Methodology for implementing power plant efficiency standards for power generation: potential emission reduction

Some methods of generating power such as power generation through coal, natural gas, oil result in inevitable emissions of greenhouse gases. While power generation is necessary due to its increasing demand, it is important for power companies to generate their power in an efficient manner to reduce its effect on the environment. One of the most effective ways of tackling inefficiency issues is through the implementation of efficiency standard. While there exist a lot of studies addressing the topic of energy efficiency standards, there are very few papers that deal specifically with efficiency standard for power generation plant. This paper presents methodology for the implementation of power plant efficiency standard; as mandatory or voluntary regulatory instrument, that may be implemented by the government to control greenhouse emissions from power plants. It is hoped that through its implementation, power companies shall become more conscious of their efficiency and emission quality, hereby encouraging the adoption of more efficient energy sources and latest available technologies. In this paper, methods of calculating greenhouse intensity value and its corresponding allowable ranges have been demonstrated. Case study on a 10-year-old base-load multi-fuel-fired power plant in Malaysia has shown that the power plant is in conformance to the power plant efficiency standard, with an actual greenhouse intensity of 859.4461 kgCO₂/MWh sent-out, well within the allowable range of greenhouse intensities for that power plant which is between 760 and 890 kgCO₂/MWh sent-out. It has also been demonstrated that older power plants are allowed to have higher values of greenhouse intensity. Benefits of utilising natural gas and operating the power plant at full load have also been shown.

     

Routine antibiotic cover for newborns intubated for aspirating meconium: is it necessary?

A retrospective analysis was performed on 215 babies to evaluate the incidence of septicemia in babies intubated at birth for aspirating meconium from the trachea. Only term, appropriate for gestational age babies were included. Babies with any known perinatal risk factor for infection were excluded from the study and none of the babies had been put on "prophylactic antibiotics." There were 88 babies in the intubated group in a one year period from January 1991 to December 1991. One hundred and twenty seven babies were taken as controls. There was no significant difference in the incidence of early septicemia in the two groups. There were no deaths in either group. It is concluded that well term babies who are intubated for aspirating meconium need not be put on routine antibiotic cover.     

High-Pressure Adsorption Isotherms of Carbon Dioxide and Methane on Activated Carbon From Low-Grade Coal of Indonesia

ABSTRACT

Adsorption isotherms data of methane and carbon dioxide gases on the activated carbons were measured experimentally using a volumetric method with pressure and temperatures ranging from 0 to 3.5 MPa and 27 to 65°C, respectively. Two types of activated carbons, namely, (1) Kalimantan Timur type activated carbon, which is lab-produced from Indonesian low-grade coal and (2) a commercial (Carbotech) activated carbon were used. The adsorption isotherms obtained were found to belong to type 1 of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry classification. The adsorption uptakes for both carbon dioxide and methane on commercial activated carbon are higher than for the Kalimantan Timur activated carbon. This is due to higher Brunauer–Emmet–Teller surface area and pore volume of the former. Langmuir and Tóth isotherm models are correlated to predict the experimental data with acceptable accuracy.     

Adsorption Isotherms of Hydrogen on Granular Activated Carbon Derived From Coal and Derived From Coconut Shell

ABSTRACT

The development of adsorption-based storage systems requires a basic understanding of the isotherms over a wide range of pressure and temperatures for various types of adsorbents. This research is to generate experimental isothermal adsorption data for the adsorption of hydrogen gas on activated carbon. The adsorption apparatus is based on a volumetric method, and the experiments were conducted at temperatures ranging from 273 to 308 K and pressures up to 4 MPa. Two types of activated carbon, (i) a granular coal from Indonesia and (ii) a coconut-shell activated carbon that is produced in the laboratory, were used in the experiments. The experimental data are analyzed using the Langmuir, Toth, and Langmuir–Freundlich isotherm models.     

Developing the evidence base for mainstreaming adaptation of stormwater systems to climate change

In a context of high uncertainty about hydro-climatic variables, the development of updated methods for climate impact and adaptation assessment is as important, if not more important than the provision of improved climate change data. In this paper, we introduce a hybrid method to facilitate mainstreaming adaptation of stormwater systems to climate change: i.e., the Mainstreaming method. The Mainstreaming method starts with an analysis of adaptation tipping points (ATPs), which is effect-based. These are points of reference where the magnitude of climate change is such that acceptable technical, environmental, societal or economic standards may be compromised. It extends the ATP analysis to include aspects from a bottom-up approach. The extension concerns the analysis of adaptation opportunities in the stormwater system. The results from both analyses are then used in combination to identify and exploit Adaptation Mainstreaming Moments (AMMs). Use of this method will enhance the understanding of the adaptive potential of stormwater systems. We have applied the proposed hybrid method to the management of flood risk for an urban stormwater system in Dordrecht (the Netherlands). The main finding of this case study is that the application of the Mainstreaming method helps to increase the no-/low-regret character of adaptation for several reasons: it focuses the attention on the most urgent effects of climate change; it is expected to lead to potential cost reductions, since adaptation options can be integrated into infrastructure and building design at an early stage instead of being applied separately; it will lead to the development of area-specific responses, which could not have been developed on a higher scale level; it makes it possible to take account of local values and sensibilities, which contributes to increased public and political support for the adaptive strategies.     

Sensitivity analysis of steam power plant-binary cycle

This paper analyses a steam power – two-stage binary cycle plant (SPP–2BCP), in which low temperature waste heat from a conventional steam power plant can be efficiently utilized to generate electricity by installing a bottoming binary cycle. The result from a previous calculation on the installation of binary cycle technology on a Steam Power Plant (SPP) with n-Pentane working fluid indicates an increase in plant efficiency of about 9%. The purpose of this study is to analyze the sensitivity of performance of the binary cycle system against variations in the SPP operational load and the condenser’s cooling water temperature. The calculation is conducted on SPP load variations of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, inlet turbine pressure variations of 5 bar–30 bar, and inlet turbine temperature variations of 125 °C up to 235 °C. Each of these is also analyzed with ambient cooling water temperatures of 30 °C–37 °C. The results of the analysis indicate that the performance of this binary cycle SPP degrades slightly with SPP load, turbine inlet temperature, and turbine inlet pressure variations and with cooling water variations.     

Energy and exergy analysis of kalina cycle system (KCS) 34 with mass fraction ammonia-water mixture variation

Further utilization of waste heat produced by power plant system will increase the efficiency of the whole power plant system. The Kalina Cycle offers alternative solution to generate additional power from waste heat or from low temperature geothermal resources. The modeling application on energy system is used to study the basic design of thermal system, which uses Kalina Cycle for further utilization of geothermal brine water. If this geothermal brine water were not used in the Kalina Cycle, it would be reinjected to the geothermal reservoir and its remaining energy content would have been wasted. The study of this process is done by Cycle Tempo 5.0 simulation software, to obtain the data of efficiency, energy and exergy that could be generated from the heat source. An ammonia-water mixture is used as a working fluid on Kalina cycle system (KCS) 34. In order to obtain the maximum power output and maximum efficiency, the system will be optimized on the mass fraction of working fluid and also on the turbine output pressure. The result of the study shows that the maximum efficiency and power output are achieved at 78% ammonia-water mixture. This paper was presented at the 7th JSME-KSME Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, Sapporo, Japan, October 2008. Nasruddin is a faculty member of Mechanical Engineering Department University of Indonesia. He received his Bachelor degree from the same university. He then obtained Master of Engineering (MEng.) from K.U. Leuven (Belgium). He received Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaften (Dr.-Ing.) from RWTH Aachen University (Germany) in 2005. He has more than 13 years of experiences in lecture and research in engineering thermodynamics. He is a member of ASHRAE. Rama Usvika received his Engineer degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Indonesia in 1996. He then obtained MSc degree in Energy and Environmental Engineering from Ecole des Mines de Nantes (France) in 2005. Mr. Rama currently serves as Engineering Manager for Power Generation projects at PT. Rekayasa Industri, Indonesia’s premier Engineering & Construction company. He has more than 12 years of experiences in engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of In-dustrial Process and Power plants. He is a member of ASME, the author and co-author of several papers on Power and Energy topics.