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Power Plant Control Loop Tuning and Optimization [PODCAST]

December 2, 2018

Optimizing power plant control systems can be challenging, but new tools are available to simplify and improve the process. On this episode of The POWER Podcast, Executive Editor Aaron Larson spoke with Jon Towslee, digital engagement leader for ABB Inc.’s Industrial Automation Power Generation & Water business.

Towslee explained how ABB Ability is focused on improving customers’ businesses by optimizing assets and operator effectiveness, and enhancing top-to-bottom performance. Solutions like the company’s loop performance monitor can be used to identify such things as transmitters that are providing bad data, noisy signal lines, and actuators that aren’t working correctly. Once maintenance crews have all equipment functioning properly, technicians can evaluate process control schemes to ensure they are responding appropriately, which then permits loops to be tuned for optimal performance.

The loop performance monitor evaluates control loops on 17 different parameters. Once individual loops are optimized, higher-level adjustments can be made. Ultimately, the tools allow plant operators to expand boundaries and operate plants more closely to maximum safe operating limits.…

In Energy Policy Pivot, France Will Shutter 14 Nuclear Reactors

November 30, 2018

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France will shut down 14 of its 58 nuclear reactors by 2035 as well its remaining four coal power plants by 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron said November 27 in a lengthy speech that sought to clarify the country’s future energy direction.

According to the World Nuclear Association, France’s nuclear power share has steadily expanded since 1974, just after the first oil shock. However, France has pondered reducing nuclear’s share of its total generating mix from about 75% since 2012, when former President François Hollande ran on an election pledge to cut the nuclear share to 50% by 2025.

In 2014, the the lower house of France’s parliament passed the so-called “Energy Transition for Green Growth” bill, which set a nuclear cap at 63.2 GWe, which meant reducing nuclear’s share to 50% by 2025. In 2015, the Senate amended the bill to remove the 63.2-GW nuclear cap, but that same year, the National Assembly approved a new bill reinstating the cap.…

Voters Back Nuclear Power, Phaseout by 2025 Nixed

November 28, 2018

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In a referendum held alongside local elections, the Taiwanese electorate voted overwhelmingly to abolish a stipulation in the country’s Electricity Act that called for all nuclear energy-based power-generating facilities to completely cease operations by 2025.

Many experts considered it a surprising victory for pro-nuclear activists. In January 2016, Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party garnered widespread support in elections, running on a platform that included the elimination of nuclear power by 2025. After the election, leaders quickly passed an amendment codifying the nuclear phaseout.

However, a blackout on August 15, 2017, apparently helped change many people’s views on nuclear power. The outage occurred when a contractor accidentally interrupted the gas supply to the 4,384-MW Tatan power station, Taiwan’s largest gas-fired plant. The interruption caused all six units at the site to shut down, and 6.6 million households and businesses across the island lost power for more than five hours. At the time, three of Taiwan’s six then-operational nuclear reactors were offline for maintenance.…

Strikes, Outages, Slash French Output by 2.2 GW

November 22, 2018

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A series of strikes at French nuclear plants owned by power giant EDF have caused fluctuating electricity supplies, prompting concerns as the country prepares for a prolonged cold snap.

Workers are reportedly protesting wage negotiations and a possible plan by the French government to restructure EDF. The energy branch of French trade union CGT on November 12 scheduled strikes at the state-owned utility on November 13 and November 29, Reuters reported.

Their impact has so far been tremendous. On November 13, strikes slashed power output by about 6 GW, Reuters reported. On November 20, strikes that began on Monday at the Penly 2 reactor reduced output by 900 MW, while other strikes at the 900-MW Cruas 4 slashed that plant’s output by 735 MW. The action was due to end at 2 p.m. local time.

French grid operator RTE on Tuesday also reported that a strike prompted reduction of hydropower generation by 370 MW. S&P Global Platts reported that strikes and outages in total reduced generation capacity by a total 2.2 GW on November 20.…

Technology Selected for DOE’s Versatile Test Reactor Program

November 20, 2018

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Battelle Energy Alliance—the management and operating contractor for the Idaho National Laboratory (INL)—selected GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy’s (GEH’s) PRISM technology to support the U.S. Department of Energy’s Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) program.

The VTR program is expected to accelerate the development of fuels and materials for U.S. advanced reactors, utilizing fast neutron spectrum technology. Rather than producing electricity, the VTR will conduct irradiation testing for fuels, materials, and equipment to be used in rapidly evolving designs for advanced reactors brought forward by U.S. companies, as well as public and private research institutions.

In October, the INL awarded nearly $ 3.9 million in funding through the VTR program for 13 university-led projects to develop instrumentation and tools needed to monitor and conduct experiments in the fast spectrum reactor.

The university-led projects selected for funding were:

University of Pittsburgh	Disruptive Nuclear Technology: Resonance Sensors and Inductive Signal Transmission through Hermetic Walls	$ 450,000
University of Wisconsin – Madison	Miniature Scale Liquid Metal Oxygen Purification and Measurement System	$ 350,000
University of Utah	Development of Experiment Vehicle for Analyzing the Chemistry of Irradiated Molten Salt	$ 450,400
Texas A&M University	Development of Innovative Measurement Techniques for Fission Product Transport Quantification	$ 250,000
Oregon State University	In Situ Mechanical and Corrosion Testing	$ 440,000
University of New Mexico	Preparatory Out-of-pile Lead Loop Experiments to Support Design of Irradiation Test Loop in VTR	$ 450,000
North Carolina State University	VIM for VTR: Holistic Approach to Design and Construction	$ 319,000
Texas A&M University	Rabbit System Design and Demonstration	$ 400,000
Abilene Christian University	Investigation of Instrumentation, Data Analytics, and Simulation Synergies for the Versatile Test Reactor	$ 150,000
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Advanced Data Acquisition and Simulation with Live Data Supporting VTR Experiments	$ 150,000
University of Idaho	Advanced Molten Salt Flow Sensor	$ 100,000
Colorado School of Mines	Big, Deep, and Smart Data to Support VTR Experiment Design and Validation	$ 169,000
Georgia Tech	IBD Power Monitor for the VTR Experimental Program	$ 196,000

“The VTR is a vital and strategic project for the U.S.…

DOE Considers Subsidies Modeled on Renewables for Small Modular Nuclear Reactors

November 16, 2018

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State-imposed standards and financial incentives such as those used to spur widespread adoption of renewables technologies offer a promising model to address challenges to commercialize small modular reactors (SMRs), says a report by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Nuclear Energy.

But to make a meaningful impact, nearly $ 10 billion in incentives will be needed to deploy 6 GW of SMR capacity by 2025, it acknowledges.

The report, “Examination of Federal Assistance in the Renewable Energy Market,” was prepared by Kutak Rock and Scully Capital under contract with the DOE and made public on November 15. It notes that while uncertainty attached to the rapidly evolving market environment is shadowing long-term investment decisions at electric utilities in the U.S, current trends in the power sector present an opportunity for SMR development “as a flexible, carbon-free baseload generation resource which can be built on a smaller scale than traditional nuclear plants.” However, efforts to commercialize SMR technologies have lagged owing to several challenges.…