Posted by William Vander Plaats on Thu, Apr 15, 2010 @ 01:43 PM
When it comes to hydropower, what was once old is new again thanks to the Department of Energy and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. As much as $30 million have been allocated for hydropower upgrades throughout the U.S. resulting in a rebirth of one of the earth’s oldest energy resources--water.
Here are some examples of some stimulus funded hydropower projects:
- Packwood Lake Hydroelectric Facility in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest will receive up to $800,000 in federal stimulus money for various upgrades.
- Tacoma Power in Tacoma, Washington will receive $4.7 million in stimulus fund money toward a new power generation facility at its Cushman Hydroelectric Project.
- San Francisco Public Utilities Commission received $2.5 million in Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBS) to construct a 200 kw renewable hydroelectric project at the University Mound Reservoir, making use of renewable energy from excess water pressure in the City’s water distribution system.
Hydro industry experts are excited about this sudden rebirth and with good reason. Hydropower makes up approximately 75 percent of
renewable energy capacity in the U.S. However, according to
Renewable Energy World, a lack of strong growth has led many to the misconception that the industry cannot expand. Experts disagree, citing that only three percent of dams in the U.S. currently generate electricity, theoretically leaving over 77,000 dams untapped for generating capacity.
Hydropower: What’s not to love?
Hydropower generation is surprisingly simple to understand. A dam stores river water in a reservoir. Water released from the reservoir flows through a turbine, causing it to spin. As the turbine blades spin, so do a series of magnets inside an adjacent generator. These magnets rotate past copper coils, producing an alternating current (AC) and causing electricity to flow. Thus, water energy is converted to mechanical energy, which is then converted to electrical energy. The electricity produced can be enough to power a small plant or an entire community.
Hydroelectricity is an all around winner in today’s environmentally conscious climate. Its' generation is completely independent of fossil fuels, it doesn’t release toxic chemicals into the atmosphere, and it doesn’t create any harmful byproducts. The operational cost of a hydroelectric power plant is quite low. And the water stored in the reservoir can serve other useful purposes, including irrigation, civic water supply, and even recreation.
The Filtration Factor
Of course, dealing with fresh, unfiltered water often requires some degree of sediment control. Water filtration strategies may be needed at the river intake point, the intake gates of the hydro-electric power station, and in areas where partial flow is diverted for other purposes such as irrigation or process applications. In any of these cases, measures must be taken to protect pumps, piping components, and heat exchangers from corrosive particulates.
A perfect example is the use of a LAKOS Separator to remove sand and silt at the Crestar Energy water plant in Niton Junction in Alberta. Here, water drawn from the McLeod River is sent through the LAKOS Separator prior to entering the water injection plant. This protects the downstream barrier filters from clogging too quickly.
Without proper filtration, the life of costly turbines used in municipal water applications can also be cut short. In the case of the Queen Creek Water Company in Queen Creek Arizona, a LAKOS pump protection separator extends the life of the pumps and keeps them running efficiently over a longer period of time, saving thousands of dollars of taxpayer money.
Download Our Power Plant Case Study
Harnessing the energy and ecological benefits of natural water resources is certainly something we all want to do – but not at the expense of equipment that stimulus money has helped to purchase. Download our Power Plant Case Study and learn how this can be done energy efficiently and using sustainable techniques. Filtration is key!
Posted by William Vander Plaats on Thu, Jan 14, 2010 @ 02:27 PM
A recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicates that hotels and restaurants account for approximately 15% of all commercial water use in the U.S. today. And of that 15%, the water used for cooling and heating accounts for about 11% (see chart). That is a tremendous amount of water.
In addition, the amount of energy used to pump that water can be very large. In fact, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are often the largest electricity users in hotels, accounting for 30% or more of total costs.
So by making sure the HVAC system is operating efficiently, hotel managers can lower the costs of hotel operation by minimizing both water AND energy usage. Filtration can help to accomplish that, and the amount of savings to be expected can be determined by using an Energy and Water Savings Calculator.
Specific Filtration Solutions
The specific ways in which filtration can typically improve the total system efficiency include:
Through either method, proper filtration can prevent the accumulation of dirt and other solids. And that keeps all the system components operating at their highest efficiency.
Poor choices for filtration (such as having no filtration at all) can lead to a variety of problems for building owners as well as guests, up to and including
death from things such as Legionnaire's Disease.
On the other hand, the benefits of effective filtration include:
Energy managers for large hotel chains have learned from experience that the expense to
retrofit an existing installation will often pay for itself in a short amount of time. Just by making sure the heat exchanger is operating at its highest efficiency, hotels can realize huge
energy savings. A large number of
prominent hotels have chosen LAKOS Filtration Systems to make their comfort cooling as efficient as possible
Recent Case Study: The Hilton Garden Inn Hotel near Chicago's O'Hare Airport is an excellent example how a properly selected retrofit filtration system can pay for itself very quickly. After years of disappointing results, a new system was put in place using improved installation techniques and
energy-saving centrifugal separators. A little bit of filtration was good, but a well-designed and correctly sized filtration system was even better.
Want to learn more? Download the complete
Hilton Garden Hotel Case Study and read more about how an effective filtration system helped them save energy and conserve water.