Industry
News
The system shutdown forced UI to turn
to a backup boiler on University Hospitals'
campus and to bring in two temporary boilers from Chicago, one each on the east and
west sides of campus. A mobile chiller is
also in operation.
The tunnels and power plant have to be
fully operational by winter, Milster said. “We
have to be ready for winter heating. The
temporary boilers don't have enough capacity.”
German Town
Mandates Solar Panels
The German college town of Marburg
has become the first city in the country to
require that solar collectors be installed on
newly constructed or renovated buildings.
In June, the town’s council passed a law
requiring at least 1 sq m ( 10 sq ft) of solar
panel for every 20 sq m (200 sq ft) of roof
surface. The new law is expected to take
effect Oct. 1, 2008, pending approval of
regional authorities. Those violating the law
will be fined 1,000 euros ($1,500). Buildings
using district heating, a combined heat and
power generator or a wood-pellet oven are
exempt from the mandate.
Algae Tested as Biomass
Fuel, Emissions Reducer
As the debate continues over which
energy sources will best meet the world’s
future needs, some innovative projects are
exploring the potential of algae to help cut
carbon dioxide emissions as well as be converted to a transportation fuel.
NRG Energy Inc., for example, launched
a field test in April 2007 of GreenFuel’s
Emissions-to-Biofuels™ technology at NRG’s
Big Cajun II – a 1,489 net MW coal-fueled
power plant in New Roads, La. This technology uses naturally occurring algae to
capture and reduce flue gas carbon dioxide
emissions into the atmosphere. The energy-rich algae are harvested daily and can be
converted into a broad range of biofuels or
high-value animal-feed supplements. Power
generators can choose to dry and store the
carbon-rich algae biomass for use as renewable fuel for the power plant or convert it to
valuable transportation fuels such as biodiesel
or ethanol. The process requires no re-engi-neering of the power plant.
“Coal is – and will remain – the premier
domestic fuel source for power generation
purposes in the United States for the foreseeable future,” said David Crane, NRG
president and chief executive officer. “This
means it is incumbent on us not only to build
new coal plants using technology which limits
or eliminates greenhouse gas emissions but
also to find the best way to retrofit the country’s existing fleet of coal plants for post-combustion carbon capture.”
President of NRG’s South Central Region
Jeff Baudier said, “There is currently no com-mercial-scale technology to address the discharge of carbon post combustion. Through
this test, we hope to help advance GreenFuel’s technology that could potentially reduce
carbon emissions from the hundreds of existing coal plants that are so important to our
electrical infrastructure.”
According to NRG, a full-scale commercial deployment of this technology could
recycle enough CO2 to yield as much as
8,000 gal of biodiesel per acre annually
under optimum conditions.
DBDH Marks 30th
Anniversary
On June 20, the Danish Board of District
Heating (DBDH) celebrated its 30th
anniversary year. Established in 1978 to
present Danish knowledge of district heating
abroad, the organization marked the milestone with a gala dinner and dance at
Glostrup Park Hotel in a Copenhagen suburb.
Around 60 representatives from member
companies, accompanied by spouses and
guests, gathered to take part in the event.
DBDH Chairman Uffe Bro and Managing
Director Jørgen Jørgensen, and Anders
Hasselager, from the Danish Energy
Authority, were invited to share the occasion.
Three sponsor companies, HP Invent,
Unotransport and Austrian Airlines, donated prizes for a drawing held at the dinner.
The Anny Ryom Trio provided the entertainment during dinner, including songs tailor-made to illustrate the challenges DBDH faces
today. District heating as a ‘secret success’
was turned into a song from a secret agent
James Bond movie, and the old Cole Porter
tune Too Darn Hot focused on district heating as being a hot and sexy technology. A
country band also later filled the dance floor.
Sierra Instruments Releases
New In-Line Flow Meter
Sierra Instruments in June released its
new Innova-Sonic® In-Line Model 206 ultrasonic flow meter, designed to give customers
an alternative choice for typical liquid Mag-Meter applications. The Model 206’s +/-0.5
percent of reading accuracy is as good as any
typical magnetic flow meter, but its ability
to measure down to zero flow and in virtually any clean liquid regardless of conductivity
sets this flow meter apart.
The Model 206 is equipped with Sierra’s
PicoFly™ technology, which allows ultrasonic
transit time-of-flight to be measured in picoseconds 10-12 (one trillionth of a second)
rather than the typical nanoseconds 10-9
Innova-Sonic® In-Line Model 206
(one billionth of a second). The result is a
superior response to changes in flow and
excellent resolution that enables extreme
low-flow detection.
For learn more, go to www.sierra
instruments.com/products/206.htm.
Fort Detrick Inaugurates
New Utility Plant
A new central utility plant was dedicated
in May at the U.S. Army’s Fort Detrick in
Frederick, Md. The $100 million plant will
provide steam, chilled water and electricity to
