Abstracts - VGB PowerTech Journal 9/2020
IEA´s World Energy Outlook 2020 and more... New horizons, new challenges and electricity in focus
Christopher Weßelmann
This year’s „World Energy Outlook“ (WEO) of the International Energy Agency (IEA) is dedicated to a detailed documentation of the structure and quantity of global energy consumption and, in addition, a look at the options for future development. Three scenarios show how the world could be supplied with energy in 2040 and what challenges this would pose for the respective paths.[more...]
„VGB OnLine – 100 Year VGB“. Opening speech
Georg Stamatelopoulos
Due to the Corona virus crisis and its implications the jubilee congress 2020 “100 years VGB“, originally planned for September 2020 in Essen, Germany, is postponed to the year 2021. VGB took this opportunity to still draw the industry’s attention to the association and its anniversary with a top-level online event on 9 September 2020. The chairman of VGB, Dr Georg Stamatelopoulos (EnBW), Dr Simone Peter (German Renewable Energy Federation – BEE), Dr Rolf Martin Schmitz (RWE), David Bryson (Uniper) and Professor Manfred Fischedick (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy) provided impulse contributions and an exciting live discussion about the “European Energy System of the Future”.
Price as the key to compliance with the Paris climate change decisions – Role of energy taxation and CO2 pricing in the G20
Hans-Wilhelm Schiffer and Stefan Ulreich
The decisions agreed in the Paris Climate Convention of December 2015 to limit the rise in global temperature are to be achieved primarily through commitments by the participating states to limit the level of greenhouse gas emissions. The question arises as to whether an approach based on the most comparable pricing of energy possible worldwide by means of taxes and/or greenhouse gas trading systems might not be more promising. At the same time, such a strategy could be better suited to counteract distortions of competition between states than the border adjustment measures (Carbon Border Adjustment) discussed in this context. Moreover, additional regulatory instruments, such as CO2 limits would not be necessary if an appropriately high price could be established as a key instrument for climate protection
Responsibilities in a wind farm
Are you aware of your responsibilities as a wind farm operator?
Bernd Albrecht
VBoard members of a wind farm company often are not aware of their operator obligations and their resulting personal responsibility. They rely on their legal department or on the insurance company to settle the matter. However, according to German law, until today only natural persons can be prosecuted. The final responsibility always remains with the members of the management board. Insurances can only be of limited help here. They do not serve a fine or imprisonment. But there are ways and means to minimize the risk of liability for yourself and the company.
Diagnostics as a source of knowledge and strategy for coal-fired power units operated in a flexible mode
Jerzy Trzeszczyński and Ewa Trzeszczyńska
Among the requirements for power units which are legal, economic and technical, the latter are the most important. The technical condition of power equipment determines their safety and availability. For conventional power units, especially those, which in the future will stabilize power system even more than before, rationally increased flexibility and high availability will be their most desirable features. Such expectations can be ensured by high quality constantly updated knowledge, which comes from properly organized and performed diagnostics, as well as maintenance based on it, having the appropriate scope and level at acceptable costs. To achieve this, a complete diagnostic system, which integrates life expectancy and failure prediction, taking into account in particular the operating conditions of units of the same class, has been developed.
Mi-Vision Generation 2 – Case-Studies
Dieter Mauer and M.Eng. Sandra Lambertz
The development of Mi-Vision Generation 1 as a diagnostic system for VE plants (complete desalination) was completed towards the end of 2017. This test system enabled numerous evaluation projects in the years 2018 to 2020 and was continuously developed further by fundamental improvements in the system. All further developments and improvements of the performance features have already been implemented in the new systems of the Mi-Vision Generation 2 implemented. In the field of ion exchanger demineralisation, we are at the beginning of a revolution, which was presented as theoretically feasible only two years ago, but which has now been tested and implemented.
Transformation of electrical energy into hydrogen and its storage
Manfred Wanner
In June 2020, the German government adopted a national hydrogen strategy to support energy system transformation through increased use of hydrogen. In contrast to conventional hydrogen, which has so far been produced almost exclusively from natural gas, crude oil or coal, releasing large quantities of the greenhouse gas CO2, “green” hydrogen is to be used as the primary energy carrier. 9 billion Euro will be used to develop efficien. To this end, the scale of a comprehensive hydrogen economy is illustrated. If hydrogen is to be used in the future not only as a chemical raw material but also as an energy carrier in the mobility sector and for heating purposes, the quantities required will increase again significantly.
Maintain cooling towers to minimize equipment or component failure
David McDaniel and Robert Swafford
Many service contractors and cooling tower owners take a reactive approach when it comes to maintenance and repair. They replace a component only after it breaks, or they contact someone to perform a repair when a component failure is imminent. By proactively following manufacturers’ user manuals and employing checklists and guides to track the condition of equipment and components, maintenance personnel will extend cooling tower life, achieve peak performance and minimize the chance for unplanned equipment breakdowns. Comprehensive cooling tower inspection is essential – but, ideally, it should be paired with a preventive maintenance schedule to achieve better results.
Heat storage in solar thermal power plants: Avoid “freezing” and leakage:
Optimal heat management for the use of molten salt in solar thermal power plants with concentrated radiation
Tim Bruewer
Concentrated solar power (CSP) plants in particular often offer higher efficiency than photovoltaic systems. In order to compensate for the fluctuating production of electricity due to the changing solar radiation, molten salt is often used as a heat accumulator in such plants. However, if the temperature of the melt falls below a limit value of approx. 228 °C, conventional salt compounds freeze (“freezing”), which can block lines. However, if the temperature is too high above about 585 °C, the salt dissolves and can no longer be used as a heat transfer medium. In addition, leakages can occur at the valves, which reduces efficiency and at the same time makes freezing of the melt more likely. Extensive heat management is therefore necessary to ensure a stable temperature of the salt. This can be achieved by a heating system consisting of electrical heating modules, sensors and control units to stabilise the temperature of the molten salt at any point in the plant.
PROTOS 2.0 software helps with analysis and reduces the workload of control centre staff
Guido Kerzmann
The more complex the process engineering sequences and thus the degree of automation of the plants involved, the more alarms have to be processed by the operators in the control room and in production - several thousand per day are not uncommon. However, this is the reality in many plants and therefore does not meet the requirements of a well-set alarm management system, because only so many alarms should occur that the operators can fulfil the purpose of an alarm. With PROTOS 2.0, the origin, frequency and duration of alarms can be individually displayed and evaluated for each individual plant. In addition to alarm efficiency, this also increases productivity, as various analysis tools can be used to quickly identify unfavourably parameterised alarms in the respective process chain and optimise them accordingly.
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