Electric power generators

A furnace is a device (enclosure) for generating controlled heat with the objective of performing work. In fossil-fuel furnaces, the work appHcation may be direct (eg, rotary kilns) or indirect (eg, plants for electric power generation). The furnace chamber is either cooled (waterwaH enclosure) or not cooled (refractory lining). In this article, furnaces related to metallurgy such as blast furnaces ate excluded because they ate coveted under associated topics (see... 

Electric Power Generation. Hydrothermal steam and hot water resources having temperatures ia excess of about 150°C are generaHy suitable for the production of electricity (see Eig. 3a). Because electricity is easy to market and transport, it is the only product of hydrothermal energy which permits the resource to be utilized at some distance from its actual location. 

R. A. Crewdson, W. F. Martin, Jr., D. L. Taylor, and K. Bakhtar,M Evaluation of the Technology and Economics of Extracting Energyfrom Magma Resources for Electric Power Generation, report by Mine Development and Engineering Co., Bakersfield, Calif., 1991. 

Particle Shape and Size. With few exceptions, resins are supplied as small, round beads having a diameter between 0.3 and 1.2 mm. Some resins are reduced to a smaller size by grinding to satisfy specific requirements in applications for electric power generation (qv) and pharmaceuticals (qv). 

Some additional methods of classification are under development that center on the use of lignite for combustion in utihty boilers or electric power generation. Correlations based on the sodium concentration in the lignitic ash (10), or soluble A1 concentration (11) are used. The classifications are often given in terms of the severity of boiler fouling. 

Coals of the western part of Germany usuady occur ia thinner seams and ia more local areas. The maia produciag areas are west of Cologae with opea-cast mines at Vide, Frechea, Garsdorf, and Frimmersdorf. This brown coal is important to electric power generation (27). 

Other Regions. In AustraUa, Victoria has the largest reserves, although smaller ones occur in southern AustraUa, western AustraUa, Tasmania, and Queensland (28). The main deposit consists of many thick seams in about 500 km of the Latrobe Valley. The YaHourn coal field provides most of the fuel. The top coal seam is 65 m thick and is covered with 13 m of overburden. Most of this coal is used for electric power generation. It is very moist (55—72%), but has less than 5% ash. The lignitic coal found in South AustraUa is, for the most part, too deep for economic recovery. However, some of the better deposits are mined for power generation. 

An emerging electrochemical appHcation of lithium compounds is in molten carbonate fuel ceUs (qv) for high efficiency, low poUuting electrical power generation. The electrolyte for these fuel ceUs is a potassium carbonate—hthium carbonate eutectic contained within a lithium aluminate matrix. The cathode is a Hthiated metal oxide such as lithium nickel oxide. 

R. B. Boulay and co-workers, in Proc. of 10th International Conference on MHD Electrical Power Generation, Tituchitapalli, India, Dec. 1989, pp. IX.139-IX.145. 

M. Petrick and B. Ya. Shumyatsky, eds.. Open Cjcle MHD Electrical Power Generation, Atgonne National Laboratory, Atgonne, lU., 1978, pp. 16—48. 

A. de Montardy, Proc. ofFirst International Sjmposium on MHD Electric Power Generation, Newcasde on Tyne, U.K., 1962. 

Pubhshed proceedings of Symposium on Engineering Mspects of Magnetohydrodynamics, annually since 1961 International Conference on Magnetohydrodynamic Electrical Power Generation, every 3—4 years since 1962. 

A simple, low cost steel for high temperature service in electric power generation (qv) is the C—0.5% Mo steel known as carbon—half moly, which was widely used for many years. The power industry and oil refineries have turned to 1.25% Cr—0.5% Mo and 2.25% Cr—1% Mo steels for high stress and high temperature service, because these steels have improved resistance to graphitization and oxidation, as weU as higher creep and mpture strength. 

A circulating fluidized-bed boiler, using raw shale oil as a feedstock, is being used to supply process heat for the phosphate operations and to operate a 100-MW power plant. Scale-up in the 1990s should increase the electric power generation to 1000 MW (71). 

Power plants based on the Rankine thermodynamic cycle have served the majority of the world s electric power generation needs in the twentieth century. The most common heat sources employed by Rankine cycle power plants are either fossil fuel-fired or nuclear steam generators. The former are the most widely used. 

Emission Control. In 1993, for a net electric power generation of 3196 x 10 kWh, power industry emissions were as follows ... 

Power Take-Off From Engine or Transmission. This type of system is limited to tmcks and there are several take-off means available. Most are some form of electric power generation equipment, belt-driven from the engine crankshaft, which produces either a regulated a-c voltage or rectified direct current for the compressor and fan motors in the body. 

In addition to the circuit breaker, there have been a number of other SMA appHcations for various functions in electric power generation (qv), distribution, and transmission systems. One such device is a thermal indicator that provides a signal visible from the ground of a hot junction or connector in a distribution yard. Such hot spots occur as a result of the loosening of bus bar connectors owing to cycHc temperature as the electric load varies. In addition to the use of SMA flags as a hot-spot indicators, actuators that automatically maintain the contact force in a bus bar connection have been demonstrated. Based on a BeUeviHe washer fabricated from a Cu—Al—Ni SMA trained to exhibit two-way memory, these washers, when heated by a hot joint, increase their force output and correct the condition. A 30 mm diameter washer 3 mm thick can produce a force of over 4000 N. Similar in purpose... 

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