Abstracts - VGB PowerTech Journal 3/2010

Technological Process and Current Levels of Quality in the Construction of New Power Plants - Requirements and Reality

Manfred Kehr, Gereon Thomas and Ute Hartfil

New power plants aim to achieve the maximum efficiency possible. To this end, higher live steam temperatures and pressures are applied which require high-temperature materials which have to meet particularly high standards in terms of quality and processing. A global vendor market has to be accepted today for reasons of competition and the available production and manufacturing capacities given the changes in the market environment. This is a particular challenge for all parties involved, i.e. operators and plant manufacturers.

Challenges to the Technical Quality Assurance - From the Erection of Power Plants to Ongoing Plant Operation

Martin Giehl, Martin Käß, Ralf Nothdurft, Michael Bareiß and Thomas Sabel

Large new power plant capacities have to be erected in Europe in the next decades. Changed market conditions also changed the general conditions concerning design and erection of new and refurbishment of existing power plants. A clear deterioration of component and construction quality can already be noted in current projects. In order to avoid poor quality and in order not to jeopardise success of the projects it is urgently required to realise the measures presented.

Overview on CCS Technology and Results of Waterfall's Oxyfuel Pilot Plant

Philippe Paelinck and Hubertus Altmann

Technologies which are grouped under the term Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) offer promising possibilities to meet all the targets of the triangle of energy generation (reliability of supply, efficiency, environmental and climate protection) even and particularly under the challenging conditions of progressing anthropogenic climate change. Alstom Power's and Vattenfall's activities are interrelated in order to reach excellent results in development cycles unusually short for the energy industry, and to prepare the way for the application of new technologies.

Solar Technologies Towards Grid Parity - Key Factors and Timeframe

Gianluca Gigliucci, Giocchino Bellia, Daniele Consoli, Leonardo Merlo and Sauro Pasini

The paper aims at analysing competitiveness of solar energy generating technologies on the energy market in the mid-term time frame. Industrial scale photovoltaic and concentrated thermodynamic solar power plants are analysed by assuming the same installation site in southern Italy. The Levelised Cost of Energy (LEC) generated in their entire power plant lifetime has been chosen as the reference parameter for the analysis.

Online Analysis of Wood Pellets - Quality Parameters by Near Infrared Spectroscopy

Lars Petersen Julius, Pia Jorgensen, Dan Anov, Lars Plejdrup Houmoller and Joan Gronkaer Pedersen

A near infrared spectroscopy system was installed online in a wood pellet production facility. The objective was to translate real time spectra to useful chemical information, like calorific value, water- and ash content. It was possible to successfully determine water content and calorific value, whereas ash content proved troublesome.

Optimisation of Sampling System for a Faster Start-up of Cycling Power Plants

Anke Söllner, Michael Rziha and Peter Wuhrmann

Due to the ongoing liberalisation of the power market, combined cycle power plants operate frequently in cycling mode (approximately 200 hot starts, 50 warm starts per year). The Siemens turbine guideline allows an earlier start of the steam turbine (ST) under restricted conditions. Test results showed that about 100 minutes start-up time can be gained.

Analyses on Lifetime and Ageing Behaviour of IEX-Resins in Demin- and Condensate Polishing Plants

Dieter Mauer

Ion exchange resins exhibit different ageing mechanisms. This paper gives an overview on various mechanisms and the current estimations of lifetime concerning different mechanisms. For several resin classes more than one mechanism is relevant and the contribution of these vary depending on the application and temperature, respectively. Data has been generated from about 2300 resin sample examinations.

Organic Preservation Chemicals - A Comparison to Other Preservation Methods

Sascha Rodriguez, Horst Schevers, Frank-Udo Leidich and Frank Gabriellli

New components for power plants need protection against negative environmental impact for the time between manufacturing and commissioning. This
also applies to vendor parts of machines and equipment delivered by sub-suppliers and probably intermediate storage time and transportation. The action taken is necessary to preserve the value of the components, the securing of proper functioning and warranted characteristics (for example efficiency) of the components and parts. Organic preservation chemicals are used for new power plant equipment for the time between manufacture and commissioning, thus for transport and storage.

Distribution Ratio and Average Surface Coverage of Film Forming Amines

Niels Voges and Wolfgang Hater

Film forming amines have been successfully used as feed water treatment additives for several decades, especially in industrial power plants. New investigations on the properties of film  forming amines are intended to fill gaps in the knowledge, in order to finally introduce this technology into the corresponding guidelines for the treatment of steam generators.

Experience in Operation of a Selective Mercury Precipitation Step in FGD Waste Water Treatment

Johannes Mayer, Joachim Tembrink and Peter Graf

During treatment of waste water from FGD plants, sludge occurs as a side product which has to be deposited. Disposal of sludge causes permanent and increasing costs for the plant operator. The more reasonable priced recirculation of sludge into the boiler may be permitted by the authorities only if an effective mitigation procedure is installed to reduce the amount of volatile mercury from the sludge and thus minimise mercury emissions to air. A method was developed for selective reduction of mercury from FGD waste water. The first full-scale plant for mercury mitigation from FGD sludge was set to operation in the Datteln traction power plant in 2006
with a waste water capacity of 20 t/h. The second full-scale plant was commissioned in 2008 in the Scholven power plant with a capacity of 230 t/h of waste water.

Advanced SEM Analyses for Determination of Failure Mechanism with a Chemical Aspect

Frank G. de Vos, Martin P. de Jong and Rob Heijboer

SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) is often used in combination with EDS in order to measure very locally the composing elements in material. KEMA has developed a tool, KEMPhase, which gives a much broader overview of the area and not only shows the measured elements. With this tool it is possible to reveal the ratio of different elements and to provide a clear view on the compounds present. This information has been of great help in many cases to assess the root cause and determine the failure mechanism.

About Human Impact on Climate Change

Dietrich Böcker, Bernd J. Breloer, Peter Neumann-Mahlkau and Dietrich Welte

The authors of this paper express severe doubts considering the mainstream belief that mankind causes the ongoing climate change and is risking a global climate disaster. They emphasize that climate change is a regular natural phenomenon throughout Earth history and that climate models for various reasons are not sufficiently reliable to predict the future, especially with respect to the role of anthropogenic carbon dioxide.

An Electricity Market Mechanism Based on Benefit-balanced Transmission Rates

Jean Constantinecu

The paper attempts to show that both electricity market mechanisms and transmission pricing would be improved if market opportunities were recognized as a transmission service. The Market Opportunity Fee (MOF) method sets out a complement to loss compensation and congestion compensation fees as a proportion of the benefit the grid user gets from full network access. This complementary charge is basically compliant with market principles, although it may contradict two paradigms of conventional transmission pricing: rates that are fully predictable and do not depend on transactions. Yet, the proposed transmission rates do remain cost-based while their lack of predictability would not result in unacceptable risks for the user. Additionally, the rates strictly confirm with (regulated) revenue requirement thus giving a predictable income for the TSO. The method introduces a new electricity market mechanism in which price-offers are aggregated with the loss and congestion components of transmission rates. This new market mechanism would easily ensure allocation and payment of ex-post opportunity fees.