tion isolators were placed in between the
concrete piers that descend into the
bedrock and the turbine platform, providing dampening of the vibration of the
equipment.
Controls of the new turbine were
integrated with the existing Allen Bradley
control system.
A late addition to the building
expansion was the construction of a
four-story office space and conference
rooms, which allowed the power plant
staff to consolidate into one location.
Steaming Ahead to Savings
In winter 2004, the turbine was in
place and functioning. Based on 2004 gas
prices, it was projected to save $1.5 million
annually as a result of running 9.8 percent
more efficiently than the existing turbine.
In addition, the turbine will provide savings related to efficiencies gained during
scheduled and unscheduled outages. At a
total cost of $15.6 million, the project had
a seven-year payback when gas prices were
$4/MMBtu. Given escalated gas prices, the
payback period on the project has gone
down considerably from what the original
feasibility study estimated.
The existing 25 MW turbine, in good
condition, is kept on standby in case of
maintenance services to the new one.
Previously, when the old turbine experienced unscheduled maintenance and
Courtesy Carter & Burgess. Photo Jeff Buehner.
Complementing the university’s 25 MW turbine project was the replacement of a 1950s cooling tower
with a substantially larger tower capable of running all 100 MW of generation equipment.
planned outages, the campus relied on
the two small steam turbines built in the
1940s and 1950s that could incur hefty
gas-usage penalties. These two older turbines were used as spinning reserve for
steam in the event the 25 MW steam
turbine tripped off line. This resulted in
continuous use of low-efficiency steam
generation. Now, due to a new steam
Courtesy Carter & Burgess. Photo Jeff Buehner.
The new cooling tower and turbine increased the campus’s electrical capacity from 85 MW to 110
MW, giving the university the future option of selling excess power.
turbine bypass system scheduled to
come on line Oct. 1, 2005, the two small
turbines will be completely shut down.
This project will result in an additional
savings of $750,000 in annual gas costs.
Complementing the 25 MW turbine
project was the replacement of a 1950s
cooling tower with a new Marley (formerly
Ceramic Cooling Tower) tower capable of
running all generation equipment. Carter
& Burgess also supplied the engineering
and architectural design services for this
$8.4 million cooling enhancement project.
The new tower and turbine increased
the campus’s electrical capacity from 85
MW to 110 MW, giving the university the
option of selling power to the grid. Given
the campus’s peak load of about 60 MW,
the university could sell up to 50 MW.
Currently, it is evaluating the possibility of
selling excess power to a wholesale electric
company; under certain conditions, it may
be able to provide power to the grid at an
economically attractive rate. .
Further cost savings at the plant
were achieved through the installation of
flue-gas recirculation and updated boiler
controls. Improved efficiencies and environmental upgrades reduced boiler nitrogen oxide emissions from 0.21 lb/MMBtu
to 0.03 lb/MMBtu and save $430,000 in
annual natural gas costs and another
