District Energy Now
Volume 13 Number 2 September 1997
Welcome New Members!
We hope you will join us in welcoming the following new members of IDEA!
Raymond V. McKay
Project Manager
NSP/Trigen
1894 Barrington Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 2W5 Canada
(902) 428-7274
(902) 428-6109 fax
E-mail: ray.mckay@nspower.ns.ca
referred by John Andrepont of Trigen EnergyBradley G. Lawson
Vice President
TIC Holdings, Inc.
1550 James Road
Bakersfield, CA 93308
(805) 391-5700
(805) 391-5705 fax
E-mail: blawson@TIC-west.comreferred by Nova District Energy Services, Inc.
James M. Lange
Managing Director, Asset Dev.
Exelon
2600 Monroe Boulevard
Norristown, PA 19403
(610) 676-8170
(610) 676-8162 fax
Mark Consentino
Business Dev. Mgr., Energy
Johnson Yokogawa
10 State Street
Newburyport, MA 01950
(508) 465-4007
(508) 465-5959 fax
E-mail: mhc@jyc.com
Paul Westin
Student
KTH School of Industrial Management
S-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
46-8790-9645
46-8790-9649 fax
E-mail: paul_westin@lector.kth.se
Ron Fulton
Mechanical Engineer
Jon Denfeld
Mechanical Engineer
National Institute of Standards & Technology
325 Broadway 4-1200
Boulder, CO 80303-3337
(303) 497-5667
(303) 497-3627 fax
E-mail: fulton@boulder.nist.gov
Anthony F. Maturo
Director of Plants & Systems
Public Service Company of New Mexico
320 Gold SW
Suite 510
Albuquerque, NM 87158
(505) 241-2645
(505) 241-2396 fax
E-mail: tmaturo@mail.pnm.com
Kim Stover
Director of Development
TDW Services, Inc.
8506 East 61st Street
Tulsa, OK 74133
(918) 254-9400
(918) 254-9474 fax
Calendar of Events12th Annual IDEA Cooling Conference
October 15-17, 1997
Wyndham Hotel, Cleveland, OH
Contact: IDEA, (202) 429-5111
IDEA Distribution Workshop
November 5-7, 1997
Mayflower Park Hotel, Seattle, WA
Contact: IDEA, (202) 429-5111
3rd Annual Canadian District Energy Association Meeting
November 5-8, 1997
The Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal, Canada
Contact: (613) 947-5287
IDEA Marketing Workshop
February 25-26, 1998
Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach & Marina Hotel, Redondo Beach, CA
Contact: IDEA, (202) 429-5111
11th Annual College/University Conference
February 25-27, 1998
Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach & Marina Hotel, Redondo Beach, CA
Contact: IDEA, (202) 429-5111
89th Annual IDEA Conference & Trade Show
June 13-16, 1998
San Antonio Convention Center & Hilton Palacio del Rio Hotel, San Antonio, TX
Contact: IDEA, (202) 4295111
EPA Proposes Output-Based Standards
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed that new steam power plants be regulated based on useful energy output rather than on fuel input. This change, long advocated by IDEA, will encourage energy companies to recover power generation by-product heat for district heating and cooling or industrial processes.
In July the EPA proposed changes to the New Source Performance Standards for emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from new utility boilers and new industrial boilers. The proposed changes would reduce the NOx emissions to reflect the performance of "best demonstrated technology," and would apply to boilers for which construction, modification or reconstruction is commenced after July 9, 1997.
Significantly, the standards for new utility boilers would be structured as output-based standards. Traditionally, emissions have been controlled on the basis of boiler input energy (lb of NOx per million Btu heat input). Input-based limitations allow inefficient plants to emit more NOx per unit of output energy compared to more efficient plants. Output-based emission standards provide a regulatory incentive to enhance energy efficiency and reduce NOx emissions.
The proposed limits are based on best technology for coal combustion, but would apply to combustion of any fuel. The limits for electric utility boilers are 1.35 lb of NOx per MWh net energy output, which was established based on an input limit of 0.15 lb per million Btu fuel input. For industrial boilers, the proposed limit is 0.20 lb per million Btu heat. For low heat release rate units firing natural gas or distillate oil, the current limit of 0.10 lb per million Btu heat input is retained.
IDEA is preparing comments on the proposed rule. For further information, contact IDEA Legislative Director Mark Spurr (e-mail markspur@ix.netcom.com or phone 612-227-8452).
EPSA's Church Named Cogeneration Professional of the Year
Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA) Executive Director Lynne H. Church was named Cogeneration Professional of the Year on August 6 by the Association of Energy Engineers. Church was given the award at AEE's Competitive Power Congress in Somerset, New Jersey.
Association president John Fiegel presented a paper at the same congress on the positive effect restructuring of the electric utility industry is having on district energy.
Third Quarter Magazine Reissued
Due to a misfunction in the address inkjetting process, the Third Quarter 1997 District Energy magazine was initially distributed with incorrect organization names in the mailing address. As a result, some of our members did not receive their initial copies of the publication. To rectify the situation, all individual recipients of the magazine were mailed new copies correctly addressed at no cost to the association. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you received more than one copy, please pass it along to a colleague or even share it with your local library. It's one more way we can pass along the district energy message.
Swedish Power Company Retrofits Plant
The owners of the district heating plant Igelstaverket, Söderenergi AB, located 30 kilometers southeast of Stockholm, is in the process of retrofitting one of the three coal-fired hot water boilers. The retrofit will enable the plant to use an extremely high-calorific waste fraction, with wood and rubber chips, thereby reducing the costs.
The water-cooled grate system ensures that wear to the heavily thermally stressed grate bars is avoided by means of a more effective cooling process. This is confirmed by six plants completed so far which have been operating with high-calorific waste and RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel) for over 50,000 hours.
Construction should be completed by the end of 1997 when the boiler line will supply up to 95 MW of thermal energy to the district heating network during the winter.
Waste Incineration Providing Main Source of DH in Switzerland
In 1996 waste incineration plants supplied 44 percent of the heat distributed by Swiss district heating systems according to an article in Euroheat & Power - Fernwärme International's July 1997 issue. The association of Swiss district heating companies pointed out in its 1996 annual report that the low price of oil in Switzerland has made it difficult for district heating companies in the country.
Competition Yields Lower Rates
Congressman Schaeffer's office is delighted that the Department of Energy has confirmed what the industry has been saying all along -- that competition will lower electricity rates. Schaeffer, a Republican for Colorado, is Chairman of the House of Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Energy and Power.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) study that was released projects that competition in electricty will cause electricty rates to go down by 8-15 percent in the short term. This is the same savings that were predicted in the study commissioned by Citizens for a Sound Economy and performed by Clemson University.
This endorsement of competition by the EIA is especially profound because in the past EIA has issued dire predictions about competition, for example, the EIA predicted a price increase from the deregulation of natural gas and then the rates declined significantly as the result of deregulation.
CTG Resources Announces New
People in the News
Tanya Kozel, left the IDEA staff on August 25 to accept a position as marketing manager with Trigen-PCS LLC a new organization promoting Institu Foam insulation for steam pipes (See last month's District Energy Now.) In bidding her farewell, association president John Fiegel noted she has served the association and its members in an absolutely superlative fashion for nearly six years. He said "Tanya has been a tremendous asset to the association and will be sorely missed by me and many, many others, but we are very pleased she will still be an important part of the district energy industry."
Fiegel announced that Marie Williams will be joining the IDEA staff in mid-September. Marie is a 1993 graduate of Texas A&M University who is currently employed by the National Association of Home Builders in Washington, DC. She has extensive event and meetings experience. Marie will begin to assume many of Tanya's functions as soon as she arrives. Members will be able to personally welcome her on board at the Cooling Conference in Cleveland.
Ashland Chemical Company's Drew Industrial Division Achieves ISO 9001 Certification for Sales and Service.
Ashland Chemical Company's Drew Industrial Division announced that its U.S. water treatment and specialty chemical sales and service functions have been approved for certification to the ISO 9001 standard - the most comprehensive of the ISO standards. The certification also includes research and development, marketing, customer service, delivery services and laboratory services. The scope of Drew Industrial's certification includes design and development of water treatment and specialty chemicals, the manufacturing of its GENEROXTM equipment and the provision of technical services for all locations within the United States.