Plant staff at electrical power generating facilities are having to change the way they operate given the increasing amounts of intermittent renewable energy being added to the grid. More startup and shutdown cycles are being required to manage the constantly shifting...
Optimizing steam temperature reduces energy costs and increases operational reliability. In an 18-minute webcast, 3 Steps to Better Steam Temperature Control, Emerson's Douglas Morris shares how advanced steam control for boilers and heat recovery steam generators...
Author: Douglas Morris The growth of renewables and distributed energy resources are challenging the traditional economic models of the utility industry. A growing school of thought in power generation is that embracing some form of digital transformation could very...
Author: Douglas Morris There's a lot of talk in the industry about the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), digital transformation, and digital technologies. There is enough interest, though, among utility executives in the promise of digital technologies–which...
Author: Douglas Morris A January 2017 report from the U.S. Energy Department states: Workforce retirements are a pressing challenge. Industry hiring managers often report that lack of candidate training, experience, or technical skills are major reasons why...
Author: Douglas Morris The new plants that are coming online today are already designed for fast start and flexible operations. With the changing generation mix, being able to move a unit is essential as fleets dispatch more renewables. But what about older plants...
Author: Douglas Morris Microgrids are collections of generating sources that are coupled to operate as one either connected to or disconnected from (islanded) the main power grid (sometimes called the macrogrid). Being able to independently provide one's power is...
Author: Douglas Morris We all know that today's plants must cycle more; that's just the expected mode of operation. Keeping plants online with the ability to cycle, particularly cost-competitive combined cycle units, is a focus for most utilities and avoiding heat...
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...
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...
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...
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...
We invite you to follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube to stay up to date on the latest news, events and innovations that will help you face and solve your toughest challenges.
Just post a link to the entry and send us a quick note so we can share your work. Thank you very much.
Our Global Community
Emerson Exchange 365
The opinions expressed here are the personal opinions of the authors. Content published here is not read or approved by Emerson before it is posted and does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Emerson.