Electric-generating facilities stations

An electric power system involves the production and transportation of electrical energy from generating facilities to energy-consuming customers. This is accomplished through a complex network of transmission lines, switching and transformer stations. 

In common with the programs of other countries, AECL intends to develop and demonstrate the technology for the disposal of radioactive waste produced in the operation of nuclear electric generating stations. Two basic options are available as shown in Figure 1. Following storage either at the reactor sites or at a central storage facility one may ... 

Industrial land uses are extremely varied, depending on the nature of the industry being considered. Urban-industrial land usage generally refers to the siting of factories or petroleum refineries, and of utilities such as electricity generating stations, and water- and sewage-treatment facilities. Industrial land use in rural areas can include mines, smelters, and mills for the production of... 

In addition to other science facilities, the South Pole Station includes a seismological observatory that has operated since 1957. This facility was greatly improved in January of 2003 when a new observatory was placed into service about 8 km from the main building. The sensor of the seismograph at the new facility is located in a borehole at a depth of 300 m below the surface where it is not affected by vibrations caused by the diesel-powered electric generators and other activities at the main station. As a result, the South Pole seismological observatory is now virtually free of locally-generated seismic noise and therefore is ideally suited to detect earthquakes that occur elsewhere on the Earth. 

Fossil fuel power plants, in the context of electric generating stations, produce only one product electricity. Any and all other materials that come from them are considered ancillary or waste by-products. The ultimate goal of operating a fossil fuel power plant is to maximize the output of electricity from each unit of fuel consumed, while also minimizing any and all undesirable outputs. To that end, the efficiencies of control design, the data feedback process, economics, fuel processing, and a host of other aspects of the electric power generation industrial complex are examined each year. Not the least of these considerations is the placement and construction of new facilities and the maintenance of older facilities. 

Offshore structures are relatively self-sufficient they provide electrical generators, water desalinators, sleeping facilities, communication stations, and modern amenities. Production platforms are connected by pipelines or floating storage units to onshore operations. Key process elements of oil and gas recovery include wellhead, production manifold, production separator, water injection pumps, gas compressors, glycol process to dry gas, oil and gas export metering, and main oil-line pumps. 

Switchgear and process control rooms are required to have smoke detection per NFPA 850, Recommend Practice for Fire Protection for Electric Generating Plans and High Voltage Direct Current Converter Stations and IEEE 979, Guide for Substation Fire Protection.The activation of the fire alarm should shut down the air handling systems. If the facility is especially critical to the continued process operation, consideration of a fixed fire suppression system should be evaluated. 

Battery rooms are provided for backup and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) for process control functions. They are usually provided at or near the facility control room or electrical switchgear facilities. Battery rooms should be provided with ventilation to limit the concentration of hydrogen to 1% by volume. For further information refer to ANSI/IEEE 484, Recommended Practice for Installation Design and Installation of Large Lead Storage Batteries for Generating Stations and Substations. 

The "Station Blackout" which involves SRS-wide loss of all ac power from all sources, as they affect reactor operations. This means loss of ac power from the commercial electric grid and from the SRS power generating facilities, plus loss of ac power from all emergency diesel generators (such as the GM EDGs for the 105 building, and EDGs in standby service to various pieces of equipment such as the confinement system exhaust fans and the CW basin recirculation system). 

One NEPP report assumes that the U.S. economy would reduce its dependence on energy at the rate of about 1.7% per year, while others believe that more active efforts to make our economy less dependent on energy could result in a rate of about 4% per year. They also assume very high-efficiency lighting and the rapid deployment of electric-power-generating stations that are 50% or more efficient than present facilities. 

Since only relatively simple equipment is required, it should prove feasible to flash-pyrolyze the coal at the generating station or at the mine at which it is produced, and to transport the primary liquids from several operations to a large central upgrading facility. In Alberta alone, where coal consumption by electric utilities is expected to climb from an annual rate of 6.5 million tons In 1977 to 16-17 million tons in 1985 and... 

Fuel cells have also been used for Skylab, a space station launched on May 14, 1973, and in orbit for more than six years, as well as in the space shuttles. Other uses for these reliable devices include providing electricity at remote facilities that are beyond the reach of power lines, and as back-up generators at hospitals, which cannot afford to lose power for any length of time. 

MSW incinerators (qv) are typically designed to reduce the volume of solid waste and to generate electricity in condensing power stations. Incineration of unprocessed municipal waste alone recovers energy from about 34,500 t/d or 109 million metric tons of MSW annually in some 74 incinerators throughout the United States. This represents 1.1 EJ (1.05 x 1015 Btu) of energy recovered annually (18). Additionally there are some 20 RDF facilities processing from 200 to 2000 t/d of MSW into a more refined fuel (19). Representative projects are shown in Table 10. 

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