BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY FOR THE GLOBAL GENERATION INDUSTRYJuly 2009 Vol. 153 No. 7Vol. 153 No. 7 July 2009 www.powermag.comAdvanced Digital Control Architectures Save Time and MoneyDesigning an Ultrasupercritical Steam TurbineThe Odd Couple: Renewables & Transmission Biomass Cofiring Cleans Your Coal PlantELECTRIC POWER Conference Reports www.rentechboilers.comThis built-in engineering and production muscle will save you time and costs inboth installation and long term maintenance. Why not get boilers that are toughenough to always make you look good? Take our factory tour and see for yourself(and while in Abilene, well treat you to the best steak youve ever eaten!).Our focus on quality produces RENTECHboilers tough enough for any specs.Fired Package Boilers / Wasteheat Boilers / Heat Recovery Steam GeneratorsMaintenance & Service Strategies / Boiler Repair Services / SCR and CO SystemsBOILERS, TEXAS TOUGHCIRCLE 1 ON READER SERVICE CARDJuly 2009 | POWER www.powermag.com 1 www.powermag.com TK Established 1882 Vol. 153 No. 7 July 2009On the coverImage courtesy iStockphoto.com COVER STORY: PLANT CONTROLS28 Digital Networks Prove Reliable, Reduce CostsDigital bus communications are a no-brainer: They save time, materials, and money during construction and plant operation. This case study of Newmont Gold Minings 200-MW TS Power Plant provides details of the control architecture, equipment and communication protocols selection, and many of the lessons learned during design, construction, and commissioning. SPECIAL REPORT STEAM TURBINES34 Designing an Ultrasupercritical Steam TurbineOne proven way to reduce carbon emissions today is to use the most efficient equip-ment available. Coal-fired steam generation equipment operating at ultrasupercritical steam conditions can deliver a net plant thermal efficiency of over 44%; efficiencies at or above 48% are expected within the next decade. FEATURES ELECTRIC POWER 2009: WHERE THE GENCOS MEET40 Power Industry Needs to Do a Better Job of Educating and MessagingHeres what this years ELECTRIC POWER Conference keynote speaker and Power Industry Executive Roundtable panelists said about cap and trade, NERC standards compliance, the publics poor understanding of the industry, and more.46 The Growing Role of Waste-to-Energy in the U.S.ELECTRIC POWER included a preconference workshop on biomass fundamentals and applications plus a conference session on biomass. As you can tell from the story in this issue on biomass cofiring and another cofiring story online in COAL POWER (see sidebar, next page), burning waste is a trend thats gaining momentum.48 Carbon Control: The Long Road AheadAt this years ELECTRIC POWER Conference, three sessions tackled issues related to CO2 policy and capture and sequestration technologies. Heres a look at some of the challenges ahead.52 Technology Could Deliver 90% Hg Reduction from CoalWhereas CO2 control technology is in its infancy, mercury control is poised for an ado-lescent growth spurt. Removal percentages are headed higher than most might have imagined was possible. Achieving them, however, wont be cheap or easy. WELDING PROCESSES58 Improved Filler Metal Enables Higher-Temperature Dissimilar Metal WeldsEPRI recently developed and sponsored the commercialization of a new filler metal. Its first application is the fabrication of boiler tubes for American Electric Powers ultrasupercritical John J. Turk, Jr. Power Plant.CIRCLE 4 ON READER SERVICE CARD TK www.powermag.com POWER |July 2009 2More than an oil. A business tool.If you think of oil as a line item, or simply an operating cost, perhaps its time to think of it as something more: an opportunity. Better lubricants can smooth the way to maximized productivity, reduced expenses and less down time.Which brings us to Mobil SHC. A full family of scientically engineered supreme-performance lubricants designed to stay on the job 6 to 8 times longer than mineral oils in severe conditions. Developed to provide better protection of your capital investment; extend machine life; and reduce energy consumption.All of which adds up to one thing: increased productivity. Mobil SHC products are endorsed for use in over 5,800 applications by more than 1,100 major equipment builders around the world. Theyre backed by state-of-the-art services and technical support. And theyre reason enough to rethink the role lubricants play in your operation. Dont just make it run. Make it y. For more information on Mobil SHC, go to mobilindustrial.com.2009 Exxon Mobil Corporation. The Mobil logotype, Mobil SHC and the Pegasus design are registered trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries. SHC TRANSMISSION PLANNING62 The Odd Couple: Renewables and TransmissionAn industry analyst argues that a revolutionary approach to the generation and transmission planning systemincluding new system operation policies and proce-dureswill be required if the U.S. is to reach its ambitious renewable goals. COFIRING BIOMASS68 Biomass Cofiring: Another Way to Clean Your CoalBiomass can contribute from 2% to 30% of the total heat input needed for generation, thereby replacing a sizable portion of the typical coal supply. For that reason alone, cofiring should be viewed as a serious strategy for reducing carbon emissions and meeting a renewable portfolio standard. MORE POWER STORIES ONLINEVisit our online sister publicationsCOAL POWER (www.coalpowermag.com) and MANAGING POWER (www.managingpowermag.com)for more industry news, feature stories, and opinion. In the May/June COAL POWER: Commercial Experience with Concrete-Friendly Mercury Sorbents Better Combustion Airflow Monitoring at the Hunan Yiyang Power Plant A New Era in Power Plant Control Performance FirstEnergy Retools Coal Plant to Burn Biomass and more DEPARTMENTS6 SPEAKING OF POWER Our Integrity Is Not for Sale8 GLOBAL MONITOR8 Mitsubishi Wraps Up Development of J-Class Mega Turbine8 Sweden Selects Site of First Permanent Spent Nuclear Fuel Repository10 Ethiopia Completes Construction of Africas Tallest Dam11 Qatar Starts Construction on Middle Easts Largest Power and Water Plant13 Smart Turbine Blades to Improve Wind Power14 Energy Storage Efforts Making Progress15 PG&E Makes a Deal for Space-Based Power16 POWER Digest18 FOCUS ON O&M18 How Company Size Affects NERC Compliance18 Optimize Gas Turbine Performance Using Acoustic Simulation Software23 Extreme Oil Changes26 LEGAL & REGULATORY Too Many Fingers in the Smart Grid Pie?72 NEW PRODUCTS80 COMMENTARY Managing Solars Revenue Impact on Utilities By Mike Taylor, director of research and education for the Solar Electric Power Association. 13CIRCLE 5 ON READER SERVICE CARDPower plant turbines are built to run. But what if they could y?New turbines are placing increased demands on oil. Productivity is at stake. And Mobil Industrial Lubricants has responded. With Mobil DTE 700 and Mobil DTE 800. Both are specially formulated for demanding gas and steam turbine applications. And designed to help the latest generation of high efciency turbines not just run, but y. Visit www.mobilindustrial.com for more.2009 Exxon Mobil Corporation. The Mobil logotype and the Pegasus design are trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries. CIRCLE 6 ON READER SERVICE CARD www.powermag.com POWER |July 2009 4 Now incorporating and EDITORIAL & PRODUCTION Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Robert Peltier, PE 480-820-7855, editor@powermag.com Managing Editor: Gail Reitenbach, PhD Senior Editor: Angela Neville, JD Contributing Editors: Mark Axford; David Daniels; Bill Ellison, PE; Steven F. 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Copying for other than personal or internal reference use without the express permission of TradeFair Group Publications is prohibited. Requests for special permission or bulk orders should be addressed to the publisher at 11000 Richmond Avenue, Suite 500, Houston, TX 77042. ISSN 0032-5929.Executive Offices of TradeFair Group Publications: 11000 Richmond Avenue, Suite 500, Houston, TX 77042. Copyright 2009 by TradeFair Group Publications. All rights reserved.Chemical Phamaceutical GroupSolvay Chemicals, Inc.1.800.SOLVAY C (800.765.8292)www.solvair.usCopyright 2009, Solvay Chemicals, Inc. All Rights ReservedPRODUCTSThe SOLVAir Group At the forefront of air pollution control.Leading the feld! SOLVAir Products, at the forefront of air pollution control. For more than 20 years, SOLVAir Products have focused on cleaning SOX, NOX, HCl and Hg from stack emissions at coal-fred power plants. Whether its products are used in wet or dry scrubbers or Dry Sorbent Injection (DSI) systems, the SOLVAir Group continues to remain at the forefront of air pollution control by ofering the most efective solutions for the treatment of stack emissions.Abatement of SO2 is the primary aim of SOLVAir Select 300, a new sodium bicarbonate-based product specifcally designed for air pollution control. Produced at our Green River, Wyoming plant, its use can help power plants achieve compliance with SO2 reduction regulations. Using DSI and Select 300 can provide results that are truly amazing.SOLVAir Select 200 trona is the product of choice for DSI systems. As the only producer of SOLVAir Select 200 refned trona in the U.S, Solvay Chemicals, Inc. can provide product when and where needed, now and into the future. At Solvay Chemicals SOLVAir group, we pay close attention to the needs of the marketplace. For more detailed information on the properties and applications of these and other SOLVAir products, go to www.solvair.us or call us at 800-SOLVAY-C.CIRCLE 7 ON READER SERVICE CARD www.powermag.com POWER |July 2009 6SPEAKING OF POWEROur Integrity Is Not for SaleI was putting the finishing touches on this months editorial when I received an email from a reader who owns a company that serves the power industry. He was very complimentary of an article I recently wrote. Goes without saying, I was thinking to myself. However, actually saying it goes a long way in my book, and I enjoy hearing from readersat least most of the time.Wide-Ranging Reader Responses I especially appreciate readers who take the time to send me an email about something they learned from reading POWER that helped solve a nagging problem, or about some new insight into the future of the power industry they gained. I also enjoy the sometimes spirited interactions with readers (although the pe-riodic death threats less so). Even messages identifying an error (thankfully, few) or offering the readers unique opinions of the power industry are always read and enjoyed. Ive even had read-ers ask me to retract an editorial I wrote, although its a mystery how I go about disavowing an opinion I still hold. I also freely admit that many of the most critical letters often plant the seeds for future POWER articles. The second half of this particular readers email included a question that Ive never been asked before: How much did it cost company X to have that article published in POWER?My first reaction to the question isnt fit to print. The implica-tion is that the POWER editors run a monthly auction for edito-rial space in the magazine and that the high bidders will find their articles in the next issue. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yet, this inquiry, made in all seriousness, indicates to me that we havent done a very good job of explaining our editorial rules of the road.Integrity and IndependencePOWER, now in its 127th year of continuous publication, remains the longest-running industry magazine in the U.S., and perhaps the world. From its early issues, POWERs stated editorial poli-cy was one of integrity and independence. In 1924, James H. McGraw, then president of the McGraw-Hill Co., unambiguously stated his editorial expectations for this magazine: Industrial and technical journals must be something more than publica-tions run solely for profit. They must, if they are to fill their legitimate place, have their own ideals . . . and adhere unflinch-ingly to them. First among such ideals is independence . . . to have no other guides for its opinions and policies but truth and the sound interests of the field it serves.We serve the power industry by publishing a mixture of indus-try-contributed and staff-researched and -written articles each month. Contributed articles undergo a rigorous review process followed by multiple rounds of editing to ensure that they meet our very high quality standards for content and readability. I filter out the majority of article proposals submitted because theyre either a weak case study, they dont present validated results, or there isnt a member of the power plant staff willing to go on the record verifying the results. The good news is that you dont have to be a professional writer to have your article selected for publication. If you have the bones of a good story, well help you put the meat on those bones, even if it means a staff editor must visit your plant and write the entire article for you (though it has to be a really fresh and meaty story to merit the time and resources to go that far). My sole interest is publishing the best possible collection of articles each month. (For more information on submitting a story or a story idea, download our editorial guidelines from the About Us page. Youll find the About Us link at the bottom of the powermag.com home page.)The Great DivideFinally, we believe that quality journalism requires a wide sepa-ration between those who sell and those who write. I have had the privilege of being POWERs editor-in-chief for more than six years, and Im only the ninth to hold that position since the magazines inception. Im proud to say that I have never been asked to compromise my journalistic integrity by publishing an article in return for advertising or any other form of revenue. The entire sales and editorial staff remains committed to conducting our business in conformance with this bedrock principal. Unfor-tunately, pay to play is a common practice elsewhere in this industry. I believe the secret to the success of POWER over the years is the magazines entire staff remaining true to these principals and practices. Without our editorial integrity and independent coverage of the industry, we would not enjoy the trust and re-spect of the industry, as we have for 127 years. The editorial content of POWER, and that of its sister publications, is not for sale at any price. Dr. Robert Peltier, PE, Editor-in-Chief First among such ideals is independence . . . to have no other guides for its opinions and policies but truth and the sound interests of the field it serves.GE EnergyCleaner burning coal technology is here, and innovation from GE Energy is playing a leading role. IGCC offers a power solution that taps the globes abundant coal supply, while reducing emissions and enabling carbon capture retrot. The largest cleaner coal facility in the world, Duke Energys 630MW IGCC Edwardsport, Indiana, power plant ( now under construction), is advancing the evolution of proven IGCC technology to the next stage.GE Energys commitment to sustainable solutions is helping to transform coal into a star attraction. Visit us at ge-energy.com/gasication to nd out more. NOW SHOWINGCIRCLE 8 ON READER SERVICE CARD www.powermag.com POWER | July 2009 8GLOBAL MONITORGLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TOR GLOBAL MONI TORMitsubishi Wraps Up Development of J-Class Mega Turbine This March, Japans Mitsubishi Heavy In-dustries Ltd. (MHI) quietly completed de-velopment of the J-series gas turbinea machine that has been extolled in the turbo-machinery world for its ability to produce one of the worlds largest power generation capacities and highest thermal efficiencies. When commercial production begins in 2011as MHI expectsthe J-series will be the latest in a new genera-tion of gas turbines, contending for global sales against heavyweights from General Electric, Siemens, and Alstom.The J-series is already being consid-ered the best in MHIs fleet (Figure 1). Designed to operate at blistering tem-peratures of up to 1,600C at the tur-bine inlet, the 60-hertz J-series turbine achieves a rated power output of about 320 MW (ISO basis) and 460 MW com-bined-cycle power generation. According to the company, it is able to withstand temperatures 100 degrees higher than the companys existing 1,500 C-class G-series gas turbine because of a low-ther-mal-conductivity thermal barrier coating technology and improvements in cooling efficiency. The adoption of an enhanced three-dimensional design contributes to improved aerodynamics. In the J-series gas turbine, moreover, the compressor is designed to provide a higher compression ratio, while the combustor carries on the steam-cooled technology originally de-veloped for the G-series turbine. But the J-series also adopts new tech-nologies derived from an ongoing Japanese project that seeks to develop core tech-nologies for a 1,700 C-class gas turbine, MHI says. Gas turbine combined-cycle (GTCC) systems featuring the resulting tur-bine are expected to achieve well above 60% power generation thermal efficiency and generate 1.2 times more power than a GTCC using a G-series gas turbinewhich, as MHI points out, is the largest gas tur-bine commercially available. So how will it compare with mega turbines from Europe and the U.S.? The J-series could go head-to-head with Siemens H-class SGT5-8000H, a 340-MW mega turbine and 530-MW combined-cycle power plant whose thermal ef-ficiency exceeds 60%, as Siemens claims on its website. But the 50-hertz turbine, based on a combined Siemens and Westinghouse gas design, has the advantage of time: Already installed at the Irsching 4 gas power plant in Ba-varia, Germany, the prototype turbine has been fired and synchronized to the grid, with full-load testing starting in April 2008. The validation program will continue until mid-2009. Then, exten-sion of the simple-cycle test plant to a high-efficiency combined-cycle plant begins in phase two of the program, with transfer to the plant operator, E.ON, expected in 2011. Meanwhile, GEs advanced combined-cycle system capable of breaking the 60% efficiency barrierthe H Systemcon-tinues making headway around the world. Following a prototype test, the first 50-hertz system began operating in 2003 at Baglan Bay in South Wales, UK. Last July, the second system began service at Tokyo Electric Power Co.s (TEPCO) Futtsu-4 plant. TEPCO is in the process of installing a sec-ond system at that plant and this January received its third system. Meanwhile, the first two 60-hertz H systemswith a net rated output of 775 MWare being in-stalled at the Inland Empire Energy Center in Southern California. Sweden Selects Site of First Permanent Spent Nuclear Fuel RepositoryIn early June, as U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu confirmed to a House Sub-committee that Yucca Mountain reposi-tory was, without doubt, off the table and that a blue ribbon panel would fur-ther advise the government on what it should do with its high-level nuclear waste, Sweden announced the site of what could be the worlds first permanent spent fuel repository.The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co. (SKB)an independent company owned by nuclear plant opera-torsselected Forsmark in the municipal-ity of sthammar as the site where nuclear waste from Swedens 10 nuclear plants will be permanently stored. The selection of the site culminates almost 20 years of work during which SKB conducted surveys throughout Sweden and feasibility studies in eight municipalities. The repository relies on three protective barriers to keep radioactive substances from spreading into the environment. The spent nuclear fuel is first encapsulated in copper canisters that are nearly 5 meters (m) long and over 1 m in diameter. The outer casing is a 5-cm-thick layer of cop-per to protect against corrosion, and inside is a nodular cast iron insert for strength. When filled with the spent fuel, these are expected to weigh between 25 metric tons 1. Monster showdown. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries earlier this year completed development of a 320-MW J-series gas tur-bine (shown here) whose thermal efficiency is expected to be well above 60%. The J-series is expected to be commercially operational by 2011around the same time Siemens will have completed both phases of the H-class turbines testing program. Courtesy: MHISubscribe now to get your free subscription to the electronic newsletter from POWER magazine. Just visit our web site www.powermag.comto subscribe.delivers headline news for power generators weeklyStart your free subscription today!WANT POWER INDUSTRY NEWS MORE OFTEN?PENNGUARDBlock Lining SystemPhone: 412 204 0028sales@hadek.com www.hadek.comPROTECTING POWERPLANT CHIMNEYSAn FGD plant fire could destroy your chimney.Pennguardlinings protect chimneys from fire. So why take unnecessary risks?The PennguardBlock Lining System is an innovativechimney lining with proven performance. Made of acid-resistant borosilicate glass, this lightweight and highlyinsulating lining is applied directly to flue interiors. And it makes FGD chimneys safer.Fire tests by Hadek show that Pennguardlinings protect chimneys in case of fire. At temperatures of over 500C (932F), alloy-clad flues are at risk of collapse, and FRP flues are likely to catch fire, even with fire retardants.In 1996, an FGD fire at one US power station caused1,000C (1,832F) temperatures inside a steel chimney. The Pennguardlining successfully protected the chimney from collapse.Pennguardlinings could save your chimney from fire. Contact Hadek for your copy of the Test Report: 412 204 0028, sales@hadek.com.Pennguard is a registered trademark of Henkel KGaA and is used with their permission. This advertisement is not to be considered a warranty concerning product performance.Pennguardlinings protectchimneys against fire. Whytake unnecessary risks?Hadek is the expert on power plant chimney and ductwork protection, and a global distributor of thePennguardBlock Lining System.We deliver: Research and feasibility studies Detail engineering Installation supervision Lifetime Performance Monitoring System 10 year limited warrantyCIRCLE 9 ON READER SERVICE CARD www.powermag.com POWER | July 2009 10GLOBAL MONITORand 27 metric tons. The copper canister will then be placed in crystalline basement rock at a depth of about 500 m, embedded in bentonite clay (Figure 2). When all the spent nuclear fuel has been deposited in the crystalline basement, the tunnels and shafts will be filled in with swelling clay or a mixture of crushed rock and clay. The system will also rely on the Clab facility in Oskarshamn for interim storage of nuclear waste. The fuel will lie there in large cool-ing water basins for 30 to 40 years. SKB President Claes Thegerstrm said the site offered rock at the repository lev-el that was dry and had few fractures. The Forsmark site also won over the second-choice site at Laxemar, in the municipality of Oskarshamn, because it would require less space compared to a repository in Laxemar. This means that less rock needs to be excavated and less material will be needed for backfilling, Thegerstrm said. SKB said it will now begin building sur-face facilities in the existing industrial area and proceed to complete applications for permits that will be reviewed by the Swed-ish Radiation Safety Authority and the En-vironmental Court. The applications will be submitted in 2010 and include the envi-ronmental impact assessment and a safety analysis for the Forsmark repository. If all goes as planned, construction could begin in 2016 and the first canister could be de-posited in the repository in 2022 or 2024.Ethiopia Completes Construction of Africas Tallest DamEthiopia, the landlocked nation in East Af-rica from which key tributaries to the Nile River originate, completed construction of the continents highest dam, the 188-meter Tekez Arch Dam (Figure 3) in February. Lo-cated in the Northern Tigre region of Ethio-pia on the Tekez Riverwhich has carved one of the worlds deepest canyonsthe dam eclipses the previous record height of 185 m for an African dam, held by the Katse Arch Dam in Lesotho. The dam is part of the Ethiopian gov-ernmentfunded $365 million Tekez hy-droelectric power project that is being built by state-owned Ethiopian Electric Power Corp. (EEPCo) and the Chinese Na-tional Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Corp. It entails, along with construction of the arch dam, construc-tion of two river diversion tunnels, power waterways, an underground powerhouse containing four 75-MW Francis turbines, a 230-kV substation, and a 105-km trans-mission line to connect the project to the national grid at Mekele. The project is expected to begin generating 300 MW from the start of the East African monsoon season this July, bringing Ethiopias total generating capacity to 1,170 MW. The Tekez dam has been dubbed the Three Gorges of Africa, but it is 10 m taller than the Chinese damand much more controversial. Nonprofit group In-ternational Rivers says that not only will it cause many of the same environmental problems associated with the Three Gorges and other large dams, but the depth of the canyon in which the dam lies will also likely contribute to major sedimentation at the dam site once the region is flooded. Since the start of construction in 2002, a massive landslide has already occurred near the dam site in April 2008, forcing developers to spend an additional $42 million on retaining walls to keep slopes from eroding.Ethiopians, meanwhile, have voiced frustration at their governments determi-nation to construct 10 hydro power plants worth more than $13 billion within the next 10 years. The countrys media say the nation is suffering a chronic power deficit of up to 120 MW that is putting a 1% dent in its gross domestic product. The govern-ment reasons that hydroelectric potential in Ethiopiaa mountainous country, but one that is also periodically stricken by severe droughtis estimated to exceed 40,000 MW. Hurrying to alleviate shortag-es and possibly supply power to the rest of power-starved East Africa, it plans to com-2. Spent and buried in Sweden. Sweden may house the worlds first permanent nuclear waste repository if regulators approve the Forsmark site selected in early June by the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Co. Final disposal of the spent nuclear fuel will entail using three protective barriers. The spent fuel will first be encapsulated in copper. The im-permeable copper canisters will then be placed in crystalline basement rock at a depth of about 500 meters, embedded in bentonite clay. After disposal, the tunnels and rock caverns will be sealed. Courtesy: SKB3. Dammed if you do. In February, the Ethiopian Electric Power Corp. (EEPCo) com-pleted construction of Africas highest concrete arch dam on the Tekez River, a Nile tributary that flows through one of the deepest canyons in the world. The 188-m Tekez Arch Dam is part of a $365 million hydropower project that will add 300 MW to Ethiopias grid. The nation is reportedly suffering chronic power shortages. The government plans to meet future needs with the construction of several mega-dams within the next 10 years, hoping to put threeincluding the Tekez hydropower projectonline by 2010. Courtesy: EEPCo July 2009 | POWER www.powermag.com 11GLOBAL MONITORplete (along with the 300-MW Tekez proj-ect) the 420-MW Gilgel-Gibe II project and the unique 460-MW Beles project, which taps water from Lake Tana, by 2010. Qatar Starts Construction on Middle Easts Largest Power and Water Plant The gas-rich Persian Gulf state of Qatar in May commenced construction of the regions largest power and water plant, a massive project comprising eight gas turbine generators, eight heat-recovery steam generators, four steam turbine gen-erators, and 10 desalination units. When the first phase wraps up next year and the second is completed as anticipated in April 2011, the $3.9 billion Ras Girtas Power and Water project in the Ras Laffan industrial zone will produce 2,730 MWh as well as 63 million gallons of desalinated water a day. Qatar is in the midst of a construction frenzy despite the global economic down-turn. And it is planning ahead, making the Ras Girtas Power and Water projecta joint effort between the Qatar Electricity and Water Co. (QWEC), a consortium of Japans Mitsui and Frances Suez Energy International, and Qatar Petroleumone 4. Gas and a glowing future. Gas-rich Qatar, whose economy is booming despite the global downturn, is planning ahead to meet its anticipated power needsand those of neigh-boring Gulf states, which are struggling to meet power demand. It recently began construction of the $3.9 billion Ras Girtas Power and Water project, which will produce 2,730 MWh as well as 63 million gallons of desalinated water a day. Also in the works is the Ras Abu Fontas project (shown here), which has a production capacity of 45 million gallons of water per day. That proj-ect will be completed this December. Courtesy: Qatar Electricity and Water Co.ht t p: //www. appl i edbol t i ng. com email: info@appliedbolting.com1413 Rockingham Rd. Bellows Falls, VT 05101 USA 1 800 552 1999 1 802 460 3100T E CHNOL OGYappliedboltingthe best way to bolt!TRAI NI NG FI ELD SUPPORT TECHNI CAL EXPERTI SESquirter DTIsConstructability Starts HereCIRCLE 10 ON READER SERVICE CARD38th TurbomachinerySymposiumSeptember 14-17, 2009George R. Brown Convention Center Houston, TexasUnparalleled Opportunities EARN CEU CREDITSIn-depth Short Courses Solutions-based Case StudiesInnovative Discussion GroupsHands-on TutorialsPioneering LecturesOutstanding Exhibit FloorFor more information or to join our mail list email or call now.Sponsored by The Turbomach|nery Laboratory Texas A&N Un|vers|ty3254 TANU 0o||ege Stat|on, TX 77843-3254Ph: 979-845-7417 Fx: 979-845-1835|nqu|ry@turbo-|ab.tamu.edu http://turbo|ab.tamu.eduCo-located withExhibits Open Free to the Public:Tuesday & Wednesday3:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.Thursday9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. July 2009 | POWER www.powermag.com 13GLOBAL MONITORin a string of planned projects. Notable among these projects will be the Ras Abu Fontas project (Figure 4), a desalination plant that will produce 45 million gallons of water per day, when completed this December. There is no shortage of water or electricity supply and we do not have any problem meeting the demand, QWEC General Manager Fahad Hamad Al Mohannadi told reporters recently. Ac-tually, we are ahead of schedule. The water project we are devel-oping now is mainly intended to meet future demand in the next three to four years with real estate and industrial development moving fast.But experts suggest that Qatar is positioning itself to pro-vide bulk power in the Middle East. Business Monitor Interna-tional expects the state, whose current installed capacity sits at about 9,000 MW, will increase power generation by an as-tounding 193.5% before 2018almost at the top of the range for the Middle East/North Africa region. The Middle East has a current installed capacity of 152 GW97% of which is thermal generationaccounting for 3.5% of global electricity genera-tion. According to Nomura Middle East Energy and Power, the regionand in particular Kuwait and the United Arab Emiratesis already struggling to meet its power needs, and overall demand increases are expected to average 6% from 2009 to 2020. Making matters more complex, the Gulf Cooperation Councila European Unionlike trade bloc created by the six Arab states in the Per-sian Gulfkeeps power costs in the region artificially low with subsidies that vary, on average, from 60% to 70%. Finally, the regionwith the exception of Qatarexperiences crippling fuel shortages, even though it holds 43% of global crude oil reserves and 23% of the worlds gas reserves, according to Dr. Adnan Shihab-Eldin, former OPEC secretary general. The reason for this, he told Emirates Business on the sidelines of a recent utility summit, is that the bulk of the Gulfs reserves is associated gas, which is fully committed until after 2020. Non-associated gas is found in few placeslike Qatar, which is still restricted by a gas moratorium. The dilemma will force governments to break their existing export contracts or find new fuel sources, he said. Smart Turbine Blades to Improve Wind PowerEngineers at Purdue University and Sandia National Laborato-ries have developed a technique that uses sensors and compu-tational software to constantly monitor forces exerted on wind turbine blades. Their achievement could one day improve the efficiency of wind turbines by providing the blades smart structure with necessary data to adjust to rapidly changing wind conditions.The ultimate goal is to feed information from sensors into an active control system that precisely adjusts components to optimize efficiency, said Purdue doctoral student Jonathan White, who is leading the research with Douglas Adams, a pro-fessor of mechanical engineering and director of Purdues Center for Systems Integrity. The system also could help improve wind turbine reliability by providing critical real-time information to the control system to prevent catastrophic turbine damage from high winds.The engineers embedded sensors called uniaxial and triaxial accelerometers inside a wind turbine blade as the blade was be-ing built. Their findings show that using a trio of sensors and estimator model software developed by White accurately re-veals how much force is being exerted on the blades. Purdue and Sandia have applied for a provisional patent on the technique. The blade is now being tested on a research wind turbine at the U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDAs) Agriculture Research Service laboratory in Bushland, Texas. Personnel from Sandia and the USDA operate the research wind turbines at the Texas site.Such sensors could be instrumental in future turbine blades that have control surfaces and simple flaps like those on an airplanes wings to change the aerodynamic characteristics 5. A smart curve. Purdue doctoral student Jonathan White holds a cross section of a wind turbine blade like the one used in research to improve the efficiency of turbines and prevent damage to blades from high winds. An engineering team has developed a technique that uses sensors and computational software to constantly monitor forces exert-ed on wind turbine blades. Such sensors could be instrumental in future turbine blades that have control surfaces and flaps like those on an air-planes wings to change the aerodynamic characteristics of the blades for better control. Courtesy: Purdue University/Andrew HancockCIRCLE 11 ON READER SERVICE CARD www.powermag.com POWER | July 2009 14GLOBAL MONITORof the blades for better control, the re-searchers said. Because these flaps would be changed in real time to respond to changing winds, constant sensor data would be critical.The aim is to operate the generator and the turbine in the most efficient way, but this is difficult because wind speeds fluctuate, Adams said. You want to be able to control the generator or the pitch of the blades to optimize energy capture by reducing forces on the components in the wind turbine during excessively high winds and increase the loads during low winds. In addition to improving efficiency, this should help improve reliability. The wind turbine towers can be 200 feet tall or more, so it is very expensive to service and repair damaged components.Sensor data in a smart system might also be used to better control the tur-bine speed by automatically adjusting the blade pitch while also commanding the generator to take corrective steps, he said. Or, it could be used to design more resilient blades because they are capable of measuring acceleration occurring in various directions, which is necessary to accurately characterize the blades bend-ing and twisting and small vibrations near the tip that eventually cause fatigue and possible failure.The sensors also measure two types of acceleration. One type, dynamic ac-celeration, results from gusting winds, while the other, called static accel-eration, results from gravity and steady background winds. It is essential to accu-rately measure both forms of acceleration to estimate forces exerted on the blades. Research is ongoing, and the engineers are now pursuing the application of their system to advanced, next-generation tur-bine blades that are more curved than conventional blades (Figure 5). This more complex shape makes it more challenging to apply the technique. Energy Storage Efforts Making ProgressThe intensifying spotlight on renewable energy seems to be casting a brighter light on the energy storage problem, with lawmakers, researchers, and investors scrambling to seek out the most feasible solution to bridge the intermittent nature of renewable power sources. This June, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced the Storage Technology of Renewable and Green Energy Act of 2009, a bill that would issue a 20% tax credit for investments in energy storage systems. If passed, the pro-posed legislation will also provide credits to storage technologies such as water res-ervoirs, flywheels, hydrogen production, or grid-connected batteries.The bill would certainly boost growth in the U.S. energy storage market. But even without government incentivesdriven primarily by venture capital investmentthe global market is poised to grow from $329 million in 2008 to a stunning $4.1 billion by 2018, Pike Research says in a recent report. About a dozen technolo-gies that are vying for a piece of the utility-scale energy storage market will be favored, especially advanced battery technologies such as lithium ion and so-dium sulfur batteries, pumped hydro, and compressed air energy storage, the group concludes. Researchers around the world, mean-while, are reporting breakthroughs on existing and novel technologies. The University of St. Andrews in the UK, col-laborating with colleges from Strathclyde and Newcastle, in May claimed to have designed a new type of air-fueled battery that can provide up to 10 times the energy storage when compared with designs cur-rently available.The STAIR (St. Andrews Air) cell capac-ity is based on rechargeable lithium bat-teries, which are currently composed of a graphite negative electrode, an organic electrolyte, and lithium cobalt oxide as the positive electrode. Instead of lithium from the layered intercalation compound (lithium cobalt oxide), the STAIR uses a porous carbon electrode. The oxygen, which will be drawn in through a surface of the battery exposed to air, reacts within the pores of the carbon to discharge the battery. The university has discovered in the course of its four-year study that the carbon components interaction with air can be repeated, creating a cycle of charge and discharge (Figure 6). Initial results from the project found a capacity to weight ratio of 1,000 mil-liamp-hours per gram of carbon (mAh/g), while recent work has obtained results of up to 4,000 mAh/g, the researchers said. The researchers expect that the battery is about five years away from commercial availability, however. In May, a Canadian research team at the University of Waterloo reported it had laid the groundwork for a lithium-sulfur battery that could store and deliver more than three times the power of convention-al lithium ion batteries. As reported in the online issue of Nature Materials, the team overcame the challenge of keeping the electrically active sulfur in contact with a conductor, such as carbon. The team choseat a nanoscale levela member of a highly structured and porous carbon family called mesoporous carbon. Filling the tiny voids then proved sim-ple: Sulfur was heated and melted. Once it came into contact with the carbon, it was drawn or imbibed into the channels by capillary forces, where it solidified and shrunk to form sulfur nanofibers. Scanning 6. Air-fueled battery. Researchers from the University of St. Andrews in the UK have designed an air-fueled battery that they claim could last 10 times longer than designs currently available. As the diagram of the lithium-air STAIR (St. Andrews Air) cell shows here, oxygen is drawn from the air and reacts within the porous carbon to release the electrical charge. Courtesy: University of St. Andrews Electron owNegativeelectrodeElectrolytePositive electrodeLi+OxygenOxygenLithium oxygencompoundLithium ionCarbonMaganese oxide(the catalyst) July 2009 | POWER www.powermag.com 15GLOBAL MONITORelectron microscope sections revealed that all the spaces were uniformly filled with sulfur, exposing an enormous surface area of the active element to carbon and driving the exceptional test results of the new battery. The research team continues to study the material to work out remain-ing challenges and refine the cathodes architecture and performance. PG&E Makes a Deal for Space-Based PowerJust as reports emerged earlier this year that NASA had abandoned, for lack of fi-nancial resources, its research into space-based solar power that would be harnessed via orbiting solar arrays beaming micro-waves to earthly receivers (Figure 7), Cali-fornias Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) wrote the California Public Utilities Com-mission (PUC) requesting its approval of a power purchase agreement from a similar technology. The utility requested that the PUC consider the 200 MW of power purchased from Solarens new space solar power project, anticipated for completion by 2016, as eligible for its Renewables Port-folio Standard (RPS). It said Solarens breakthrough technology could pro-vide baseload power from a space-based technology that collects solar energy as it travels in a geosynchronous orbit. The energy would then be converted into ra-dio frequency power via a high-efficiency generator such as a magnetron or solid state power amplifier, and then be trans-mitted from the satellites antenna to a receiving station in Fresno County, Calif. The primary obstacle would be the en-gineering challengenot the technol-ogyof building the space-based plant and the space solar power (SSP) satel-lites, which are much larger than current kW-class communications satellites. The only fuel-type hindrances the proj-ect would experience are brief blockages of sunlight (from a few minutes to an hour around midnight) on its solar arrays by Earth during the spring and fall equinox periods, PG&E told the PUC. It also said the technology was fairly mature, owing to 40 years of research in the U.S. by NASA and the Deapartment of Defense. Space solar technology is based on components that are in use today or being developed for use with satellite communications, radar systems, and other applications, the utility wrote. Consis-tent with its designation as an emerging technology, these components must be engineered, tested, manufactured and in-tegrated into large-scale SSP satellite and ground system architectures. The only aspect that PG&E did not chronicle in its letter to the state regula-7. Reaching for the stars. Pacific Gas & Electric asked the California Public Utilities Commission this April to approve a 200-MW baseload power purchase agreement it made with Solaren for space-based solar power. Solarens technology proposes to collect solar energy via a satellite in space, convert it into radio waves, and beam it to Earth. The idea is not new: The Department of Defense and NASA have been studying it for years. Both have said at some point that it is not economically feasible. Source: NASAITS 3:00 A.M.Do YouReallyKnow WhereYouris?Bottom AshAsh Trackerwww.entechdesign.comBottom Ash LevelMeasurement Minimize Overfill Risk Eliminate ExcessiveConveying Reduce Dangerous VisualInspections Protect Hopper Refractoryentech@entechdesign.comPH: 940-898-1173???CIRCLE 12 ON READER SERVICE CARD www.powermag.com POWER | July 2009 16GLOBAL MONITORtor were the costs involved, though it noted that the RPS statute required utilities to procure the least cost, best fit eligible renewable resources. So how much could space power cost, and has it become more economically feasible since NASA first studied it in the 1970s? NASA had then estimated it would cost $300 billion to $1 trillion to deliver the first kilowatt-hours to the ground. In 2007, when the Pentagon laid out a roadmap for a 10-MW space-based power demonstration, it suggested the project could be tested as soon as 2012. It concluded that significant technological progress had been achieved, making the approach more straightforwardbut it would cost up to $10 billion, it said.POWER DigestNews items of interest to power industry professionals. CEZ to Build Czech Republics First Gas-Fired Plant. Czech power utility CEZ plans to build an 800-MW steam/gas power plant in the Melnk, in the Czech Republics Central Bohemia region. The project will replace the output of three coal-fired units in the region, two with an output of 110 MW and one with an output of 500 MW. All three plants will reach the end of their life by 2015. GE Hitachi Signs Agreement with L&T for Indian Nukes. GE Hitachi (GEH) and Indian engineering and construction company Larsen & Toubro (L&T) signed a nuclear power plant development agreement on May 19. GEH expects the agreement to help it estab-lish an extensive network of local suppliers to help build a future Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) in India. The agreement was one of the first preliminary nuclear technology trade agree-ments to be announced by a U.S. majorityowned company since the U.S. and India adopted a civilian nuclear energy accord in Oc-tober 2008. GEH had in March 2009 announced an ABWR develop-ment agreement with state-owned Nuclear Power Corp. of India. Vattenfall Withdraws Interests from UK Nuclear New Builds. Swedish state-owned power company Vattenfall announced on June 1 that it had decided to put any decisions about participat-ing in the UKs nuclear new build program on hold for the next 12 to 18 months because of the economic recession and market situ-ation. The company said that it would retain a significant inter-est in the UK energy market and monitor developments in nuclear new builds, however. The companys plans to develop the UKs wind asset portfolio are not affected by this decision, it said. Masdar Connects 10-MW PV Plant to Abu Dhabi Grid. Abu Dhabibased solar integrator Enviromena Power System on June 1 announced the completion of the Masdar 10-MW Solar Power Plant, the largest grid-connected solar system in the Mid-dle East and North Africa. The 212,000square meter (55-acre) solar system consists of 87,777 photovoltaic modules and will produce 17,500 MWh of clean energy each year, offsetting ap-proximately 15,000 tons of carbon emissions annually. The plant will produce energy to power the initial construction activities of Masdar City. The AED 185 million project was completed on time and on budget. Enviromena added that it is also one of the most quickly constructed and cost-efficient photovoltaic installations in the world in terms of projected power output.Brazilian Bank Covers GDF SUEZ for 68.5% of 3.3 Billion Jirau Hydro Project. The Brazilian development bank BNDES (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econmico e Social) has approved a 20-year loan of BRL7.2 billion (approximately 2.44 billion) for GDF SUEZ to finance the Jirau project, a 3,300-MW greenfield hydroelectric power station. The loan is the largest ever granted by the Brazilian development bank and covers 68.5% of the total 3.3 billion investment in the Jirau plant. Jirau will help address the growing demand for electricity in Brazil (about 4,500 MW per year) and is currently the largest energy infrastruc-ture project in the country. Wrtsil Successfully Test Runs Engines on Renewable Fuels. Wrtsil, a supplier of flexible power plants for the de-centralized power generation market, has successfully performed a number of tests that demonstrate the ability of its engines to run on a range of vegetable and animal-based oils. In the tests, conducted between February and April of this year at the VTT technical research center in Espoo, Finland, a Wrtsil Vasa 4R32 engine successfully operated on jatropha oil, fish oil, and chicken oil. The first tests with engines running on a liquid biofuel were carried out in 1995, when Wrtsil began testing with rape-seed oil. Since 2003, Wrtsil engine power plants have been in commercial operation using palm oil as the fuel source. Wrtsil has, as an example, a market share of more than 95% in Italy for power generation from liquid biofuels. The aim of these recent tests has been to assess the capability of engines to operate on renewable fuels that do not compete with agricultural uses.Alstom to Build Geothermal Plant in Mexico. Alstom in May said it had won a 45 million turnkey contract with Mexicos Comisin Federal de Electricidad (CFE) to supply a geothermal power plant, including key equipment, in Mexico. When completed in October 2011, the 25-MW Los Humeros II geothermal power plant will pow-er Mexicos eastern Puebla state. Mexico is the fourth-largest geo-thermal energy producer worldwide, after the U.S., the Philippines, and Indonesia. Alstom will be the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor for the project. Sonal Patel is POWERs senior writer.Oh yeah? Yeah.Custom built to your toughstandards, SORmechanicallevel switches will stand upreliably to whatever yourprocess dishes out.Cmon . . .pour on thepressure. I can take it. 913-888-2630 www.sorinc.comCIRCLE 13 ON READER SERVICE CARDRough Made Easy.Power plants are among the largest and most complex engineering and construction projects in the world. Thats why customers turn to Bechtel when they need more power. For over 60 years, weve been providing governments and utilities with power facilities delivered on time and within budget. Weve led the industry in every major sector, from fossil fuels to nuclear. We set the pace for clean and efcient power generation, exploring renewable energy like carbon capture, solar, geothermal and biomass, so our customers can meet their goals for a sustainable future. Competing in a world hungry for power can be rough. Bechtel helps make it easy.BECHTEL POWER Frederick, Maryland, USA 1-301-228-8609 www.bechtel.comSan Francisco Houston London New Delhi Shanghai www.powermag.com POWER |July 2009 18FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&M FOCUS ON O&MFOCUS ON O&MSYSTEM RELIABILITYHow Company Size Affects NERC ComplianceIn the world of North American Reliabil-ity Council (NERC) Reliability Standards, each company (entity) that must comply with the standards determines for itself the scope and size of its compliance pro-gram, based on the scope and size of its operations. NERC Standards make no ac-commodation for or distinction between the scope of compliance programs for a large, vertically integrated utility and a small municipality, independent power producer, or wind generator. This single standard is particularly apparent in the Generator Owner and Generator Operator sections of the standards and the features of their internal compliance programs. Today, registered entities must have a compliance program in placeits no lon-ger a matter of if but how big. The standards may be quiet about how the size and scope of an entity determine the size and scope of its compliance program, but policy statements from regulators do make reference to ways different-size en-tities can comply with the standards.An example of a policy statement that may mean different standards apply to different-size entities is this passage from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Policy Statement on Compliance (Docket PL09-1-000 at paragraph 10):The Commission expects companies to invest appropriate time and ef-fort in the creation, monitoring, and growth of strong internal compliance programs. Depending on a companys size and organizational structure, the nature and complexity of the compa-nys involvement in activities subject to Commission regulation, and the range of compliance risks resulting from those activities, a comprehen-sive and effective compliance program may be time and resource intensive. The needs and circumstances of each company are unique, and we recog-nize that a company may meet its compliance obligation with internal resources, outside assistance, or a combination of the two. The desired components of a well-designed compliance program are well known and are also listed in the FERC Policy Statement on Compliance, p. 4: Provide sufficient funding for the ad-ministration of compliance programs by the Compliance Officer Promote compliance by identifying measurable performance targets Tie regulatory compliance to personnel assessments and compensation, includ-ing compensation of management Provide for disciplinary consequences for infractions of Commission require-ments Provide frequent mandatory train-ing programs, including relevant real world examples and a list of prohib-ited activities Implement an internal Hotline through which personnel may anonymously re-port suspected compliance issues Implement a comprehensive compliance audit program, including the tracking and review of any incidents of noncom-pliance, with submission of the results to senior management and the Board A large utility could easily conclude that it must assemble a large, comprehen-sive compliance team with representation across the company to carry out the spe-cific items on the list, draft an internal compliance procedure document, estab-lish or modify training programs across the company to address reliability respon-sibilities, initiate and develop periodic monitoring mechanisms with its internal audit group, and draft more procedures by which the compliance team will review and manage all components of the com-pliance effort by the company. Alternatively, for a small independent generator or municipality, these policy state-ments provide a different, less-cumbersome path to reach the same results. The smaller entity will assemble a compliance team ideally made up of operations, legal, regu-latory, and senior management representa-tives. In some cases for the smaller entity, this would be a team of one person. Simi-lar flexibility is given for the design and implementation of training programs, ongo-ing methods of tracking the latest versions of applicable standards, and internal audit/monitoring activities. These FERC policy statements also give smaller entities the latitude to use a com-bination of internal resources and outside assistance as perhaps the shortest and most cost-effective road to reach the goal of implementing a robust compliance pro-gram while avoiding the substantial costs of additional staff devoted primarily to compliance issues. In the coming months, expect to see products emerge in the marketplace de-signed specifically to assist small to mid-size responsible entities achieve com-pliance with the NERC Reliability Standards. The new products will help smaller entities adhere to the same programmatic require-ments as their larger counterparts, but with a more cost-effective and structured approach designed specifically for them.By James Stanton (jamesstanton@att.net), POWER contributing editor and executive director of SPS ENERGY, a divi-sion of SPS Consulting Group Inc.GAS TURBINESOptimize Gas Turbine Per-formance Using Acoustic Simulation Software Increasingly fierce competition driven by deregulation and privatization is putting downward pressure on power plant op-erations and maintenance (O&M) budgets. Recently, lower natural gas prices have pushed natural gasfired combined-cycle plants higher up in many utilities dispatch order in some regions, a welcome change from the twice-a-day cycling experienced by some plants during the past few years. However, with more operating hours comes more interest in plant operating availabil-ity, and that means increased emphasis on reliable gas turbine operation (Figure 1).A phenomenon that potentially in-1. Keep costs low. Increasingly fierce competition in the worldwide power gen-eration business keeps the pressure on plant owners to find ways to keep O&M costs low and plant reliability high. Courtesy: SiemensWe look at power plant maintenance from a different angle.We build customer-centered solutions from the ground upIn the power value chain, the breadth of services, experience, industry knowledge, strategic vision, and project execution delivered by Day & Zimmermann is unmatched. Our innovative solutions for nuclear, fossil and hydroelectric power generation facilities include plant maintenance and modications, major construction, fabrication and machining, professional stafng, as well as valve, condenser, and radiological services. This offering enables our suite of Managed Maintenance SolutionsSM to truly be a one-stop shop for all of your power generation needs.Safety, Integrity, Diversity, Success www.dayzim.comCIRCLE 15 ON READER SERVICE CARD www.powermag.com POWER |July 2009 20FOCUS ON O&Mfluences the reliability of gas turbine operation, and therefore the entire combined-cycle plant, is the presence of thermo-acoustic oscillations in the com-bustion chamber. A can annular com-bustion system arrangement, for example, typically has 16 (more or less) separate can-shaped combustion chambers dis-tributed on a circle perpendicular to the symmetry axis of the engine. In each of these combustors, a burner continuously injects a mixture of fuel gas that is mixed with compressed air to deliver combus-tion products at a design temperature, pressure, and flow rate to the turbine section to generate the requested electri-cal power (Figure 2). The combustor oscillations are deter-mined by a feedback cycle that combines the effects of fluid flow, heat transfer, thermal expansion, and acoustic oscilla-tionsa cocktail of effects potentially causing severe engine malfunction and component damage. Some combustion turbine manufacturers have constructed test rigs where prototype combustors are tested and evaluated against a long list of operating regimes and conditions. The disadvantage of prototype testing is that it requires a significant investment of capital and does not provide sufficient flexibility to test alternative designs under additional operating conditions, especially those conditions that cause damaging acoustic oscillations in the combustion system. Preventing Thermo-acoustic Instability Siemens engineers have analyzed the compli-cated relationship and interaction between acoustic performance and thermal heat re-lease and have developed specific measures to prevent thermo-acoustic instability. Sven Bethke, engineer at Siemens Combustion Technology, explains, Since eigenfrequen-cies and mode shapes of acoustic pressure are strongly coupled to the stability analy-sis, the finite-element (FE) mode analysis and the subsequent stability analysis are the main tasks in the thermo-acoustic prediction and evaluation process. Siemens Power Generation selected LMS Acoustics Simulation Software as the key application for acoustic modeling and sim-ulation because of its widespread use and extensive acoustic simulation capabilities. In the combustion optimization process followed at Siemens, engineers take the output of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, including steady-state flow velocity, temperature, and fluid prop-erties, as input for acoustic simulations in LMS Acoustics Simulation Software. For these simulations, several different acoustic models are used: an FE model of a single-can combustor configuration; an ex-tended FE model that includes the incom-ing flow path upstream the burner, turbine vanes, and exhaust passage; and a com-plete multi-can annular combustor setup. An important and inherent part of the acoustic FE modeling is the definition of specific boundary conditions, which are determined mathematically or experi-mentally. Siemens engineers validate the results from acoustic simulation using ap-propriate tests performed on specifically designed single-can test rigs.Advances in Combustor Acoustic FE Modeling The implications of defining boundaries on the FE analysis of a single-can con-figuration were investigated using LMS Acoustics Simulation Software. The FE model includes the whole combustion chamber, starting at the head end plate and ending at the exit of the transition piece upstream the turbine inlet. The cru-cial regions through the burner as well as through the termination at the exit of the combustion chamber are characterized by absorbent boundary conditions. The acoustic boundary condition at the exit of the burnerat the inlet into the combustion chamberis represented by a specific impedance, which is quantified experimentally using an atmospheric test rig without combustion. At the exit of the combustion chamber, the guide vanes of the turbineor a vane simulation section (VSS) in the case of test rigsdefine the acoustic boundary condition. Sophisticated mathematical approaches are used to describe the flow field down-stream obstacles within the combustor. Compared to the fluid flow behind the vanes, cylinders generate many more vor-tices, which affect the reflection of the exit boundary condition. The FE model obtained is suitable for analyzing the ef-fects of different impedances, for exam-ple, from different types of burners and varying Mach numbers (steady-state flow velocities). The acoustic simulations show that the burner type has a significant im-pact, while flow velocity in the combus-tion chamber affects the mode shapes of the acoustic pressure only marginally.When extending the FE model of a com-bustor test rig with a VSSwhich replac-es the vanes of the turbine stagesand a downstream exhaust discharge tube, it became clear that the Mach number can-not be neglected. The presence of narrow passages causes the geometrys acoustic properties to be influenced by the speed of the flow. Siemens engineers determined the reflection coefficient of the VSS on the basis of the acoustic pressure distribution, obtained by FE simulations performed in LMS Acoustics Simulation Software. The extended FE model is particularly suited to determining the impedance of the bound-ary upstream of the VSS and its dependency 2. Oscillation reaction. The combination of fluid flow, heat transfer, thermal expansion, and acoustic radiation causes combustor oscillations, which may impact operational range and cause internal damage to the turbine. This turbine cutaway is of a Siemens SGT6-6000G, formally known as a W501G, nominally rated at approximately 260 MW. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis of the combinations of fluid flow, heat transfer, thermal expansion, and acoustic radiation can identify situations where combustion oscillation may cause severe damage. The CFD results illustrate, by the change in colors, azimuthal as well as mixed axial/azimuthal oscilla-tion modes, for which no experimental test setups are possible. Courtesy: SiemensJuly 2009 | POWER www.powermag.com 21FOCUS ON O&Mon the Mach number through this section. The results showed a strong dependency on the Mach number through the VSS.Acoustic Modes of a Can Annular Combustor SetupTo study can-to-can interactions, an FE analysis of a complete multi-can annular combustor configuration was performed. The annular manifold upstream of the turbine inlet interconnects combustion chambers with adjacent units. The absor-bent acoustic boundary conditions used to describe the burner and chamber exit areas were defined in the same way as for a single-can model. Simulations in LMS Acoustics Simulation Software show that, besides the axial modes along each single-can combustion chamber, the complete can annular combustor configuration trig-gers a range of additional acoustic modes. It concerns pure azimuthal and mixed axial/azimuthal modes. Because there are no test rigs available for measuring the complete can annular combustor configuration, these modes are only predictable by performing acoustic simulations in LMS Acoustics Simulation Software (see Figure 2). The main reason why Siemens performs these acoustic evaluations is to make sure all potentially hindering or obstructing eigenfrequencies and acoustic velocities are known early on in the design and de-velopment process. This enables Siemens engineers to implement specific counter-measures to disturbing eigenfrequencies, for example by developing and installing particular burner outlet extensions and acoustic resonators. The length of the extensions mounted on burner outlets defines the frequency that can excite the feedback cycle and, hence, affect the risk for combustion in-stabilities. The installation of these exten-sion units is a quite affordable solution that is particularly useful for suppressing oscillations in the intermediate range of frequencies, typically between 50 and 500 hertz. The sensitivity of these extensions makes this type of countermeasure some-what harder to tune. The use of acoustic resonators, which are part of the standard engine design, is another way to influence acoustic eigen-frequencies. This approach is applied very efficiently to delete acoustic signals with shorter wavelengths, such as high fre-quencies between 1,000 and 3,000 hertz. The geometry of these resonators can be designed in LMS Acoustics Simulation Software, but a practical way to avoid re-current FE meshing is by estimating the Activated CarbonComplying with the increasingly stringent regulations on mercury emissions is not something to take chances with. Norit Americas DARCO Hg and DARCO Hg-LH powdered activated carbons lead the power industry in market share and have been tested at more power plants than any other carbon. With more than 85 years of experience, Norit Americas Inc. pioneered the use of sorbent injection in the North American market for mercury control, and has earned the trust of our valued customers. For a permanent and cost-effective mercury control solution, contact Norit Americas Inc. No following. Norit. Just leading.mercury emissionsNorit Americas Inc.T 800.641.9245E info@norit-americas.com I www.norit-americas.com/mercuryCIRCLE 16 ON READER SERVICE CARDIf you process it, load it, unload it, stack it, stockpile it, reclaim it, crush it, blend it or convey itRoberts & Schaefer can handle it.From feasibility studies to turnkey projects, Roberts &Schaefer is recognized around the world as the industryinnovator of bulk material, coal preparation and fuelhandling/blending systems. We provide total solutions for awide range of fuels, including PRB, bituminous, lignite andanthracite coal; woodchips and petroleum coke; as well aslimestone and gypsum handling; and limestone grinding andtransport systems. For complete system development,upgrades or modifications, we can handle it.Roberts & Schaefer Company222 South Riverside PlazaChicago, Illinois 60606 312/236-7292www.r-s.comOffices also in Australia, Indonesia,Poland and Salt Lake CityLimestone/gypsum handling andgypsum barge load out systemBarge unloading, conveying,stack out and reclaim facilityCoal and woodchiphandlingCoal, limestone and ash handlingCoal handling and storage facilityStacker/Reclaimer Coal preparation and material handlingCoal blending for Illinois Basin and PRB coalGypsum conveying andbarge load out facilityConveying, screening andcrushing systemRapid car unloading, fuel blending (Eastern or PRB coal)Fuel and limestone handling for CFB boilerCoal handling for fuel switch to PRB coalPet coke handling facilityCIRCLE 34 ON READER SERVICE CARDJuly 2009 | POWER www.powermag.com 23FOCUS ON O&Mgeometry analytically and, finally, validating the design using LMS Acoustics Simulation Software. The cooling of these resona-tors prevents hot air from accessing the resonator. Resonators are a very effective means of addressing the problem, although they add complexity and cost while reducing efficiency of the gas turbine as a result of the resonators cooling air requirements.Although the optimization of fluid flow, combustion, and heat transfer remain primary objectives in gas turbine develop-ment, more attention is being paid to the interrelations between acoustic performance and operation reliability and efficiency. Sven Bethke concludes, The combination of virtual prototype simulations with LMS Acoustics Simulation Software and ade-quate experimental testing allows Siemens to efficiently simu-late the impact of specific design modifications and operating conditions on the acoustic performance of gas turbines. The predicted acoustic eigenfrequencies and mode shapes of single-combustion chambers and can-annular combustion systems are essential in optimizing combustor designs and increasing the competitive position of Siemens power generation systems.Contributed by LMS (www.lmsintl.com).LUBRICATIONExtreme Oil Changes Performing regular oil changes on remote generators is far from simple or cost-effective. Heres how one firm harnessed technolo-gy to extend oil change intervals from one week to two months. For most people, an oil change means dropping into the lo-cal Jiffy Lube or repair shop and driving away 15 minutes later. For Dennis Fleming, manager of the Valleyview branch of Tarpon Energy Services Ltd. of Calgary, Alberta, that isnt an option. Tarpon provides diesel generator sets, primarily to companies working in the Canadian oil patch, and maintains units up to 700 kilometers away from his headquarters.It is not uncommon to drive for hours to do a 20-minute oil change, then hop in the truck and drive back, said Fleming. There is no way of getting around that when dealing with these remote locations.To make matters worse, some locations cant even be reached by truck. We have even had a couple jobs in northern Alberta where we were helicoptered in and out for one whole summer just to change the oil in the unit, he continued. Our guys were pretty excited about the helicopter rides.Raising Reliability Tarpon leases more than 200 Cummins diesel generator sets in sizes ranging from 20 kW up to 1 MW. The units are mostly used by oil companies to get a well site up and running until line power is brought out to the site, though some locations are too remote to ever connect to the grid. Fleming says that most well sites use the 100-kW generators to power the surface pumps or the down-hole submersible electric pumps. The smaller units might run lights, heaters, and electronics at a site, while the megawatt-scale generators would be used at new batteries fa-cilities where the liquids obtained from one or more wells are stored for initial processing before being sent to the refinery.The oil producers rely on the generators to always be available. Even a momentary power glitch will cause the electronic systems running the down-hole pumps to shut down, requiring a manual restart. If that happens during dinner or overnight, the wells can fill with sand. At that point, they will have to bring a service rig in and pull the pump, clean out the well, put the pump back Conveying Loading Palletizing Packaging BEUMER conveying technology that has every process nicely under control.www.beumer.comHigh temperatures. Long distances. Great heights. Efcient solutions. BEUMER convey-ing technology always offers you the right systems and equipment for the transport of bulk materials like cement, lime, gypsum or clinker. See for yourself. You can nd more information about the BEUMER company and its products on the Internet.FP1.B.GBCIRCLE 17 ON READER SERVICE CARD www.powermag.com POWER |July 2009 24FOCUS ON O&Mdown, and hope it works, said Fleming. It is quite a costly venture for them.For most applications the staff works on improving the reliability of the diesel en-gines. Many locations have a backup gen-erator, in case one goes down, which also makes it easier to schedule maintenance. They have also doubled up on fuel filters and installed more inline fuel filters. De-signing buildings with better airflow is another option, so that bugs, dirt, dust, and pollen dont clog the radiators. The biggest area for improvement, though, is with engine oil. As built, the generators required a weekly oil change. Adding additional oil filtration equipment extended the oil life to 350 hours, about two weeks. This was better, but still not good enough or cost-effective for those servicing the engines. It was also difficult to schedule changes that frequently. Tarpon would have to coordinate with the techni-cians and the oil company representatives at the locations, and due to schedule con-flicts, the oil changes would usually end up going over that 350-hour margin.It is simply too often to be shutting down their system, especially if they have trouble starting them up again, said Flem-ing. So I asked the people in my division to start looking for a way to manage the short time frame maintenance issue.Device Enables Less-Frequent Oil ChangesThe answer Fleming found was the OilMate product from Engineered Machined Prod-ucts Inc. (EMP) of Escanaba, Mich. OilMate has an interesting development history. A large yacht owner had white carpeting in his yacht, and whenever the engine oil was changed, some would wind up on the carpet, which upset the owners wife. The owner asked for a system that would nev-er need another oil change. The engines original equipment manufacturer (OEM) ap-proached EMP, which designed the OilMate to address this specific problem (Figure 3). The OilMate concept is elegant in its simplicity. With the OilMate, a small por-tion of the used engine oil is continually removed from the engine and burned in the fuel as productive energy. The OilMate then adds a little bit of fresh oil back into the sump to replace what was burned. That way the engine is continually running on fresh oil, the additives pack-age is continually refreshed, and you never have to remove and dispose of the old oil, explained Bob Vardigan, EMPs director of sales. A traditional oil bypass filtration unit does extend the oils life, though not as much as the OilMate, and when it reaches the end of life, the oil is old and dirty, the additive package has been depleted, and you still have to get rid of the oil.The OilMate initially was utilized for marine diesels and then began being used as an OEM and aftermarket product for over-the-road trucks, especially in North America and Australia. From there the product expanded to off-road vehicles, in-cluding the U.S. Armys eight-wheel-drive Stryker armored combat vehicles. Finally, it started being deployed for remote gen-erator sets. With all markets combined, there are now about 40,000 OilMates in use worldwide (Figure 4).Because OilMate had already been tested by Cummins on the engines run by Tarpon, Fleming decided to try it out. The system is capable of going 2,000 hours without any filter changes whatsoever, and if you change the filters at that time, the oil in the reservoirs can last 4,000 hours, he says. It also extends the service life of the equipment, so we got a nice bonus. Contributed by Drew Robb, a Los Angelesbased writer specializing in engineering and technology issues.3. Reduce the oil change interval. Biweekly oil changes are neither practical nor efficient for remote gen-sets. That frequency changed about a year ago, when Tarpon En-ergy Services Ltd. of Calgary, Alberta, a diesel engine rental company, started using OilMate from Engineered Machined Products Inc. Oil changes are now done once every 2,000 hours (12 weeks) rather than every two weeks. Cour-tesy: Engineered Machined Products Inc.4. OilMate in operation. Here the OilMate provides protection on a diesel gen-erator in a mining operation (top), on a diesel generator used for powering surveillance equipment (second), on a diesel engine in an Army vehicle (third), and on a remote-mount-ed oil filter on an engine used in a remote tele-communications station (bottom). Courtesy: Engineered Machined Products Inc.On schedule for 2013Westinghouse AP1000TMWESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC COMPANY LLCWith the on-time completion of the frst pour of basemat structural concrete, the frst of four Westinghouse Electric Company AP1000TM nuclear power plants is on schedule to be completed by 2013 in China.Westinghouse, the nuclear industry technology leader, provides an unparalleled range of nuclear technology and services for customers in China and around the world. Te AP1000 has passed all the steps for compliance with European Utility Requirements. And, the AP1000 is the only Generation III+ plant to receive design certifcation by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Westinghouse nuclear technology will help provide future generations with safe, clean and reliable electricity.Check us out at www.westinghousenuclear.comCIRCLE 18 ON READER SERVICE CARD www.powermag.com POWER |July 2009 26LEGAL & REGULATORYBrian R. GishToo Many Fingers in the Smart Grid Pie?There has been much excitement about the advent of the smart grid recently, especially because of the strong push by the Obama administration. Despite the simple-sounding term, the smart grid is not a simple concept. It encompasses numerous complex elements. The smart grid has been touted as the means of, among other desirable objectives, reducing electricity demand and costs by giving consumers accurate price and usage signals, integrating renewable and distributed resources, improving the ro-bustness of the system in the event of outages, and providing the infrastructure for the widespread use of electric vehicles. Because the smart grid promises to address so many compo-nents across the industry, smart grid initiatives are being over-seen by manyperhaps too manydifferent organizations and agencies, as I outline below. This raises the question of whether the smart grid effort could be advanced more efficiently by using a more centralized approach. U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), ex-panding on 2005 legislation, provides the statutory framework for much of the national smart grid effort. The EISA gave the DOE the responsibility to: Establish a Smart Grid Task Force made up of members of mul-tiple federal agencies to coordinate federal efforts and make recommendations to Congress. Establish a Smart Grid Advisory Committee to include private and nonfederal governmental entities to advise relevant fed-eral officials on matters involving smart grid development. Facilitate research on smart grid technologies. Establish smart grid demonstration projects. Study and report on infrastructure security aspects of the smart grid. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) appropriated funds for smart grid grants, for which the DOE has issued solicitations of nearly $4 billion. ARRA also instructed the DOE to establish a Smart Grid Clearinghouse for the sharing of demonstration results and research.National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)The EISA instructed NIST (within the Department of Commerce) to develop standards and protocols for the interoperability of smart grid devices and systems. NIST is directed to seek input and cooperation from a number of federal agencies and private organizations, including the Gridwise Architecture Council, the International Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association. NIST has been working on this complex standards development task for some time, and a considerable amount of additional work will be necessary to complete it.Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)The EISA gives FERC a consultation role in many of the DOEs smart grid activities. In addition, FERC is charged with institut-ing a rulemaking, after NIST achieves sufficient consensus on interoperability standards, to approve those standards. The FERC interoperability rulemaking is expected to commence later this year. Additionally, FERC will have responsibilities for oversight of system reliability and security issues associated with trans-mission aspects of the smart grid and will have to consider rate recovery for smart grid investments within its jurisdiction. FERC issued a proposed policy statement in March to begin sorting out these issues and to advise NIST of criteria for ac-ceptable standards. A Smart Grid Collaborative has been created between FERC and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, and this group has made recommendations to the DOE on criteria for smart grid demonstration grants.State Public Utility Commissions (PUCs)Many smart grid technologies will be deployed at the local dis-tribution level, which is subject to state PUC jurisdiction. The EISA instructed states to consider smart grid issues. The