Abstracts - VGB PowerTech Journal 8/2005

Hydrogen Pathways and Scenarios

Martin Wietschel and Ulrike Hasenauer

The future role of hydrogen as an energy source is currently the subject of controversial discussion. This study focuses on which of the different pathways to produce and use hydrogen appear to be the most reasonable from the perspectives of economic efficiency and climate protection. Scenarios for the introduction of hydrogen in the mobile and stationary sector are developed and discussed for the EU 25 and the year 2030.

Efficient Application of Biomass

Norbert Pesendorfer and Johann O. Reinalter

Biomass-thermal power plants are a good completion to conventional energy production plants. Particularly when there is not only a continuous need for energy but also for heat. Salzburg AG has found two partners in Abtenau who ensure all-year-round sales and therefore can guarantee nearly 100 % plant utilization. The implantation of an OCR module and heat recovery systems could optimize the degree of efficiency in technical terms.

Kopswerk II - Prevailing Conditions and Design

Ernst Pürer

After a two years' design development phase including the implementation of the approval process and the award of contracts for all major components, the new building of Kopswerk II has been started on the 1st of September 2004. Kopswerk II is a pump storage scheme with an installed capacity of 450 to 510 MW in turbine mode and 450 MW in pumping operation. The conception of this power plant was substantially determined by the modified market conditions since the liberalization of the electricity market.

Concentrating Solar Power Plants - How to Achive Competitiveness

Robert Pitz-Paal, Jürgen Dersch, Barbara Milow, Félix Téllez, Alain Ferriere, Ulrich Langnickel, Aldo Steinfeld, Jacob Karni, Eduardo Zarza und Oleg Popel

Electricity from solar thermal power plants is environmentally friendly. Though the costs of this kind of solar electricity are lower than those from photovoltaic cells, they cannot compete with the generation costs from fossil power plants today. The ECOSTAR study shows that it is possible to overcome this drawback. This study was partly financed by the European Union. Seven different solar thermal technologies for electricity production have been investigated within the study.

Experience with Maintenance Contracts for Wind Power Plants

Jana Hartwig

EnBW Kraftwerke AG have been operating wind power plants for some years. Different experience has been made during planning, erection and commissioning as well as during the first operating months. This does also apply to maintenance contracts. It turned out that not only the manufacturers´ maintenance concepts but also the contents of contracts and the service itself are differing considerably.

Arklow Bank Offshore Wind Park Officially Inaugurated in Ireland

Andreas Wagner

Seven of the world's largest wind power turbines in commercial operation at sea are showing the way to go in offshore electricity generation. The Arklow Bank Offshore-Windfarm is making local people happy because it's brought jobs and is boosting the local economy in other ways. Many technologies developed and thoroughly tested in what GE calls a demonstration project are setting new global standards. Proposed expansion of the farm to 520 MW would supply 10% of the Republic of Ireland's electricity needs, making it the one of the biggest offshore power developments ever.

Co-combustion of Coal and Biomass in a 315 MW CFB-Boiler

Lars Eidensten, Andrzej Kucinski, Ahmed El-Dorghamy, Per Kallner and Nicklas Simonsson

Elektrocieplownie Warszawskie S.A, has tested various mixtures of coal with biomass. This has been done both as full-scale trials and in separate lab-scale investigations. The main goal of the measurement program, during full-scale trials, was to evaluate influence of co-combustion on emissions, overall efficiency and full load of boiler.

The Effect of Co-firing Large Amounts of Secondary Fuels on SCR Deactivation

Leonardus Hendrikus Joseph Vredenbregt and Doctor Ronald Meijer

In the near future all the coal-fired boilers in the Netherlands are likely to be equipped with SCR to reduce NOx emissions. The co-firing of secondary fuels will be extended. At the moment the knowledge about deactivation of catalysts in a high-dust SCR installation as a consequence of co-firing large amounts of secondary fuels in a coal-fired boiler is limited. In 2003 KEMA has started a research programme to obtain information about how the co-firing of secondary fuels affects the activity of SCR catalysts.

Innovations and Cost Saving Potentials in Power Plant Construction

Heinz-Dieter Köpper and Dieter Lehnen

Coverage of growing requirements on favourably priced energy will be a decisive precondition for our future economical development. In a time of changed markets technical and economical aspects on energy supply are much more linked together than ever before. A development has started to trade with energy and emission eligibilities in a way that reminds of stock exchange. Considerations on innovations and cost saving potentials in power plant construction focus on this field.

VGB-Database KISSY - A modern IT-Tool and new Performance Indicators for VGB members

Jürgen Aydt and Ralf Kirsch

Since 40 years a working group of VGB is defining performance indicators for the availability of power plants. The results of statistical calculations are published anonymized. All the time events in thermal power plants were in the focus of these statistics. With the liberalization in the electricity market requirements have changed: requirements concerning VGB, concerning the significance of the indicators itself and concerning the data base of members. With the KISSY-Data base users will have a modern and powerful IT-tool. It is a comfortable online application with a big data pool according to international statistic rules and definitions.

Effects of Non-uniform Gas Temperatures at Turbine Inlet on Component Lifetime and Performance

Uwe Gampe and Manfred Freimark

Depending on design and operation of the gas turbine combustion chamber, more or less non-uniform hot gas temperatures result along the circumference of the combustion chamber outlet. In areas with highest thermal stresses this may result in damage even before reaching the planned end of lifetime, i.e. before replacement of the component. It is shown for two typical combustion chamber designs how to determine the non-uniform hot gas temperature at the turbine inlet and what are the likely uncertainties.

Complex Formation, Redox potentials and their Impact on Mercury emission control

Margot Bittig and Bernhard Pieper

The prevailing understanding of the behaviour of mercury in wet flue gas scrubbing has to be revised. Measurements from commercially running plants confirm that the pH-value of a scrubbing stage solution does not influence the concentration of mercury(II)-halide in the purified gas downstream of each stage. The proposed physico-chemical model offers an understanding of the experimental data based on complex-chemistry and electrochemistry.

Implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive

Otto Pirker

The EU Water Framework Directive is a subject of heated debate among hydro-power operators in Europe. On the one hand, the sector is confronted with an environmental instrument with clearly defined goals and a very strong focus on water ecology; on the other hand, implementation of the Directive, as a process accompanied and controlled by the European Commission and its Directorate General for the Environment, still requires clarification of numerous details. The potential danger for any type of water use in general, and hydro power in particular, should not be underestimated.

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