CWLP power plant tour
Earlier today I took the public tour of the new Dallman 4 power plant currently under construction by CWLP. To my surprise, they allowed people to take pictures so I'm posting a few I took on the tour. You can see more pictures from earlier stages of construction on CWLP's page about the new plant.
I'm shrinking the pictures a little to fit on the blog but if you click on them a larger version will appear in a pop-up window.
The main generator is going somewhere inside this steel structure. The trailer at the bottom of the picture will give you an idea of just how big the plant is going to be.
Above is another side of the same structure. Its difficult to get the entire thing in one shot.
Here you can see some of the pollution control equipment. The rust colored thing on the right (I forget the technical name) is inside the same structure in the pictures above. If I remember correctly, it removes particulate matter that causes asthma and other health problems. The silver colored structure on the left is a scrubber. The new smokestack is just to the left outside the view of this picture.
Air pollution came up frequently during the tour. Chief Engineer Jay Bartlett described the several pieces of pollution control equipment during a short presentation at the beginning of the tour. It was interesting to see first hand what the equipment looks like after I've spent so much time talking about NOx, SO2, CO2 and particulate matter. Several people asked questions about pollution control measures during the tour as well. The new Dallman 4 unit will be just about as clean as any coal fire power plant can get and its a significant improvement over the older Lakeside plant that will be shut down.
This picture is one of the existing Dallman units from an angle that you don't normally see unless you work for CWLP. The tour guide mentioned that they're doing work to upgrade pollution control equipment on one of the existing Dallman units. Reducing emissions from the existing power plants is part of CWLP's clean energy agreement with the Sierra Club.
I don't know if CWLP is going to do another public tour but I highly recommend going if they do!
Comments
i was involved in this work of art. all the way from the cooling tower recycling and cooling the water; to building scaffolding providing a safe access for all other trades to perform their skills;and all the way to the interior finish package. this was a great learning expierence for me and considering the dangerous atmospere it all went very well. given the chance i cant wait to be involved in building another one!
Posted by: nailbender | June 8, 2009 7:28 PM