Top 5 Tips for a More Efficient Power Plant

Due to complex human activities, the world requires a huge supply of power energy. Power stations need to increase their efficiency to cater to the demands of time. In the business context, efficiency in the power industry affects at a greater extent the potentials to increase profits.

In this article, we have featured some tips on how you can boost your overall power plant performance.

1] Use appropriate and high-quality valves.

Defective valves cut a huge amount of income to the operations in the power plants. A lot of money will be at risk just because of the inappropriateness of the valve utilized. If the power plant suffers from valve leakage, the industry could possibly lose millions in the annual profit.

In addition to the burden is the unplanned downtime, which is sometimes unpredictable to occur.  That event incurs another loss.

Use a proactive approach to address this problem. This means providing a solution before any valve troubles happen. Get high-quality valves like those from xhval.com. The company offers valve products of different varieties, which surely can match your needs.

You can use the materials in any facility in the power plant. With assured high-quality standards, it gives you the confidence that you can save tons of money in this kind of marketing strategy.

2] Understand the vital role of your condenser.

Even experts in the field have recognized that most power plants they have inspected for Quality Assurance often overlooked the role of condensers. Based on reports, most companies failed to harness the full potential of the plant because of the low maintenance of the condenser.

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In an article in Power Magazine, the importance of a power plant condenser was emphasized. It was elaborated that whatever the performance of the device is, it can surely make or break the power delivery goals of the plant.

Thus, one of the effective ways to improve the performance of a condenser is regular cleaning. Indeed, it may sound like a no-brainer, but it was the result of the inspection that suggested this not-so-new technique. This is because it was found out that there was a failure of this important practice in most power plants.

As an engineer explained that once the condenser is cleaned regularly, there will be an expected improvement in its heat transfer ability. In the same manner, there will be a lowering of condenser pressure.0

As part of the domino effect, there will be a lower condenser difference in its terminal temperature. More to that is a lower rate penalty.

3] Improve facilities with nanotechnology.

As the one, which powers almost all human activities, power plants, on the other hand, should be the one using the most advanced nanotechnologies in all its operations. As it is given, most of these advancements provide people with ease and comfort.

This claim can be supported by the MIT researchers when they made most of nanotechnology in order to improve power plant efficiency by a considerable increase in percentage rate. With just a little 2-3% improvement, as experts asserted, that is equivalent to a million dollars of profit for each power plant every year.

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As discussed, the process involves the improvement of condenser efficiency. They realized the target plant delivery goals by coating the surrounding area of the condenser with graphene. The measurement only requires the one-atom-thick layer. Indeed, very thin, but triggers strong changes in the condenser’s performance.

The objective was to inhibit the droplets of water from congesting on the condenser. This makes possible the blockage of heat transfer. Researchers claimed that with this technique, there can surely be a boost of power from those power plants.

4] Before combustion, dry the coal.

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You should know that there are only two types of coal that are used by the United States to serve the purpose of power generation. Many power plants opt to use lignite and there are also those who use sub-bituminous coal.

The only disadvantage of using both coals is that they are both high in moisture content. In talking about efficiency, it is never practical to utilize these coals, because the process of burning them consumes more fuel.

After many attempts to resolve this issue, they settled with the effective technique of drying up the coals before burning them. Thus, it reduces the fuel input in the process. More to that is the reduced emission of other substances like sulfur dioxide, mercury and more.

5] Measure and monitor the data.

Utilizing the proper system in measuring and monitoring the capacity of the power plant can ultimately improve the overall efficiency. With all the generators and turbines that are fueling the plant, a flow measurement system can give you the information you need on the full capacity of the operations.

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According to this article, engineer Nick Schroeder suggests the five parameters that need to be looked into in order to push the power industries into their fullest efficiency. The parameters include the flue gas exit temperature along with the feedwater flow ratio. Added to the list is condenser terminal temperature differences (TTD), condenser range (RNG) and the tower approach (APP).

Conclusion

In achieving the goal to boost the efficiency of power plants, these five tips, when combined, observed and practiced in the daily operations, can produce huge productive changes. With a massive scope that we are talking about here – the power industry, full effort, and mindful strategies will be useful in attaining progress.

The bottom line is the requirement of in-depth researches should be conducted continuously. The power plant industries should invest more on performance management. A comprehensive plan may help in order to lower the maintenance costs, yet everything done will boost the plant’s power.