Insights of the Week
Ultrapure Water IIoT Webinar
this Thursday -
Join us Thursday, April 27 for
the webinar on IIoT and remote
O&M for power, semiconductor,
and pharmaceutical plants
You can register at
Weekly IIoT Webinars
Water and Wastewater Treatment
Chemicals -
You can also register for this
webinar which will be held on
May 10.
The market is analyzed in
N026 Water and Wastewater
Treatment Chemicals: World
Market
Chinese air emission limits are
now stringent and enforced -
We are tracking the tough power
plant emission regulations in
China in our market reports on
FGD, DeNox, fabric filters, and
precipitators. Details on these
reports are accessed at
http://home.mcilvainecompany.com/index.php/markets
Cleanroom market is booming -
IIoT is creating the need for
billions of new sensors.
This is good news for the
semiconductor industry and for
cleanroom suppliers. The use of
IIoT in cleanrooms was discussed
in a webinar last week.
You can view and listen
to recording at
Cleanroom IIoT and Remote O&M.
There is also a new video
covering the market report.
Check it out at
N6F World Cleanroom Markets
Valves for steam service have
lots of challenges -
Interviews with the experts
reveal lots of problems with
valves used for steam service in
power plants. The biggest
problems are encountered in
gas-fired plants where there is
daily cycling.
Zero leakage, flow
accelerate corrosion, and
bi-directional sealing are some
of the issues.
We are reporting on them
in
High Performance Valves and IIoT
Attemperators are HRSG Problem
No.1
- The valve problems and serious
problems with attemperators are
related. The broader problems
are being assessed in
59D Gas Turbine and
Reciprocating Engine Decisions
Coal-fired Power Generators have
Lots of "Clean" Opportunities
In many Asian localities coal
will be the only near term
solution to create electricity,
prosperity and health. In Japan,
the U.S. and Europe coal will
continue to provide much of the
electricity for decades to come.
Coal can be greener than any
other form of generation. An
example would be a system which
uses 70% coal and 30% biomass
and is producing CO2
which is injected to enhance oil
recovery. This system is taking
CO2 out of the cycle.
This makes it greener than solar
or wind.
Here is another example. Let's
compare (1) a system using
electricity from the grid with
(2) distributed generation from
a dedicated coal-fired boiler.
(1) The first plant draws all
its electricity from a utility
which has a mix of solar, wind
and gas generator sources. The
plant needs a reliable power
source which is assured with
gas-fired power in the mix. The
plant needs process steam and
heat. Therefore, it burns gas
for these purposes.
(22The second plant generates
its own electricity using coal.
It is a combined heat and power
plant providing steam and heat
for local industries or
residences. Its efficiency is
over 70% compared to 35% without
the credit for heat and steam.
This means that plant number one
is using lots of gas to equal
the heat provided by CHP in
plant number two.
This comparison is based on a
generation mix from the central
utility of 1/3 gas-fired power.
At higher ratios of gas-fired
power generation at the central
utility the CO2 is
less from the combined heat and
power plant. The tremendous
increase in efficiency for
combined heat and power has led
GE to predict that distributed
generation will be the wave of
the future and that large
central 1000 MW power plants
will disappear.
This comparison could be
considered biased by not
comparing a gas-fired CHP to
central electricity supply. CO2
emissions would only be
4X. This is the vision prompting
GE's bullish forecast. On the
other hand, for much of the
world gas is not available. Even
in the U.S. many coal-fired
industrial power plant operators
have learned that the cost of a
gas transmission line to their
plant from the closest source
would be prohibitive.
There is another aspect which
will reduce CO2
emissions. CO2 is a
plant fertilizer. The BHE
Currant Creek plant pipes CO2
from the power generator to an
adjacent greenhouse which grows
22 million pounds of carbon
consuming tomatoes per year.
This brings up an ethical
question relative to the harm
from CO2. When you
increase CO2 from 400
ppm to 600 ppm plants grow 40%
faster. Shell pipes CO2
to 550 greenhouses in the
Netherlands. Forty universities
and government organizations
have completed a study using
satellite images which show that
the earth is greening. The
ethical question would be
whether you choose to prevent
starvation of a few in the
short-term or reduce the
long-term harm to the many. This
is a complex question as covered
in
Sustainability Universal Rating
System.
For countries with both
inadequate food supplies,
electricity and natural gas
indoor farming with combined CO2
fertilization, heat and power
with coal will save lives. Coal
can be as clean as natural gas
in terms of all the pollutants.
China has a policy to invest in
air and water pollution
equipment to ensure that the
entire fleet of power plants has
emissions as low as the cleanest
gas turbine plant. In fact, with
their zero-liquid discharge
policy (ZLD) there is no
discharge of water to streams
and rivers. Air cooled
condensers (rather than wet
cooling towers) and dry
scrubbers (as opposed to wet)
can eliminate water use.
Coal is made even more
attractive with by-product
flyash and gypsum production.
This eliminates CO2
which would be caused by
alternative production
processes. The newest discovery
is that the FGD systems can be
the lowest cost option for rare
earths feedstocks.
HCl Scrubbing and Rare Earth
Recovery from Coal-Fired Power
Plants and Gasifiers are the
Perfect Marriage.
Despite pressure from
environmentalists more money
will be spent in the next decade
to build, operate, and maintain
coal-fired plants than for any
other generation option. Solar
and Wind may very well eliminate
fossil-fired generation someday,
but that day is generations
away. In the meantime, there is
a big opportunity to make
coal-fired power generation:
·
More efficient
·
Less costly
·
Cleaner
The Industrial Internet of
Things (IIoT) empowered by the
Industrial Internet of Wisdom
(IIoW) provides the route to
more efficient, less costly and
cleaner coal-fired generation
N031 Industrial IOT and Remote
O&M.
IIoW is created by the
interconnection of people with
actionable knowledge as in
44I Coal Fired Power Plant
Decisions.
It is further created by
interconnecting people in each
plant with the suppliers as in
4S01 Berkshire Hathaway Energy
Supplier and Utility Connect.
The biggest benefits of IIoT
will come in the developing
countries. Initiatives such as
that between Juniper and India
Power to provide O&M support at
Indian power plants and the MHPS
remote control center in the
Philippines will provide the
world's coal-fired generation
wisdom to localities lacking it.
Bob McIlvaine
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