates a 1,100-MW gas-
fired plant located close to Mexicali in
Baja California. About half of this energy
is supplied under a PPA to the CFE, while
the rest is supplied to the U.S. market. Car-
los lvarez explains that Intergens critical
mass along the border makes it possible
for his company to export to the U.S.: We
own a transmission line which runs across
the border and connects the power which
we produce to the [U.S.] national grid. The
main difficulty is for us is to access this
very complicated but potentially vast mar-
ket. The difficulty that he is referring to
relates to the extremely convoluted energy
tariffs, together with the need to extend
transmission lines. He also believes that
There is potential to develop renewable
projects here which will be exported to the
Californian market.
In addition to these three large players,
Mexico has two Japanese companies run-
ning IPPs: Mitsui and Mitsubishi. Though
the Mexican market has seen consider-
able consolidation over the past few years,
these Japanese companies have proven to
be resistant. Tetsu Nagame, vice president
of Mitsubishi Mexico, explains that Mexi-
co is an important market for his company
but that it has seen a reduction in projects
over the past few years.
Japanese influence can be explained by
the power of JBIC, the Japanese develop-
ment bank, which encourages operations
overseas. Shigeru Watanabe of Hitachi
Mexico, believes that access to funding
provided by JBIC gives them an important
advantage over their rivals during the bid-
ding process.
International Players Optimistic
Daniel Galiciapresident and general di-
rector of ABB for Mexico, Central Ameri-
ca, and the Caribbeanis a veteran of the
energy industry. He points to three main
growth areas: nuclear, renewables, and the
transmission network. ABB has a large
presence in Mexico, employing more than
800 people, and is one of the major suppli-
ers to the CFE. Galicia is firmly optimistic
about operations in Mexico: We at ABB
have invested heavily in Mexico. The sys-
tem might be different to other countries,
but we have made money here and we will
continue to make money here.
The presence of eminent global power
companies is testament to the success-
ful evolution of the sector and proof that,
despite heavy state involvement, there are
real possibilities for private ventures. As
Mexicos energy sector evolves, it will of-
fer more opportunities in a wide variety of
areas, and the government will be looking
to the private sector to help it realize its
ambitions.
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May 2010 74
POWER IN MEXICO
R
enewables is on the tongue of
every Mexican politician and busi-
ness leader; however, talk hasnt
yet transformed into action. The energy mix re-
mains dominated by natural gas and petrol (gas-
oline), and there has been no dramatic increase
in the use of renewables. Alberto Escofet, for-
merly director general at the Comisin Federal
de Electricidad (CFE), argues that renewables
are very important but that it is difficult to ex-
pect countries such as Mexico to spend excess
resources on what many still consider to be a
luxury. While the U.S. and Europe may have
the wealth to do this, Mexico cannot afford
the penalty that more expensive energy would
have on its industry.
Having said this, many in the sector do
see renewables as the future. Giovanni Aloi,
director general of GE Energy Mexico, ar-
gues that renewables are an area that his
company can profit from and a key strategic
aim for GE Energy: GE Energy Mexico
intends to invest considerably in building a
Class 1 turbine factory in Mexico, aimed at
serving both Mexico and exporting the wind
turbines overseas. We are also working on
wind turbine technology and trying to in-
crease the efficiency.
However, apart from this investment by
GE Energy, Mexico has many projects in
development but few actually operational.
There is certainly potential in Mexico, espe-
cially for wind energy, but various factors
most noticeably the lack of specific subsidies
for renewables and the important obligation
of the CFE to supply energy at the cheapest
price, which prices out the majority of renew-
able energy optionshinder development.
Luis DAcosta is director general of SEL
Mexico (Schweitzer Engineering Labora-
tories), a multinational company that has
developed complete product lines for the pro-
tection, control, automation, measurement,
and monitoring of electrical power systems.
He says: Renewables arent necessarily
quite there yet. At the moment we are focus-
ing our energy on our expansion to the U.S.
and the services we offer to the CFE, but we
expect [renewables] to be a growth area.
Alejandro Ramirez, director general of
Geo-Productos Mexicanos, a construction
and engineering company, argues that there
are three main drivers for the growth of re-
newables: the public, the government, and
the opinion makers. The increasing interest of
the public in the renewables sector will drive
the two other factors and lead to a growth in
renewables, he believes.
Government Aid for Renewables
and Energy Efficiency
So far, there is no price subsidy, feed-in tar-
iff, or other such interventionist help from the
Mexican government to encourage renew-
able energy generation. Some elements of the
government are, however, active in promot-
ing renewable projects.
Francisco Xavier Salazar Diez de Sollano,
president of the Comisin Reguladora de En-
erga (CRE), a regulator of the private electric-
ity and gas industry, mentions that the CRE
has changed certain price signals for renew-
able projects so that they can compete better
with conventional fuels: So what this new
legislation did is to take into account the ex-
ternalities of different technologies. By taking
into account that fossil fuels have an impact
on the environment (they produce greenhouse
gases), they should cost more than the mere
accounting cost which is currently attached to
them. Renewable energies on the other hand,
offer price stability, which is a positive exter-
nality. The idea is then to take into account
the real economic cost of generating electric-
ity from these sources, not only the account-
ing cost, but the social cost. If you take into
account these factors, of course renewable
energy is very competitive. These kinds of as-
sessments are to be performed by the ministry.
Based on the planning of the sector this will
enable more renewable projects.
In addition to the CRE, Fideicomiso para
el Ahorro de Energa Electrica (FIDE), an
Renewables Remain More Desired
than Real
Mexico has already developed substantial large hydro and geothermal resourc-
es. However, without policy changes and government-sponsored financial
incentives, unconventional renewable sources are taking the equivalent
of baby steps.
1. Independent wind. The CFE is initiating wind projects Oaxaca II, III, and IV in La Venta
park, which will have a combined generating capacity of 304.2 MW, generating average annual
net electricity of 1,129.29 GWh. They are operated under the independent power producer
model. The Spanish company Acciona was awarded the three new projects, for presenting the
lowest cost per kilowatt-hour compared with its competitors. Courtesy: CFE
May 2010
|
POWER IN MEXICO
innovative trusteeship for energy saving
and efficiency, is very active in bringing to-
gether the private and the public sector. Its
purview extends to helping small and mid-
size enterprises increase energy efficiency
by developing an energy efficiency culture
in an oil-rich country.
Yolanda Valladares Valle, general director
of FIDE and formerly social development
manager for Petrleos Mexicanos (PEMEX),
explains: With current financial conditions
our message of energy efficiency is even
more relevant. Energy efficiency can save
companies money, save resources, as well
as [have] beneficial effects on the environ-
ment. She also highlights that reducing car-
bon emissions means more than just working
on renewable energy. It also includes using
other resources more efficiently.
Arturo Echeverria, president of Rolan
Aislantes Minerales, a mineral fiber pro-
ducer working both with the CFE and with
PEMEX, concurs. He argues that sustainabil-
ity and reduction in consumption could work
hand in hand with investment in alternative
generation sources, but he fears that the gov-
ernment is more focused on media-friendly
wind farms (Figure 1) than insulation and
other efforts that could reduce demand.
He also points out that the tariffs (rates)
are working directly against government pol-
icy by encouraging higher usage: The CFE
is promoting energy consumption, whereas
other countries, and even our own current
administration, is talking about savings in
consumption. He argues that this spending
on subsidies for electricity is bankrupting
the government and working directly against
government sustainability policies.
Rodolfo Flores, marketing and prod-
uct manager for Lumisistemas (owned by
Philips) also compliments the work of FIDE
as important for the country but points out
that the minimum wage in Mexico is 56 pe-
sos ($4) per day, and Mexico has considerable
problems with poverty. It is very difficult to
persuade such workers to invest even a days
wages on an efficient light bulb when they
need to sleep, eat, and live off that money.
Wonderful Wind Resources
Wind is seen as having the greatest poten-
tial of all the nonconventional renewables
in Mexico. Eduardo Zenteno, president of
Asociacin Mexicana de Energa Elica
(AMDEE), the Mexican wind association, ar-
gues that the potential in Mexico is more than
substantial. He predicts that if plans go ahead,
by 2013 the State of Oaxaca, located in the
south of Mexico, will have the largest clus-
ter of wind generation in the world. He men-
tions that wind energy potential in Oaxaca is
around 30% higher than average elsewhere;
thus, unlike other areas, it can compete on
price without a government subsidy.
Jorge Fernandez Wilburn, director general
of Sectrol DPH, an engineering company
aiming to specialize in renewable energy,
which is working with Iberdrola Ingeniera y
Construccin at La Venta II wind farm, states:
I cannot imagine another place in the world
where there is such a concentration of gener-
ated power in such a small single space.
Dana Younger of the International Finance
Corp. (IFC), when speaking at the Platts 13th
annual Mexican Energy conference last No-
vember, predicted that 3,800 MW could be
developed between 2009 and 2014. He went
on to argue that the growth in wind in the
Oaxaca region has largely been driven by the
self-generation projects of the private sector.
The largest of those is the EURUS project
consisting of a 250-MW wind farm using 167
1.5-MW wind-turbines operated by Acciona
Energia, the Spanish energy giant, which is
designed to meet the needs of CEMEX, a
Mexican multinational focused on cement
|
May 2010 76
POWER IN MEXICO
production. The energy is sold to CEMEX
through a 20-year self-supply agreement, and
the total project is estimated to cost $560 mil-
lion. Long-term financing for this was par-
tially arranged by the International Monetary
Fund, which has taken a strong interest in re-
newables in Mexico.
Miguel Angel Alonso, the general direc-
tor of Acciona Energia Mexico, believes that
the advantage for the client is that, Once it
is financed, wind energy is a powerful hedge
against fossil fuel costs.
However, despite the wind strength in
Oaxaca, wind energy in Mexico will never
be a baseload energy source, and despite all
of this potential, until 2008 only 88 MW of
wind energy had been developed in Mexico.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for anyone
wanting to develop wind energy projects in
Mexico is the need to maintain relations with
local communities. Jaime Martnez, general
director for ERM Mexico, a provider of envi-
ronmental and social consultancy, states that
the Mexican market still has some way to go
in terms of dealing with the environmental
and social impacts of wind power. Certain in-
ternational companies have had to learn this
the hard way.
Jorge Fernandez Wilburn worries about
the difficulties of developing projects in Oax-
aca: Projects have been developed in the
state of Oaxaca, which is not industrialized at
all, thus making it hard for companies which
come from very developed countries or even
cities within Mexico such as Mexico City.
Oaxaca is one of the poorest regions of
Mexico and in the past energy companies
have had problems in trying to bring on board
the ejidatarios, the communal land owners
in the Mexican system of the ejidos (com-
munal farmlands assigned in small portions
to the villagers to be farmed under a federally
supported system of communal land tenure).
The creation of wind farms can certainly
bring increased development during the con-
struction phase and through ongoing mainte-
nance of the wind farm. The IFC estimated
that a 100-MW wind farm would bring in an
income of $300,000 per year for an ejido
of 300 families. However, this $1,000 per
family is a tiny percentage of wind farms
potential profits, and thus locals worry that
they are simply being taken advantage of.
In addition, the skills needed to construct
and maintain a wind farm are not the skills
in which Oaxaca is traditionally strong. An-
other worry is that the energy produced will
largely, although not totally, be transmitted to
the center and the north of the country, where
private demand is higher, rather than provid-
ing for local needs.
Mexico is lucky enough to have renew-
able resources all over the country, as well
as the exceptional resources located in Oax-
aca. However, in these alternative areas wind
power faces the worldwide question of com-
petitiveness. Mexican firms face a low inter-
nal rate of return on wind projects due to the
obligation to sell to the CFE. A lack of ap-
propriate financing resources and an unsuit-
able transmission grid add to their troubles.
To begin with, as mentioned previously,
demand for wind projects is largely private
sectordriven and located in the center and
north of the county. Oaxacas existing trans-
mission grid is inadequate for the load, and
the CFE, having a monopoly on the transmis-
sion network, has had little incentive to invest
in private projects.
Transmission Trials
Due to the nature of the Mexican constitution,
it was extremely difficult and expensive for
Energy Reform: Fostering Renewable Energy
By Rogelio Lopez-Velarde and
Amanda Valdez
Following a long and thorough debate in
October 2008, the Mexican Congress ap-
proved a series of reforms to the legal
framework of its oil and gas industry and
renewable energy sources. Although most
comments and reports have focused on the
changes to the statutes regulating PEMEX
and the oil and gas industry, we should also
pay attention to the new challenges and
opportunities that this reform has brought
to the renewable energy field.
Renewable energy projects are still in-
cipient in Mexico. Mexico is a Non-Annex 1
country in the Kyoto Protocol and, as such,
it has benefited from investments in Carbon
Development Mechanism (CDM) projects. In-
vestments are regulated by a series of ad-
ministrative rules adopted over the last few
years and implemented by the Inter-ministe-
rial Commission for Climate Change (Mexicos
national designated authority), responsible
for the approval procedures concerning CDM
projects, including those involving renew-
able energy sources. However, it wasnt until
October 2008 that a statute specifically reg-
ulating renewable energy was enacted: the
Law for the Use of Renewable Energies and
the Financing of the Energy Transition (the
Renewable Energies Law).
The Renewable Energies Law is intended
to foster renewable energy projects, provide
financing tools, and promote the progres-
sive substitution of fossil fuel generation. It
will be initially applicable to the following
sources of renewable energy: wind power, so-
lar power, hydropower, seawater power in its
different forms, geothermal heat, and biofu-
els. Other sources may be added to the list as
determined by the Ministry of Energy.
Throughout 2009, the executive branch
issued and implemented a number of
regulations, administrative fiats, and en-
ergy policy instruments, primarily aimed at
promoting the efficient use of energy and
increasing the participation of renewable
energy projects in the countrys installed
generation capacity. These include the
publication of the National Strategy for the
Energy Transition and the Sustainable Use
of Energy and the Program for the Use of
Renewable Energies, whereby the follow-
ing goals have been set for 2012: increas-
ing the participation of renewable energy
sources in the countrys total generation
capacity to 7.6% and increasing the par-
ticipation of renewable energy sources in
the countrys total power generation to a
range of 4.5% to 6.6%.
Moreover, the Mexican Energy Regula-
tory Commission is now working on a new
model Interconnection Agreement for the
interconnection of renewable energy proj-
ects to the national grid and a new post-
age stamp methodology to determine the
charges payable to the Comisin Federal
de Electricidad (Mexicos electric power
utility) for the wheeling of power gener-
ated by renewable energy facilities.
It is yet to be seen if the tools that this
new legal framework provides will be suf-
ficient to substantially increase the partici-
pation of renewable energy sources in the
overall Mexican electricity sector, but there
is no doubt that these are important steps
toward that goal.
Attorneys Rogelio Lopez-Ve-
larde and Amanda Valdez, Lopez
Velarde Heftye y Soria
May 2010
|
POWER IN MEXICO
private companies to invest in their own trans-
mission grid. So Mexico has the problem of
exceptional renewable energy resources but
no ability to exploit them. Eventually, helped
by the hard work of AMDEE, the wind as-
sociation headed by Eduardo Zenteno, a deal
was reached between the public and private
sectors. The cost was shared between the two,
largely picked up by the private sector, with
ownership remaining in public sector hands.
This agreement on transmission has opened
the doors for investment in Oaxaca, and it is
rapidly gaining momentum. Dana Younger of
the International Monetary Fund predicts an
explosion of international interest in Oaxaca
once a core capacity of 500 MW is reached.
Arturo Benavides, general manager of
Zetrak, a transformer producer, sees the
growth spurt as partially attributable to the
expansion in the transmission sector. He also
believes that there could be even more growth
opportunities in the future if certain changes
are made: We see considerable demand for
our transformers in the transmission sector;
however, the lack of regulations is slowing
the country down. Benavides company be-
gan in his backyard but has opened a consoli-
dated new facility and is expanding its three
existing factories.
Financing Equipment Means
Currency Challenges
Like most emerging markets, Mexico also
has to face the problem of currency risk when
purchasing equipment. The major wind tur-
bine manufacturers are based in Europe or
the U.S., thus liabilities would be in dollars
or euros, while local income would be in
Mexican pesos. Although the peso has been
relatively stable, especially in comparison
to the early 1990s tequila crisis period, any
potential currency fluctuation adds risk to a
wind energy investment.
The nature of the technologies involved
means that a large down payment is needed
to purchase the equipment, later to be fol-
lowed by small interest payments for the
energy. This situation may be resolved with
GE Energys plans to build a Class 1 turbine
factory, which would produce the necessary
products for the Oaxaca region.
Zenteno argues that two things are needed
to make wind energy outside of Oaxaca con-
sistently profitable: higher oil prices that re-
main high and the government introduction
of strong measures to subsidize renewables.
Solar Struggles to Gain Traction
Solar energy is very much an emerging tech-
nology in Mexico. Solar companies havent
developed at the same rate as their wind
equivalents, but the industry remains bullish.
Mexico does have potential, especially in the
south of the country, but to date only 18.5 MW
of photovoltaic energy has been installed, with
a growth rate of around 1 MW per year.
Dr. Ernestina Torres, president of Aso-
ciacin Nacional de Energa Solar (ANES),
the national solar association, is optimistic.
She believes that Mexico still has more than
6 million people without reliable access to
energy, many of them in remote rural loca-
tions off the grid. Solar energy cant compete
economically with a combined-cycle plant,
but it can compete in terms of its ability to be
sited close to loads. Additionally, due to the
relatively small size of the sector today, Dr.
Torres sees potential high growth rates for
entrants in the future.
Peter Eschenbach, business development
manager of ERDM Solar, says that since
the Spanish government reduced its subsi-
dies in the solar sector, global demand for
solar panels has dropped dramatically, and
his company is able to purchase products for
considerably cheaper than previously, help-
ing the profitability of solar in Mexico.
|
May 2010 78
POWER IN MEXICO
Dr. Torres optimistic view of the sector
is warranted at least by the success of solar
water heater companies such as Frantor, lo-
cated in Arandas, just outside of Guadalajara.
Frantor is headed up by Hector Franco, who
explains that solar water heaters have been
widespread in Mexico for more than 30 years.
They directly convert solar energy into heat,
rather than into electricity, thus maximizing
efficiency. Victor Hernndez, project manag-
er at Frantor, claims that the payback on solar
water heaters for domestic users is 17 months.
People think that solar is just for the rich,
the privileged, those who have the resources
and want to give something back. What we
are doing in Frantor is showing that people
can save money using solar. We want to prove
that solar is for everyone, says Franco, who
intends to target the U.S. market next.
Well-Established Geothermal and
Conventional Hydro
In terms of installed capacity, conventional
hydro is Mexicos largest source of renewable
energy, contributing around 22% of Mexicos
installed capacity, the vast majority of which
is operated by the CFE. The largest plant is a
2,400-MW facility located in the State of Chia-
pas on the Grijalva River. This facility ranks
among the top five largest plants in the world.
Mexicos hydro capacity was largely de-
veloped during the 1970s, and the CFE has
already developed those sites with the highest
potential, leaving private players little area to
operate anything except mini-hydro projects,
with around 83 MW under development.
One company intending to change this is
Grupo Carrin, headed by entrepreneur Fran-
sisco Carrin. Grupo Carrin imports top-of-
the-line offshore hydro generators. Then it
signs 10-year long-term contracts with its cli-
ents, principally hotels and heavy manufactur-
ing companies, promising them the advantages
of being associated with both clean energy and
lower electricity bills. Grupo Carrin current-
ly has 10 MW of signed contracts, but it has
an ambitious target of installing 3,000 MW
within Mexico and Central America.
In regard to geothermal sources, Mexico cur-
rently has an installed capacity of 964.5 MW,
which ranks it among the top five worldwide.
This large installed capacity has been made
possible by the fact that Mexicos boundries
encompass the edges of tectonic plates. The
majority of this is sourced from the 720-MW
Cerro Prieto plant located in Baja California
(Figure 2). The CFE also plans to tender out
another plant in Baja California in 2010.
In terms of geothermal and large hydro,
the CFE has been able to exploit the natural
resources Mexico has relatively early, so that
in geothermal and hydro the CFE has already
exploited the best regions, meaning the two
technologies are strong and mature in Mex-
ico with less potential for development than
other areas.
Biogas Potential
Mexico is relatively new to using biogas
sources, but there have been discussions
about projects in Mexico City, and there is
one relatively advanced project in Monterrey.
Jaime Luis Saldaa, director general of Sei-
sa, one of Mexicos most successful energy
service companies specializing in providing
self-generation solutions to clients both in
Mexico and abroad, says: We are working
on a 17-MW biogas plant which will provide
electricity to important public services such
as the metro and street lighting. This project
is very exciting as it is a joint venture with
the public sector, which could be used as a
model for the rest of Mexico.
Last Call of Kyoto
As mentioned above, Mexico is a non-Annex
1 country in the Kyoto Protocol and thus can
May 2010
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POWER IN MEXICO
benefit from CDM programs and the sale of
carbon credits. The CDM market in Mexico
and worldwide has suffered from the credit
crisis. As financial conditions have tightened,
it has been extremely difficult to finance
CDM projects in Mexico. The Copenhagen
round also cast a shadow over the future, but
market participants remain bullish.
Mexicos Ministry of the Environment (SE-
MARNAT) launched the Program GEI Mex-
ico (Gases Efecto Invernadero), a national
program on greenhouse gases emissions with
roots in the private sector. This program aims
to help participant companies position them-
selves to take advantage of environmental tech-
nologies designed to reduce greenhouse gases
(GHG) as well as provide training courses
on emissions, and aims to raise awareness of
GHGs ecological impacts. With this height-
ened awareness and the change in administra-
tion in the U.S., certain market players see the
advantages of developing renewable products
in Mexico, with potential to sell carbon credits
into an eager U.S. market.
Eduardo Piquero, country manager for
MGM International, a project development,
investment, and commercialization firm, ar-
gues that a major market movement has been
the development of a cap-and-trade precom-
pliance market in California, which is open
to projects developed in Mexico.
Francisco Carrin of Grupo Carrin, told
us that a potentially profitable section of his
business will come from using the CDM
mechanism: We believe that the added ad-
vantage of selling carbon credits will add to
our profitability. It is a difficult mechanism
to get involved in; we will have to invest time
and money, but it can provides us with an-
other revenue source.
Francisco Salazar, president of the CRE,
mentions that many developers of renewable
projects in Mexico will take advantage of the
CDM mechanism: The users are those that also
apply for carbon credits, which will enable them
further to benefit from the use of renewables.
However, having taken this into account,
Mexico is behind where it should be in the
CDM mechanism. Mexican energy compa-
nies have been slow to benefit from the op-
portunities it offers.
2. Geothermal field. According to Industrial News, the 720-MW Cerro Prieto Geothermal
Power Station in Baja California, Mexico, will be expanded to 820 MW by 2012. The plant cur-
rently operates 13 generating units equipped with turbines ranging from 25 to 110 MW that
were manufactured by Toshiba and Mitsubishi. Courtesy: CFE
|
May 2010 80
POWER IN MEXICO
A
rticle 27 of the Mexican constitution
states that the electricity sector is of
strategic importance for national sov-
ereignty and that therefore the state, via the
vertically integrated Comisin Federal de
Electricidad (CFE), should hold a monopoly
over the public service of electricity. Origi-
nally, this meant that only the CFE could
generate electricity, own transmission lines,
and distribute electricity to the general popu-
lation. During the 1980s, when oil prices fell,
Mexico looked at reforming the sector to in-
crease the role of the private sector; however,
reform didnt arrive until the 1990s.
Reforms in the early 1990s allowed the
private sector to participate in the power gen-
eration industry in four ways:
Via the independent power producer (IPP)
process, whereby bids are tendered out by
the CFE.
By cogeneration or self-supply, whereby
a company needs to own a stake in the
production company or be co-owner of
the power production facility to furnish its
own electricity needs.
Private producers can produce power for
export, as do Sempra Energy and Intergen
in Baja, California.
A rarely used exception for projects less
than 20 MW.
The IPP and cogeneration approaches are
by far the most important.
Beyond power generation, companies can
participate in other aspects of the electric-
ity sector via the Obras Publica Financiada
(OPF), which allows private companies to
become involved in public works.
Pros and Cons of IPP Projects
In 1992 the Mexican government, then under
President Carlos Salinas, amended the Elec-
tricity Public Service Law (Ley del Servicio
Pblico de Energa Elctrica) to allow for
further participation of the private sector. The
IPP program that he initiated allows private
companies to both build and operate power
plants in Mexico, on the condition that the
resulting electricity must be sold to the CFE.
In Mexico there is no open market; pri-
vate companies cannot simply come in and
build a plant. Instead, they need to wait for a
tender by the CFE, bid, and then, if success-
ful, the plants normally sign a 25-year power
purchase agreement (PPA). Then, depending
on the exact nature of the contract, ownership
will normally shift to the CFE. The CFE also
retains a call option on the development.
One of the advantages of the IPP program
is the CFEs good reputation in the financial
marketstogether with the long-term build,
operate, and transfer naturemeans that the
project financing can be spread over 25 years
and that companies can be sure that they will
be paid on time and in full.
Estefano Conde, communications man-
ager in the CFE, explains that the CFE is
rated BBB by Standard & Poors. The bid-
ding process normally lasts about six months
before the winning bid is declared, and the
entire process is generally considered to be
extremely competitive. Potential entrants to
the sector need to be sure of their financing
before submitting a bid and, due to financial
conditions and financial institutions desire
to spread their risk, it is unlikely that a single
bank will underwrite the risk; a syndication
is more likely. Due to the difficulties of fi-
nancing in the current climate and the high
number of bidders, those who have access to
international financial markets will be at an
advantage.
Shaving Peaks with Cogeneration
and Self-Supply
The cogeneration (co-ownership) and self-
supply system allows an enterprise to opt
out of being supplied by the CFE and in-
stead generate its own electricity. This can
be as simple as buying a generator or involve
more complicated structures whereby the
customers are required to hold a nominal
share of a generation company.
The way that the tariffs are structured in
Mexico means that peak hour industrial us-
age is expensive, which encourages many
large consumers to move toward generating
their own electricity.
Juan Carlos Quintero, country head of
Wrtsil Mexico, a specialized power plant
developer, observes that his company has
seen an increase in interest in their cogenera-
tion plants specifically for peak hour use.
Francisco Haro, director general of Otto-
motores, a subsidiary company of TT Elec-
tronics PLC, specialized in manufacturing
and distributing generating sets and com-
mercializing uninterruptible energy systems,
argues that, rather then being a backup in the
case of blackout or brownout, his product
can out-compete the CFE on price: What
we have seen is that with the peak cost of en-
ergy, many people are using a genset as a way
of self consumption [sic]. Due to the high
cost of this peak energy, we worked out that a
genset can actually pay itself back over a pe-
riod of two to three years. Haro believes that
this lack of competitiveness is due to a lack
of investment in infrastructure by the CFE.
Fernando Calvillo is CEO of Fermaca, a
company with more than 40 years experi-
ence in the development and construction of
infrastructure in Mexicos key sectors, focus-
ing on natural gas transformation systems,
oil product terminals, and power generation
plants. He maintains that the CFE has some
good intentions in terms of investmentsfor
example, its planned move toward natural
gashowever, it needs more resources for
investments in pipelines, which would make
CFEs electricity more competitive. For the
time being though, cogeneration is an attrac-
tive option.
A major barrier to the profitability of co-
generation is, however, the unique nature of
the Mexican constitution that decrees that co-
generation schemes cannot sell excess energy
to the grid; they must use it or lose it.
High Hurdles for OPF Projects
The OPF is a part of the Proyectos de Im-
pacto Diferido en el Registro del Gasto
(PIDIREGAS) scheme, which has been the
main mechanism for private sector entry into
the energy industry in all tenders except for
IPPs. OPF schemes are fixed price construc-
A Regulatory Framework with
Little Flexibility
Mexicos federal government retains almost total control over who builds and
owns what electricity infrastructure. But if you know how to work within
the strict constraints, it is possible to engage in profitable projects.
|
May 2010 82
POWER IN MEXICO
tion projects whereby the project developer
receives a payment upon completion when
ownership is passed to the CFE. Due to the
high cost of such projects, most companies
cannot manage this off their balance sheets,
meaning that they need access to financing to
bid for an OPF.
Unlike some contracts issued by Petrleos
Mexicanos (PEMEX), the CFE generally
issues contracts in U.S. dollars. One of the
main criticisms of the PIDIREGAS process
is that the CFE sets very high tender condi-
tions for entry, so although it has been suc-
cessful at attracting world-class companies,
it has been considerably less successful at
attracting local companies to bid or even in
encouraging joint ventures. Critics also argue
that the same problem emerges with general
contracts with the CFE, which is that there
is a selection of preferred bidders who re-
main close to the CFE, and it is difficult for
outsiders to join them.
The OPF only generates assets for the bid-
der once construction of a specific asset is
complete, so a very strong balance sheet or ac-
cess to credit are required. Ygor Guilarte, man-
aging director of Yokogawa Mexico, argues
that The CFE is extremely strong financially
speaking. Its strength allows it to execute its
own projects without resorting to external
funding from suppliers. The CFEs financial
strength allows the company to dictate very
tough terms to its would-be suppliers.
Subsidies: A Sacred Cow
The Mexican federal government provides con-
siderable subsidies on the final consumer cost
of energy. This strategy was designed to share
Mexicos oil wealth among the population.
Traditionally, the resulting CFE deficit on the
federal budget has been financed by the huge
profits of PEMEX, the state monopoly in the
hydrocarbons and petrochemicals sectors.
Electricity tariffs are set by the Secretara
de Hacienda (Treasury Department). As the
tariff is set so close to the government, it is
also very difficult to lower or cancel this tar-
iff due to the political cost associated with
doing so. As Figure 1 shows, these tariffs
have fluctuated with the price of oil anti-
cyclically. The prices for household and for
agricultural use, both of which directly affect
voters, are the lowest.
Potential Reform
While investment opportunities in the energy
sector may be limited by the role of the large
state monopolies (CFE and PEMEX), there
remain opportunities to investproviding that
the investor understands the Mexican market.
Diana Sasse and Alberto Silva, lawyers
at Goodrich, Riquelme y Asociados, a full-
service legal firm with more than 75 years of
Interview with Alfredo Elias Ayub,
Director General of the CFE
Q. The Comisin Federal de Electrici-
dad (CFE) is widely complimented as
a world-class organization. What mea-
sures have you taken during your 10-
year tenure to better the CFE?
A. We have taken a number of measures.
Firstly, to modernize and improve our in-
frastructure. About one-third of our infra-
structure is new and one-third has been
recently refurbished. Thus around 70% of the
infrastructure incorporates the latest tech-
nologies. Secondly, all of our operations are
now under SAP [Systems, Applications and
Products in Data Processing] control. Third-
ly, and most importantly, we have reached
agreements with our union on training. We
have increased our number of training days
from 6 to 11 per year, which is above the
national average. We have even opened our
own university, situated across 14 campuses,
where we train our staff to be better engi-
neers and better managers. The universities
started some time ago; they are mainly dis-
tance courses on technical subjects. We have
around 1,500 people training for engineering
degrees as well as 1,000 studying for masters
courses. So better infrastructure, better man-
agement, and better people have been three
key reasons for our success.
Q. Over the course of our research we have
seen the difficulties of local companies
participating in CFE projects via both the
OPF [Obras Publica Financiada] and IPP
[independent power producer] schemes.
What steps is the CFE taking to promote
the participation of local companies?
A. We talk a lot with Mexican companies. We
certainly want them to play a role in the sec-
tor, but we see that it is difficult for them in
terms of financing. We are encouraging them
to go to the stock market to raise equity. For
transmission lines under OPF we do have a
requirement to source 40% of final output
with Mexican participation.
Q. The CFE was created to provide en-
ergy to the whole population regard-
less of the profit motive. What steps is
the CFE taking to provide service to the
6,000,000 Mexicans currently without
access to electricity?
A. I dont believe that it is 6,000,000
people; here in Mexico 97.5% of the popu-
lation have access to electricity. Once you
reach that number it gets very difficult
to increase the percentage, as there are
constantly new people starting new home-
steads in very remote areas. It is very dif-
ficult in any country, even in Europe or
the U.S., to reach that 100% figure. In the
last 10 years we have undertaken a lot of
electrification for rural and ethnic minor-
ity communities. We have gone into more
than 3,000 small towns in this period.
Q. Renewables are seen as a great
growth area, especially wind resources
in Oaxaca; however the CFEs mandate
demands that it supply energy at the
cheapest price. What have been the
CFEs main activities in renewables?
A. We are increasing our installed capacity
in renewables; for example, we are work-
ing on a large hydroelectric project as
we speak. Just today we will announce a
100-MW wind project in Oaxaca. We fully
intend to continue on this front. We will
continue looking for good projects and
continue developing them. We will even
support some private projects within the
renewables sector.
Q. What are the main new projects the CFE
are constructing and what effect will they
have on the generation matrix [mix]?
A. We have several projects which could
potentially be constructed, principally
combined-cycle coal plants and thermo-
electric projects. We are also deciding
whether we should develop another nucle-
ar plant, a decision which will be taken
soon. We have noticed in the U.S. a choice
has been made to develop some nuclear
plants, so it is certainly something which
we have to consider.
Q. The liquidation of Luz y Fuerza del Cen-
tro had a great effect on the Mexican elec-
tricity sector. What does this move imply?
A. Operations are working well within
this area. We have started to rehire cer-
tain people, including ex-LyFC workers.
In the central region we have connected
more than 110,000 users, and we expect
that to increase in the future. We will start
making the investments this year to bring
the central region up the level of the rest
of the country. In my opinion, it is going
well, and I remain optimistic about the fu-
ture. We intend to introduce new concepts
in the central region, which we hope will
bring our service up to the next level.
May 2010
|
experience, argue that although Mexico may
have a more closed environment in both elec-
tricity generation and oil and gas, the mul-
tinational companies that come to Mexico
understand this and also see that there never-
theless is money to be made in Mexico.
Guilarte, one of the leading authorities on
the Mexican energy sector, as noted above,
concurs: There are still opportunities in
Mexico. Sometimes the press overlooks the
positive projections and great potential of
Mexico in the near future, especially in busi-
ness, which can be quite profitable. Mexico
is a modern nation and one of the best choic-
es to invest in Latin America. He then goes
on to specify that the CFE is consistently
changing and improving facilities, so despite
the regulatory restraints and the absence of
a solid reform plan on the table, he remains
firmly optimistic.
Despite arguments that the state-owned
CFE would struggle to compete in terms of
efficiencies with world-leading energy com-
panies and deters private investment, the re-
ality is that, as is the case with PEMEX, there
is very little chance of changes being made
to the constitution to enable much more pri-
vate competition in the near future. This is
a topic that is considered too dangerous for
an administration even to discuss due to the
political fallout that such moves would un-
doubtedly entail. The last major attempt was
made in 1999 by President Ernesto Zedillo,
who backed a radical bill attempting to priva-
tize the majority of plants and unbundle the
sector. Both this and the later attempt by
President Vicente Fox to introduce legisla-

Commercial Residential

Industrial

Total

Agricultural

Public
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
P
e
r
c
e
n
t
a
g
e
1
9
7
0
1
9
7
1
1
9
7
2
1
9
7
3
1
9
7
4
1
9
7
5
1
9
7
6
1
9
7
7
1
9
7
8
1
9
7
9
1
9
8
0
1
9
8
1
1
9
8
2
1
9
8
3
1
9
8
4
1
9
8
5
1
9
8
6
1
9
8
7
1
9
8
8
1
9
8
9
1
9
9
0
1
9
9
1
1
9
9
2
1
9
9
3
1
9
9
4
1
9
9
5
1
9
9
6
1
9
9
7
1
9
9
8
1
9
9
9
2
0
0
0
2
0
0
1
1. Mexican electricity rates as a percentage of U.S. rates. Source: CFE-SENER
|
May 2010 84
POWER IN MEXICO
tion specifying that electricity was a com-
modity and not a public good, failed and
caused considerable political damage to their
instigators political careers.
There are, of course, voices calling for
reform. Juan Carlos Machorro, partner at
Santamarina y Steta, speaking in a personal
capacity, argues, Ideally reform of the elec-
tricity sector should be part of a deeper struc-
tural reform in Mexico. This package should
include reform to both the electricity and the
oil and gas sectors. Mexico should allow for
more direct and free access for the private
sector. If we cant have direct involvement
of the private sector within the market, we
should at least have increased internal com-
petition, such as splitting up the CFE into re-
gional bodies. This would still be nationally
owned, but would add elements of competi-
tion and certain elements which it currently
lacks such as efficiency and transparency.
Adrin Escofet, consultant at Alesco Con-
sultores, which offers strategic advice to both
national and international players wishing to
enter the energy market, advises that the CFE
will continue to be the dominant force in elec-
tricity generation in Mexico in the near future
and that anyone who wishes to come into the
Mexican market must understand this. Any re-
form that allows the private sector further mar-
ket access will not result in the CFE simply
disappearing; it is too strong and entrenched
for this to take place. It will remain the largest
player in the generation market. An addition
of private sector players could reduce the ne-
cessity of the state to invest in energy genera-
tion; however, it is unlikely that it would result
in a lower cost for the end consumer.
Escofets father, Alberto Escofet, a for-
mer director general at the CFE as well as a
government minister, argues for the creation
of merchant plants. These merchant plants
would be privately owned and operated and,
rather than have long-term PPAs, they could
compete on a free market, only operating
when they could compete on price.
Alternatively, Eduardo Andrade, corporate
director for Latin America of Iberdrola, one
of the largest players in the IPP market, ar-
gues, I wouldnt agree with the need for rad-
ical reform to this system. It provides a cheap
way of financing projects for Mexico while
providing the private sector with a role.
At the time of writing, there is no plan for
serious reform of the electricity sector. Presi-
dent Felipe Calderns loss of a majority in
parliament means that it relies on the Partido
Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) to pass
legislation, and the PRI remains close to the
CFE (and SUTERM, the union of the CFE)
and is unlikely to back radical changes to the
status quo.
Alberto Escofet, CEO, Alesco Consul-
tores; former undersecretary of energy and
CEO of Luz y Fuerza del Centro and the CFE
May 2010
|
POWER IN MEXICO
Three Keys to Success for the
Service and Manufacturing Sector
NAFTA was both good and bad for Mexico. In both cases, it required a dif-
ferent approach to doing business, and the effects of that shift are still
playing out.
M
exico is home to both very strong
local players and a full array of
multinational service providers
from around the world. Since the North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
was signed under President Carlos Sali-
nas, Mexico has been forced to open up its
economy and integrate with international
markets. This treaty influenced greatly, for
better or for worse, the Mexican economy.
Carlos Gottfried, president of Poten-
cia Industrial, an electrical motor pro-
ducer, details the background of Mexican
economic policy: The government was
pursuing an import substitution policy,
together with an active policy of building
up Mexican expertise throughout all sec-
tors, but especially in core industries such
as electricity and the oil and gas field. It
is my belief that these policies were very
successful. The country grew extensively.
It did present some problems, such as high
outlay for imports, and there was a cost to
the end consumer, but this was balanced
out by the huge advantages to Mexican
companies. If you were producing qual-
ity goods at a reasonable price, you could
grow. This situation was radically changed
in the late 1980s by the growing influence
of the Chicago School economists within
the Mexican administration. These U.S.-
educated bureaucrats came back [to Mex-
ico] with ideas of laissez-faire capitalism
and the free market. When Carlos Salinas
came to power in 1988, he told us that he
would introduce these free-market ideas
slowly over his six-year term. In fact,
within six months the border was open
and Mexican firms began to suffer. They
closed down 200,000 Mexican companies,
four and a half million Mexicans lost their
jobs, and industry suffered. Many of these
skilled workers moved permanently to the
U.S., seriously damaging the Mexican
economy.
Others would argue that it became eas-
ier to invest in Mexico, and while NAFTA
opened up Mexican companies to compete
with the best and most experienced global
companies, it also opened the international
market to Mexican companies.
Rogelio Lopez-Velarde, lawyer at
LVHS, argues: My opinion is that the
NAFTA agreement forced the liberaliza-
tion of the electricity sector, and the fact
that it came from an external rather than
an internal driver is something overseas
investors need to consider.
Felipe Ochoa, chairman of Ochoa y
Asociados, explains the impact of NAFTA
on energy projects: Until 1994, when we
signed the NAFTA agreement, there was a
strong participation of local firms, both in
construction and the engineering and de-
sign of energy projects. Previously, most
of the engineering and design took place
within the ministries; they had very strong
teams for these activities. After NAFTA
many of these teams were dismantled, so
we lost a lot of this capacity.
This transformation is what makes the
Mexican environment unique. The move-
ment from a national, inward-looking
economy where Mexican companies were
protected from international competi-
tors and enjoyed the active support of the
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May 2010 86
POWER IN MEXICO
government, to an environment in which
Mexican service companies were left to
sink or swim, was radical and painful. Al-
though the advent of NAFTA meant that
the cheaper manufacturing costs in Mexi-
co proved advantageous in certain circum-
stances, Mexican labor is not cheap when
compared with that in Vietnam or China.
Mexican entrepreneurs are well aware of
the dangers of relying on price to remain
competitive. This puts Mexico in a difficult
situation: How can it compete in the global
economy when it cant compete with East
Asia on costs or the U.S. on technology?
As Fernando Calvillo, CEO of Fermaca,
a gas pipeline company, explains, There is
a lot of potential in Mexico. We have 5,000
kilometers of land bordering the U.S. and an
internal market of 114 million people. We are
an integral part of NAFTA, and we have free
trade agreements with many European and
Asian countries. Mexico is a land of opportu-
nities. The proof of this statement is demon-
strated by a large number of Mexican service
companies that have learned how to grown
and prosper under the new conditions.
Innovation
Some Mexican firms have been able to adapt
or enter into partnerships with international
firms to help them meet the new market re-
alities. Indigenous technologies are quite
limited, and a foreign partner can supply the
innovative edge. Rolmex, an example of a
successful Mexican company now operating
in Brazil, Columbia, and Venezuala as well
as domestically, provides additives-based
solutions to the CFE and PEMEX. Rolmex
General Manager Jos Luis Chvez says, If
you want to work in Mexico, you need a lo-
cal partnernot just a local supplier or con-
sultant, but someone who will share the risks
and rewards with you.
According to Santiago Barcn, direc-
tor, Power Quality and North America for
Arteche, Mexico hasnt been at the fore-
front of innovation in the past. If you look
at the statistics you can see that Mexico
has to do better in terms of innovation, in
terms of research, and in terms of invest-
ment in knowledge. Im very clear in my
view that the best way to combat the cur-
rent recession is to promote innovation.
He insists that investment in innovation
has been key to the growth of the local
company Inelap, which Barcn cofounded
and nurtured before teaming up with mul-
tinational Arteche.
Mexican companies dont have the
resources that U.S., Japanese, or Euro-
pean companies have to produce ground-
breaking products, but they can advance
specific niche markets. By focusing their
May 2010
|
innovation capacities on these areas, cer-
tain Mexican companies are thriving.
Raul Reyes is general manager of
PESS (Power Engineering Services and
Solutions), a startup company using pro-
prietary developed high-tech equipment
to repair turbines and other electrical
equipment. PESS is located adjacent to
the Tecnolgico de Monterrey (a leading
university) within a technological cluster.
Reyes believes that the clustering effect
has helped his business: Every company
offers service, quality, and price. We need
to offer something more. We have an R&D
department to specifically look at clients
problems and our location close to so
much concentrated knowledge is certainly
a great advantage.
Carlos Mortera, general manager of
Grupo Omni, a company specialized in the
design and manufacture of cooling towers
with last-generation technology materials,
is also located close to the Tecnolgico de
Monterrey. He proudly states: One of the
key strengths of Grupo Omni is our com-
mitment to investment in research and de-
sign. We have three international patents.
Not many of our rivals can match us on
this, and it is a fundamental reason for
our success. Mortera adds that his com-
pany is focusing on high-tech towers and
compliments Reyes insistence on R&D
by pointing out that Monterrey has seven
world-class universities, meaning that it is
both easy for him to find staff and to find
synergies with nearby companies.
Exports
Another significant challenge facing the
manufacturing sector in Mexico is the
need to take advantage of the freedoms
NAFTA offerstogether with the change
in policies introduced by President Vin-
cente Fox and President Felipe Calderon
designed to liberalize and increase com-
petition in the economy. Mexicos huge
domestic market, protectionism, together
with the massive purchasing power of the
CFE meant that many manufacturers tra-
ditionally looked inward.
Francisco Haro, managing director of
Ottomotores, believes that one of the big-
gest challenges for firms like his is to cul-
tivate an export-oriented culture: Until
around 10 years ago, Mexico wasnt an
export-oriented country; it didnt have the
appropriate infrastructure to help compa-
nies like us who want to export overseas.
For example, should I wish to ship a prod-
uct overseas, it would cost me considerably
more and take considerably longer than a
company based in the U.S. or Europe. This
makes it more difficult for companies like
us to compete in the global economy. He
goes on to say that while the country is
improving, Mexico still doesnt have an
export-focused culture; we still have a lot
to learn.
Jorge Lozano, president of Prolec
GE, a world-class transformer producer,
believes, however, that the climate is
changing: In Monterrey we are forming
mentoring groups whereby large compa-
nies can advise smaller companies on all
ways of running the business, including
the export market. Lozano points out that
NAFTA offered opportunities for Mexico,
as is demonstrated by the fact that GE
closed three transformer factories in the
U.S. while expanding capacity in Mexico.
He goes on to argue that Mexico needs to
realize it faces competition from low-cost
manufacturing locations and it needs to
focus on tailor-made products, rather than
commodities.
Venezuelan Ygor Guilartepresident
and director for Mexico, Central Ameri-
|
May 2010 88
POWER IN MEXICO
ca, and Venezuela of Yokogawaconcurs
with Lozanos view and sees Mexico as
a potential Latin American leader. He
highlights how Mexico has benefited
Yokogawa: Mexico is the core of the re-
gion due to NAFTAs advantages, such as
the maquila model, which will allow us to
manufacture cabinet automation equip-
ment in partnership with our global sup-
pliers, which have their factories near us.
Hopefully, by next year we will export to
South America from here, creating more
jobs and following the Mexican model
of consistent high-quality standards and
added value.
Value
Mauricio Garca, general manager of CMS
International, a Mexican company that
manufactures and markets valves and reg-
ulators for gas-related solutions, notes that
some Mexican companies are focused on
price, concentrating on being the low-cost
supplier to U.S. companies. Garcia says
that before he became general manager,
CMS International used to offer its key
product, the LOBO, on discount to boost
sales. What we needed to do, and what
we are doing now, is to invest and build up
a product so that we are able to compete
on quality, not just on price, he says. He
also reiterated his intention to reopen his
companys research department to further
these aims.
This attention to looking at long-term
value is a challenge that the Mexican ser-
vice sector needs to rise to. Manuel Gomez,
general manager at SYSCE argues: Mexi-
can companies focus on buying and selling,
not on investing in the product. Mexican
companies need to think more how they
can make money in the long term, rather
than making a quick profit.
Times have changed since the sector was
nationally dominated and relatively static.
Now successful companies need to be fast-
moving. The CFE has a world of potential
suppliers, and it is those who offer best
value that are most likely to succeed.
Ricardo Arratia, director of Brio Mexi-
co, one of the key advisers to the CFE top
management, says, The CFE went through
some considerable changes in order to try
to become a world-class company. Since
these changes you need to offer them qual-
ity as well as value.
Felipe Martin, director general at Ko-
brex, a specialist cable manufacturer and
part of LM holding company, concurs: All
products which are supplied to the CFE
need to be evaluated by their internal test-
ing lab to be approved. There is no point
trying to cut corners or the like. Flanked
by his son and daughter in the family-op-
erated company, he goes on to argue that in
his business a large percentage of the prod-
uct is determined by the price of the under-
lying commodity (most of their products
are copper-derived), thus it is difficult, but
very necessary in Mexico, to differentiate
yourself from your rivals.
The Mexican service and manufacturing
sector has gone through significant challeng-
es, including regular financial crises. At the
time of writing, the sector has safely hurdled
the current economic crisis and is home to
some excellent domestic companies and host
to the regional headquarters of various multi-
nationals. The Mexican service sector is in a
position to look toward the future with more
confidence than before.
Ygor Guilarte, director of Yokogawa
Mexico, and Arturo Carrillo, managing
director of Cimaltec
Gerardo Maltos and Manuel
Gomez, cofounders and CEOs of SYSCE
May 2010
|
POWER IN MEXICO
W
orking with the Comisin Federal de Electricidad (CFE)
can be a difficult, yet financially rewarding activity. In the
past 15 years the Mexican electrical sector has gradually
attracted an increasing number of international players, often to the
detriment of local companies.
Becoming the CFEs Preferred Partner
Felipe Ochoa, founder and president of Felipe Ochoa y Asocia-
dos, a consulting company specializing in strategic planning for
national and international clients, believes that the influx of for-
eign companies has been a major challenge for local firms, many
of whom now have difficulties in winning bids with the CFE. He
says, We need the international participation of these companies
for their investment and expertise; however, we also need to pro-
mote our domestic industry. Our country needs to have a strong
engineering base complemented by the presence of these interna-
tional firms. At this point in time most of the [independent power
producer] contracts have gone to international firms. I believe that
we need a stronger local content on these projects. So far there
havent been many joint ventures or extensive collaborations.
The problem for small companies is that they do not have ad-
equate access to finance, unlike many multinationals. This hin-
ders their ability to scale up and bid for large-scale projects that
the CFE and Petrleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) normally tender out.
They can tender to be a subcontractor for a specific part of the
original contract, but that is considerably less profitable.
Santiago Barcn is director, Power Quality and North
America for Arteche, a Spanish multinational designing and
manufacturing quality instrument transformers, relays, and sub-
station-integrated protection and control devices. The company
is also known as Inelap in the local market. Barcn argues that
there are two main drivers behind the lack of local participation.
First is the difficulty of accessing competitive financing for lo-
cal companies. Second, the evolving nature of the Mexican legal
framework makes it difficult for the CFE or PEMEX to take legal
action against their suppliers. As a result, they require very de-
tailed, complicated contracts to ensure that they are appropriately
protected, but that can put off potential entrants to the sector.
According to Arturo Carillo, general manager of Cimaltec,
a Mexican engineering company, The main challenge to serve
global markets is the lack of financing. The Mexican industry
has the capabilities, talent, and knowledge, but there is no fund-
ing, and that is a big problem. He goes on to argue, In order to
get the necessary resources, we need the international banks to
strengthen their confidence in Mexico, and this is a problem.
Winning the Deal
This problem of bidding is elaborated on by Thomas Riedel, part-
ner at ASM Mexico, who distributes C.C. Jensens filters for the
conditioning of oil and other fluids for the CFEs plants. He ar-
gues that while the CFE is a valued customer, it took a great deal
of time and effort to win the CFE over. He has had to go to the
plant managers to explain his product and then to the zone chief,
who had the purchasing authorization, as well as numerous other
departments. The CFE is an important client for us, but we feel
that there needs to be a quicker way of introducing new products
and services to them. We may manage to convince one plant man-
ager to introduce our products, but then we have to repeat that
process more than 100 times to cover the whole CFE.
Other leading voices in the Mexican energy sector, such as
Enrique Gonzlez, country head of Schneider Electric Mexico,
argue that the fact that the CFE is big and unified actually makes
it easier to do business. He considers the CFE to be a genuinely
world-class organization and a key pillar of his growth strategy.
Unlike other countries, such as the U.S. or the UK, where there are
many utilities, Mexico has just one: In many of the other markets
we are involved in there are a plethora of different authorities, dif-
ferent buyers with different needs, and different demands. Here
we only have one person to deal with, which certainly makes it
easier for us, he enthuses.
Jorge Lozano, president of Prolec GE, a joint venture between
GE and the Mexican company Xignus, producing a complete line
Risks and Rewards
State control of the electricity sector may mean fewer customers, but it also
can mean clearer expectations.
|
May 2010 90
POWER IN MEXICO
Interview with Hon. Georgina Kessel, Secretary of Energy
Q. Mexico is at a defining moment in
terms of the direction of its electricity
market. What are the main highlights
and initiatives under your mandate?
A. From the beginning of President Calderons
administration, we have been committed to
ensuring a reliable energy supply, at competi-
tive prices to meet the consumers demands,
as stated in the National Development Plan.
In regards to competition, we have de-
signed a very flexible program allowing
medium-and high-voltage [large indus-
trial] users to define energy and power
consumption, which can vary from month
to month. This allows them to structure
their energy needs taking into account fac-
tors such as the exchange rate, fuel prices,
and manufacturers price indexes. This way
the charges are set in nominal prices for a
year, which gives businesses certainty, and
makes planning easier.
Another initiative was the closure of Luz
y Fuerza del Centro, whose operations in-
hibited the economic growth in the central
region of Mexico. Everybody knew that the
decentralized agency (LyFC) was in an un-
sustainable financial situation.
We have developed two specific priorities
within the sector. The first is using energy
in a more efficient way, making more from
less, thanks to technological advances and
best user practices. To achieve this we have
implemented measures to integrate these
practices into the public sector and to reg-
ulate and promote the private generators.
We have also started programs to renovate
electrical appliances and lighting in Mexi-
can households, specifically focusing on
the poorest of households.
The second is the diversification of
our energy portfolio, generating electric-
ity from renewable sources, such as wind
power and water, as well as biomass, solar
energy, and agribusinesses. We have begun
a series of public projects, but also fostered
private involvement.
Q. What vision does the administration
have for the future of the CFE?
A. As we have mentioned, President Calde-
ron has been committed from the start of
his administration to the National Develop-
ment Plan, ensuring a reliable, quality sup-
ply and competitive prices to the energy
supplies that consumers need.
Thus, the Ministry of Energy and the
Comisin Federal de Electricidad share the
vision of a continuous offer of excellent
services, now for the whole of the country.
Therefore, we will invest in the infrastruc-
ture of LyFC to ensure that the entire area
continues receiving electrical services with
the highest quality standards of CFE.
Q. Mexico has a distinctive structure
whereby the majority of the generation
capacity is in the hands of the state. What
do you believe are the advantages of this
system over a market-based approach?
A. The applicable legal framework in Mex-
ico hasnt significantly changed since its
inception. It was meant to unify and ex-
pand several electric systems, which were
unconnected and scattered throughout
the country.
Due to this, Mexico has had a high na-
tional electrification rate96.68% in 2008.
The large unified system that we have in
Mexico speeds up the operation of the trans-
mission network and the coordination of all
the power plants fueling the network.
Q. What role can IPPs [independent
power producers] play in the Mexican
energy matrix [mix]?
A. In terms of importance for the power
matrix, the IPPs account for roughly 22%
of the effective generation capability of
the national electric industry, generating
32% of the countrys power.
The IPPs relevance has increased in re-
cent years, with a yearly average increase
of 5.7% in their share of the national gen-
eration, between 2003 and 2008.
Q. Mexico is generally considered to
contain high market potential in energy
generation and has one of the highest
GDP per capita levels in Latin America.
What are the major advantages that
Mexico has over its neighbors in terms
of a premium destination for investment
within the energy sector?
A. Last year we implemented a reform in
the energy sector, introducing a new legal
framework with new advantages and op-
portunities that have turned Mxico into a
better destination for investment in differ-
ent sources of energy.
In terms of hydrocarbons, we set Petr-
leos Mexicanos (PEMEX) on the right path
to become a better, more efficient, trans-
parent company, with better reporting sys-
tems. Also, PEMEX has a new hiring system,
a more flexible system, which allows it to
provide compensation according to indus-
try standards, as well as additional cash
bonuses, when the state-owned company
earns greater revenues due to better results
from a project or service.
Regarding electricity, our main achieve-
ment is that we have been able to enhance
the cogeneration and electricity generation
schemes from renewable sources. The new
legislation and our great supply of natural
resources will turn Mexico into an impor-
tant destination for investment.
Q. Where do you see the best opportu-
nities for foreign companies looking to
invest in the Mexico energy sector, and
what advice would you give them?
A. The greatest potential is where I have
already mentioned: hydrocarbons and pri-
vate generation, including cogeneration
and renewable sources.
I would recommend investors to be
aware of the opportunities Mexico has to
offer, thanks to its natural resources and
to the hard work of all Mexican people in
order to upgrade its energy sector.
Q. In many countries renewables ben-
efit from market mechanisms, for ex-
ample a price guarantee or subsidy
in order to promote their use. Do you
believe that a measure such as this is
necessary in Mexico?
A. The new legal framework on renewable
sources provides the tools to procure favor-
able conditions to promote investment to
benefit from these energy sources.
For instance, we planned the devel-
opment of a methodology to gauge the
negative externalities in the generation of
electricity, which we published in recent
months. Through this we intend to inte-
grate in the cost of electricity the different
hazards its generation causes to society.
Therefore, these data would reduce the
relative price of electricity generated from
renewable sources, compared to that pro-
duced from traditional sources.
Also, the decision to specifically adopt
these instruments from public policies was
made by the Congress. So far these initia-
tives have not been contemplated in the
approved expense budget for 2010.
May 2010
|
POWER IN MEXICO
of transformers, seconds this view: One
of the big advantages to working with the
CFE is that you only need to supply one
variety of product, and due to the integrat-
ed planning, you know what to expect and
when to expect it.
Of course, neither Schneider Electric
Mexico, with 7,500 employees and 11 fac-
tories in Mexico, nor Prolec GE, with the
largest integrated transformer manufactur-
ing facility in the Americas, suffers from
the problems of access to financing that
may hinder smaller companies. Ricardo
Arratia, director of Brio Mexico, a busi-
ness intelligence company that works ex-
tensively with the CFE top management,
and part of SCAP holding group, argues
that the secret to working with the CFE
is winning their trust and properly under-
standing their aims and needs: The CFE
are looking for partners who can help them
improve themselves, not just a supplier.
The way we sell is by creating solutions
together. We do not have a typical client-
supplier relationship. People, tools, and
the knowledge of the client are key.
As well as larger companies, there are
many subject matter experts that work
for the CFE. Geraldo Maltos and Manuel
Gomez, who head up SYSCE, a Monterrey-
based engineering company focused on
the transmission sector say, We are both
former CFE employees, and in many ways
that is an advantage. However, we have
been much more successful in selling our
products outside of Nuevo Leon (the state
encompassing Monterrey) than here. When
we sell something to our former colleagues
we have to try twice as hard! Maltos
and Gomez, who won an international in-
novation prize in 2006 with SYSCE, do,
however, add that although the CFE is an
important client, to become a top-tier com-
pany, Mexican leaders need to expand their
reach to beyond the public sector.
Marcelo de Zamacona is founder and
general director of Grupo Dielec, a dis-
1. The credit default swap spread on Mexican bonds. Source: Standard &
Poors Mexico
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
1
9
9
7
1
9
9
9
2
0
0
0
2
0
0
1
2
0
0
2
2
0
0
3
2
0
0
4
2
0
0
5
2
0
0
6
2
0
0
7
2
0
0
8
2
0
0
9
C
r
e
d
i
t

s
p
r
e
a
d

(
b
a
s
i
s

p
o
i
n
t
s
)
|
May 2010 92
The Pervasive Influence of Hydrocarbons
Mexicos hydrocarbon sector is all-pervasive and permanent-
ly intrudes on all areas of the Mexican economy, electricity
being no exception. PEMEX, the state-owned monopoly, is
one of the largest electricity users in the country and, fol-
lowing reforms in PEMEXs structure in 2008, now has the
ability to cogenerate electricity (that is, be a partner in
owning power generation infrastructure) rather than being
tied to the CFE. PEMEX recently tendered a 300-MW cogen-
eration plant, a bid won by Spanish giant Abengoa.
Both electricity generation and the oil and gas sector
are seen as key strategic areas by the state. The oil and
gas sector has traditionally provided the finances, while
the electricity sector was key to the development of the
country. The hydrocarbons sector has usually been ex-
tremely profitable, and these resources were reinvested in
electricity generation, which was a net drain on PEMEXs
resources.
David Shields, editor of Energia y Debate, a local energy-
focused publication, explains that oil production in Mexico,
specifically at the Cantarell field, is currently going though
a period of decline. Cantarell production has fallen from
2.1 million barrels per day at the start of the decade to
772,000 in 2009.
Giovanni Aloi, director general of GE Energy Mexico pre-
dicts: My own belief is that oil and gas will rise in price in
the near future. The days of cheap petrol and gas are over.
We have to look to heavy deep sea oil, which is consider-
ably more expensive to extract.
Thus, despite a potential rise in oil and gas prices, Mex-
icos revenue will fall due to the lack of new fields coming
online (Figure 2). This drop in revenue will have profound
effects on the Mexican budget.
Juan Carlos Machorro of Santamarina y Steta, a law firm,
says: It seems clear that from 2010 the government will
suffer from a lack of revenues due to a decline in oil ex-
ports. There will be a big black hole in the Mexican budget
of 2010.
What remains to be seen is how the government will be
able to commit the same level of investment to the elec-
tricity sector in the future. Allowing more opportunities
for private sector involvement might be forced upon the
Mexicos future administrations.
2. Crude oil production (million barrels per day).
Source: PEMEX
2,906
3,383
2,608
775
mbd
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
May 2010
|
tributor for the electricity sector supply-
ing equipment to the CFE that has recently
started sales to South America. He argues
that the CFEs bidding process is helpful:
Bids are published online, but we do have
the opportunity to interact with the CFE
we can ask questions, we can give them
feedback on the bids. In the past the CFE
asked for a lot of paperwork, but we feel
that has decreased over the past few years.
In fact, we find it easier to work for the
CFE than the private sector. With the CFE
you have certainty, there are no surprises,
and you will be paid.
Financing Challenges
Mexicos exposure to the most recent fi-
nancial crisis was late and deep. At the
time of writing, Mexico is just beginning
to emerge from one of the deepest reces-
sions of its recent history. In December
2009, Mexicos credit default swap levels
were wavering around the 200 basis point
mark, compared to the double digits of Eu-
ropean countries, but way down from the
600 that it reached just after the Lehman
Brothers collapse in October 2008. Figure
1 (p. 91) shows that international markets
have become more relaxed about Mexicos
debt, despite the recent downgrading of
Mexicos sovereign debt by Finch to BBB,
two grades above junk rating.
Mexicos gross domestic product is ex-
pected to have fallen by 7.5% in 2009, be-
fore recovering to record a predicted 3%
growth in 2010. In the first three quarters
of 2009 industrial production fell by 5.7%.
Consumer inflation reached a high of 6.5%
in 2008 before dropping to a predicted 4%
in 2009, according to Standard & Poors.
In addition to this drop in activity, liquid-
ity on the Mexican market remains elusive.
Despite this, the mood remains optimistic
within the energy sector.
Mauricio Garca, director general at
CMS International, a 40-year-old Mexican
company manufacturing and distributing
products within the gas and electric sector,
specializing in valve production, notes that
Mexico emerged strongly from crises in
1982, 1994, and 1997. That history makes
him optimistic about a quick recovery
from the latest financial crisis. Mexicans
are used to dealing with unstable circum-
stances and fluctuating financial condi-
tions, and this crisis is perceived as being
no different from the previous ones.
Despite these turbulent financial condi-
tions, Carlos lvarez, VP Mexico of In-
tergen, insists that working with the CFE
gives credibility on international markets.
Alvarez explains the financing of his com-
panys Campeche and Chihuahua acqui-
|
May 2010 94
POWER IN MEXICO
sitions: The project financing deal for
the acquisition of these new plants was
a tricky one. It was certainly challenging
to go to the international market at a very
difficult time and put this deal together. In
fact, these deals were put together in 2008,
just after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
This willingness to push through the deal
shows the commitment we had to the ex-
pansion as well as the credibility our com-
pany has on the markets. I believe that the
fact that we are dealing with the CFE also
helps financing these deals, as the CFE has
considerable credibility with the interna-
tional markets.
Luis DAcosta, general manager of SEL
Mexico, known in the U.S. as Schweitzer
Engineering Laboratories, argues that while
Mexico has suffered from a downturn, the
effect of stimulus money on the energy sec-
tor played a part in cushioning the fall. He
points to the record high margin factor, ar-
guing that the coming few years will be vital
once the stimulus money dries up. Never-
theless, Eduardo Zenteno, president of
AMDEE (the Mexican Wind Association),
argues that financing wind energy projects
in Mexico is difficult and that there is little
deal history to date.
This claim is backed up by Abel Clem-
ente, director general at Equipamentos y
Suministros Industriales, a water treatment
company moving into biogas operations.
Clemente maintains that Lack of access to
financing is preventing the growth of [small
and midsize enterprises] in Mexico.
Another curious fact about financing in
Mexico concerns the opening of the Mexi-
can market in the mid-1990s. This resulted
in vast swathes of the Mexican economy
being purchased by foreign companies, es-
pecially in the banking sector. Santander,
Banamex, and HSBC are three of the most
prevalent names in Mexican project financ-
ing. However, as the independent power
producer (IPP) market and the Mexican
electricity sector in general has a preva-
lence of multinational firms, the regional
office may find difficulties in raising fi-
nances, and banks would normally only
permit limited credit exposure to a certain
company. Normally, energy companies can
get around this via local banks with local
credit lines to compliment the money they
raise on the international markets. In Mex-
ico, however, some international energy
companies are having problems doing this
due to the lack of local Mexican banks.
The CFEs Position Seems Safe
Mexico is in a unique position. So far the
CFE has ensured adequate investment in
the electricity sector, ensured rural electri-
fication, and attracted private investment
through IPPs. It has attracted the best
companies from all over the world to work
with, but perhaps it needs to do more to
help local companies.
However, all of gains to date were made
possible by the large profits derived from
the state oil company, PEMEX. Mexico
was able to afford investments in electric-
ity without seeking substantial private in-
vestment.
The next few years, together with the
change in government, will be key for the
future of the Mexican electricity sector.
Should either the left or the centre win, as
expected, the CFE can expect to retain its
comfortable position, limiting further pri-
vate investment. Should the pro-business
Partido Accin Nacional (PAN) retain the
presidency and gain control of Congress,
we can expect significant changes.
May 2010
|
BOILER DESIGN
First Posiflow Benson Boiler
Completes Seven Years of Service
Seven years have passed since the worlds first low mass flux vertical tube
once-through furnace was put into operation by Doosan Babcock at the
Yaomeng Thermal Power Plant Unit 1 in China. That boiler replaced a boil-
er of another design that had become unreliable. The operating experi-
ence with the Posiflow design has been so positive that the owner has
since ordered and commissioned a replacement for Unit 2s boiler. Heres
what makes this furnace design unique.
By Philip J. Bell, Chao Hui Chen, and Ian Torkington, Doosan Babcock Energy Ltd.
E
urope has seen an increase in demand for
new coal-fired power stations over the past
few yearsno doubt spurred by an ag-
ing coal fleet in Western Europe and increased
power demand in Eastern Europe. Many of the
new coal-fired plants use supercritical boiler
technology with a spiral wound furnace design.
Future coal-fired power stations are considering
even higher steam conditions to increase plant
efficiency in order to reduce CO
2
emissions per
megawatt-hour produced.
Spiral Tube Furnace Design
Spiral wound furnaces have tubes that are
wound at an angle of 10 to 25 around the
furnace perimeter from the lower furnace
inlet headers to above the burner zone. This
arrangement means that each tube in the fur-
nace passes through the various heat zones
so that the heat absorption for adjacent tubes
is reasonably uniform (Figure 1).
A high mass flux (mass flow across a
unit area expressed in units of kg/m
2
s) is
required to maintain effective heat transfer
across boiler load range as well as to avoid
stratification of water and steam at mini-
mum furnace flow. The potential of strati-
fication or inadequate heat transfer at low
loads limits the minimum once-through
load (Benson load) of spiral furnaces. Also,
high mass flux causes a high pressure drop
in the tubes, which means feedwater pump
power draw is correspondingly high.
Figure 2 illustrates a flow response
calculated for various heat absorptions
for a boiler wall circuit with a high mass
flux, spiral wound furnace. The left graph
shows that the dynamic loss (or friction
loss) component is much greater in mag-
nitude than the static loss (or hydrostatic
loss). The graph to the right shows that the
result of an increase in heat absorption is a
reduction in tube flow. Taken together, the
images in Figure 2 illustrate that furnace
wall tube metal temperatures are adversely
Smooth
bore
tubing
Smooth
bore
tubing
Spinal furnace
1. Improved furnace design. The typi-
cal spiral wound boiler uses tubes set on an
angle of 10 to 25 from horizontal in the lower
furnace section and vertical tubes in the upper
furnace. Source: Doosan Babcock
2. Negative flow response characteristic for a high mass flux system. The
data were taken from a high mass flux design boiler operating at 100% maximum continuous
rating (MCR) with a water mass flux of 1,800 kg/m
2
s. In this design, water flow must decrease
with higher heat input to maintain system pressure loss. Source: Doosan Babcock
Pressure loss (MPa)
System pressure loss
Static pressure loss
Dynamic pressure loss
1.20
1.10
1.00
0.90
0.80
0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
30 20 10 0 10 20 30
Variation from mean heat absorption (%)
Deviation from mean mass flow with overall
circuit pressure drop constant (%)
+20
+15
+10
+5
5
10
15
20
25
30 20 10 +10 +20 +30
Deviation from mean heat absorption (%)
12_PWR_050110_BoilerDesign_p96-103.indd 95 4/16/10 6:26:09 PM
|
May 2010 96
BOILER DESIGN
affected as tube flow is reduced when there
is an above-average heat supply.
For spiral wound furnaces, response time
is restricted by the way the furnace is sup-
ported. Because spiral wound tubes can not
support their own weight, vertical support
straps are required on the outside of the fur-
nace. Thermal stresses between the tubes and
the support straps limit the start-up speed of
the boiler as the strap temperature lags be-
hind the tube temperature.
Performance Improvement
Is Possible
The ideal furnace design would have verti-
cal tubes and be capable of variable pressure
operation over the load range while exhibit-
ing natural circulation flow characteristics
with flow increasing as heat absorption in-
creases, thus preventing high temperature
differentials between adjacent tubes. As just
described, the high mass fluxes required
by the vertical tubes used in the old univer-
sal pressure boilers do not have this helpful
characteristic. Typically, T12 tube material is
used for subcritical spiral tubes and T24 for
ultrasupercritical ones.
Figure 3 illustrates the flow response
calculated for a low mass flux system,
also called a Posiflow boiler. The graph
on the left of Figure 3 shows that the dy-
namic loss component is now small com-
pared to the static loss. The graph on the
right shows a positive flow characteristic
where tubes with above-average heat ab-
sorption have an increased flow and tubes
with below-average heat absorption have
a decreased flow. An advantage of the low
mass flux system is a reduction in pressure
loss through the furnace so that the feed
Variation from mean heat absorption (%)
Deviation from mean mass flow with overall
circuit pressure drop constant (%)
+4
+2
2
4
6
8
10
12
30 20 10 +10 +20 +30
Deviation from mean heat absorption (%)
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
100 200 300 400 500 600
Boiling crisis for
ribbed tube
Boiling crisis for
smooth tube
Fluid
Ribbed
tube
Smooth
tube
Pressure 15 MPa
Mass flux 500 kg/m
2
/s
Heat flux 300 kW/m
2
Steam fraction by wieght
Temerature at inside wall (C)
Ribbed
tube
Smooth
tube
3. Positive flow response characteristic for a low mass flux system. For a
low mass flow boiler design at 100% MCR, the water mass flux is only 700 kg/m
2
s. A positive
tube flow response requires the water flow to increase with higher heat input to maintain sys-
tem pressure loss. This characteristic of a once-through boiler furnace design is highly desirable.
Source: Doosan Babcock
4. Departure from nucleate boil-
ing. Departure from nucleate boiling oc-
curs when a heat flux is applied to a boiler
tube (q) and a steam film forms between the
water and the tube. The result is increased
tube metal temperatures due to lower
steam conductivity and much-reduced fur-
nace tube life. Source: Doosan Babcock
5. Dryout boiling crisis. Comparing the dryout characteristics of ribbed and smooth
boiler tubes finds the ribbed tubes postpone dryout so it occurs at higher steam qualities.
Source: Doosan Babcock
0.24
0.22
0.20
0.18
0.16
0.14
0.12
0.10
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
Static pressure loss
Dynamic pressure loss
System pressure loss
Flow must increase
with higher heat
input to maintain
system pressure loss
Pressure loss (MPa)
30 20 10 10 20 30 0
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May 2010 98
BOILER DESIGN
pump power is reduced and cycle efficien-
cy is correspondingly increased.
In the high heat flux areas of the boiler
a condition called departure from nucle-
ate boiling (DNB) is possible. DNB oc-
curs when a steam film separates the water
from the tube wall, as shown in Figure 4.
The result is an undesirable spike in tube
metal temperatures because steam has a
lower thermal conductivity than water.
The optimized ribbed tubes of a Posiflow
boiler either limit the potential for DNB
occurring or reduce the peak metal tem-
perature if it does occur.
Another form of boiling crisis is tube
dryout. For a ribbed tube, dryout of the
tube wall occurs at a higher steam qual-
ity. The example in Figure 5 shows that for
a ribbed tube, dryout does not occur until
the steam quality reaches approximately
0.9, whereas the smooth tube dries out
at a steam quality of 0.6. This occurs be-
cause the swirl generated by the spiral ribs
forces the water to the tube wall, which
maintains the water film up to the higher
steam quality.
Given these fundamental furnace design
features, the Doosan Babcock furnace de-
sign for a typical 800-MW Posiflow boiler
is lighter by 386,000 kg, has about 4,000
fewer welds, and will require close to
50,000 fewer construction hours to erect
than a typical 800-MW universal pressure
boiler (Figure 6). The vertical wall panels
are also much easier to fabricate, thereby
reducing manufacturing cost. Another ad-
vantage: The Benson load can be lower for
a Posiflow boiler, which leads to smaller
start-up systems that could eliminate the
need for a recirculation pump.
Posiflow at Yaomeng 1
Yaomeng Power Plant is situated in the
central southern area of Henan Province,
China. The plant consists of four 300-MW
units. Units 1 and 2 entered service in the
mid 1970s and were the first domestically
designed, coal-fired boilers of this size to
operate in China. Units 3 and 4 followed
during the mid-1980s.
The original boilers were universal pres-
sure type, once-through units designed for
baseload operation. They were designed to
generate 935 metric tons/hour main steam
at 570C. Beginning in 1992, output was re-
duced to between 230 MW and 270 MW.
The upper limit was reduced due to over-
heating of superheater surfaces and tur-
bine constraints. The lower load limit was
imposed because temperature differences
between adjacent tubes at low loads caused
pressure part failures and regular outages.
These operating restrictions and the ex-
pectation of new emissions regulations led
the owners, Yaomeng Power Generation
Ltd. (YPGL), into discussions with Doosan
Babcock about a potential boiler retrofit.
The units concrete structure and the
tight plant site limited the available retro-
fit options. YPGL elected to retrofit Unit 1
with the worlds first commercial low mass
flux vertical tube Benson boiler. Yaomeng
1 was successfully recommissioned in
May 2002. YPGL has since ordered a sec-
ond Posiflow boiler for retrofit of Unit 2
that began commercial service in October
2009 (Figure 7).
The success of the Yaomeng 1 retrofit
can clearly be seen through the improve-
ment in unit availability and the units
ability to rapidly change load. Before
the retrofit in 2000, unit availability was
88.7%. Average availability since 2002 has
been 95%, with the majority of the down-
time attributable to planned outages. Boil-
er ramp rates improved from 1%/minute to
3%/minute.
Even though Yaomeng Unit 1 was the
first Posiflow unit in China, there have
been no ribbed tube failures caused by
overheating or high temperature differen-
tials of adjacent tubes in seven years of
operation. Furnace temperature data are
recorded using 106 thermocouples that
are strategically located on the furnace
walls. The metal temperatures recorded
are within design and will provide full
tube life. Also, the temperature difference
between adjacent tubes has been reduced
from 70C to between 20C and 30C. As a
result, no boiler wall tubes have failed, and
the unit can now reduce load to 40% with-
out oil-firing assistancesomething never
achieved with the original boiler.
Boiler Tube Deposits and
Chemical Cleaning
In a once-through subcritical boiler like
that used on Yaomeng Unit 1, there is no
steam drum. As water passes through the
Smooth
bore
tubing
Optimized
ribbed
bore
tubing
Posiflow vertical tube low-mass-flux furnace
6. Optimized tube selection. The
Posiflow furnace design uses internally ribbed
tubes in the lower portion of the furnace, where
departure from nucleate boiling can form, and
more conventional smooth bore tubes in the
upper furnace. Source: Doosan Babcock
7. After the boiler upgrades. This is the Yaomeng Power Plant after the second boiler
replacement was completed in October 2009. Courtesy: Doosan Babcock
|
May 2010 100
BOILER DESIGN
furnace, it evaporates entirely into steam.
At Yaomeng this transition occurs in the
low heat flux region, where the tube metal
temperature increase is minimized. The
water purity has to be high to avoid cor-
rosion, deposition, and carryover of dis-
solved solids.
Yaomeng Unit 1 uses a hydrazine, all-
volatile water treatment system. An all-vol-
atile water treatment is not normally used
for once-through boilers, but because of the
presence of copper alloys in the Yaomeng
condensate system, other options were
not available. For new-build once-through
projects without copper in the condensate
system, Doosan Babcock would use oxy-
genated treatment during normal opera-
tions and an all-volatile treatment during
start-up and shutdowna combined treat-
ment. Combined treatment reduces the
speed of deposit buildup and increases the
time between acid cleaning.
As the ribbed tubes have an optimized
profile, YPGL questioned how the positive
flow response would be affected by poten-
tial deposit buildup. It can be inferred that
positive flow response is still active if it
can be shown that metal temperatures have
not risen above material limits and tube
failures caused by adjacent tube tempera-
ture differences do not occur even if there
is a high deposit weight density.
YPGL made the decision to acid clean
the unit during the 2008 outage. Tube
samples containing internal deposits were
removed from the high heat flux areas of
the furnace to determine deposit thick-
ness in July 2008. The tubes were then ar-
ranged by firing side and nonfiring side.
The firing side of the tube clearly shows
deposit buildup on the ribs of the furnace
wall tubes before acid cleaning (Figure 8).
The buildup on the nonfiring side on the
right shows a more uniform distribution of
deposit.
This internal tube deposit was analyzed
during every outage to determine the de-
posit weight density.
Table 1 quantifies the increase over time
of the firing side deposit buildup in Unit 1.
The increase in deposit weight density is
also apparent on the nonfiring side, but the
increase is less uniform over time.
Figure 9 shows the results of the acid
cleaning. No oxidation deposit is visible
on any part of the ribbed tubing.
Doosan Babcock currently recom-
mends acid cleaning a subcritical boiler
at a deposit weight density of 400 g/m
2
.
The Yaomeng Unit 1 results after six years
of service show that the ribbed tube metal
temperatures were within design limits
despite a deposit weight density above
recommendations. Also, no furnace tubes
failed, so it can be inferred that a positive
flow response was still active.
More Posiflow Projects Pending
Chinas large resource of anthracite coal en-
sures this coals place in Chinas fuel mix for
power generation for many years to come.
The next development step for Doosan Bab-
cock was to prove that the Posiflow furnace
design was equally applicable when firing
this coal. Previously, downshot boilers were
limited to burning anthracite at subcritical
cycles because the octagonal lower furnace
and burner arches would have been difficult
to construct with a spiral furnace arrange-
ment. With Posiflow, supercritical downshot
boilers are now possible.
8. Before acid cleaning. These photos show the firing side and nonfiring side of furnace
wall tubes before the July 2008 acid cleaning. The firing side of the tube (left) clearly has deposit
buildup on the ribs of the tube. Buildup on the nonfiring side (right) has more uniform distribu-
tion. Source: Doosan Babcock
Weight density of deposits removed (g/m
2
)
Month of outage Firing side Nonfiring side
6/2003 204.3 161.1
3/2004 256.1 176.6
6/2005 310.9 221.9
6/2007 411.1 181.4
7/2008 530.9 217.3
Table 1. Operating within limits. Ribbed boiler wall tube deposit weight density re-
sults for outages from 2003 to 2008 for Yaomeng Unit 1. Doosan Babcock operating limits are
400 g/m
2
. Source: Doosan Babcock
9. After acid cleaning. These photos show the firing side and nonfiring side of furnace
wall tubes after the July 2008 acid cleaning. No oxidation deposits are visible on the ribbed tub-
ing. Source: Doosan Babcock
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12_PWR_050110_BoilerDesign_p96-103.indd 101 4/19/10 11:41:41 AM
|
May 2010 102
BOILER DESIGN
Two new units using the Posiflow design
began construction in China during 2009.
These two 600-MWe units are designed to
operate at supercritical steam conditions of
255 bar and 571C (Table 2).
Doosan Heavy Industries (DHI), in con-
junction with Doosan Babcock, also is now
constructing a once-through supercritical
700-MWe unit for GHECO-ONE, part of
the Suez Group. The Gheco Power Plant
was ordered by Electricity Generating Au-
thority of Thailand through international
bidding that attracted keen interest globally.
Gheco will be Thailands first supercritical
power plant of this capacity and is being
constructed at Map ta Phut, 150 kilometers
southeast of Bangkok. DHI worked closely
with Doosan Babcock to apply the Posiflow
low mass flux vertical tube technology to
this project. DHI is scheduled to complete
the construction and test operation of the
power plant in 2011.
Philip J. Bell (pbell@doosanbabcock
.com) is a process engineer, Chao Hui
Chen is principal engineer, and Ian
Torkington is general manager, front
end engineering for Doosan Babcock
Energy Ltd.
Client YPGL Zhenxiong Power GHECO - ONE
Location Yaomeng, China Zhenxiong, China Gheco, Thailand
Number of
units
2 x 300 MWe 2 x 600 MWe 1 x 700 MWe
Type Once-through
subcritical
Once-through
supercritical downshot
Once-through
supercritical wall-fired
Main steam
flow at MCR
264 kg/s 529 kg/s 609 kg/s
Superheater
outlet pressure
168 bar 255 bar 251 bar
Superheater
outlet
temperature
545C 571C 569C
Reheater outlet
temperature
545C 569C 569C
Efficiency 91.3% (boiler rated
load)
90.4% (Boiler rated
load)
41.3% (net plant)
Stage of
project
Unit 2 completed
October 2009
Engineering complete
2009
Construction started
2009
Expected
completion
date
Unit 1: 2002 2011 2011
Unit 2: October 2009
Table 2. Posiflow once-through boiler designs under design, construc-
tion, and operation worldwide. Source: Doosan Babcock
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May 2010 104
HYBRID PLANTS
Adding Desalination to Solar
Hybrid and Fossil Plants
Shrinking water supplies will unquestionably constrain the development of future
power plants. A hybrid system consisting of concentrated solar thermal
power and desalination to produce water for a plant, integrated with a com-
bined cycle or conventional steam plant, may be the simple solution.
By Dr. Justin Zachary and Colleen M. Layman, Bechtel Power Corp.
D
esalination is a water treatment pro-
cess in which seawater is separated
into two process streams: a freshwater
stream with a low concentration of dissolved
solids and a brine or reject stream with a high
concentration of dissolved solids. The desali-
nation device, regardless of type, requires en-
ergy to operate and do the separation.
The primary commercial technologies for
desalination fall into two main categories:
thermal desalination and membrane desali-
nation. Thermal desalination systems utilize
energy in the form of heat to effect a phase
change of the seawater (from liquid to vapor
phase) to separate freshwater from brine.
Membrane desalination devices use a pump
to force water through a semi-permeable
membrane, again separating the freshwater
from brine. Reverse osmosis (RO) mem-
branes are most commonly used in this type
of desalination system.
Thermal Desalination Technology
Thermal processes utilize energy in the form
of steam or hot water, extracted from a power
plant steam cycle or produced by an auxiliary
boiler, to boil the seawater. Vapor released
from the boiling seawater is condensed and
collected as product water. Water recovery
from thermal desalination processes can
range from 10% to 50% of the influent sea-
water, depending on the technology selected.
Multi-stage flash evaporation (MSF) de-
salination systems have traditionally been
preferred because of their reasonable cost,
good efficiency, and long experience. How-
ever, in the past 20 years, multiple-effect
distillation (MED) technology has become
the primary thermal desalination option with
the development of new designs that permit
lower operating temperatures, minimize cor-
rosion and scaling, and increase efficiency.
Figure 1 depicts a typical MED system.
MED systems are designed with multiple
evaporator stages, called effects, which
evaporate seawater to produce desalinated
water. While in theory, MED systems may
be built with an arbitrarily large number of
effects, normally, in large desalination plants
the number varies between 8 and 16 due to
the low temperature drop per effect. In this
type of thermal desalination system, seawa-
ter is heated to approximately 70C (158F) by
steam from an external source.
Boiling occurs in the sequence of effect
vessels, each held at a lower pressure than
the last. Because the boiling point of water
decreases as pressure decreases, the vapor
boiled off in one vessel can be used to heat
the next. Only the first vessel (at the highest
pressure) requires an external source of heat.
The seawater and external steam source both
enter the MED system in the first effect on
opposite sides of the heat exchanger tubes.
Steam is fed to the inside of the tubes, and
seawater is sprayed over the outside of the
tubes in a typical effect. The seawater, upon
contacting the heat exchanger tubes, begins to
boil. The vapor produced is collected and is
transported to the second effect on the inside
of the second effects heat exchanger tubes.
The heating steam from the first effect con-
denses inside the first effects heat exchanger
tubes and is returned to the power plant or
auxiliary boiler as condensate.
Concentrated seawater brine in the first
effect is collected in trays and transported
across the outside of the heat exchanger tubes
in the second effect, where again it boils by
heating and the pressure change. This process
continues throughout the series of effects.
After the final effect, the vaporized water that
has collected on the inside of the effect heat
exchanger tubes is cooled and condensed
with seawater in a final heat exchanger.
Most MED designs today also include a
thermal vapor compressor (TVC) to increase
system efficiency. A TVC recycles some of
the vapor produced in the desalination pro-
cess to reduce the total amount of steam
required to drive the process. A TVC is es-
sentially a steam ejector that entrains low-
pressure vapor from a downstream effect
with motive steam and discharges the mix-
ture into the first effect.
Though MED technology was originally
developed in the 1960s, it did not begin to
gain widespread acceptance until the 1990s.
Today, MED plants are generally built in
units of about 100 m
3
/day up to 36,400 m
3
/
day (0.03 to 8 mgd), allowing this design to
be utilized in smaller volume applications.
Multiple units may be combined in one plant
to further increase capacity. The system pro-
duces a very high-quality product water from
sea or brackish water with a total dissolved
solids (TDS) concentration of 25 mg/l or
less. The desalinated water produced is so
pure that minerals are normally added back
to make it suitable for human consumption
and use as potable water.
Membrane Desalination Technology
Membrane desalination technology today is
dominated by systems that are designed to
utilize seawater RO (SWRO) membranes as
the freshwater/brine separation device. In
SWRO desalination systems, the water in a
pressured saline solution is separated from
the solutes (dissolved solids) by forcing it
through a semi-permeable membrane. En-
ergy, in the form of electricity, is employed
to power pumps to reverse the process of
osmosis and force water through the mem-
branes. The salt water is pumped into the RO
pressure vessel, where it is forced under pres-
sure against the membrane. As a portion of
1. Multiple-effect distillation system.
Courtesy: Bechtel Power
13_PWR_050110_HybridPlants_p104-113.indd 104 4/16/10 6:34:20 PM
May 2010
|
HYBRID PLANTS
the water passes through the membrane, the
remaining feedwater increases in salt content
proportionally. This concentrated portion of
the feedwater (known as the brine or the re-
ject) is discharged without passing through
the membrane.
A high-pressure booster pump supplies the
pressure required to force the water through
the SWRO membranes. This pressure can
range from 6.9 to 18.6 bar (100 to 270 psig)
for brackish water to 38 to 83 bar for sea-
water applications. Todays membrane de-
signs are capable of removing salts with very
high efficiencyobtaining up to 99.8% salt
rejection. POWER reviewed a utility-scale
SWRO system that was recently constructed
in China in the April issue: Sub-Sea Water
Treatment System Provides Reliable Supply
for the Huaran Power Plant.
The primary cost of operating an SWRO
system is the energy required to increase
seawater pressure high enough to overcome
the system osmotic pressure and force the
seawater to permeate the RO membranes.
The actual pressure drop across the RO
membranes is only about 0.5 to 1 bar, de-
pending on the number of elements per
pressure vessel, so the RO reject stream is
released at high pressure. Energy recov-
ery devices (ERD) such as Pelton turbine
wheels or pressure exchangers are used to
recover the energy from the reject stream
and reduce operating costs. An ERD can re-
duce the energy consumption of the SWRO
booster pump by approximately 35% to
45%. A typical seawater reverse osmosis
skid is shown in Figure 2.
Technology type Working fluid Max temp (C)
Trough Synthetic oil HTF 395
Linear Fresnel Steam 270
Solar tower Steam 545
2. Reverse osmosis system. Courtesy: Bechtel Power
Table 1. Key features of CSP solar technologies. Source: Bechtel Power
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May 2010 106
HYBRID PLANTS
Membrane desalination processes produce
product water of lesser quality than that pro-
duced by thermal processes. TDS concentra-
tions in desalinated water produced using
membrane processes vary, depending on
influent seawater TDS concentrations, but
they are typically in a range suitable for most
industrial applications and for potable water
usage (<500 mg/l TDS). Additional stages
of treatment (that is, second-pass membrane
treatment) may be required to produce water
suitable for some industrial needs (such as
boiler makeup water).
Typical water recovery is in the range of
35% to 60% of the influent seawater from
membrane desalination processesbetter
than that of thermal processes. However, wa-
ter recovery is highly dependent on the qual-
ity of the influent seawater.
Membrane desalination systems have a
much smaller footprint than typical thermal
desalination processes, which reduces instal-
lation costs. On the other hand, more pre-
treatment of seawater is necessary for SWRO
systems to prevent membrane fouling.
Solar Thermal Concepts
Concentrated sunlight has been used to per-
form useful tasks from ancient times. In 1866,
a French inventor successfully powered a
steam engine with sunlight, the first known
example of a concentrating solar-powered
mechanical device. In general, concentrat-
ing solar power (CSP) technologies require
direct sunlight to function and are of limited
use in locations with significant cloud cover.
CSP systems require several components
to produce electricity: a concentrator, re-
ceiver, storage or transportation system, and
power conversion device. The CSP technol-
ogy type determines the different options
for interface with a conventional fossil-fired
plant. Table 1 summarizes the types of CSP
technology and their thermal output; short
discussions of each technology follow.
Trough Collector. The parabolic trough is
considered the most proven CSP technology.
Since the 1980s, more than 350 MW of ca-
pacity have been placed in operation using this
technology at the Solar Electric Generating
Station (SEGS) plants in Californias Mojave
Desert. (The 64-MW net Nevada Solar One
project, using trough technology, was profiled
as a POWER Top Plant in December 2007.)
The parabolic trough is basically a very
large curved mirror. Its parabolic shape is
designed to concentrate the solar energy and
reflect it onto a linear focal point. The mirror
position follows the suns movement in the
sky using a motorized device. The cylindri-
cal parabolic reflector is traditionally made
of thick glass-silvered mirrors (4 mm to 5
mm), but thin glass, plastic films, and pol-
ished metals are also used. A series of typical
trough collectors is shown in Figure 3.
A receiver tube is located at the focal point
of the parabolic mirror trough. The metal
tube is coated with special coatings aimed
at maximizing energy absorption and mini-
mizing heat losses. Flowing inside this tube
is a conventional heat transfer fluid (HTF),
which absorbs energy from the concentrated
sunlight. The metal tube is enveloped by a
glass tube. The space between the absorber
and the glass tube is kept under vacuum to re-
duce heat losses. A support structure made of
metal holds the receiver in accurately at the
focal point of the mirror trough that must be
sufficiently rigid to resist the twisting effects
of wind while maintaining optical accuracy.
At the same time, the cost of the structure as
well as the cost of on-site assembly and in-
stallation should be as low as possible.
Several receivers are typically connected
to form a loop. Many loops are needed to
produce the heat required to bring a large
amount of HTF to the maximum allowable
temperature. In locations with good solar ra-
diation, about 4 to 5 acres are needed to pro-
duce 1 MW of capacity.
The hot HTF from all the plants loops
are combined and sent to a steam genera-
tor. The steam generator is a heat exchanger
where the HTF heat enters on the shell side
and transfers heat to the incoming water in
the first section to produce steam. The steam
reenters a second section of the heat ex-
changer to produce superheated steam. From
this point on, the power block converting the
steam into electricity contains conventional
steam plant components: steam turbine, heat
sink, feedwater heaters, and condensate and
boiler feed pumps.
Maximum HTF temperature is around
395C, mainly due to the operational limi-
tations of the synthetic oil HTF. The field
temperature from Nevada Solar One is 390C
from a field area of 357,000 m
2
. The plants
thermal efficiency is reported by the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as
37.6% when operating at 100 bar steam pres-
sure. Similar performance numbers are re-
ported by NREL on SEGS VII through IX.
Trough technology is mature and has been
demonstrated on relatively large-scale plants.
But there are several disadvantages inherent
in the design. For example, the maximum
HTF operating temperatures dictate relative-
ly lower cycle efficiency. Also, the additional
heat exchanger between the Rankine cycle
working fluid and the fluid heated by the sun
adds complexity to the cycle and further re-
duces its maximum operating temperature.
Fresnel Collector. The linear Fresnel so-
lar collector is a line focus system similar to
the parabolic trough. Unlike troughs, how-
ever, it uses an array of nearly flat reflectors
to concentrate sunlight. Normally, these are
one-axis tracking, flat mirrors fixed to a steel
structure on the ground. Several frames are
connected to form a module, and the mod-
ules form a long row up to 450 meters (1,475
feet) long. The receiver employs one or more
tubes located above the mirrors at a deter-
mined height. These metal tubes have an
absorbent coating, similar to trough technol-
ogy. Water, or a mixture of water and steam
with quality of around 0.7, flows within the
tubes. At the end, the water and steam are
separated and saturated steam is produced
either for process heat or to generate elec-
tricity using a conventional Rankine cycle
power block (Figure 4).
Today, the largest Fresnel collector project
is the Kimberlina Solar Thermal Power Plant
demonstration project located in Bakersfield,
California. The solar field aperture area is
26,000 m
2
, with collectors arranged in three
lines, each 385 meters long. The plant can
produce up to 5 MW with a steam turbine
operating at 40 bar steam pressure. Water is
used as the HTF. The plant has been opera-
tional since late 2008, according to NREL.
In principle, the Fresnel system offers sev-
eral advantages, including these:
Direct generation of steam without the use
of an intermediate HTF.
Less stringent requirements for optical
accuracy.
The design allows more factory assembly.
Use of conventional off-the-shelf materials.
Structural design less subject to wind
impact.
3. Solar trough technology sys-
tem. Courtesy: Siemens Concentrated Solar
4. Linear Fresnel technology sys-
tem. Courtesy: Ausra
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|
May 2010 108
HYBRID PLANTS
However, several disadvantages also exist,
including these:
Technology not as mature as trough, with
only recent, relatively small-scale com-
mercial development taking place.
Lower power cycle efficiency due to lower
steam temperature.
Lower optical efficiency and increased
heat losses due to absence of insulation
around the receiver tubes.
Expect the steam cycle efficiency to im-
prove as technology suppliers are able to in-
crease operating temperatures up to 450C.
Solar Tower. In this concept, a boiler on
top of a tall tower receives concentrated solar
radiation from a field of heliostats, which are
two-axis tracking mirrors. The heat transfer
media could be water or steam, molten salt,
liquid sodium, or compressed air.
In the more conventional arrangement, the
working fluid is water (Figure 5). The wa-
ter temperature is higher than in line-focus
systemsclose to 545C. The power tower
can be connected to molten salt storage,
thus allowing the system to extend operat-
ing hours or increase capacity during peri-
ods when power is most valuable. The main
advantage of this technology is its ability to
provide high-temperature superheated steam.
The design requires accurate aiming and con-
trol capabilities for the solar field heliostats
to maximize efficiency and avoid potential
damage to the receiver on top of the tower.
Integrate the Disparate Systems
Several scenarios were considered in analyz-
ing potential integrated desalination plant/
CSP power plant options. As part of the case
studies, the first parameter varied was the lo-
cation of the CSP-desalination/power plant
facility. Three locations, each possessing plen-
tiful insolation (exposure to sun) and lacking
freshwater supplies, were considered:
Egypt on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea
Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea
California, U.S., on the Pacific Ocean
For each location, installation of three
different-size desalination facilities, each de-
signed to provide freshwater for a different
power plant configuration that would supply
water for a new plant and a nearby town, was
evaluated:
2,500 m
3
/day (0.7 mgd)
7,200 m
3
/day (2 mgd)
45,500 m
3
/day (12 mgd)
For all three physical locations and all
three power plant/desalination system con-
figurations, installation of both MED and
SWRO as the desalination technology was
considered. Tables 2 and 3 provide a summa-
ry of the desalination/power plant configura-
tion scenarios investigated.
The primary aim of CSP plants is to gener-
ate electricity, yet a number of configurations
enable CSP to be combined with various
desalination methods. When compared with
photovoltaic (PV) or wind, CSP could pro-
vide a much more consistent power output
when combined with either energy storage or
fossil fuel backup. The most suitable options
will be described here.
A typical solar trough configuration com-
bined with a MED system where steam gen-
erated is first expended in a noncondensing
turbine and then used in a conventional man-
ner for desalination (Figure 6). The steam
generated by a trough plant is superheated to
around 380C. As described earlier, the steam
temperature for the MED plant is around
135C. Therefore, there is sufficient energy
in the steam to produce electricity before it
is used in the MED plant. It is important to
emphasize that water production is the main
purpose of the plantelectricity is a byprod-
uct. While conventional combined-cycle
(CC) power plants can be configured in a
similar manner for desalination, a fundamen-
tal difference exists in the design approach
for solar and for fossil fuelfired plants. The
fuel for the solar plant is free; therefore, the
design is not focused primarily on efficiency
but on capital cost and capacity of the desali-
nation process. In contrast, for the CC power
plant, electricity production at the highest
possible efficiency is the ultimate goal.
As described previously, the RO system
5. Solar tower technology. Courtesy:
Bright Source
Table 2. Summary of MED options evaluated. Source: Bechtel Power
Table 3. Summary of SWRO options evaluated. Source: Bechtel Power
Case 1
Mediterranean Sea
Case 2 Pacific
Ocean Case 3 Red Sea
Seawater TDS (mg/l) 35,000 30,000 45,000
Seawater chlorinity (mg/l) 21,000 18,000 27,000
Distillate TDS (mg/l) 10 10 10
Recovery 0.2 0.2 0.15
Number of effects 10 8 12
Gain output radio 8.5 6.8 10.2
Steam pressure (bar abs) 3 2 3
Steam temperature (C) 135 125 135
Distillate flow rates (m
3
/day) 2,500 2,500 2,500
7,200 7,200 7,200
45,500 45,500 45,500
Case 1
Mediterranean Sea
Case 2 Pacific
Ocean Case 3 Red Sea
Seawater TDS (mg/l) 35,000 30,000 45,000
Seawater chlorinity (mg/l) 21,000 18,000 27,000
Permeate TDS (mg/l) 105 100 155
Seawater RO recovery (%) 50 55 35
Energy recovery device
Pelton Wheel Pelton Wheel Pelton Wheel
40% recovery 40% recovery 40% recovery
Permeate flow rate (m
3
/day) 2,500 2,500 2,500
7,200 7,200 7,200
45,500 45,500 45,500
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May 2010 110
HYBRID PLANTS
is an alternative to thermal desalination
processes. In this case as well as in MED,
the steam generated by the solar plant can
be used through a steam turbine to produce
the electric power needed to drive the RO
pumps. As an alternative for large, multi-
unit RO systems, the high-pressure seawater
can be provided by a single pump driven by
a steam turbine. This arrangement is simi-
lar to the steam-turbine-driven boiler feed
pumps in a fossil fuel power plant. Obvi-
ously, a feasibility study must be conducted
to determine the most appropriate solution
for each situation.
Often, MED and RO are compared in
terms of overall performance and specifi-
cally for energy consumption. Based on
several Bechtel internal studies as well as
open literature, one can conclude that in
specific cases, the CSP and RO (Figure 7)
require less energy than a similar CSP and
MED combination.
However, an analysis presented by
Franz Trieb (Concentrating Solar Power
for Seawater Desalination, DLR report,
Stuttgart, 2007) suggests that, for several
locations, CSP/MED requires 4% to 11%
less input energy than CSP/RO. Therefore,
before any decision can be made on the
type of desalination technology to be used,
it is recommended that a detailed analysis
be conducted for each specific location,
evaluating the amount of water, salinity of
the input seawater, and site conditions. It
appears that CSP/MED provides slightly
better performance at sites with high sa-
linity, such as the Arabian Gulf, whereas
CSP and RO appear to be more suitable for
low-salinity waters in the Atlantic Ocean
or Mediterranean Sea.
One additional advantage of the RO sys-
tem is that the solar field might be located
away from the shoreline. The only connec-
tion between the two is the production of
electricity to drive the RO pumps and other
necessary auxiliary loads.
Linear Fresnel technology development
could have a significant impact on desali-
nation if its design, thermal performance,
and cost can meet industry expectations.
Operating within the necessary tempera-
ture ranges for MED as well as RO, de-
spite the lower optical efficiency, linear
Fresnel may prove to be the best solution
for standalone desalination plants. Figure
8 depicts a linear Fresnel system arrange-
ment that includes a steam turbine with a
geared system for direct drive of the sea-
water pumps.
CSP Desalination and Storage
A key issue with deploying renewable en-
ergy conversion systems is their intermittent
Solar field
Steam turbine
Solar
superheater
Steam
generator
Solar preheater
Daerator
Expansion vessel
MED system
Seawater
Brine
Solar field
Steam
turbine
Daerator
Expansion vessel
Solar
superheater
Steam
generator
Solar preheater
Desalinated
water
Reverse
osmosis
desalination
system
Steam
Solar field
Electric generator
Gear
Seawater
Reverse
osmosis
desalination
system
6. Solar parabolic trough power plant with oil steam generator and
MED desalination. Source: Bechtel Power
7. Solar parabolic trough power plant with oil steam generator and
SWRO desalination. Source: Bechtel Power
8. Linear Fresnel power plant with RO system. Source: Bechtel Power
Seawater
Brine
Desalinated
water
Brine
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Float-based
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Magnetostrictive
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|
May 2010 112
HYBRID PLANTS
nature. Wind, PV, and CSP generate power
only when the wind blows and the sun shines.
Obviously, the benefits of energy storage
are invaluable in improving the grid stabil-
ity, power quality, and continuity of supply.
When compared with heat or electricity, the
desalination productwatercan be stored
very economically. This provides an addi-
tional advantage for combining solar ther-
mal plants with desalination.
Due to variations in seasonal and diurnal
solar heat input, many solar fields for CSP
are designed to match an average insolation
flux. In the summer and during peak day-
light hours, an excess of heat is produce by
the solar field. In the absence of a storage
system capable of absorbing this heat, some
of the solar collectors or mirrors have to be
defocused. This process is called energy
dumping. By directing this excess heat
to the desalination plant, one can produce
water and store it for future use. This way
the capacity factor of the CSP plant could
be dramatically increased and the economic
picture improved.
Although water consumption remains rel-
ative flat over the entire year, electric power
demand increases by more than 50% during
the summer due to air conditioning loads. The
combination of a hybrid solar power genera-
tion and desalination plant would allow some
degree of discretionary allocation of the heat
input to either of the applicationspower
or waterdepending on the sizing of the
electrical generation equipment. Some of
the electrical power generated at off-peak
demand conditions could be used to produce
water and appropriately store it.
All the desalination technologies are striv-
ing to reduce cost, increase capacity and ef-
ficiency, and reduce environmental impact.
The large number of CSP projects under
development for all types of technologies
tower, trough, linear Fresnelwill lead to
improved equipment, better field experience,
and lower capital costs.
Its All About the Money
In evaluating capital costs as well as op-
erating costs, one important criterion is
the size of the solar field for each of the
desalination technologies. Figure 9 pro-
vides a comparison of the relative costs
of CSP combined with RO versus CSP
combined with MED. It can be seen that
the solar field as well as the conventional
power plant costs are higher for the RO op-
tion, but the actual desalination plant cost
is lower (see Trieb, referenced above). A
comparison of the equipment cost for the
desalination equipment alone is shown in
Figure 10.
It is evident that the RO systems are
less expensive for all sizes of plants. When
compared with conventional systems, the
viability of such solar desalination sys-
tems is dependent on the escalation of fuel
costs, operation and maintenance costs
of combined cycles, and market price for
water. The operating costs of an RO plant,
presented in Figure 11, indicate that the
power is the most significant contributor
(72%). For a desalination plant, a key fac-
tor in cost reduction is an increase in pro-
cess efficiency by improving the recovery
power ratio.
Dr. Justin Zachary is technology
manager and a Bechtel Fellow for Bechtel
Power Corp. Zachary is also a POWER
contributing editor. Colleen M. Layman is
manager of water treatment for Bechtel
Power Corp.
9. Cost comparison between CSP and the RO and MED desalination op-
tions for major plant systems. Source: Bechtel Power
P
e
r
c
e
n
t

o
f

t
o
t
a
l

c
o
s
t
100
95
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Solar collector field Power block Desalination plant
Concentrating solar power/reverse osmosis
Concentrating solar power/multiple effect distillation
10. Cost of desalination equipment. Source: Bechtel Power

1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
2,500 7,200 45,500
E
s
t
i
m
a
t
e
d

c
o
s
t

(
$
/
m
3
)
Water production (m
3
/day)
Multiple effect distillation Seawater reverse osmosis
Power, 71%
Membrane
11%
Chemicals,
11%
Miscellaneous, 7%
11. Typical O&M cost for an RO de-
salination plant. Source: Bechtel Power
|
May 2010 114
EMISSIONS
Dry Injection of Trona for SO
3
Control
In 2006 and 2007, POWER ran a three-part series on the formation of SO
3
, O&M
issues caused by SO
3
, and sorbent injection control for SO
3
control. Three
years later, many plants still struggle with their SO
3
mitigation systems or
remain undecided on which mitigation path to follow. This article explores
the advantages of dry sorbent injection technology.
By Dr. Yougen Kong, PE and Michael D. Wood, Solvay Chemicals Inc.
T
he formation mechanisms and high costs
of controlling SO
3
emissions have been
thoroughly discussed in a series of three
POWER articles on SO
3
s impacts on Plant
O&M (Part I in October 2006, Part II in Feb-
ruary 2007, and Part III in April 2007). In that
series, the impact of SO
3
, in sufficient con-
centrations, was shown to penalize plant heat
rate, increase plant operation and maintenance
(O&M) costs for back-end equipment through
the formation of weak acids that are very cor-
rosive, and increase fouling of air heaters and
selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalysts
due to the reaction of SO
3
with ammonia. In
the three years since those articles were pub-
lished we still find many utilities struggling to
implement SO
3
mitigation measures.
One of the key conclusions presented in the
final article in the series was that injection of
a carefully selected finely atomized sorbent,
such as trona, is very effective in mitigating the
formation of SO
3
. Dry sorbent injection (DSI)
technology for SO
3
control is gaining popular-
ity in the utility industry due to its low capital
cost, small installation footprint, ease of opera-
tion, and flexibility to adapt to fuel changes.
Trona is a naturally occurring mineral that
is produced in Green River, Wyoming (Fig-
ure 1). Interestingly, milling of trona is not
necessary, as it is already produced as a fine
powder. Although milling trona can increase
its SO
3
removal efficiency, the cost to do so
must be balanced against the added cost of
equipment and maintenance.
DSI Principles
In a DSI system, a fine sorbent powder, such as
trona (Na
2
CO
3
NaHCO
3
2H
2
O) or hydrated
lime (Ca(OH)
2
), is injected into the flue gas duct
to remove SO
3
. Trona is calcined in the hot flue
gas (>275F) to form porous sodium carbonate
(Na
2
CO
3
), as shown in the following equation:
2(Na
2
CO
3
NaHCO
3
2H
2
O)(s) + heat
3Na
2
CO
3
(s) + 5H
2
O (gas) + CO
2
(gas)
The release of water vapor and CO
2
in the
calcination process creates numerous micro-
pores inside the sorbent, a phenomenon called
the popcorn effect, that produces a surface
area five to 20 times the original surface area.
The specific surface area of calcined trona is
approximately 10 m
2
/g. This relatively high
surface area has one significant advantage: It
enables fast reactions between sodium car-
bonate and SO
3
(Figure 2).
Trona can be injected at almost any loca-
tion in the gas stream as long as the flue gas
temperature is above 275F (Figure 3). It is our
experience that natural mechanically refined
fine trona reactivity to sulfur oxides is im-
proved as the injection temperature is raised,
unlike chemically refined milled sodium bi-
carbonate, which has a practical upper operat-
ing limit of about 800F. The typical reference
location options are shown in Figure 3. Never-
theless, each location has its own advantages
and disadvantages, as explained below.
Upstream of the SCR (Location 1)
Injecting trona at this location can remove
most SO
3
ahead of the SCR to eliminate
the formation of NH
4
HSO
4
or aluminum
bisulfite inside the catalyst and consequently
lower the minimum operation temperature.
1. Raw trona. A microscopic view of raw
trona. Courtesy: Solvay Chemicals Inc.
2. Calcined trona. Note the micropo-
res formed in the trona after heating it to
temperatures above 275F. Courtesy: Solvay
Chemicals Inc.
3. Many injection options. There are many options for injecting trona into the hot gas
stream. Each has advantages and disadvantages. The specific equipment at your plant will de-
termine the best option. Source: Solvay Chemicals Inc.
Boiler
Economizer
1
2
3
4
SCR
Trona
silo
Air
heater
ESP
Wet FGD
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May 2010 116
EMISSIONS
This is the preferred location if there is a
hot-side electrostatic precipitator (ESP)
upstream of the SCR catalyst.
There is no effect on the SO
3
produced from
catalytic oxidation of SO
2
inside the SCR
catalyst, which may require a second injec-
tion location to be installed downstream if
the conversion in the SCR is high.
Check with the catalyst supplier to con-
firm that sodium does not affect the cata-
lysts performance adversely.
Between the SCR and Air Heater
(Location 2)
Injecting trona at this location removes
SO
3
ahead of the air heater so that it can
run at lower temperatures, resulting in
higher plant thermal efficiency.
Between the Air Heater and ESP
(Location 3)
This is the most common location to inject
trona to eliminate the blue plume caused
by SO
3
.

Between the ESP and Wet Flue Gas
Desulfurization (Location 4)
Injecting trona at this location is effective
in mitigating SO
3
.
A wet scrubber is needed downstream to
capture the reaction product (Na
2
SO
4
) and
unreacted sorbent (Na
2
CO
3
).
Na
2
CO
3
will enhance the performance of
SO
2
removal in the wet scrubber.
DSI System Design
Its critical to have a good trona injection
system and complete a flow modeling study
to ensure that trona and SO
3
are well mixed.
The red area in Figure 4 represents the condi-
tions where the formation of sodium bisulfite
(NaHSO
4
) could occur. NaHSO
4
at tempera-
tures >~370F is a sticky substance and can
deposit on the surfaces of air heater and duct,
thus causing buildup and plugging. When SO
3

is unevenly distributed in the flue gas duct,
more trona than stoichiometrically required
must be injected to get full coverage to avoid
conditions resulting in some areas where the
SO
3
concentration is high and NaHSO
4
could
be formed. Figure 4 shows the SO
3
/H
2
SO
4

and flue gas temperature conditions under
which liquid NaHSO
4
could form at equilib-
rium. The design residence time of the sor-
bent should be more than 1 second.
Generally, the design of a DSI delivery sys-
tem is quite simple. A blower moves trona from
a silo to the injection lances. In some applica-
tions, the discharge air from the blower must be
chilled and dehumidified based on the ambient
conditions (Figure 5). In addition, the convey-
ing air temperature should be kept below 140F.
The efficiency of a DSI system depends on
many factors. The key to a well-performing
DSI system design is to distribute the sorbent
evenly in flue gas so that the sorbent and acid
gases can be well mixed. Other important cri-
teria include these:
Finer sorbent particles result in better per-
formance.
Longer residence time means more time
for mixing and chemical reactions, thus
better performance.
Better sorbent penetration into flue gas
and mixing results in higher removal ef-
ficiencies.
Because sorbents can build up on the
fabric filters of a baghouse and provide a
layer of sorbent for further reactions with
acid gases, baghouse filters have higher
efficiencies than ESP units.
The minimum flue gas temperature at the
sorbent injection location should be at
least 275F. Higher temperatures normally
result in better performance. The recom-
mended maximum temperature is 1,500F.
DSI System Performance
Trona is very reactive with SO
3
. At one 800-
MW power plant located in the eastern U.S.,
trona was injected between the air preheater
and cold-end ESP. The SO
3
was measured
upstream of the trona injection ports and
downstream of the ESP. Figure 6 illustrates
the SO
3
removal rate versus trona normalized
stoichiometric ratio (NSR) based on SO
3
.
Because the SO
3
concentration is much
lower than SO
2
, high removal efficiencies
(>95%) require good mixing between trona
and flue gas. In other words, the SO
3
removal
efficiency is limited by the mass transfer, not
by the reactivity between SO
2
and trona.
The reactions between trona and SO
3
are
very fast. Over 90% of SO
3
removal rate
has been routinely achieved with an NSR of
around 1.5 when using trona.
SO
3
in flue gas can adsorb onto the flyash
and injected activated carbon, thus competing
with mercury for the active adsorption sites.
Therefore, injecting trona to remove SO
3
has
the desirable side effect of greatly enhanced
mercury removal by flyash and activated
carbon. Figure 7 shows the effect of trona
injection on the mercury removal by pow-
dered activated carbon (PAC). In this same
800-MW boiler with SCR and cold-side ESP,
Avoid!
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
H
2
S
O
4

+

S
O
3

(
p
p
m
)
300 320 340 360 380 400 420 440 460 480 500
Temperature (F)
NaHSO
4

(solid)
NaHSO
4

(liquid)
Na
2
SO
4
(solid)
4. Watch your step. Products of sodi-
um-SO
3
reactions at equilibrium will help de-
termine the best injection location in the gas
stream. Source: Solvay Chemicals Inc.
5. Trona delivery system. Injection rate
controls for dry trona typically use a feed bin
on scales. Multiple injection lances are used
for even distribution of the sorbent. Courtesy:
Solvay Chemicals Inc.
6. SO
3
removal performance with trona. The trona feed rate was 1,100 lb/h (NSR
= 0.1 based on SO
2
). The SO
3
at the SCR outlet was 3 ppm. Source: Solvay Chemicals Inc.
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0.0
S
O
3

r
e
m
o
v
a
l

r
a
t
e

(
%
)
Normalized stoichiometric ratio
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Change can be a good thing, especially when youre ready for it. While methods change slowly,
those pipes, pumps, and pieces of equipment and their paperwork never seem to stop changing.
With Intergraphs integrated plant design environment, you have an edge as conditions, assets,
and data change over time. Your data becomes strategic when used in a powerful data portal from
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With Intergraphs integrated plant design environment, you have an edge as conditions, assets,
and data change over time. Your data becomes strategic when used in a powerful data portal from
which you can drive concurrent engineering, rules-based design, and global worksharing throughout
the plant life cycle. From ribbon cutting to handover to operational plant, Intergraph helps you congure
your data faster and smarter, taking full advantage of it, minimizing costs, speeding up operations
and staying on top of change.
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INGR_PowerMag_AD.indd 1 4/15/10 4:11:42 PM

|
May 2010 118
EMISSIONS
trona was injected before the air preheater
and powdered activated carbon was injected
between the air preheater and ESP. Without
trona, no more than 80% of mercury was
removed even at very high PAC feed rates.
With trona injection at NSR = 0.1 based on
the concentration of SO
2
, high mercury re-
moval rates (>90%) were achieved even at
low PAC feedrates. The SO
3
at SCR outlet
was around 3 ppm. After trona injection,
there was no measurable SO
3
, which was the
key to the high mercury removal.
In addition to mitigating air pollutants,
sodium sorbents are able to improve the per-
formance of electrostatic precipitators, even
cold-side ESP units. Some flyash has higher
resistivity, which makes the capture of fine
particulate material difficult with electrostat-
ic precipitators. The injection of low-cost so-
dium sorbent, such as trona, is able to lower
the resistivity of flyash and, consequently,
improve the performance of the ESP.
Intellectual Property
Solvay was awarded a patent for the use of
trona in a DSI to react with SO
3
in certain
cases in March of this year. However, the
patent has been dropped and the technology
is now available to the public. This decision
was reached in cooperation with and the
full support of AEP, which was one of the
pioneers of using trona for SO
3
mitigation.
Solvay feels very strongly that there should
be no encumbrances to the widespread use of
this technology.
Dr. Yougen Kong, PE (yougen.kong@
solvay.com) is technical development
manager and Michael D. Wood (michael
.wood@solvay.com ) is senior business
manager for the SOLVAir Products Group,
Solvay Chemicals Inc.
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0.0
H
g

r
e
m
o
v
a
l

r
a
t
e

(
%
)
PAC injection rate (lb/mmacf)
5.0
10.0 15.0
20.0
No trona With trona
7. Mercury removal performance with trona. Source: Solvay Chemicals Inc.
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|
May 2010 120
CONFERENCE REPORT
Resurrecting Nuclear:
We Have to Get It Right
Offers of nuclear loan guarantees are pending, construction permit applica-
tions are at an industry high, and the political stars seem to be properly
aligned. However, there remains one obstacle in the development path of
the next-generation of nuclear plants: How will these plants be financed?
By Kennedy Maize
T
his time, we have got to get it
right, says Fluors Chris Tye. Tye
is the giant construction companys
senior vice president for nuclear construction
and a veteran of the 1970s and 1980s, when
the nuclear industry did not always get it right
when building new nuclear plants. The histori-
cal record demonstrates a pattern of overbud-
get, off-schedule performance that drove up
plant costs and soured utilities, regulators, in-
vestors, the public, and the government when
it came to nuclear power.
With federal loan guarantees now in hand
for at least some new projectsthe Southern
Companys two-unit, $14 billion Vogtle ex-
pansion has won an $8 billion-plus guarantee
from the U.S. Department of EnergyTye
argues that failure on constructing the next
generation of nuclear plants will be fatal to a
nuclear renaissance. (See Plant Vogtle Leads
the Next Nuclear Generation, POWER, No-
vember 2009.)
Tye was on a construction issues panel at
the annual Platts nuclear conference in Rock-
ville, Md., in February. Looking at the critical
steps for a real nuclear revivalsomething
the industry has been awaiting since the 2005
Energy Policy Act and its loan guarantee
provisionsTye told POWER in an inter-
view, We have got to get the first one [of the
new generation of nuclear plants] right. If we
fail, the whole enterprise fails. Tye said the
key to getting new nuclear generating plants
built is Construction 101basic blocking
and tackling.
Industry Optimism Returns
The Platts atomic confab, which has tra-
ditionally had a fingers-crossed feel about
new nukes, was abuzz with optimism this
year, according to many of those who at-
tended. The passage of the 2005 Energy
Policy Act and its authorization for over
$18 billion in nuclear loan guarantees had
the industry on a policy high four years
ago. But the Bush administrations inabil-
ity (or unwillingness) to implement the
loan guarantees over the next few years
demoralized the industry.
Now the Obama administration, which
many in the industry feared would be reflex-
ively anti-nuke when it arrived in Washing-
ton, came through with an $8 billion loan
guarantee for the planned Vogtle expansion
(Figure 1). This announcement from the
White Housea quick walk from the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commissions White
Flint, Md., headquartersmade just before
the conference started, struck many observ-
ers as intentional, not accidental.
1. We have a winner. Plant Vogtle received the DOEs first offer of an $8 billion loan guarantee for the construction of two new nuclear
units. Courtesy: NRC
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industrial setting, how to rig and lift
heavy objects. We know that we can
hire a person who is a graduate of this
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M. Main
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May 2010 122
CONFERENCE REPORT
In introductory remarks at the conference,
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Chairman Gregory Jaczko noted, A decade
ago, I doubt many people inside or outside
the NRC would have foreseen any significant
increase in new reactor applications. Even
five years ago, the outlook for new reactors
remained uncertain.
Now, said Jaczko, times have changed,
and the NRC is prepared to deal with the
challenge of licensing new reactors under its
untested combined construction and operat-
ing licensing (COL) process. The regulatory
agency, he said, is well-prepared to continue
completing licensing reviews in an efficient
and predictable manner.
The nuclear industry pushed hard for the
new COL process for many years. In a speech
in February to Wall Street analysts, Nuclear
Energy Institute President and CEO Mar-
vin Fertel said that, as a result of regulatory
changes, financial incentives, and excellence
of operations at nuclear plants, 2010 looks to
be a transformational year for the industry.
We have nothing less than a new political
mandate for nuclear energy, Fertel said.
The new regulatory regime is going to put
advanced planning and staging in the fore-
front of plant construction, Tye said. The li-
censing process is all different than the way
it was in the last cycle of nuclear construc-
tion, he noted.
The way the new process is designed to
some extent drives way the plant gets deliv-
ered, Tye said. The combined license means
that all design must be done before the NRC
will grant a license. That, in turn, means that
a lot of equipment must be bought and ready
to be delivered in advance of breaking ground.
Construction, he said, will occur more quick-
ly and will peak more rapidly than in the old
days. The prior construction model involved a
lot of design on the fly, said Tye, but that
cant happen now. There will have to be de-
sign certainty before construction begins.
In his talk at the Platts conference, NRCs
Jaczko focused on serious supply chain chal-
lengesincluding fuel cycle issuesthat
arrive in a new nuclear boom, if it occurs.
In the next few years, he said, the agency
anticipates as many as 24 applications for
new uranium recovery facilities or requests
to expand or restart uranium recovery facili-
ties. When it comes to in situ recovery (from
tailings piles left from previous mining),
Jackzo said the NRC has sought to make
our environmental review more efficient and
effective, including a generic environmental
impact statement to provide a starting point
for site-specific reviews.
Show Me the Money
While Fluors Chris Tye stressed the need to
avoid the errors of the past when it comes to
nuclear generating plants, John Reed, CEO
of Concentric Energy Advisors Inc., a nu-
clear consulting firm, warned that there are
signs of the recurrence of past problems. He
laid out five areas that concern him:
Commodity cost changes have taken cost
estimates on a ride.
Design/scope changes are being re-priced.
Demand reduction will lead to deferrals.
Cost recovery challenges are coming.
Regulators are facing public opposition to
rate hikes.
Reeds concerns are already surfacing in
the general media. A Washington Post ar-
ticle (Nuclear Projects Face Financial Ob-
stacles, March 2, 2010) published following
the Platts meeting, reported, Hopes for a
nuclear revival, fanned by fears of global
warming and a changing political climate in
Washington, are running into new obstacles
over a key elementmoney.
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ELECTRIC POWER 2010
10th Anniversary
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10th Anniversary
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Snapshot of PRB
Annual Meeting Topics
Combustible Dust Compliance Strategy
Case study of a utility using a combination of
employee training and involvement, proce-
dures, and existing risk management ap-
proaches to raise awareness and effectively
manage dust.
NFPA Standards in the Utility Coal
Industry
NFPA 850 is a recognized standard addressing
re protection and loss prevention for electric
generating plants. Learn about the changes
and how NFPA helps you in preventing res
and losses.
Respirable Dust
Stop the continuation of health hazards at cur-
rent levels through a discussion that connects
combustible dust and EPA compliance expec-
tations to enable a comprehensive and coordi-
nated approach towards safety and health.
Coal Handling System: Fire Case Study
An explosion and resulting re in a take-up
tower and conveyor prompts review of all coal
handling procedures and practices.
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May 18-20, 2010 BALTI MORE, MD
In 2003, the Chemical Safety
Board (CSB) launched
investigations of three major
industrial explosions involving
combustible powders.
These explosionsin
North Carolina, Kentucky,
and Indianacost lives
and caused numerous
injuries and substantial property losses. The
CSB responded by launching a nationwide
study to determine the scope of the problem
and recommend new safety measures for
facilities that handle combustible powders.
The PRB annual meeting is framed to start
with an explanation of the driving reasons for
increased rulemaking. Dust explosions kill and
injure American workers, destroy jobs and
businesses, and shatter communities. This
presentation will draw on lessons learned from
recent investigations of accidents involving
dust. It will also share the CSBs ndings and
recommendations for the prevention of future
dust accidents.
PRB Keynote:
The Honorable
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Tuesday, May 18, 2010
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|
May 2010 124
CONFERENCE REPORT
Should We Fear Water Leaked from Buried Pipes?
The revelation of leaking pipes at Vermont Yankee is not the first
time the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has investigated
leaking underground pipes. In fact, the NRC expects buried pipes
to leak. One of the safety functions performed by the NRC is to
review every plants groundwater monitoring programs and to de-
termine if a leak poses a threat to the public health, safety, or the
environment. Every safety system with buried piping is subject to
inspection and testing per NRC rules and ASME standards, which
require routine flow testing and surveillance, often several times
a year (Figure 2).
Other industry organizations are also deeply involved in buried
pipe testing and assessment. According to the NRC, NACE Interna-
tional (formerly the National Association of Corrosion Engineers)
has formed a Nuclear Buried Piping group to examine how its stan-
dards can be optimized for use at nuclear power plants. EPRI has
produced recommendations for controlling buried pipe corrosion
and other degradation, based on existing NACE standards. The
nuclear industry is also working with EPRI to develop additional
procedures for buried piping maintenance. Several recent nucle-
ar operating license renewal applications have also included the
requirement for added buried pipe inspections and replacement.
NRCs Buried Piping Integrity Initiative will soon roll up all these
inputs into new rules.
The Source of Tritium
Public concern really isnt about the leaking pipes but rather about
the radioactive water that can enter the local groundwater. Tritium,
an isotope of hydrogen, is often cited as present in the leaking wa-
ter. Thats not surprising, as tritium originates from the boron used
as a neutron absorber to help control the nuclear chain reaction.
Tritium emits a weak form of radiation, a low-energy beta particle
similar to an electron. The tritium radiation does not travel very
far in air and cannot penetrate the skin. When tritium bonds with
oxygen it forms radioactive tritiated water. The tritiated water is
chemically identical to water, odorless, tasteless, and the tritium
cant be filtered out.
For John Q. Public, any amount of radioactive groundwater con-
tamination is unsatisfactory. Fortunately, the amount of radiation
that is harmful is determined based on a half-century of nuclear
experience and not on perceptions. Nuclear power plants routinely
release dilute solutions of tritiated water every day. Tritium also
naturally occurs in groundwater by the collision of cosmic rays
with air molecules. In fact, the tritium radiation dose from work-
ing in a nuclear plant is less than what is received by exposure
to natural background radiation. According to the NRC, tritiated
water accounts for less than 0.1% of the total background dose we
each receive each year.
Little Danger from Tritium
According to the NRC, the amount of radioactive materials involved
in the most recent underground pipe leaks that have above-nor-
mal amounts of tritium do not present a public health hazard.
As of March 25, the Vermont Department of Health reported that
samples of drinking water well samples continued to show no tri-
tium in excess of the lower limit of detection. Tritium levels in
drinking water are measured in picocuries per liter (trillionths of a
curie per liter, pCi/L) in drinking water with 1,600 pCi/L being a
fairly normal level. Using Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
consumption assumptions, consuming this water over a year would
provide a total radiation dose of 0.3 millirem (mrem). This dose
is ten thousand times less than that received from a full-body CT
scan (3,000 to 10,000 mrem), one thousand times less than the
average U.S. natural background radiation each year (300 to 360
mrem), one hundred times less than a dental x-ray (30 mrem), and
10 times lower than the radiation dose received during a round-tip
cross-country airplane flight (3 mrem).
For those who work at or visit nuclear plants, the NRC has set
a 500-mrem dose limit for pregnant nuclear plant workers, 5,000
mrem for other workers, and 100 mrem annual dose limit for mem-
bers of the general public. Another interesting statistic: Radon gas
accounts for two-thirds of the 300 mrem normal background ra-
diation we receive each year, with cosmic, terrestrial, and internal
radiation accounting for the remainder. No adverse health effects
have ever been observed from doses arising from these levels of
natural radiation exposure nor from levels found in drinking water.
Another useful comparison is the EPA 1976 drinking water stan-
dard. The EPA set the limit of tritium radiation allowable in drink-
ing water at 4 mrem per year. The calculation methods at the time
conservatively equated the standard to a maximum tritium level of
20,000 pCi/L. In 1991, improved calculation methods determined
that 4 mrem was actually equivalent to a tritium dose of 60,900
pCi/L, three times higher. The EPA elected to leave the drinking
water tritium limits at the 1976 levels in its current regulations.
A final comment: The total amount of radiation emitted by the
average painted tritium watch (which enables reading the time
in low-light environments) is a maximum of 25 to 26 millicuries,
roughly ten thousand times more than the level found in typical
drinking water.
Dr. Robert Peltier, PE is POWERs editor-in-chief.
Nuclear
power plant
Damaged pipe
Tritium plume
Monitoring
well
Sand & stone layer
Upper clay
Lower clay
Aquifer
Drinking
water well
2. Leaky pipes usually pose no danger. The NRC has safe-
ty programs in place to closely monitor and test underground pipes.
Critics point to the radioactive contamination of groundwater with tri-
tiated water at Vermont Yankee. A closer analysis shows that the ra-
dioactive levels of tritiated water are thousands of times less than the
background radiation humans receive each year. Source: NRC
A SPECIAL FOCUS ON:
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For more information, visit www.ldcgasforums.com
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June 7-9, 2010 Boston, MA
Renaissance Boston Waterfront
LDC NE ad 8.125x11.indd 1 4/14/10 12:43:10 PM
The 2.5MW Liberty Turbine
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|
May 2010 126
CONFERENCE REPORT
The newspaper article noted that consum-
ers, including large businesses, and environ-
mental groups are already raising objections
in states where new nuclear projects have
won regulatory construction work in
progress (CWIP) financing, which begins
charging consumers for the price of the new
generating project well before it comes into
service.
CWIP was a major sticking point in the
first nuclear go-round of the 1970s and
1980s, when consumers were saddled with
costs for plants that were, for a variety of rea-
sons, including economic, cancelled. Its a
terrible idea, Jim Clarkson, a consultant
with Resource Supply Management, a Geor-
gia firm that advises companies on how to
reduce electricity use, told the newspaper.
Weve had decades of subsidies for nuclear
plants and all sorts of preferential treatment.
They still require loan guarantees because
the smart money wont touch them.
Preventable Problems
Performance issues also continue to dog the
nuclear power industry, although it has vast-
ly improved the way it runs its plants from
the miserable days of the 1980s.
The latest problem has been at Entergys
Vermont Yankee plant, a relic from the early
1970s (Figure 3). The 540-MW General Elec-
tric boiling water reactor (BWR), licensed to
operate in 1972, has was leaking radioactive
tritium offsite until repairs were made in late
March (see sidebar).
As a result, the company now faces
possible state criminal charges related to
plant officials possibly having lied under
oath about the pipes carrying tritium. And
the Vermont state senate has voted over-
whelmingly to oppose Entergys proposed
20-year license extension for the plant at
the NRC. If that vote stands, under Ver-
mont law the plant would be forced to shut
down in 2012.
The Vermont vote has implications be-
yond the Green Mountain State. Entergy
tried for several years to spin off six of its
reactorsmerchant plants acquired after
the collapse of electric utility restructur-
ing a decade ago into a publicly traded
nuclear generating company dubbed En-
exus. The convoluted financing of the deal
stalled approvals in Vermont and New York.
On March 25, the New York Public Service
Commission rejected the spin-off plan, un-
convinced that customers would benefit and
concerned about the new company taking on
too much debt. According to Vermont Pub-
lic Radio, the tritium issue at Vermont Yan-
kee and the state senate vote complicated
the deal further.
Finally, on April 5, Entergy announced it
would cancel the proposed spinoff transac-
tion because of the potential for a protracted
legal process.
NRC Chairman Jaczko made note of the
Vermont tritium issue in his remarks at the
Platts conference. The headlines have not
been pretty, he said. As a scientist, I know
the relative risk of tritium. In the grand
scheme of radiation, it is well down the
scale, but in the area of public perception, it
takes on greater significance.
Jaczko added that the Vermont Yankee
problem echoed an earlier problem at the
Oyster Creek plant in New Jersey, an iconic
GE BWR that went into service in 1969 and
the oldest reactor now in commercial ser-
vice. Oyster Creek also had offsite tritium
leaks. That episode told us great deal about
how buried pipe behaves over the years,
he said, and the importance of ensuring
that the right piping is installed in the first
place.
In other words, as Fluors Chris Tye ad-
vises, get it right the first time.
Kennedy Maize is a POWER contributing
editor and executive editor of MANAGING
POWER, www.managingpowermag.com.
3. Tainted reputation. Vermont Yankee is battling Vermont residents for approval of a 20-year license extension. Leaking tritiated water from
the plant has further alienated residents, even though there are no public health effects. Courtesy: NRC
www.energyocean.com
June 8-10, 2010
Hyatt Bonaventure Conference Center & Spa
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
7
th Annual
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Over 60 Exhibiting Companies|More than 600 Attendees
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It will highlight the latest technological advances, investment opportunities, regulatory
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EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: Register by May 15th to Save!
Conference Highlights
What to look for:
Y Keynote Speech: Alejandro Moreno, Technology Lead,
Water Power, U.S. Department of Energy
Y Lunch with Guest Speaker:
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& Chairman Emeritus, Simmons & Company International
Y U.S. Government Panel Session
Y Global Perspective: Case Studies from Around the World
Y OTEC Session
Y Offshore Wind Session
EO ad_8.125x11.indd 1 4/15/10 4:17:23 PM
www.energyocean.com
June 8-10, 2010
Hyatt Bonaventure Conference Center & Spa
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
7
th Annual
wind | wave | tidal | current | thermal | solar | hybrids
Over 60 Exhibiting Companies|More than 600 Attendees
3 Days of Conference Content|One Event!
Why Should You Attend?
EnergyOcean International is the LARGEST ocean energy event in the United States
Its the ONLY U.S. event with EXHIBITS AND A CONFERENCE under one roof, focusing on all
types of ocean energy: Wind, Wave, Current, Tidal, Thermal, Solar and Hybrids
Its the ONLY ocean energy event in the U.S. offering ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS between U.S.
companies and international delegates
It will highlight the latest technological advances, investment opportunities, regulatory
issues and planned and implemented projects around the world.
EARLY BIRD SPECIAL: Register by May 15th to Save!
Conference Highlights
What to look for:
Y Keynote Speech: Alejandro Moreno, Technology Lead,
Water Power, U.S. Department of Energy
Y Lunch with Guest Speaker:
Matt Simons, Founder of the Ocean Energy Institute
& Chairman Emeritus, Simmons & Company International
Y U.S. Government Panel Session
Y Global Perspective: Case Studies from Around the World
Y OTEC Session
Y Offshore Wind Session
EO ad_8.125x11.indd 1 4/15/10 4:17:23 PM
|
May 2010 128
NEW PRODUCTS
TO POWER YOUR BUSINESS
Wireless Clamp Meter
Extech Instruments introduced the EX845, a 1,000A AC/DC CAT IV clamp meter
with new METERLiNK technology and a built-in infrared thermometer. METERLiNK
wirelessly connects FLIR infrared cameras to Extech meters via Bluetooth to
simplify inspections.
During infrared inspections of electrical components, users can
transmit key electrical readings such as current or voltage from
an Extech EX845 clamp meter directly to a FLIR infrared camera.
METERLiNK instantly imprints the electrical readings onto
a related infrared image, ensuring accurate, coordinated
documentation for predictive maintenance inspection
reports. The EX845 has a CAT IV-600V,
CAT III-1000V overvoltage safety rating
and is CE and ETL approved. The meter
comes complete with an eight-piece
professional test lead set, a 9V
battery, Type K temperature probe,
and a belt holster. NIST certication
is available for this product. (www.
extech.com/instruments)
Measure
Methane
Flow
The Fluid Components
International ST51
ow meter is designed
to measure the ow
of biogases, methane,
and other greenhouse gas
mixtures. The ow meter
comes in an explosion-proof
instrument and features a
no-moving-parts design thats
nonclogging and operates over
a wide ow range with low-
ow sensitivity. A big plus is
that the meter calibration
is matched to the users
actual gas composition and
installation conditions.
The ST51 features a thermal
mass, insertion-style ow
element with ow accuracy to
1% of reading over a broad ow
range from 0.3 to 400 fps and
repeatability of 0.5%. The ow
element is available for use in
line sizes from 2 to 24 inches
diameter. It operates over a wide
turndown range of 100:1, which
is essential due to the variable
gas ows in landll gas recovery and
wastewater treatment. (www.uidcomponents.
com)
Limitorque Adds DC Inputs
Flowserve Corp. has added 24- to 48-volt DC-input power for all sizes
of Flowserve Limitorque QX electronic valve actuators. The QX offers
reliability for remote applications that require an uninterrupted
power supply but cannot use single- or three-phase AC volts. The
electronic controls in the Limitorque QX actuators with DC volt
capability are 100% digital with no moving parts, making them
more reliable than electromechanical devices. Additionally, the QX
software provides a torque boost to overcome excessive valve torque
when pulling the valve out of the seat. The actuator is available in
ve distinct sizes from 100 ft-lb to an industry-leading 1,500 ft-lb.
The Limitorque QX is a quarter-turn and limited multi-turn, smart
electronic valve actuator designed to enhance safety and reduce
downtime through improved diagnostics, built-in self-test features,
and LimiGard fault protection capabilities. Optional Bluetooth
wireless connectivity with a range up to 10 meters is available.
When used with Flowserve Limitorque Dashboard Windows-based
software, diagnostic information is easily transferred to a PDA,
laptop computer, or cell phone. (www.owserve.com)
16_PWR_050110_NewProducts_p128-131.indd 128 4/16/10 7:14:22 PM
|
May 2010 130
NEW PRODUCTS
Inclusion in New Products does not imply endorsement by POWER magazine.
Henkel Corp. has introduced two new Loctite threadlockers formulated to withstand consistent operating
temperatures up to 360F. Curing consistently and thoroughly without cleaning, these new products tolerate
the oils and lubricants typically found on as received threaded fasteners. These products will also cure on
plated, aluminum, stainless, and chromated fasteners without primers.
Loctite 243 and Loctite 263 prevent fastener loosening caused by shock, vibration, and temperature-
induced expansion and contraction. Loctite 243 is a blue, medium-strength, thixotropic liquid threadlocker
that can be disassembled using standard hand tools. Loctite 263 is a red, high-strength, thixotropic
threadlocker for applications where permanent assembly is required. Both products provide a leak-proof,
corrosion-free seal of the threads. (www.henkelna.com/nextgenthreadlockers)
Combo Temp and Humidity Sensor
E Instruments has just released its TH300 humidity and temperature sensor, which
is ideal for applications that require a single, high-accuracy instrument. The sensor
measures relative and absolute humidity, dew point, wet and dry temperatures,
and enthalpy. The range of measurement is from 0% to 100% relative humidity and
40F to 356F. Accuracy is 1.5% RH and 0.45F. The sensor can display up to four
simultaneous parameters and includes all the standard transmitter output options.
(www.e-inst.com)
Lenox Instrument Co. announced its new FireSight
Thermal Imaging Camera System designed specically
to provide clear, real-time monitoring and accurate,
noncontact temperature measurement through
combustion ames. Temperature data are transmitted
from 110,000 individual temperature points via a high-
speed digital connection.
Designed to be installed through a small opening in
the combustion chamber wall, the high-resolution
camera and lens tube employs efcient water-
cooling and integrated air-purging to keep the
optics clear of debris and enable operation in
high-temperature furnace environments. The
camera includes image processing software that
can control or monitor up to four imaging cameras
and allows high-resolution images and data to be
viewed, manipulated, recorded, and archived. The
software can also remotely control the camera(s).
It also features automatic storage of images and
video on triggered measurement or high/low
alarm conditions with optional analog signals or
alarm outputs to a programmable logic controller
or distributed control system.
Infrared furnace camera accessories include an
automatic retract system that pulls the camera
back on loss of water cooling or air, a monitoring
station to provide a local point of connection
and status monitoring of coolant ow, purge air pressure,
and electrical connections. A control processor provides
connection to a wide range of industrial interfaces (TCP/
IP protocol, OPC, analog signals, or alarm outputs).
(www.lenoxinst.com)
New and Improved Loctite Formula
Infrared Camera Measures Through Flames
Power Award EXP
See Your Plant Honored by
POWER magazine
Join POWER magazine for the
Power Plant Awards Banquet
Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel,
Chesapeake Ballroom
Monday, May 17, 2010
Banquet: 7:00 PM 10:00 PM | $125
FEATURED SPEAKER:
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Commander of Air Force One (2001-2009)
Air Force One Pilot on September 11, 2001
Commander of 250 person crew
Nominate Your Plant
For over 25 years, POWER magazine has honored the top
performers in the electricity-generating industry with annual
power plant awards. If your plant has distinguished itself by
innovative design or engineering upgrades, producing power
more reliably or economically than comparable plants, or
demonstrating a new generation or environmental controls
technology, dont miss the opportunity to see your plant
honored by POWER magazine.
What does the POWER award represent?
The design of the trophy reects the unique nature of the power
generation industry, starting with the lightning bolt that represents
electricity. The top of the trophy is shaped like a turbine shaft with four
blades attached. Each blade represents the four primary fuels used to
generate electricity: coal, nuclear, natural gas, and renewables.
Each trophy is hand-made by an artisan for POWER magazine.
POWER magazines 2009 Plant of the Year,
Marmaduke award winner, and Top Plants,
along with the PRB Coal Users Group Plant
of the Year, will be recognized during this
must-attend industry gathering.
POWER Plant of the Year
2010 nomination forms are due no later than May 24, 2010
for the following categories:
Plant of the Year
Marmaduke Award
Top Plants
If you are unsure about what category to choose,
submit an application for each category that
applies to your plant. Download nomination forms from
www.powermag.com and email completed forms to
awards@powermag.com.
PWR awards dinner adv2.indd 2 4/19/10 9:51:09 AM
|
May 2010 132
Opportunities in Operations and Maintenance,
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0510 Power Classified.indd 132 4/19/10 3:16:06 PM
May 2010
|
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May 2010 134
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3. FOR POWER PRODUCERS
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What forms of energy are used at your
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energy is your company interested in?
oCoal A
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oNatural Gas C
oNuclear D
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May 2010
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ABB Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 . . . . . . . . . .25
www.abb.com/controlsystems
Air Systems Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . . . .9
www.asplparts.com
Apollo Valves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 . . . . . . . . . .30
www.apollovalves.com
Applied Bolting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 . . . . . . . . . .14
www.appliedbolting.com
Ashross. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 . . . . . . . . . .47
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Babcock & Wilcox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cover 4 . . . . . . . . . .62
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Benetech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . .4
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BHI Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . . . . . . .2
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Bruks Rockwood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 . . . . . . . . . .40
www.bruks.com
C.C. Jensen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
www.ccjensen.com
Chromalloy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 . . . . . . . . . .15
www.chromalloy.com
CFE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
www.cfe.gob.mx
ClearSpan Fabric Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 . . . . . . . . . . .6
www.ClearSpan.com
CleaverBrooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 . . . . . . . . . .19
www.cleaverbrooks.com/engineered
Clipper Windpower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 . . . . . . . . . .63
www.clipperwind.com
CMS International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
www.cmsinternational.com.mx
Church & Dwight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 . . . . . . . . . .55
www.churchdwight.com
ConocoPhillips Lubricants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 . . . . . . . . . .36
www.conocophillipslubricants.com/POWER
Copperclad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 . . . . . . . . . .60
www.copperclad.com.mx
Day & Zimmermann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 . . . . . . . . . .32
www.dayzim.com
Diamond Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 . . . . . . . . . .35
www.a-s-h.com
Doosan Heavy Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 . . . . . . . . . .31
www.doosanheavy.com
Dow Wire & Cable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 . . . . . . . . . .51
www.dowinside.com
Fairbanks & Morse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 . . . . . . . . . .52
www.fairbanksmorsenuclear.com
Fermaca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
www.fermaca.com.mx
Flexco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . .5
www.flexco.com
Flexitallic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 . . . . . . . . . .33
www.flexitallic.com
Frantor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
www.frantor.com.mx
GE Energy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
www.ge.com
General Physics Corp.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13. . . . . . . . . . . .8
Global Power Plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 . . . . . . . . . .16
www.globalpps.com
Grupo Carrion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
www.cedimexico.com.mx
Grupo Dielec. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
www.groupdielec.com
Grupo Omni de Mexico. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
www.grupoomni.com
Hach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 . . . . . . . . . .48
www.hach.com/K1100
HADEK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 . . . . . . . . . .22
www.hadek.com
Hitachi USA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cover 3 . . . . . . . . . .61
www.hitachi.us/connected
Houston Dynamic Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 . . . . . . . . . .11
www.houstondynamic.com
IAC Power Divsion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 . . . . . . . . . .49
www.industrialacoustics.com
INDECK Power Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 . . . . . . . . . .54
www.INDECK.com
Intergraph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 . . . . . . . . . .56
Kiewit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 . . . . . . . . . .45
www.Kiewit.com
Kobrex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
www.korbex.com
Ludeca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 . . . . . . . . . .18
www.ludeca.com/centralign
LVHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
www.lvhs.com.mx
Magnetrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 . . . . . . . . . .44
www.magnetrol.com
Martin Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 . . . . . . . . . .23
www.martin-eng.com
Membrana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 . . . . . . . . . .28
www.Liqui-Cel.com
MIAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 . . . . . . . . . .59
www.miat.edu
Mitsubishi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cover 2 . . . . . . . . . . .1
www.mpshq.com
Mobil Industrial Lubricants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 3 . . . . . . . . . . .3
www.mobilindustrial.com
NETJETS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 . . . . . . . . . .38
www.NETJETS.com
Orion Instruments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 . . . . . . . . . .53
www.orioninstruments.com
Ottomotores. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
www.ottomotores.com.mx
PAHARPUR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 . . . . . . . . . .17
www.paharpur.com
Parkline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 . . . . . . . . . .26
www.parkline.com
PESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
www.pessinc.com
Petro-Valve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 . . . . . . . . . .12
www.petrovalve.com
Potencia Industrial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
www.potenciaindustrial.com.mx
Prolec GE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
www.prolecge.com
Proton Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 . . . . . . . . . .42
www.protonenergy.com
Powermatics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 . . . . . . . . . .50
www.powermatics.us
Qgrid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
www.qgrid.net
Rath Gibson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 . . . . . . . . . .10
www.RathGibson.com
Roberts & Schaefer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 . . . . . . . . . .39
www.elginindustries.com
Rolls-Royce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 . . . . . . . . . .43
www.rolls-royce.com
Rolmex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
www.rolmex.com.mx
Schneider Electric. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
www.schneider-electric.com.mx
Sectrol DPH Energia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
www.dph.com.mx
SEISA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
www.seisa.com.mx
SEL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
www.selinc.com
SERPRO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
www.serpromx.com
SICK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 . . . . . . . . . .29
Siemens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 . . . . . . . . . .13
www.siemens/com/energy/controls
Stanley Consultants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 . . . . . . . . . .34
www.stanleyconsultants.com
Swan Analytical Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 . . . . . . . . . .20
www.swan-analyrtical-usa.com
SySCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
www.sysce.com
Total Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 . . . . . . . . . .41
www.TotalSafety.com/values
TurboCare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 . . . . . . . . . .46
www.turbocare.com
Tyco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 . . . . . . . . . .58
www.tyco.com/sempellturbine.com
Verizon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 . . . . . . . . . . .7
www.verizonbusiness.com/utilities
Westinghouse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 . . . . . . . . . .27
www.westinghousenuclear.com
White Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 . . . . . . . . . .57
www.whiteconstruction.com
Yokogawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
www.yokogawa.com/mx
Zachry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 . . . . . . . . . .37
www.zhi.com
ADVERTISERS INDEX
Enter reader service numbers on the FREE Product Information Source card in this issue.
Page
Reader
Service
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17_PWR_050110_Commentary_p134-136.indd 135 4/22/10 8:00:13 PM
|
May 2010 136
COMMENTARY
How Green Is Green Power?
By Melinda E. Taylor
T
he demand for green electricityelectricity produced
from renewable sources like wind, solar, hydropower, geo-
thermal, and biofuelsis at an all-time high in the U.S.
Over the past decade, solar and wind capacity have increased
dramatically due largely to mandatory renewable portfolio stan-
dards (RPS), which have now been adopted by 27 states.
The environmental community strongly supports the use of
RPSs to encourage investment in wind and solar power because
of concerns about global warming and air pollution associated
with traditional power plants. As wind turbines and solar fa-
cilities have proliferated, however, the environmental impacts of
these clean fuels have come into focus. The result is a dilemma
for environmentalists and a challenge to conventional notions of
what constitutes a green technology.
Renewable Energy Is Poised for Strong Growth
Over the past decade, wind power capacity quadrupled in re-
sponse to strong demand. Solar power also expanded rapidly: It
increased by 9% in 2007 and another 17% in 2008. Even with
this dramatic growth, less than 5% of U.S. electric power cur-
rently comes from renewable fuels.
The Obama administration has made the expansion of wind
and solar power a cornerstone of its energy policy with the goal
of doubling renewable energy capacity by 2012. Congress pro-
vided unprecedented public investment through the economic
stimulus package last year, as well as tax credits and incentives.
Finally, the administration has signaled its willingness to allow
extensive swaths of public land to be used for renewable energy
and transmission lines, over the protests of advocates for parks,
wildlife, and wilderness.
Wind and Solar Energys Environmental Challenges
Environmentalists find themselves in a quandary: On the one
hand, they embrace the unparalleled government commitment
to clean energy, while on the other hand they protest the im-
pact of turbines and solar panels on rare plants and animals and
water resources. How to reconcile these positions and not be
perceived, as usual, as obstructionists to progress, especially
environmental progress?
Most environmental concerns about wind and solar energy boil
down to concerns about siting. Rural landowners complain that
wind turbines located on adjacent property obstruct their views
and interfere with the rural character of the landscape. Coastal
landownersthink expensive Cape Cod beach housesobject to
offshore wind turbines in their field of vision. Wildlife advocates
are concerned about the thousands of birds and bats killed annu-
ally by the blades of wind turbines located in migratory flyways
and the habitat fragmentation that results from the development
of wind and solar plants and transmission. Municipal, state, and
federal regulators are alarmed by proposals to develop solar fa-
cilities in the arid (but sunny!) Southwest because the stan-
dard parabolic trough and central tower systems associated with
many solar facilities use conventional steam plants to generate
electricitya process that uses more than twice as much water
per kilowatt-hour as a coal-fired power plant.
Until recently, regulators did not pay much attention to the
aesthetic and environmental impacts of renewable energy fa-
cilities. Several recent developments suggest that the pendulum
may be shifting, which is likely to result in more expense for
renewable energy developers. In Kansas, for example, one county
enacted a land use ordinance in 2004 that banned completely
all commercial wind farms. In response to a legal challenge, the
Kansas Supreme Court upheld the county ordinance as reason-
able, stating that it was justifiable for the county to base its
land use restriction on scenic and aesthetic considerations and
the wishes of some of the county residents.
Impacts to endangered species can also justify a legal chal-
lenge to renewable energy. In December 2009, a federal judge in
Maryland ordered a halt to the construction of 122 wind turbines
in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia due to poten-
tial impacts on an endangered bat. The judge ordered the wind
company to seek an incidental take permit before proceeding
with construction, a process that is likely to take many months,
if not years.
The conflict between alternative energy development and wa-
ter resource protection is difficult to reconcile in some parts of
the West. States with the greatest solar resources, such as Ne-
vada, California, and Arizona, face overtaxed water supplies that
are needed by municipalities, farmers, and endangered species.
Federal agencies find themselves on opposite sides of the issue.
Dealing with the Tradeoffs of Using Renewable Energy
Where does all of this leave environmentalists and citizens in-
terested in both sustainable energy and natural resource protec-
tion? What is called for is a more sophisticated understanding of
and public discussion about the dark side of renewable power
production. We need to recognize that there may be tradeoffs
between wildlife and land protection and policies that promote
rapid development of renewables. Above all, the situation calls
for wise land use planning at multiple scales, particularly on
public lands, to minimize the adverse environmental impacts of
energy sources that have the potential to make key contribu-
tions to our energy security and solving the problem of global
warming.
Melinda E. Taylor (mtaylor@law.utexas.edu) teaches environ-
mental law at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin,
Texas, and is the executive director of the law schools Center for
Global Energy, International Arbitration, and Environmental Law.
17_PWR_050110_Commentary_p134-136.indd 136 4/16/10 7:27:37 PM
Name Initials Date
Dir of Studio Services C. Weston
Proofreader D. Heiges
Art Director P. Walsh
Copywriter
Group Creative Director M. Jordan
Creative Director
Project Manager S. Dold
Dir of Graphic Services S. Turner
Account Executive E. Uy
Client Hitachi
PDF
Version HI-RES IN PLACE
PROOF # 1
Paper Fortune Gloss Text
Line Screen 133
HTX-0A003E
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Mechanical Safety Size: 7
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4/C Pg Bleed Magazine
Line Screen: 133
IEEE Power & Energ May 2010
Power May 2010
This Advertisement Created by
150 East 42
ND
Street, New York, NY 10017
Main Tel: 212.414.7000
and homes more efciently...
and reducing the impact on our environment.
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create energy solutions...
conserving natural resources...
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beneting the customer, society and the planet. See, at Hitachi,
we only succeed when we all succeed. hitachi.us/connected
02_PWR_050110_TOC_p1-5.indd 3 4/16/10 3:27:48 PM
Name Initials Date
Dir of Studio Services C. Weston
Proofreader D. Heiges
Art Director P. Walsh
Copywriter
Group Creative Director M. Jordan
Creative Director
Project Manager S. Dold
Dir of Graphic Services S. Turner
Account Executive E. Uy
Client Hitachi
PDF
Version HI-RES IN PLACE
PROOF # 1
Paper Fortune Gloss Text
Line Screen 133
HTX-0A003E
Hitachi
Corporate
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Mechanical Bleed Size: 8
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Mechanical Trim Size: 7
7
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Mechanical Safety Size: 7
1
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4/C Pg Bleed Magazine
Line Screen: 133
IEEE Power & Energ May 2010
Power May 2010
This Advertisement Created by
150 East 42
ND
Street, New York, NY 10017
Main Tel: 212.414.7000
and homes more efciently...
and reducing the impact on our environment.
Hitachi engineers...
create energy solutions...
conserving natural resources...
to power businesses...

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beneting the customer, society and the planet. See, at Hitachi,
we only succeed when we all succeed. hitachi.us/connected
02_PWR_050110_TOC_p1-5.indd 2 4/16/10 3:27:25 PM

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2010 Exxon Mobil Corporation

66 A Brief History of Mexicos Power Sector

2010 Exxon Mobil Corporation

FUEL THE FUTURE

FUEL THE FUTURE

FUEL THE FUTURE

FUEL THE FUTURE

The system allows us to respond quickly to changes in component

Chung Liu, Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company

Performance & Condition Monitoring saves money while reducing emissions.

The system allows us to respond quickly to changes in component

Chung Liu, Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company

Performance & Condition Monitoring saves money while reducing emissions.

Two-Pass and Single-Pass Feedwater Heaters

Block Lining System

Block Lining System.

Block Lining System applied directly to its

lining has a projected service

Block Lining System

Block Lining System.

Block Lining System applied directly to its

lining has a projected service

CARRYBACK CAPTURE SYSTEM is a

CIRCLE 38 ON READER SERVICE CARD

CIRCLE 38 ON READER SERVICE CARD

, and AMS compatible.

, and AMS compatible.

INGR_PowerMag_AD.indd 1 4/15/10 4:11:42 PM

INGR_PowerMag_AD.indd 1 4/15/10 4:11:42 PM

Lifting and Rigging

Hydraulic Tightening and Tensioning

Lifting and Rigging

Hydraulic Tightening and Tensioning

READER SERVICE NUMBER 207

ASME Steam Properties Add-In

Real Gas Properties Add-In (EOS Based)

Gas & Steam Properties Calculators

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