Residual fuels electric power generation using

By the end ofWorld War II the use of residual fuel oil in the United States had reached about 1.2 million barrels per day. The bulk of this use was in industri-al/commercial boilers, railroad locomotives, and steamships. Shortly thereafter, railroad use declined rapidly as diesel engines, which used distillate fuel, replaced steam locomotives. In the 19.30s and 1960s residual fuel oil use for marine and industrial applications, as well as for electric power generation, con-... 

By 1973 about 1.4 million barrels per day of residual fuel oil were used for electric power generation in the United States. This accounted for 16.8 percent of U.S. electricity generation, mostly in areas where cheap, foreign heavy fuel could be delivered by tanker. That same year, another 1.4 million barrels per day of heavy fuel oil were used in the United States for industrial and commercial applications. Worldwide during 1973 about 2.6 million barrels per day of residual fuel oil were used in marine diesel engines, and another 1.1 million barrels per day were used for steamship propulsion. 

The significance of the measured properties of residual fuel oil is dependent to a large extent on the ultimate uses of the fuel oil. Such uses include steam generation for various processes, as well as electrical power generation and propulsion. Corrosion, ash deposition, atmospheric pollution, and product contamination are side effects of the use of residual fuel oil, and in particular cases, properties such as vanadium, sodium, and sulfur contents may be significant. 

Increased problems of deposit formation and corrosion are encountered in industrial gas turbines such as those used in electric power generation and locomotives. Here, residual fuel oil must be used for economic reasons. Ash may deposit and tend to choke the gas turbine, thereby reducing volumetric efficiency. Moreover, vanadium and sodium, two common ash components, cause severe corrosion of super alloys at the high temperatures prevailing in gas turbines. Sulfur content is also significant, because the metal sulfates that form are much lower in melting point than the corresponding oxides and thereby contribute to deposit formation (17). 

By far the most common use of petroleum is as gasoline for automobiles and trucks. About 90 percent of the petroleum used in the United States fuels vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. Diesel fuel is used to power trucks, buses, trains, and some automobiles. Heating oil warms buildings and powers industrial boilers. Utilities use residual fuel oil to generate electricity. Jet fuel, produced from kerosene, powers airplanes. Some airplanes use aviation... 

Samples collected neeur municipal-industrial activities at Fort Myers exhibited petroleum contamination representative of heavy residual fuel oil used for electric power plant generators. 

In addition to coal gasification, the formation of coal slurries is another new use of coal. A slurry is a suspension of fine particles in a liquid. Coal must be pulverized and mixed with water to form a slurry. The resulting slurry can be handled, stored, and burned in ways similar to those used for residual oil, a heavy fuel oil from petroleum accounting for 13% of U.S. petroleum imports. One hope is that coal slurries might replace solid coal and residual oil as fuels for electricity-generating power plants. However, the water needed for slurries might place an unacceptable burden on water resources, especially in the western states. 

The next-generation PLA facility (referred as to PLA-Year 5) diOers from PLA-Year 1 in improvements and changes leading to lower fossil fuel and raw material nse as well as lower air emissions, water emissions and solid waste production. For example, instead of corn-derived dextrose, the primary feedstock is crop residue (stems, straw, husks and leaves) from corn or other crops or instead of electricity from the Nebraska grid wind power will be used as additional electricity inputs. 

Pressurized Water Reactor. The PWR contains three coolant systems (1) the primary system, which removes heat from the reactor and partially controls nuclear criticality (2) the secondary system, which transfers the heat from the primary system via the steam generator to the turbine-driven electric generator (3) the service water system (the heat sink), which dumps the residual coolant energy from the turbine condenser to the environment. The service water is recirculated from a river, lake, ocean, or cooling tower. In the primary system (Fig. 31.21), dissolved boron is present to control nuclear criticality. Fixed-bed ion exchange units are used to maintain the water quality in both the primary and the secondary systems. In addition, the chemical and volume control system reduces boron concentration during the power cycle to compensate for fuel burnup. These operations are carried out continuously though bypass systems. A more complete... 

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