Davenport Hotel
Spokane, Washington
The regular annual meeting of the Western Regional Boiler Association (WRBA) was called to order at 12:00 PM on March 10, 2009 at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington by Paul Prescott.
Paul started the meeting by welcoming this year’s attendees and introducing the association’s steering committee members. Paul stressed the benefits of belonging to the association, which included the opportunity to learn about matters related to the operation of power boilers, rotating machinery, and auxiliary power plant equipment. Further, being a member of the association gives one the opportunity to meet other individuals involved in similar work and share experiences. There was a brief legal presentation and review of the organization’s finances and the agenda for the conference was reviewed
The following is a summary of the presentations made during the conference as well a summary of the discussions that took place during steering committee meetings:
Day 1:
Presentation #1
Alan Werner
Virtual Plant Energy Audit click the link to view the presentation
You have
operated your plant and are familiar with it however you can improve on
efficiencies if you have a complete plant audit in place that will give you the
ability to understand the flow patterns and heat balances that dominate the
efficiency of the plant. The audit is a painstaking and detailed evaluation
that starts with a plant schematic. After the audit has been completed you will
have a tool that will allow you to evaluate pros and cons of upgrades and
different operating scenarios
Presentation #2
Dresser Rand Steam Turbine Division
Steam Turbine Performance Improvements click the link to view the presentation
Three major improvement areas exist for your present Steam turbine. They are packing/shaft seals, Nozzles/diaphragms and the rotating air foil. Upgrades in these areas may improve performance by 10-15 % and in today’s energy market this can be a huge benefit to the financial operation of your plant. Areas to be looked at include Packing, Nozzles and Diaphragms, Rotating Airfoils. In today’s energy market you need to take an inventory of your plant and look at and understand your Operating Conditions, know how you want to run your plant, Understand the efficiencies of your plants design, keep abreast of the OEM upgrades and efficiency added products that apply to your unit, complete value calculations on all upgrades to be sure you understand the potential increases in efficiencies of any upgrades you may be planning, after upgrades are made track the improvement to be sure that the planned increases are actually realized.
Presentation #3
Detroit Stoker Company - Bob Morrow
Renewable Fuel
Combustion Technologies click the link to view the presentation
In the
United States emission limits are going to begin to ratchet down, this is due
in part to new technologies that allow better performance from our systems with
lower emissions. We will be expected to work within the National Emission
Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants, Boiler MACT, and The National
Association of Clean Air while working under the EPA’s guidelines. We should
see a revised Boiler MACT Standard sometime in 2010. We will have to get use to
operating with some new thinking that looks at discarded vs. waste sham
recycling and is something never leaves the plant site it becomes a fuel if it
leaves the plant it is a waste. We will be forced to look at Greenhouse Gas
emissions and will need to deal with the limits. Some of the new technologies
to help us deal with these reduced emission requirements are Circulating Beds
and Bubbling Beds.
Presentation #4
Avogadro - Craig Thiry
Emission
Trading Scenarios click the link to view the presentation
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scenarios will prove to be a confusing and challenging operating condition in the future for all of us to operate our plants under. No one knows for sure what we will be faced with, we are looking at significant changes due to the changes coming from Washington with a new President, Congress and the guidelines they will be imposing on us. It is important that we all stay informed on the changes so we will be able to make the necessary changes to enable us to comply with requirements, deadlines and guidelines.
Presentation #5
STI CEMS - Wade Day
Specifying, Optimizing and Maintaining a CEM’s click the link to view the presentation
A CEM’s
System can be a complicated system that requires attention to detail and a
great deal of maintenance. One of the first things you need to do is determine
if you need a CEM’s and if so, what do you need. What are you being required to
test for, what are the limits what is your up time requirement and penalties if
you have a CEM’s failure. Some other questions to ask should be, what you are
going to do, maintain an old system, purchase a new system, replace individual
components to extend the life of your unit, or add new monitors to meet new
permit requirements. There are several ways to maintain your system, using in
house trained techs or contracting to outside techs to provide all maintenance.
The single largest cause of downtime and permit violations is the lack of preventative
maintenance. An outside contractor who is familiar with your system can many
times provide all necessary maintenance at a lower overall cost that doing the
same work in house.
This was the last presentation for the day and the members were excused with all being invited to attend the Steering Committee meeting beginning immediately.
STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
On Tuesday March 10th Paul Prescott called to order the Steering Committee at 5:00 PM. Members, potential members, and vendors in attendance were Paul Prescott, Jack Hinman, Ron Pon, Mick Reeves, John Boyd, Ray Karcher, Ron Gaston, Dave Swenson, Robin Styers, Jerry Rovenstein and Lisa Harvey-Boyd.
A discussion about taking Credit Cards and Pay Pal for vendor and member payment of fees took place. Two distinct points of view surfaced, one being pro and one being con. A vigorous debate ensued with Paul making a decision to table the discussion and indicated that he would research the methods and report back to the Steering Committee so a decision could be made.
Ray Karcher brought up the subject of reviewing and updating the organizations bylaws. Ray had taken the existing bylaws and added suggested changes to be reviewed and voted on to orient our bylaws so they more appropriately reflect the direction and position that our organization has moved to. A vigorous discussion ensued and a decision was made that we could not review and update the bylaws at the conference. Ray will send the bylaws within two weeks to all Steering Committee Members with his suggested changes for review and comment prior to voting.
There was a discussion on who can be a member, and who is a vendor; a consensus of opinion was not achieved so the discussion was tabled. Ray Karcher agreed to make a copy of the Bylaws available to all members for review with suggested changes. After all changes are compiled and reviewed a vote by the Steering Committee will be taken.
A discussion of the need for new members and steering committee members ensued, it was agreed that we are in need of new blood but no plan to recruit new members was proposed. The discussion was tabled and the Steering Committee was tasked with brainstorming and coming up with ideas to submit to the group.
After the Steering Committee meeting was adjourned all members and vendors were urged to attend a no host meet-and-greet in the Vendor Display Area. The meet-and-greet was very well attended by members and vendors and offered a great opportunity for vendors to establish contacts and for old members to meet and new members to get to know the group. Dinner was served adjacent to the vendor area and was excellent.
Day 2:
Wednesday began with Breakfast and time to visit the Vendor Area. Paul called the meeting to order and introduced the first presenter for the day.
Presentation #6
CHEMTEK - Tim Kuiken
Maintaining CEM’s
Monitoring Systems to achieve High Reliability click the link to view the presentation
White Paper for Presentation #6 click the link to view the paper
A CEM’s System is a very complex system and you need to follow a distinct QA/QC plan to ensure that you are following the correct daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual maintenance on your equipment. This plan should detail maintenance procedures, indicate how to document problems encountered, work performed and establish a good record to document your maintenance program. When you have a failure there are three steps that you should follow, first diagnose the problem, second repair the problem, third know the next step, does the problem indicate a need for a monitor recertification, diagnostic or a report to your Air District. Your QA/QC plan should also detail the procedures and requirements of your CGA Linearity Gas Checks and ensure that you are following and complying with your Air Permit. Accurate, timely and through maintenance is essential to maintaining high reliability with your CEM’s System.
Presentation
#7
GE Betz - Ed Baumgartner and Jim Robinson
Waterside Inspections of Industrial Boilers click the link to view the presentation
When preparing for the
Water Side Inspection there are many things to consider. The first thing to
consider is the makeup of the team that will be doing the inspection. The team
should consist of at a minimum the plant contact, the water treatment vendor
and the Area Inspector. These three individuals will work together to provide
an accurate assessment of the condition of your boiler waterside in a timely
manner that will allow you to put your unit into service with a minimum of
downtime. A key part of the inspection is the best practices follow up, this
part of the inspection will allow all team members to discuss the findings of
the inspections, any problems observed and what corrective measures will be put
in place to ensure that the unit will be put in service with a plan in place to
correct any deficiencies in water treatment, operational performance or the
documentation of any areas of concern to be followed up during the next
inspection. During the inspection SAFETY is paramount. Lock-out Tag-out must be
followed, the area sniffed with a confined space gas monitor and the use of a
hole watch during the actual inspection. The most important detail to follow
with regard to a water-side inspection is DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT! Without
accurate documentation in place you will not be assured of the necessary follow
up during subsequent inspections. By following these simple guidelines the waterside
life of your unit will be a long and trouble free experience.
Presentation #8
Carlson Small
Power Consultants - Bill Carlson
Biomass Opportunities – Opportunities Updates click the link to view the presentation
The present climate, while difficult to operate in does offer some good incentives if you are located in the right place geographically and meet the necessary requirements. As an example of the incentives, there is a 1-cent per kW production tax credit for all new facilities that will be in service by 12/31/2013. There is a 30% Investment Tax Credit available for all facilities under construction by 2010. Many diverse opportunities exist in the Pacific Northwest Region. While the present may be the worst time for the Forest Products Industry it is the best time for Biomass Power and Co-Gen Facilities. A facility contemplating any capital investments should be sure to look at the many tax breaks, incentives, credits and other opportunities available.
Presentation
#9
Tim Sonnichsen
Engineering - Tim Sonnichsen
Detached Plume Abatement Methods for NOx Control click the link to view the presentation
Larry Musio is considered to be the person responsible for the development of SNCR and SCR Systems used to control NOx. These systems are going to have as a side effect the telltale visible blue haze or ammonia slip. The amount of this slip that is allowed will be determined by your Air District. Some of the things that contribute to the ammonia slip in wood fired boilers are the amount of ammonia or UREA being introduced into the furnace, the method and quality of the introduction, stack conditions and ambient air conditions. Some things that we can do to minimize the amount of ammonia slip in our stack are, minimize chlorine in the wood fuel, installation of an acid gas control to minimize the slip, monitor and control stack temperature, use maximum air mixing and the installation of a high gas temp concentric stack annulus. The control of the chlorine in your wood, barge wood or wood from salt water areas can be very difficult to manage, if your fuel has 1% chlorine you could see a concentration in your stack from 800-1,000 PPM of free chlorine. 10PPM of chlorine could under the correct conditions give you an Opacity of >15%.
Tour
Tour of Inland Paper for interested members and time to visit Vendor Area for others. The dinner and entertainment was in the form of tickets to attend the Spokane Chiefs Ice Hockey Game and $12.00 worth of Arena Bucks to be applied toward dinner, souvenirs etc. It was a great evening.
Day 3:
There was brief second Steering Committee Session to discuss the addition of a new Steering Committee Member; Ron Gaston of Sierra Pacific Industries agreed to become a member of the Committee, welcome Ron. There was a brief discussion of the Bylaws with motion to table and review after Ray Karcher submits changes to committee members. There was a discussion centered on proposing a location and date for next year’s conference with Seattle given the nod and the date left open until Robin and Paul can see what accommodations are available and what conflicts may arise with other conferences etc. The date and location will be set by early fall. Robin agreed to be the chairman for next year with Paul Prescott assisting him as co-chairman and expressed his need for support from the committee and membership. Dave Swenson volunteered to look into determining the non-profit status of the association and will report as his findings progress.
Paul called the last day of the association meeting to order at 8:00 AM and informed the association that Robin Styers would be the associations 2010 Chairman. Robin then introduced the first presenter.
Presentation #10
Indeck
Keystone - Neil Bradwell
Engineered Solutions to Improve Biomass Boiler Performance presentation not available
Neil Bradwell, an engineer from Indeck Keystone gave a very technical and informative presentation that covered the following: 1. An overview of the steps required to modify a field erected coal fired boiler to enable wood firing, 2. Schemes that can be employed to stop cold end corrosion in biomass boilers, 3. Methods that can be used eliminated erosion problems in boiler air heaters, and 4.
Presentation #11
Nalco
Company - Brian Jenkins and John Deines
Improving Wood Kiln Reliabilityclick the link to view the presentation
White Paper for Presentation #11 click the link to view the paper
John Deines reviewed the water chemistry challenges associated with the production of steam. Included in his presentation was a discussion of the mechanism of general corrosion, Oxygen corrosion, and a method that employs a chemical tracing agent to insure the precise control of chemical levels in boiler water. The resulting benefits from precise control are less chemical consumption, lower corrosion rates, less fuel consumption all of which result in lower operating costs.
Presentation #12
Fuel Tech - Doug Kirk
Effect of Biomass Fuels on Emission Control Systems click the link to view the presentation
Doug Kirk gave an informative overview of some of the considerations
that should be contemplated when power plant operators consider including
biomass as a supplement to their primary fuels. For those plants employing
catalyst beds for NOx control or CO control some of the constituents in biomass
such as phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and ash have the potential to damage
catalysts. An overview of NOx control using the SCR process was presented and
the operating experience of several European plants was presented.
Presentation #13
College of
the Siskiyous - Christy Cummings
Power Plant Operator Training Program click the link to view the presentation
Christy Cummings from the College of the Siskiyous gave the
association an overview of the Operator Training Program that is being
established at the college. Christy indicated that the college had been focused
on identifying the work skills that enable small communities to be self
sustaining. The college believes that there will be opportunities for those
individuals who have skills in the area of power generation technologies.
Christy summarized the curriculum offered at the college discussed distance
learning options offered.
Meeting was adjourned at 11:45 by Robin Styers.
Minutes submitted by: Robin Styers
Approved by: Paul Prescott