Comparing Measured and Satellite-Derived Surface Irradiance

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aron Habte ◽  
Manajit Sengupta ◽  
Stephen Wilcox
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Power Production ◽  
The United States ◽  
Measured Data ◽  
Surface Radiation ◽  
Surface Measurement ◽  
Solar Insolation ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
Microclimate Conditions

The purpose of this study is two-fold: 1) To examine the performance of the Global Solar Insolation Project (GSIP) physics-based model in characterizing global horizontal solar radiation across the United States by comparing to the ground measured data, and 2) to examine improvements of the GSIP data to address temporal and spatial variations. The study enumerates and examines the spatial and temporal limitations of the GSIP model. Most comparisons demonstrate relatively good statistical agreement. However, the methodology used in the satellite model to distinguish microclimate conditions presents significant challenges, and the model requires refinement in addressing aerosol estimates, water vapor estimates, and clear sky optical properties. Satellite derived datasets are only available at half-hour intervals. Surface measurement can easily be made at temporal resolution in the order of seconds. Therefore intra-hour variability, an important quantity for understanding how power production in power plants will vary, cannot be directly derived from satellites. This paper illustrates how intra-hour variability in ground measurements cannot be captured by the satellite based datasets. We also discuss the potential for improved next-generation geostationary satellite data to improve the accuracy of surface radiation estimates.

Gas Turbine Performance of Mature, F- and Advanced Technologies 2000

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel W. von Rappard ◽  
Salvatore Della Villa
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Power Production ◽  
The United States ◽  
Combined Cycle ◽  
Advanced Technology ◽  
United States Department ◽  
The Past ◽  
Mode Of Operation

The contribution of the gas turbine in simple and combined cycle systems to power production in the United States has been steadily rising over the past 25 years. In 1998 their contribution to power production was approximately 15% and it increased over the past 5 years by 1.5 to 2%, annually. In parallel, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) has financially supported Advanced Technology development with good formulated goals for overall performance of plants including reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM). In this paper the authors evaluate RAM performance data from power plants over the past five years. This evaluation can be used as baseline or benchmark for further improvements. It takes into account the mode of operation being base load, cycling or peaking application and analyses the power plant on a year-by-year evaluation. All RAM-data came from the same source and are collected and analyzed according to standardized procedures. Availability will be reviewed for machines of different sizes and technologies. Maintainability will be analyzed as function of the size of units, energy production, and the mode of operation. Gas turbine simple and combined cycle power plants have been operated in peaking, cycling, base and continuous load operation. The flexibility is shown in different “Service Hours per Successful Start” and a correlation with the RAM parameters. To analyze and explain these differences will be the main result of this evaluation. The contribution shall help to evaluate the best solution for individual sites because efficiency and availability cannot always be increased in parallel.

Performance Testing of Coal Fired Power Plants

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane E. Powers ◽  
William C. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Performance Test ◽  
Model Development ◽  
Performance Testing ◽  
The United States ◽  
Plant Performance ◽  
Cycle Performance ◽  
Test Program

With the renewed interest in the construction of coal-fired power plants in the United States, there has also been an increased interest in the methodology used to calculate/determine the overall performance of a coal fired power plant. This methodology is detailed in the ASME PTC 46 (1996) Code, which provides an excellent framework for determining the power output and heat rate of coal fired power plants. Unfortunately, the power industry has been slow to adopt this methodology, in part because of the lack of some details in the Code regarding the planning needed to design a performance test program for the determination of coal fired power plant performance. This paper will expand on the ASME PTC 46 (1996) Code by discussing key concepts that need to be addressed when planning an overall plant performance test of a coal fired power plant. The most difficult aspect of calculating coal fired power plant performance is integrating the calculation of boiler performance with the calculation of turbine cycle performance and other balance of plant aspects. If proper planning of the performance test is not performed, the integration of boiler and turbine data will result in a test result that does not accurately reflect the true performance of the overall plant. This planning must start very early in the development of the test program, and be implemented in all stages of the test program design. This paper will address the necessary planning of the test program, including: • Determination of Actual Plant Performance. • Selection of a Test Goal. • Development of the Basic Correction Algorithm. • Designing a Plant Model. • Development of Correction Curves. • Operation of the Power Plant during the Test. All nomenclature in this paper utilizes the ASME PTC 46 definitions for the calculation and correction of plant performance.

Inservice Testing Program Improvements for New Reactors Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald C. Lippy
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Regulatory Commission ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Small Modular Reactors ◽  
American Society ◽  
Construction Permit ◽  
Regulatory Commission

The nuclear industry is preparing for the licensing and construction of new nuclear power plants in the United States. Several new designs have been developed and approved, including the “traditional” reactor designs, the passive safe shutdown designs and the small modular reactors (SMRs). The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) provides specific Codes used to perform preservice inspection/testing and inservice inspection/testing for many of the components used in the new reactor designs. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) reviews information provided by applicants related to inservice testing (IST) programs for Design Certifications and Combined Licenses (COLs) under Part 52, “Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,” in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 52) (Reference 1). The 2012 Edition of the ASME OM Code defines a post-2000 plant as a nuclear power plant that was issued (or will be issued) its construction permit, or combined license for construction and operation, by the applicable regulatory authority on or following January 1, 2000. The New Reactors OM Code (NROMC) Task Group (TG) of the ASME Code for Operation and Maintenance of Nuclear Power Plants (NROMC TG) is assigned the task of ensuring that the preservice testing (PST) and IST provisions in the ASME OM Code to address pumps, valves, and dynamic restraints (snubbers) in post-2000 nuclear power plants are adequate to provide reasonable assurance that the components will operate as needed when called upon. Currently, the NROMC TG is preparing proposed guidance for the treatment of active pumps, valves, and dynamic restraints with high safety significance in non-safety systems in passive post-2000 reactors including SMRs.

Boundary Element Method Used in Random Response Calculation of the Plate-Beam Structure

1991 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Zhu ◽  
L. Huang
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Element Method ◽  
Numerical Method ◽  
Boundary Element ◽  
Pressure Fluctuation ◽  
Random Vibration ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Measured Data ◽  
Random Response ◽  
Beam Structure ◽  
Element Method

Abstract The furnace walls of the large boilers in power plants are combined structures consisting of orthotopic plate and equally spaced beams, which are usually submitted to random vibration under the excitation of the pressure fluctuation induced by combustion in the furnace. In this paper, a numerical method based on BEM to compute the random response of the structure is offered. The agreement between the computing results and the measured data in a practical example verifies the effectiveness of the method.

scholarly journals Combining airborne in situ and ground-based lidar measurements for attribution of aerosol layers

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Nikandrova ◽  
Ksenia Tabakova ◽  
Antti Manninen ◽  
Riikka Väänänen ◽  
Tuukka Petäjä ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Size Distribution ◽  
Aerosol Size Distribution ◽  
Long Range Transport ◽  
Back Trajectories ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Temporal And Spatial Variability ◽  
Range Transport ◽  
Temporal And Spatial

Abstract. Understanding the distribution of aerosol layers is important for determining long range transport and aerosol radiative forcing. In this study we combine airborne in situ measurements of aerosol with data obtained by a ground-based High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) and radiosonde profiles to investigate the temporal and vertical variability of aerosol properties in the lower troposphere. The HSRL was deployed in Hyytiälä, Southern Finland, from January to September 2014 as a part of the US DoE ARM (Atmospheric Radiation Measurement) mobile facility during the BAECC (Biogenic Aerosols – Effects on Cloud and Climate) Campaign. Two flight campaigns took place in April and August 2014 with instruments measuring the aerosol size distribution from 10 nm to 10 µm at altitudes up to 3800 m. Two case studies from the flight campaigns, when several aerosol layers were identified, were selected for further investigation: one clear sky case, and one partly cloudy case. During the clear sky case, turbulent mixing ensured low temporal and spatial variability in the measured aerosol size distribution in the boundary layer whereas mixing was not as homogeneous in the boundary layer during the partly cloudy case. The elevated layers exhibited greater temporal and spatial variability in aerosol size distribution, indicating a lack of mixing. New particle formation was observed in the boundary layer during the clear sky case, and nucleation mode particles were also seen in the elevated layers that were not mixing with the boundary layer. Interpreting local measurements of elevated layers in terms of long-range transport can be achieved using back trajectories from Lagrangian models, but care should be taken in selecting appropriate arrival heights, since the modelled and observed layer heights did not always coincide. We conclude that higher confidence in attributing elevated aerosol layers with their air mass origin is attained when back trajectories are combined with lidar and radiosonde profiles.

Sensitivity Analyses for a PWR SCC Case Using the Probabilistic Loss-of-Coolant-Accident (Pro-LOCA) Software

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce A. Young ◽  
Sang-Min Lee ◽  
Paul M. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Design Criterion ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Base Case ◽  
Piping System ◽  
Loss Of Coolant Accident ◽  
Piping Systems

As a means of demonstrating compliance with the United States Code of Federal Regulations 10CFR50 Appendix A, General Design Criterion 4 (GDC-4) requirement that primary piping systems for nuclear power plants exhibit an extremely low probability of rupture, probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) software has become increasingly popular. One of these PFM codes for nuclear piping is Pro-LOCA which has been under development over the last decade. Currently, Pro-LOCA is being enhanced under an international cooperative program entitled PARTRIDGE-II (Probabilistic Analysis as a Regulatory Tool for Risk-Informed Decision GuidancE - Phase II). This paper focuses on the use of a pre-defined set of base-case inputs along with prescribed variation in some of those inputs to determine a comparative set of sensitivity analyses results. The benchmarking case was a circumferential Primary Water Stress Corrosion Crack (PWSCC) in a typical PWR primary piping system. The effects of normal operating loads, temperature, leak detection, inspection frequency and quality, and mitigation strategies on the rupture probability were studied. The results of this study will be compared to the results of other PFM codes using the same base-case and variations in inputs. This study was conducted using Pro-LOCA version 4.1.9.

Investigation of the Down-Scaling Effects on the Low Swirl Burner and its Application to Microturbines

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Frank ◽  
Peter Therkelsen ◽  
Miguel Sierra Aznar ◽  
Vi H. Rapp ◽  
Robert K. Cheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Systems ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary Energy ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
United States Department ◽  
Scaling Effects ◽  
Swirl Burner

About 75% of the electric power generated by centralized power plants feeds the energy needs from the residential and commercial sectors. These power plants waste about 67% of primary energy as heat emitting 2 billion tons of CO2 per year in the process (∼ 38% of total US CO2 generated per year) [1]. A study conducted by the United States Department of Energy indicated that developing small-scale combined heat and power systems to serve the commercial and residential sectors could have a significant impact on both energy savings and CO2 emissions. However, systems of this scale historically suffer from low efficiencies for a variety of reasons. From a combustion perspective, at these small scales, few systems can achieve the balance between low emissions and high efficiencies due in part to the increasing sensitivity of the system to hydrodynamic and heat transfer effects. Addressing the hydrodynamic impact, the effects of downscaling on the flowfield evolution were studied on the low swirl burner (LSB) to understand if it could be adapted to systems at smaller scales. Utilizing particle image velocimetry (PIV), three different swirlers were studied ranging from 12 mm to 25.4 mm representing an output range of less than 1 kW to over 23 kW. Results have shown that the small-scale burners tested exhibited similar flowfield characteristics to their larger-scale counterparts in the non-reacting cases studied. Utilizing this data, as a proof of concept, a 14 mm diameter LSB with an output of 3.33 kW was developed for use in microturbine operating on a recuperated Brayton cycle. Emissions results from this burner proved the feasibility of the system at sufficiently lean mixtures. Furthermore, integration of the newly developed LSB into a can style combustor for a microturbine application was successfully completed and comfortably meet the stringent emissions targets. While the analysis of the non-reacting cases was successful, the reacting cases were less conclusive and further investigation is required to gain an understanding of the flowfield evolution which is the subject of future work.

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