Mountaineer Power Plant
Encyclopedia
The Mountaineer Power Plant is a major coal-fired power plant outside New Haven
, West Virginia
, USA. Owned by American Electric Power
(AEP), it has one of the tallest chimneys in the world at 336 metres (1,102.4 ft). This chimney was built as part of the plant in 1980 and is not in use now. It has been replaced by a slightly shorter and wider chimney for the electrostatic precipitator
and scrubber units.
The AEP Mountaineer Plant is what is known as a 1300 megawatt plant. The actual total capacity of the plant's two turbines is around 1480 MW, and the plant averages around 1420 MW. 1300 MW is the net power that actually leaves the plant, whereas the difference between the turbine output and the 1300 MW is required to run the plant itself. It is a "closed-loop" plant in that it recycles the cooling water used, however it requires approximately 20000 gallons (75.7 m³) per hour of "make up" water to be drawn from the Ohio River
to replace the water that is lost in water vapor through the cooling tower
and the precipitator/scrubber chimney.
The plant burns an average of 9,000 tons (8,200 metric tons) of coal
per day, and some of that coal now comes via barge
on the Ohio River to an elaborate coal unloading and storage facility.The other portion of coal comes from Big River Mining. An underground coal mine right across the street from the plant. It is mined, cleaned, processed, and shipped by a belt line across the street to the power plant. This single boiler, dual turbine plant produces enough energy to power a city approximately the size of Columbus, Ohio
.
The location of the plant is routinely given as New Haven, West Virginia, yet sits just outside the town limits. The plant actually sits on land that was originally known as Graham Station. The next-door Phillip Sporn AEP plant and the Mountaineer Plant seem to cover most of the land of the former Graham Station, thus Graham Station is seldom used as a locale.
to trap carbon dioxide
. The greenhouse gas would then be turned into a liquid and injected into the ground. It would have been the first such project that will both capture and store carbon from an existing power plant.
A successful pilot project was built using the new technology which removed 100,000 to 300,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide of the 8.5 million tons emitted annually by the Mountaineer plant. According to The New York Times
, AEP
and the maker of the technology, Alstom
, spent $100 million on the initiative. However, the political climate had changed by July, 2011 and the project was abandoned due to diminishing federal and state support for clean coal technology
.
New Haven, West Virginia
New Haven is a town in Mason County, West Virginia, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,559 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Point Pleasant, WV–OH Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, USA. Owned by American Electric Power
American Electric Power
American Electric Power is a major investor-owner electric utility in various parts of the United States. AEP ranks among the nation's largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S...
(AEP), it has one of the tallest chimneys in the world at 336 metres (1,102.4 ft). This chimney was built as part of the plant in 1980 and is not in use now. It has been replaced by a slightly shorter and wider chimney for the electrostatic precipitator
Electrostatic precipitator
An electrostatic precipitator , or electrostatic air cleaner is a particulate collection device that removes particles from a flowing gas using the force of an induced electrostatic charge...
and scrubber units.
The AEP Mountaineer Plant is what is known as a 1300 megawatt plant. The actual total capacity of the plant's two turbines is around 1480 MW, and the plant averages around 1420 MW. 1300 MW is the net power that actually leaves the plant, whereas the difference between the turbine output and the 1300 MW is required to run the plant itself. It is a "closed-loop" plant in that it recycles the cooling water used, however it requires approximately 20000 gallons (75.7 m³) per hour of "make up" water to be drawn from the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
to replace the water that is lost in water vapor through the cooling tower
Cooling tower
Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...
and the precipitator/scrubber chimney.
The plant burns an average of 9,000 tons (8,200 metric tons) of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
per day, and some of that coal now comes via barge
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
on the Ohio River to an elaborate coal unloading and storage facility.The other portion of coal comes from Big River Mining. An underground coal mine right across the street from the plant. It is mined, cleaned, processed, and shipped by a belt line across the street to the power plant. This single boiler, dual turbine plant produces enough energy to power a city approximately the size of Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
.
The location of the plant is routinely given as New Haven, West Virginia, yet sits just outside the town limits. The plant actually sits on land that was originally known as Graham Station. The next-door Phillip Sporn AEP plant and the Mountaineer Plant seem to cover most of the land of the former Graham Station, thus Graham Station is seldom used as a locale.
Clean coal project
There were plans to outfit the plant with technology that uses chilled ammoniaAmmonia
Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...
to trap carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
. The greenhouse gas would then be turned into a liquid and injected into the ground. It would have been the first such project that will both capture and store carbon from an existing power plant.
A successful pilot project was built using the new technology which removed 100,000 to 300,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide of the 8.5 million tons emitted annually by the Mountaineer plant. According to The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, AEP
American Electric Power
American Electric Power is a major investor-owner electric utility in various parts of the United States. AEP ranks among the nation's largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S...
and the maker of the technology, Alstom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
, spent $100 million on the initiative. However, the political climate had changed by July, 2011 and the project was abandoned due to diminishing federal and state support for clean coal technology
Clean coal technology
Clean coal technology is a collection of technologies being developed to reduce the environmental impact of coal energy generation. When coal is used as a fuel source, the gaseous emmissions generated by the thermal decomposition of the coal, include sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon...
.