Abstracts - VGB PowerTech Journal 1-2/2008

Energy and Ethics – Ethical Aspects of a Future Global Power Generation

Professor Carl Friedrich Gethmann

The article deals with ethical questions regarding a future global energy supply by considering the normative aspects of economic efficiency, long-term liabilities, environmental sustainability, social acceptability and distributive equity. Regarding the ethical issues dealt with in the debate on the global energy supply, in particular two postulates arise: Both an improvement in knowledge and an improvement in the categories and procedures of ethical reflection are required.

Energy and Ethics - Ethical Aspects of a Future Global Power Generation

Professor Carl Friedrich Gethmann

The article deals with ethical questions regarding a future global energy supply by considering the normative aspects of economic efficiency, long-term liabilities, environmental sustainability, social acceptability and distributive equity. Regarding the ethical issues dealt with in the debate on the global energy supply, in particular two postulates arise: Both an improvement in knowledge and an improvement in the categories and procedures of ethical reflection are required.

Present and Future Challenges for the Euro-pean Manufacturing and Supply Industry

Andreas Wittke

The European manufacturers and suppliers of power generation are market players on a global market, meaning that what happens on the worldwide market also has its impact on the European market. Apart from the challenges of market economy there are also technological hurdles that the European manufacturing and supply industry must take in order to meet European environmental standards. Sustainable energy supply is always the major objective considering also the sub-objectives environmental protection, security of supply and profitability.

The Evonik Steag Road to the High-efficiency Power Plant

Karl Schnadt and Wolfgang Benesch

The high-efficiency power plant will be in the centre of modern electricity supply in short, medium and long term. A very important aspect is that high-efficiency technology makes a substantial contribution to the conservation of fossil sources of energy. Efficiency is not only related to the power plant process itself but also to operation.

Hurdles on the Way to Climate-protecting Electricity Production

Paul Felten

Climate change, dwindling raw materials and resources as well as competition are the three main factors driving investment by power producers in power plant technologies around the globe. Against this background, the frequently quoted "renaissance of nuclear power" is a natural consequence of the clearly evident superiority of nuclear power over fossil energy sources - from all three perspectives. More and more countries are expanding their nuclear power generation capacities.

Pumped Storage Power Stations - Overview of New Projects in Austria

Gerald Berger and Ernst Pürer

New framework conditions, due to the liberalisation of the electricity market and the development of renewable energy, especially wind energy with its stochastic production, led to a renaissance of pump storage technology in central Europe. Austria is lucky, first of all in providing natural water resources as well as in topography highly suitable for hydro power plants.
Pump storage power plants represent even today an essential asset of the Austrian energy production. A boom for the planning and the construction of new power plants can be also observed. Currently there are pump storage power plants with a total capacity of approximately 1.100 MW under construction as well as others of approximately 1.200 MW in the stage of concrete planning.

Biomass Power Plants

Ludwig Gockner and Norbert Rechberger

The deregulation of the European power market enhancing the international competitiveness and the proceeding recordation of the realisable potential of green electricity and its power-industrial and ecological relevance cause a structural change in power supply. The energy policy of the European Union as well as of Austria attaches great importance to the growing use of renewable energy. Within the legal framework regarding the increase of renewable energy, biomass power plants make a substantial contribution to ecologically sustainable electricity generation and to achieve the Austrian target regarding climate protection.

Biomass and Secondary Fuels in Denmark, History and Perspective

Mogens Berg and Jørgen Peter Jensen

In Denmark, the power companies have been leading in introduction and utilisation of biomass for generation of power and heat. From 1989 a number of stand-alone grate-fired CHP (combined heat and power) plants have been commissioned, especially using straw and also wood, as primary fuel. Capacity and steam data of the biomass plants have increased and steam temperatures in the 540 °C range have shown acceptable superheater corrosion rates. Another concept is biomass boilers operated in parallel with fossil-fired power plants for the operation of one joint steam turbine.

Higher Effective Flexibility at Waste Incineration with Fuzzy Control at the Waste Incineration Plant of BSR under Consideration of Process Optimisation and the Possible Use of Video Images Analysis Software

Christian Gierend

The combustion control and quality of burn out control in waste incineration plants turns out difficult since the observation of the fire room processes is possible not penetrating with the human eye. The Ruhleben (BSR) waste-to-energy plant with a well-operating fire and combustion control on fuzzy base serves as an example about the use of video images analysis software. In connection with fire and combustion control concepts which are comprehensible and protected legally (fuzzy control is normalised and standardised) video camera signals are used successfully and do not form any black box for the operator.

Model Predictive Combustion Control Base on Neural Nets

Dirk Schmidt and Theo Kampschreuer

The first closed-loop Neural Net combustion controller in the Netherlands has been installed at the HVC plant in Alkmaar. During the summer 2006 the first of the "old" three lines was equipped with an individually controllable primary air distribution. As "fire controller" the combustion optimiser from Powitec, the PiT Navigator, was selected, a system using digital image processing and neural nets. This paper shows the results from operating the plant with and without the NMPC optimiser and from the performance tests.

Operating Experience Made with the Flue Gas Desulphurisation Plant in the Farge Power Plant

Jens Linnenberg, Matthias Kolbohm and Andreas Harndt

Various attempts have been made to increase the efficiency of the flue gas desulphurisation at the Farge Power Station following the successful conversion of the desulphurisation process from burnt lime to chalk. The aim was to operate the FGD scrubber with only one of the two absorber circulating pumps in order to increase the efficiency, at least during certain load conditions at the plant.

Ultrafiltration of Raw Water Pre-treatment

Thomas Schramm

As water prices continue to increase a combination of ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis offers an enormous potential for savings compared with the use of municipal water as feed water for subsequent demineralisation processes. Ultrafiltration completely removes all colloidal substances from the water and thus considerably reduces the silt density index (SDI). The main benefits of ultrafiltration are the relatively high water quality, a longer service life of the following systems and, due to the modular design, greater flexibility if it should become necessary to expand the system.

The European Higher Education Area - A Response to Changed Market Conditions

Frank Stefan Becker

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) was established in 1999 by 29 European states. The aim of the educational initiative - also known as the Bologna Process - is to harmonise the wide array of university programmes. The paper highlights the history of the EHEA, its current status in Germany and its consequences. It also analyses the contradictory expectations of the different players involved (universities, governments, industry). The future necessity for lifelong learning throughout a professional career spanning four decades will, however, pose by far the greatest challenge for the European education system.

Mechatronician, Plant Operator, Shift Supervisor - Training Concepts Ensuring a Safe and Efficient Control of Plants Worth Millions

Gerhard Artinger and Hans-Werner Otte

Today's modern power plants can only be operated with a small number of staff if the different training stages are based on one another. The well-co-ordinated training concepts guarantee a safe and efficient plant operation, according to the requirements and present laws and regulations. Training young skilled labour that already have a sound initial qualification as a mechatronician is, in our opinion, a forward-looking concept. Today, mechatronicians are successful in many fields.

40 Years Mannheim Power Plant Chemistry
A Retrospect and a Prospect with Highlights of the last Years

Frank-Udo Leidich and Hans-Günter Seipp

The power plant chemistry department of ALSTOM in Mannheim was found in 1967 at the former BBC. The presentation will summarise our contribution to the development of new power plant technologies during the past four decades. This also includes the portfolio of power plant chemistry that is also based on the feedback of development, planning and commissioning of all kinds of power plants. The paper is rounded off by an outlook to future power plant engineering.