Abstract:

Deregulation of electric generation has forced plant managers to think more like business people. "Dispatch or die" might be an appropriate slogan for the new paradigm. Maximizing a plant's revenue stream and profit is a challenging assignment because you have to produce more electricity at less cost than your competition and minimize, to the extent possible, the number of forced outages.
Every plant that generates electricity is your competitor. If you manage coal-fired resources in a region with significant hydro and/or nuclear generation, your job is particularly demanding. The production costs of nuclear and hydro plants may be inherently lower than for your units, placing them higher in the dispatch order. This means you have to strive to be "best in class" if you are to sell all the power your plant is capable of producing.

Consider the boiler cleaning system. Most plant operators don't think of a sophisticated system here, but rather some sootblowers and brute force removal of deposits. There are many wall blowers and convection-pass retractables in the average coal-fired boiler. Sometimes water lances, water cannons, and sonic horns are found as well. Getting these devices to work in concert and remove deposits with the minimum amount of blowing medium is a challenge that often escapes the busy plant operator.

Topics:

• Wring More Profit from Your Boiler
• New Technology
• Maintaining a Clean Furnace
• Convection Pass
• System Control
• References
• Pegging the Profit