How Does A Combined-Cycle Power Plant Work?

A Tour of the Metcalf Ener y Center

Power !eneration" Air Inlet The amount of air needed for combustion is 800,000 cubic feet per minute. This air is drawn though the large air inlet section where it is cleaned, cooled and controlled, in order to reduce noise. Two Siemens Westinghouse 501 ! Turbine"#enerators$ The air then enters the gas turbine where it is compressed, mi%ed with natural gas and ignited, which causes it to e%pand. The pressure created from the e%pansion spins the turbine blades, which are attached to a shaft and a generator, creating electricit&. 'ach gas turbine produces 185 megawatts ()W* of electricit&. The blades are attached to a rotor, which spins the generator, and ma+es electricit&. Thin+ of a generator as a huge spinning magnet inside a coil of wire. As the magnet spins, electricit& is created in the wire loops. ,eat -eco.er& Steam #enerator (,-S#* The hot e%haust gas e%its the turbine at about 1100 degrees ahrenheit and then passes through the /ooter 'ric+son, ,eat -eco.er& Steam #enerator (,-S#*. In the ,-S#, there are 18 la&ers of 100"foot tall tube bundles, filled with high purit& water. The hot e%haust gas coming from the turbines passes through these tube bundles, which act li+e a radiator, boiling the water inside the tubes, and turning that water into steam. The gas then e%its the power plant through the e%haust stac+ at a much cooler 180 degrees, after ha.ing gi.en up most of its heat to the steam process. About 1 million pounds of steam per hour is generated in this wa& and sent o.er to the steam turbine through o.erhead piping. Steam Turbine The steam turbine is a Siemens Westinghouse 0/ Turbine #enerator, capable of producing up to 120 )W. It is located on top of the condenser, across from the cooling tower. Steam enters the turbine with temperatures as high as 1000 degrees ahrenheit and pressure as strong as 1,100 pounds per s3uare inch. The pressure of the steam is used to spin turbine blades that are 1

attached to a rotor and a generator, producing additional electricit&, about 100 megawatts per ,-S# unit. After the steam is spent in the turbine process, the residual steam lea.es the turbine at low pressure and low heat, about 100 degrees. This e%haust steam passes into a condenser, to be turned bac+ into water. 4& using this 5combined"c&cle6 process, two gas turbines and one steam turbine, we can produce a total of about 700 megawatts of electricit&.

Emissions Control Selecti.e 8atal&tic -eduction (S8-* To control the emissions in the e%haust gas so that it remains within permitted le.els as it enters the atmosphere, the e%haust gas passes though two catal&sts located in the ,-S#. 9ne catal&st controls 8arbon )ono%ide (89* emissions and the other catal&st controls 9%ides of /itrogen, (/9%* emissions. A3ueous Ammonia In addition to the S8-, A3ueous Ammonia (a mi%ture of 11: ammonia and ;8: water* is in<ected into s&stem to e.en further reduce le.els of /9%. 4est A.ailable 8ontrol Technolog& (4A8T* 9ur annual a.erage concentration of /9% is onl& 1 parts per million, which is considered the 5best a.ailable control technolog&6 or 4A8T b& the Air 4oard. As e%haust gas passes out of the e%haust stac+, it is continuousl& sampled and anal&=ed, assuring that permit limits are being met. With this +ind of clean, modern technolog&, the e%haust stac+ is onl& 125 feet high, compared to 500 feet, the height re3uired b& older power plants that use less efficient emission technolog&. 'n.ironmental and health organi=ations recogni=e this technolog& as a benefit to the communit&. The local chapters of the American >ung Association and Sierra 8lub both support the )etcalf 'nerg& 8enter.

Transmission of !enerated Power #nto the !rid

Transformers The #as Turbine and Steam Turbine generators produce power at 1?,000 .olts. The transformers ta+e the generated 1?,000 .olts and 5transform6 them to 1?0,000 .olts, which is the re3uired .oltage needed for transmission to the nearb& tower that sends power to the substation. A small amount of generation is directed to 5Au%iliar& transformers6 which 5transform6 the generated .oltage to a lower .oltage, so it ma& be used b& the plant to power our own pumps, fans, and motors. The )etcalf 'nerg& 8enter re3uires 11 @ 15 megawatts to operate. Switch&ard rom each transformer, the power passes underground into our switch&ard. The power from all of the generators comes together there, where it is measured, metered and directed onto the grid. The pro%imit& of the site to a large, e%isting A#B' substation ma+es it a good place to build a power plant and the nearest transmission tower is onl& about 100 feet awa&. Condenser and Coolin Tower The purpose of the condenser is to turn low energ& steam bac+ into pure water for use in the ,eat -eco.er& Steam #enerator. The purpose of the cooling tower is to cool the circulating water that passes through the condenser. It consists of ten cells with large fans on top, inside the cone"li+e stac+s, and a basin of water underneath. We process and treat the Title 11 rec&cled water after recei.ing it from the 8it&, before using it in our cooling tower. The cool basin water absorbs all of the heat from the residual steam after being e%hausted from the steam turbine and it is then piped bac+ to the top of the cooling tower. As the cool water drops into the basin, hot wet air goes out of the stac+s. /ormall&, hot moist air mi%es with cooler dr& air, and t&picall& a water .apor plume can be formed, one that ma& tra.el hundreds of feet in the air and be seen from miles awa&. The 8alifornia 'nerg& 8ommission considered this .isuall& undesirable in this communit& so we added a 5Alume"Abatement6 feature, lou.ers along the topsides of the tower that control the air flow. The cooling tower e.aporates about three"fourthCs of the processed, rec&cled water, then we send about one"fourth of it bac+ through the sewer lines for re"treatment b& the 8it&. The )etcalf 'nerg& 8enter purchases ? to 2 million gallons per da& of rec&cled water from the 8it& of San Dose. '.aporation of this water assists the 8it& in adhering to their flow cap limits and helps to protect the sensiti.e saltwater marsh habitat of the San rancisco 4a& en.ironment from recei.ing too much fresh, rec&cled water. ?

Water Tanks$ %atural !as Pi&eline$ Control 'oom Water Tan+s The largest tan+ is the Ser.ice Water tan+. It contains 2;0,000 gallons of water to be used for drin+ing, fire fighting and for the high purit& water train. The water from the ser.ice water tan+ is pumped to the water treatment building where it then passes through a re.erse osmosis unit, a membrane decarbonater, and mi%ed resin bed deminerali=ers to produce up to 200 gallons per minute of ultra pure water. The pure water is then stored in the smaller ?75,000"gallon tan+ until it is turned into steam for ma+ing electricit&. /atural #as /atural gas fuels the combustion turbines. 'ach turbine can consume up to 1,000 ))4TE per hour. The fuel comes from the ma<or high pressure natural gas pipeline that runs along the east side of ,ighwa& 101, less than 1 mile to the east of our site. !uring construction, 5,ori=ontal !irectional !rilling6 was utili=ed with careful coordination with man& local authorities. The pipeline was built 70 feet underground and passed under highwa&s, cree+, train trac+s, and en.ironmentall& sensiti.e areas. The pipeline enters the site <ust behind the water tan+s, where e3uipment regulates and measures the natural gas composition, flow and pressure. #as compressors pump the natural gas though the facilitiesC fuel gas s&stem where it is deli.ered to the gas turbine and the ,-S# duct burners at the proper temperature, pressure and purit&. 8ontrol -oom rom the control room, the plant operators monitor and operate the facilit&, .ia the plantCs 5!istributed 8ontrol S&stem6, with the clic+ of a mouse, .iewing graphic representations of all )'8 s&stems on .arious screens. The s&stem gi.es operators both audible and .isual signals to +eep them informed of plant conditions at all times and to determine when pre.entati.e maintenance is re3uired.