POWER January 2012 - 18

4. Level switch installed. A typical installation
of a solids level switch in a fly ash
hopper. Courtesy: Endress+Hauser
filling point; instead, it should be installed
to the side, where it will not be
subject to direct impacts.
In July 2011, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency announced the CrossState
Air Pollution Rule, which requires
27 states to significantly improve air
quality by reducing power plant emissions
that contribute to particle pollution
in other states. This new rule
will require many existing coal-burning
power plants to upgrade their air quality
control systems. Many plants will
add an ESP to improve fly ash collection
and reduce particulate emissions. Those
precipitators will work well, provided
the hoppers don't clog up because the
wrong level sensor was installed.
-Ravi Jethra (ravi.jethra@us.endress.
com) is power and energy business
manager and Keith Riley is level product
manager for Endress+Hauser Inc.
High temperatures can occur in a fly
ash hopper, so users must insulate the
external wall to prevent exceeding the
maximum temperature of the sensor
housing. Heat insulation also prevents
condensation from forming. The sensor
should not be placed directly under the
Asian Sub-Bituminous Coal
Users' Group Formed
Over the past 11 years, the Powder River
Basin Coal Users' Group (PRBCUG)
has grown to become the voice of North
American generating companies that are
dedicated to the safe and efficient use of
PRB coal. POWER, the group's media sponsor,
has reported on the PRBCUG's annual
meetings, which are colocated with the
ELECTRIC POWER Conference & Exhibition
each year. POWER also reports annually on
the group's coal plant of the year award.
For 2011, in the large plant category the
award went to Kansas City Power & Light's
Iatan Unit 2 (see our August 2011 issue);
the small plant category winner, Muscatine
Power & Water, is profiled in this issue,
beginning on page 56.
Members discuss and trade insights
concerning the safe and efficient handling
and burning of PRB coal during their
three-and-a-half-day annual meeting. Another
goal of the group is to educate future
users about the peculiarities of PRB
coal. The multi-day forum is highly interactive
and designed to network peers so
that industry lessons learned are shared.
Today, the typical PRBCUG annual meeting
will have about 400 attendees.
Linking SBC Users
North America is not the only region where
subbituminous coal (SBC) is available. In
fact, many coal-fired power plants in Asia
UDI World Electric
Power Plants Database -
The Original Global
Reference
Find cogen power plants in South
India, list new coal-fired projects
in Germany, track hydroelectric
projects in Brazil, and more ...
The Platts UDI World Electric Power Plants
Database (WEPP) is an inventory of generating
units covering plants of all sizes and
technologies operated by regulated utilities,
private power companies, and industrial
autoproducers (captive power).
This unique database is the largest global
power plant information resource available.
To purchase the UDI World Electric Power Plants Database, visit www.udidata.com or call your nearest Platts office.
North America
Europe/Middle East/Africa Latin America
1-800-PLATTS8 (toll-free) +44-20-7176-6111
+1-212-904-3070 (direct)
Asia-Pacific
+54-11-4804-1890 +65-6530-6430
For more information about Platts UDI databases and directories, visit www.udidata.com.
18
www.powermag.com
POWER | January 2012

http://www.udidata.com http://www.udidata.com http://www.powermag.com

POWER January 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER January 2012