This is one of a series that I wrote for my personal blog. The series basically highlights why I don't care so much for liberals and absolutely abhor progressives; but my personal blog is rather uninteresting for the most part, and most of the commenters there I have known for several years. A few of that series that I think will be of interest I will post here. This is an expanded version.
What you see here is the most polluting power station in the United States. It was built in 1917, and commissioned a few years later. It generates 175 MW, which it delivers to two counties. It is known as Old Bessie.
From a bit different view.
At the bottom left, you see a part of the coal bed, above which is the coal handling area. Directly in front of the hoppers is the stack. To my knowledge, the hoppers are a part of the sulfur removal system, and indicate that Old Bessie has undergone at least one retrofit.
Here is another photograph which shows the coal bed.
Old Bessie will be decommissioned in late 2012, due to the fact that a new power station is being built nearby. This new power station will provide 3 1/2 times as much power, to be delivered to five counties, with near-zero carbon emissions.
It does this by means of a gasification system. The coal is pulverized, and then introduced to pressure, steam, and a chemical cocktail; something like a giant espresso machine. Most of the carbon is removed at this point, and sent to the pits, where it is sold off for asphalt manufacture. The liquid is piped to an evaporative column and refined to its component gases. Mercury, sulfur, and other contaminants are removed at this point. The gases are mixed with other chemicals, and are then known as “syngas.” It is this syngas which fuels the boiler, which powers the generator. This particular unit is equipped with two HRSG’s.
This is the fourth power plant that I’ve worked on, although my background is more in refineries and chemical plants; the third coal-fired power plant.
The first power station where I worked was a gas-fired peaking station. I worked mainly instrumentation there.
The second was a marvel of modern science which marked the introduction of Japanese technology in the United States; the second of its type in North America, as they had built one two years earlier in Southern Alberta, Genesee No. 3.
An engineering model for the Genesee unit:
There a quite a few innovations here. At almost every part of the plant there is some type of new technology which had never before been seen in the US.
At 790 MW, this is the first of the large-capacity supercritical boilers of its type in the US. It utilizes a spiral waterwall rather than the conventional vertical waterwall. It is designed for sliding pressure operation, unlike the conventional super-critical units built in the US. There are a number of sensors along the waterwall which direct a rotating water cannon, enabling it to knock off slag on the fly.
The water treatment system employs a different type of chemicals, which was developed in Germany. The burner is designed with lower stoichiometric ratio, specifically for the low-sulfur bituminous coal of the Powder River Basin, which is classified as a severe slagging fuel. It produces lower NOx content. It exceeded anticipated efficiency during the testing phase.
The turbine is different. It was redesigned to be more efficient. The vortex nozzle is of a newer design, resulting in increased efficiency. 10 – 15 % of the efficiency of the turbine is a direct result of the redesign of the last stage blade. This required the introduction of newer types of steel, which required a few innovations in its manufacture. An overlay method of welding is required for the main bearings rather than the traditional sleeve method. The valves also require high-chromium steel. The axle of the turbine undergoes such severe stress during the start-up phase that it warps. There’s no way around it. Another device at one end bends the axle back into true on the fly.
There is also a urea pad there which produces ammonia on-site (an American technology).
The air quality control systems (AQCS) employ various designs based on the Japanese technology, including an SDS structure with a lime slurry. A portion of revision 9 of the prints was finalized according to my specifications.
I also worked in the turbine area, on the cooling system, and on the hydro-testing.
The second coal-burner that I worked on was of similar design. That one drew water from Lake Michigan, cleaned it up for use in the boiler, and then returned it later. It was engineered for zero particulate emissions, and is currently one of the 10 cleanest coal-fueled power plants in the nation.
I fractured my knee while I was there. They told me that it was a sprain, and I put ice on it twice a day. I went to work for five days on a broken knee until they finally sent me in for an MRI and discovered the fracture; and let me be clear about this-- I’m not some blowhard that stands around giving lectures all day-- I actually work for a living. That earned me the nickname of “Iron Will.” That seems to have followed me. I didn’t care for it so much at first, but now I’ve warmed up to it a bit.
I worked on the condenser units, the water treatment system, and on a part of the SDS system (AQCS) as part of the start-up crew.
I was encouraged by one of the older field engineers that I was working with to submit my resume to the company as field engineer (we had a somewhat lengthy discussion on the chemical properties of lime vs. chalk one day). He offered to give me a good reference. I determined for myself that I wanted to work at one more coal-burner before I did. Taking Old Bessie offline will mark my one.
I know a little bit about clean coal technology.
I know about what’s in place now, and I know something about what’s coming up.
The use of target-specific ionic liquids (TSILs) will become more common as the need to reduce carbon emissions becomes more urgent. The abstract from two papers on the subject follows here:
Performance of nitrile-containing anions in task-specific ionic liquids for improved CO2/N2 separation
Mahurin, S. M. Lee, J. S. Baker, G. A. Luo, H. Dai, S. 2010-01-01
This work explores the performance of a series of ionic liquids that incorporate a nitrile-containing anion paired to 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium cations in tailoring the selectivity and permeance of supported ionic liquid membranes for CO2/N2 separations. The permeance and selectivity of three ionic liquids, each with an increasing number of nitrile groups in the anion (i.e., two, three, and four), were measured using a non-steady-state permeation method. By predictably varying the molar volume and viscosity of the ionic liquids, we show that the solubility, selectivity, and permeance can be optimized for CO2/N2 separation through controlled introduction of the nitrile functionality into the anion. Of the three nitrile-based ionic liquids studied, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanobor...
Design and Evaluation of Ionic Liquids as Novel CO2 Absorbents
Maginn, Edward 2007-07-15
This is the final report for project DE-FG26-04NT42122 'Design and Evaluation of Ionic Liquids as Novel CO{sub 2} Absorbents'. The objective of this 'breakthrough concepts' project was to investigate the feasibility of using ionic liquids for post-combustion CO{sub 2} capture and obtain a fundamental understanding of the solubility of CO{sub 2} and other components present in flue gas in ionic liquids. Our plan was to obtain information on how composition and structure of ionic liquid molecules affected solubility and other important physical properties via two major efforts: synthesis and experimental measurements and molecular simulation. We also planned to perform preliminary systems modeling study to assess the economic viability of a process based on ionic liquids. We accomplished all the milestones and tasks specified in the original proposal. Specifically, we carried out extensive quantum and classical atomistic-level simulations of a range of ionic liquids. These calculations provided detailed information on how the chemical composition of ionic liquids affects physical properties. We also learned important factors that govern CO{sub 2} solubility. Using this information, we synthesized or acquired 33 new ionic liquids. Many of these had never been made before. We carried out preliminary tests on all of these compounds, and more extensive tests on those that looked most promising for CO{sub 2} capture. We measured CO{sub 2} solubility in ten of these ionic liquids. Through our efforts, we developed an ionic liquid that has a CO{sub 2} solubility 2.6 times greater than the 'best' ionic liquid available to us at the start of the project. Moreover, we demonstrated that SO{sub 2} is also extremely soluble in ionic liquids, opening up the possibility of using ionic liquids to remove both SO{sub 2} and CO{sub 2} from flue gas. In collaboration with Trimeric Inc., a preliminary systems analysis was conducted and the results used to help identify physical properties that must be optimized to enable ionic liquids to be cost-competitive for CO{sub 2} capture. It was found that increasing the capacity of the ionic liquids for CO{sub 2} would be important, and that doing so could potentially make ionic liquids more effective than conventional amine solvents.
That’s the sort of thing that I’m talking about.
You don’t have to do the chemistry yourself. There are other people more knowledgeable that are working on it. I get it with an MSDS sheet and a spec sheet.
I also know a bit about the system that TSILs require. I have a pretty good idea of how the chemicals will enter the system and how they will be monitored (by the pH level of the outflow, the same as with the SDS). I already know this system. A few of the specifics remain a range of options.
However, the belief that clean coal technology is even remotely viable prohibits me from being anything approaching a liberal. It’s simply not a part of their agenda. It makes me hated among progressives. While telling me that they love “Science” so much, they really don’t seem to have much of a grasp of it on a practical level.
Nevertheless, I believe in what I do. It coincides with my concept of good stewardship.
I am in the business of making the world a better place. That’s what I do.
And anyone that doesn’t like it can kiss my ass.
