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GE-Powered Combined Cycle Plant Sets New Efficiency Record

June 19, 2016

Guinness World Records recognized GE’s HA gas turbine for powering the world’s most efficient—up to 62.22%—combined cycle power plant.

The first unit equipped with an HA turbine officially began operation on June 17 at EDF’s plant located in Bouchain, France.

“Today we are making history with this power plant for the future,” said Steve Bolze, president and CEO of GE Power. “We are thrilled to be acknowledged by Guinness World Records for powering the world’s most efficient combined-cycle power plant, and we are also very proud of the industry-leading flexibility and reliability this turbine provides to our customers. We look forward to continuing to work with EDF and providing services to ensure the ongoing high performance of the Bouchain plant in the years to come.”

According to GE, the airflow through the 605-MW Bouchain plant’s HA compressor could fill the Goodyear blimp in 10 seconds. The tip of the last blade in the 9HA.01 is said to move at 1,200 miles per hour—one and a half times the speed of sound (Figure 1).…

Job-Seeking Ph.D. Holders Look to Life Outside School – Wall Street Journal

June 15, 2016

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Wall Street Journal

Job-Seeking Ph.D. Holders Look to Life Outside School
Wall Street Journal
Jake Simson, a biomedical engineer turned financial analyst, stood in front of a group of doctoral candidates in a University of Chicago lecture hall this past semester explaining how to find a job. First step? Don't be hung up on staying in the academy.

job – Google News…

How Will the Supreme Court Stay Affect the Clean Power Plan?

June 11, 2016

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One of the witnesses testifying before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on June 9 believes states and regulated entities will be granted additional time to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan (CPP), if the rule is ultimately found to be lawful.

Currently, the U.S. Supreme Court has granted a stay of the rule, which means that the CPP, although finalized, has no legal effect. A stay of an administrative action maintains the status quo during the time that the court considers the legality of the action. Any and all obligations are effectively void and neither states nor regulated entities can be penalized for refusing to comply with any requirement or deadline in the rule.

Unusual Situation

According to Allison Wood, partner in the law firm Hunton & Williams LLP and one of the witnesses at the hearing (Figure 1), stays of federal regulations are very rarely granted by any court. She said the Supreme Court only grants a stay when there is a reasonable probability that four justices would consider the issue one on which they would grant review, there is a fair prospect that a majority of the court would vote to strike down the rule at issue, and there is a likelihood that irreparable harm would result without a stay.…

America has 5.8 million job openings, matches all-time high – CNNMoney

June 9, 2016

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CNNMoney

America has 5.8 million job openings, matches all-time high
CNNMoney
That disparity is called the job skills gap, and it's a major challenge in right now. Overall, Americans are generally feeling more confident about quitting their jobs. One key measure of workers' optimism in the job market is the quits rate — how …
JOLTS: 5.8 million job openings vs 5.7 million expected at end of AprilCNBC

Hiring fell in April despite high job openingsUSA TODAY
US job openings rise, yet employers cut back on filling themThe Seattle Times
U.S. News & World Report
all 33 news articles »

job – Google News…

Watts Bar Unit 2 Nuclear Plant Synchronized to Power Grid

June 7, 2016

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The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) reached another milestone on June 3 when operators at Watts Bar Unit 2—the nation’s newest nuclear power plant and the first added to the fleet in 20 years—synchronized its generator to the power grid, generating electricity from the plant for the first time (Figure 1).

1. Reactor Operator Bill Hahn synchronizes Watts Bar Unit 2 to the TVA power grid on Friday, June 3, 2016. Courtesy: TVA

Watts Bar Unit 2 has had a long and storied history. Ground was broken for the plant in 1973. However, construction was suspended in 1985 due to slower electricity demand growth, rising construction costs due to inflation and new regulatory requirements stemming from the accident at Three Mile Island in 1979, and regulatory concerns throughout the TVA nuclear fleet. At the time, Unit 2 was estimated to be about 80% complete with a total investment of about $ 1.7 billion.

In the years that followed, various pieces of equipment, such as pumps, motors, and valves, were salvaged for use in Watts Bar Unit 1 or in Watts Bar’s sister plant, Sequoyah.…

Learning from the Clean Air Act’s Tragic Flaw

June 5, 2016

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“Why are you picking on the Clean Air Act?” That’s a question we’ve heard more than once while traveling the country to talk about our new book, Struggling for Air: Power Plants and the “War on Coal.”

The book focuses on what we see as the “tragic flaw” of the Clean Air Act of 1970 (CAA): its exemption of existing industrial facilities—most notably, coal-fired power plants—from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) nationwide performance standards for soot- and smog-forming pollutants. Starting in 1971, new plants had to reduce their sulfur dioxide emissions by either installing multimillion-dollar pollution “scrubbers” or burning pricey low-sulfur coal. In 1978, scrubbers became mandatory regardless of the type of fuel burned, as did additional technology for controlling nitrogen oxides emissions. But existing plants could continue polluting in unlimited amounts. This “grandfathering” gave utilities a perverse incentive to keep old, dirty facilities running decades longer than they otherwise would have, stymieing state efforts to meet the CAA’s air quality goals.…