Totally OT: Power Plant tour

[jack707]

Also what is used to keep the lights on in this country??? Coal nukes are responsible for maybe 10% coal has the lion share. There not to many nukes in this country for a reason 10 mile Island, japan, russia.

 

[Omega Woods]

Yeah you said coal is good for peeking units?.......really I have been a union boil maker for 14 years and seen all the things we put on coal fire boilers because of the EPA. Like scrubbers, and SCR making coal a lot cleaner so now when it goes out of the stack it's steam now not smoke like in years past. I don't think I'm out of my death here YOU JUST DON'T KNOW ABOUT COAL and what the boiler maker did to clean it up.

I didn't say we should use coal for peaking. (or peeking, either). Yes, as I said, scrubbers make the filthy emissions from coal much cleaner. They are also cost prohibitive for many units.

Thank you for being a union boilermaker for 14 years. I have also seen all the things that go on coal plants because, as I said, I work at a utility which makes extensive use of coal. If coal is so great, why have they shut down 30% of the coal units at my utility and put another 20% on the list for scrapping as soon as there is replacement power available?

Yes, it's true that coal is much cleaner than ever before. Emissions are lower than they've ever been. Coal today is 90% cleaner that it was 30 years ago.

And when it is 100% cleaner, it will match nuclear.

As I've said, I'm not against coal but let's not pretend that it is a flawless energy source. And relax, Jack, life is too short to argue about stuff like this.

 

[jack707]

I didn't say coal in 100% clean what is??? .When I worked at a scale house years ago I saw the DOD transporting all the waste for nuclear plants. So you see there a trade of between a nuke and coal at lest the fly ash is made into many things not like the waste from a nuke house.

 

[KennyG]

Also what is used to keep the lights on in this country??? Coal nukes are responsible for maybe 10% coal has the lion share. There not to many nukes in this country for a reason 10 mile Island, japan, russia.

Back to facts. Nuclear provides about 20% of US electricity. Coal is around 40% and decreasing. Our mandated use of wind and solar (and fracking) is making natural gas the fuel of choice. Wind and solar are being built rapidly but the poor capacity factors limit their contribution and also are forcing out both coal and nuclear which need to be baseload units to be economic. Modern coal units, with high temperature and high pressure designs for efficiency and emissions control are just as difficult to cycle as nuclear units - perhaps more so.

In the absence of practical storage technology, renewables require massive amounts of gas generation. We're lucky to have cheap gas in the US, otherwise we might be like Germany where the shift to renewables and phase out of nuclear has resulted in electric rates 4 times those in the US.

 

[buickanddeere]

I didn't say coal in 100% clean what is??? .When I worked at a scale house years ago I saw the DOD transporting all the waste for nuclear plants. So you see there a trade of between a nuke and coal at lest the fly ash is made into many things not like the waste from a nuke house.

What is the big deal about nuclear waste? It came out of the ground in the first place and is going back into the ground . If you want something dangerous worry about asbestos, lead, cadmium , Mercury , PCB and dioxins.
The nuclear accidents were the fault of idiot managers that insisted on actions that the technicians and engineers were dead set against . The managers ordered the reactor coolant injection shut down at three mile. Chernobyl was an idiot test procedure that jumpered out the shut off rods and did not allow for Xenon burn off. The Japan's problems could have been averted by venting hydrogen instead of letting it build up to explosive levels. The bean counters did not want to pay for backup power up on high and dry ground .

 

[buickanddeere]

Forget nuclear what happens if there another melt down? You don't have to worry with coal and coal has the btu to power a whole city! Do yourself a study on coal before you open your mouth.

Jack please tell us about your years of experience in the power generation industry .

 

[buickanddeere]

Yeah you said coal is good for peeking units?.......really I have been a union boil maker for 14years and seen all the things we put on coal fire boilers because of the EPA. Like scrubbers, and SCR making coal a lot cleaner so now when it goes out of the stack it's steam now not smoke like in years past. I don't think I'm out of my death here YOU JUST DON'T KNOW ABOUT COAL and what the boiler maker did to clean it up.

What do you want to know about powder river basin coal, ball mills, lime injection , CEM equipmemt and electrostatic filters ? We just had the politically correct liberals shut down the cleanest coal plants in North America.

 

[jack707]

Obama war on coal is going to be over in a few months just hope trump get in we need com on sense in this country again

With the EPA rules small plants a shutting down because why spend millions for a SCR and scrubbers.

 

[Citydude]

As a retired coal miner in the powder river basin, I know :
*650 people lost their jobs and countless support jobs lost in the last 6 months
*3 major coal companies are now in bankruptcy in the powder river basin
* An end of cheap abundant power due to a failed administration vision, plan and funding of how to clean the emissions relying on and funding feel good sources such as solar and wind turbines.

 

[ultrarunner]

I believe the President said something to the effect that he is not banning coal... only that it will be so expensive no one will want to use it...