POWER October 2015 - 38

TOP PLANTS
POWER POINTS
Winning Attributes
Has a design efficiency of up
to 66% with full complement
of combined heat and power
partners
Uses a novel coal-drying process
to maximize fuel quality and
reduce emissions
Cogeneration component makes
it the only North Dakota power
plant with a CO2 emissions
intensity below the limits
outlined in the Clean Power Plan
The boiler is designed for steam flow of
805,000 lb/hr at a pressure of 1,780 psig
and temperature of 1,006F. Steam supplied
to partner facilities is normally drawn from
extraction steam, that is, after the steam
has already passed through the high-pressure
turbine.
If the turbine were to trip offline unexpectedly,
a superheat bypass valve can be opened
to allow the boiler to continue supplying the
partners. If the boiler trips offline, residual
heat in the CFB will continue to supply uninterrupted
steam to customers until the plant's
three package boilers-fired by natural gas-
are placed in service.
The plant's steam turbine is a Siemens
SST-800, built at the Görlitz turbine manufacturing
facility in eastern Germany. The
generator was manufactured across the border
in Poland.
A Unique Fuel Management
Process
The plant is expected to burn about 610,000
tons of lignite coal each year, which will be
shipped from the Coal Creek Station after
it is dried and refined using the DryFining
process. Lignite is a high-moisture fuel.
The DryFining process removes moisture,
increasing the Btu value per pound, so the
plant burns less fuel. It also results in reduced
emissions and lower transportation
and maintenance costs.
" The DryFining system was one of the
reasons that we decided to build Spiritwood
Station, " said Weeda, " because we could improve
the coal, reduce the moisture, reduce
transportation costs, to be able to utilize it at
a remote location. "
Coal Creek has eight commercial dryers
and one additional dryer specifically intended
to dry fuel for Spiritwood. Another benefit
of the refining process is that it removes
38
1. Good neighbors. Spiritwood Station supplies steam to the Cargill Malt facility (visible
on the left of this image) and the Dakota Spirit AgEnergy biorefinery. Courtesy: Great River
Energy
higher-density products, which contain more
sulfur and mercury, which helps to reduce
emissions.
The fuel is shipped by rail, utilizing about
75 cars. Because the plant was designed with
very little onsite storage, 50 cars are used in
each trip, with the other 25 remaining at Spiritwood,
essentially as a surge volume. When
a train arrives at the plant, it is split in half,
and 25 cars are dumped. Those cars are then
connected to the 25 cars that had remained
onsite from the previous delivery, having
been dumped in the meantime. The train then
heads back to Coal Creek with the empties,
leaving the remaining 25 full cars behind to
be dumped as silo space allows.
Two railroad companies are involved in
the delivery-Dakota, Missouri Valley, and
Western (DMVW) Railroad and BNSF Railway
Co.-adding a bit of complexity to the
task. DMVW makes the trip between Underwood
(where the Coal Creek Station is
located) and Bismarck, while BNSF handles
transit between Bismarck and Spiritwood. " In
spite of the fact that we got into commercial
operation during the era when a lot of people
were losing confidence in the railroad's ability
to deliver on time, they have done a great
job for us, " Weeda said.
Challenging but Not Impossible
Every project faces difficulty at some point,
and Spiritwood was no exception. The first
challenge was weather. " We had at least two
really tough winters in a row. We had a lot of
rain in the summer. We had a very flat area
that we were building in. So, if people talk
to you about the biggest challenges, weather
www.powermag.com
comes to the top real quick, " Weeda said.
Finding qualified labor was another challenge.
The oil and gas industry is booming in
North Dakota, so many qualified workers were
already employed in the Bakken region.
Emissions requirements are also challenging.
" With a new plant like this, emissions
limits are very tight, so it's an area where
we need to put a lot of focus during the operation,
but we're capable of very, very low
emissions from the unit, " said Weeda.
Spiritwood Station uses best available
control technologies. It has a selective noncatalytic
reduction system to reduce NOx
emissions, a spray dryer absorber to reduce
SO2 emissions, and a baghouse to collect particulate
matter.
Trustworthy Partners Required
GRE's team believes that having a good
relationship with its partners was the most
important factor in the project's success.
That includes not only the steam partners
but also partners in the community.
Weeda noted that the City of Jamestown,
Stutsman County, Stutsman Rural Water
District, and people throughout the region
were all very supportive. " You have three
expensive facilities that become codependent
on each other. You have to have an
understanding and contracts in place to
ensure that all three businesses can count
on a stable future, " Weeda said. " We think
that Spiritwood Station is very well positioned
to be a long-term resource for this
part of the country. " ■
-Aaron Larson is a POWER associate
editor.
POWER | October 2015
http://www.powermag.com

POWER October 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER October 2015

Contents
POWER October 2015 - Cover1
POWER October 2015 - Cover2
POWER October 2015 - Contents
POWER October 2015 - 2
POWER October 2015 - 3
POWER October 2015 - 4
POWER October 2015 - 5
POWER October 2015 - 6
POWER October 2015 - 7
POWER October 2015 - 8
POWER October 2015 - 9
POWER October 2015 - 10
POWER October 2015 - 11
POWER October 2015 - 12
POWER October 2015 - 13
POWER October 2015 - 14
POWER October 2015 - 15
POWER October 2015 - 16
POWER October 2015 - 17
POWER October 2015 - 18
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POWER October 2015 - 20
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POWER October 2015 - 25
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POWER October 2015 - Cover3
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