Advantages of repowering with solid-fuel combustion technologies
- Sargent and Lundy, Chicago, IL (United States)
Many solid-fuel fired steam generators in the US are approaching the limits of their economic service lives as indicated by their decreasing capacity factor. In most cases, the boiler is the principal component of obsolescence due to highest wear and lowest reliability. The transition from a highly regulated, cost-based electric utility to a more wholesale competitive industry, as well as ever-increasing and costly emission regulation, are accelerating this obsolescence. Even so, these older plants often still have significant remaining value in the form of site location near load centers, facilities and infrastructure, permits, transmission access, water rights, recent upgraded equipment, and other factors. The increasing availability of low cost solid fuels such as petroleum coke and coal beneficiation wastes, combined with the emergence of a number of solid-fuel combustion technologies, has provided power plant operators with the opportunity to leverage the plant`s existing assets to produce low cost base load power through solid-fuel repowering. This paper discusses the technical and business issues associated with repowering existing solid fuel fired steam generators with a number of combustion based technologies.
- OSTI ID:
- 514890
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-970456--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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