Blog - Post List

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Simulator Helps Drive Cultural Change Toward Operational Excellence

    Jim Cahill
    At the 2017 Ovation Users Group conference, there was a presentation by an electrical power producer on driving cultural change and operational excellence through the use of simulation in the Ovation distributed control system . The facility had a 92% capacity factor so it was basically running all the time. The facility was challenged with aging workers and losing valuable experience. They decided to commit to a formal…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Technology Advancements for Power, Water & Wastewater Industries

    Jim Cahill
    At the 2017 Ovation Users Group conference, Emerson’s Steve Schilling discussed the rapid changes going on in the power, water and wastewater industries and the changes in technology required to keep up with these changes. Steve opened highlighting some of the key issues worrying people in these industries—reliability, reliable integration of renewables and distributed energy resources (DER), security, aging infrastructure…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Comprehensive Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure

    Jim Cahill
    The electrical power generation and distribution industries, especially here in the U.S., have a long history in working to improve reliability and security. This history goes back to the establishment of the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) in the late 1960s as a response to a widespread blackout in the Northeastern U.S. NERC became the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (also NERC)…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Continuously Monitoring Critical Electrical Assets

    Jim Cahill
    One common thread with Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)-based sensors is that they typically will replace periodic, manual measurements. We shared IIoT application examples in past posts of how business performance—in safety, reliability and efficiency—can be improved. The common thread is that continuous data streams from these IIoT sensors feed analytics applications, which can help spot & notify personnel of emerging…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Upcoming Ovation Users’ Group Conference

    Jim Cahill
    Two weeks from now, July 23-27 2017, will be Emerson’s Power & Water Solutions business unit’s Ovation Users’ Group conference . This year will mark its 30 th year. The Ovation Users’ Group is managed, guided, and run exclusively by its members, with Emerson’s Power & Water Solutions business unit providing financial, personnel, and product support as necessary. This conference is put together by Ovation and WDPF control…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Avoiding Dangerous Malware Infections

    Jim Cahill
    The malware WannaCry/WannaCrypt has been all over the news recently. Since most of the operator and engineering workstations used in distributed control systems (DCSs) and supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADA) are PC-based, the question was naturally could these have been/or be impacted by this dangerous malware. I caught up with Emerson’s Jaime Foose . She noted that it is important to point out…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Improving Burner Control with Gas Chromatographs

    Jim Cahill
    There once was a time for industrial manufacturers when they received fairly homogeneous supplies of natural gas that did not vary much in energy content. Here in the U.S. with the rapid increase in shale gas production as part of the overall energy mix, there is more variance. In a Power magazine article, Gas Chromatographs Offer New Technology for Power Plant Burner Control , Emerson’s Bonnie Crossland describes…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Connect with Emerson Power Industry Experts @PowerGenWeek

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Matt Cate POWER-GEN International kicks-off next week (December 13-15) in Orlando, FL. Emerson experts will be available to discuss ways utilities can improve unit availability and achieve more flexible operations. They’ll also share strategies for making shrinking plant workforces more effective. The following are some ways you can connect with them. Attend a Technical Session Emerson experts are participating…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Improving Power Plant Staff Effectiveness

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Douglas Morris With the large number of power workers having already retired, there is a definite shortage of expertise within the industry. Not only are workers new, but companies are having difficulty hiring enough skilled employees. Although most new hires are diligent and eager to learn, they lack the experience necessary to make critical decisions. Younger engineers, technicians, and operators may have…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Improving Flexible Power Plant Operations

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Douglas Morris Increasingly, plants are having to adapt to more flexible operations as gas prices remain low and renewables are added to the generation mix. Gas units are shut down, started up in the morning, follow load during the day, and then are shut down or idled again. Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory: The Western Wind and Solar Integration Study Phase 2 Coal plants are also asked to operate…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Increasing Power Plant Reliability via Smart Monitoring and Diagnostic Centers

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Douglas Morris Today’s fossil power plants are faced with the challenge of stabilizing the fluctuating grid power supply due to renewable generation and, as a result, plants originally designed for base load are subject to load cycling. A principal consequence that cycling imposes is increased amounts of thermal stress ( creep fatigue ) on boilers and heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) which contributes…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Renewable Energy and Unintended Consequences

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Douglas Morris “Because the wind blows during stormy conditions when the sun does not shine and the sun often shines on calm days with little wind, combining wind and solar can go a long way toward meeting demand, especially when geothermal provides a steady base and hydroelectric can be called on to fill in the gaps.” – Mark Z. Jacobson and Mark A Delucchi, Scientific American, November 2009 . …

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Risks and Rewards of Different Technologies in Power

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Douglas Morris “The fascination of a growing science lies in the work of the pioneers at the very borderland of the unknown, but to reach this frontier one must pass over well traveled roads; of these one of the safest and surest is the broad highway of thermodynamics.”— Gilbert Lewis (1923) With growing global concerns about reducing carbon emissions, the power industry has received its share of focus…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Things That Might Surprise You about Power

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Douglas Morris Most often I write about a current issue concerning the industry or about how an operational problem might be addressed in a plant. I thought I’d take a different tack and highlight some interesting articles where you might learn something interesting or new (or you might just shake your head). On Animals… Imagine a situation where an animal could take down an entire country’s power grid…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Improving Power Plant Operations with Second-Level Automation

    Jim Cahill
    When many plants were built years ago, they were instrumented to provide what was required for safely manage the process. As time has passed, the requirements are far greater for efficiency, reliability and regulatory demands. In a Power Engineering International article, Modernizing old plants to meet new demands , Emerson’s Jonas Berge describes how power plants are being modernized with a second layer of automation…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Improving Heat Rate with Better Measurements

    Jim Cahill
    For electrical power producers, the phrase “heat rate” refers to the efficiency of the power plant. It is defined as the thermal energy in divided by the electrical energy out. Emerson’s Lydia Miller let me know about a new whitepaper, Using Automation to Improve Plant Heat Rate that highlights ways to improve the efficiency of this conversion from thermal to electrical energy. The whitepaper opens by describing what…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: New Power Plant Technology-Is it Commercially Viable?

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Douglas Morris This past week, researchers at MIT were published in MIT News about a new approach to monetizing coal for power plants by combining coal gasification with fuel cell technology. By dovetailing these two systems, the research states that efficiencies could approach 60 percent, nearing those achieved in modern combined cycle plants. And, like combined cycle plants, this technology yields about…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Mexico’s Energy Reforms Promise a More Competitive and Efficient Power Industry

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Juan Carlos Bravo In August 2013, the Mexico government passed a new Energy reform, which one of its main objectives is to strengthen the competitiveness in the generation of power, accelerate the expansion of transmission networks, improve distribution supply quality, and offer the end consumer a wider range of opportunities to meet their consumption needs at more competitive prices. The intention is that…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Pervasive Sensing: Looking Beyond the Process in Power Plants

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Douglas Morris Back in the 1990s, the Robert Redford film “Sneakers” was a story about cryptography, hackers, and a government plot. It’s not an Oscar-worthy movie, but it was interesting back in the day. Anyway, during one of the final scenes, Ben Kingsley’s character, Cosmo, makes a prescient statement to the effect that the world is run by ones and zeros and power goes to those who control the information…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Renewables Growing Faster than Expected

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Juan Carlos Bravo As we have been reporting in this blog, the energy scenario is changing. In fact, it might be changing faster than anyone expected due the low oil prices. As reported by the World Energy Outlook 2015 , “renewables contributed almost half of the world’s new power generation capacity in 2014 and have already become the second-largest source of electricity (after coal).” Source: Twitter.com…

  • Power Blog: Renewables Growing Faster than Expected

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Juan Carlos Bravo As we have been reporting in this blog, the energy scenario is changing. In fact, it might be changing faster than anyone expected due the low oil prices. As reported by the World Energy Outlook 2015 , “renewables contributed almost half of the world’s new power generation capacity in 2014 and have already become the second-largest source of electricity (after coal).” Source: Twitter.com…

  • Power Blog: Grid Complexities and the Race for Energy Storage

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Douglas Morris Apple just announced that they plan to construct a 200MW solar project in China to help the company meet its goals for carbon neutrality. One to the concerns, though, is whether or not the local transmission & distribution grid system can accommodate this renewable generation. It’s a concern because there have been numerous solar installations in China that are idled because of grid limitations…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: Grid Complexities and the Race for Energy Storage

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Douglas Morris Apple just announced that they plan to construct a 200MW solar project in China to help the company meet its goals for carbon neutrality. One to the concerns, though, is whether or not the local transmission & distribution grid system can accommodate this renewable generation. It’s a concern because there have been numerous solar installations in China that are idled because of grid limitations…

  • Alternative Energy Blog: How the Sun Affects Your Utility Bill

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Douglas Morris Catalina Island is home to many attractions including theaters, casinos, and Hollywood stars. It’s also home to a self-contained utility system called a microgrid, which is a mini version of the electrical grid supplying your home or place of work. Emerson is helping with this system so that it can properly manage all the power inputs and outputs required to control this complex electrical grid…

  • Power Blog: How the Sun Affects Your Utility Bill

    Jim Cahill
    Author: Douglas Morris Catalina Island is home to many attractions including theaters, casinos, and Hollywood stars. It’s also home to a self-contained utility system called a microgrid, which is a mini version of the electrical grid supplying your home or place of work. Emerson is helping with this system so that it can properly manage all the power inputs and outputs required to control this complex electrical grid…

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