Pennsylvania Electric Company. Front Street Generating Station Erie, PA Rich Hall Western Mining Electrical Association (WMEA) May 28, 2015

Transcription

1 Pennsylvania Electric Company Front Street Generating Station Erie, PA Rich Hall Western Mining Electrical Association (WMEA) May 28, 2015

2 Erie Maritime Museum The museum tells the story of the fleet of ships built in Erie that defeated the British during the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812; about a time when Erie was the largest fresh water fishing port in the world; about the USS Michigan (later USS Wolverine), the first iron hulled ship and longest serving powered ship in the US Navy that served out of Erie; and about the many shipwrecks off Erie, etc.

3 The US Niagara, a working replica of the vessel built in Erie in Photo by John Baker

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5 Erie Maritime Museum But the museum has other stories to tell, related to the coal mining industry.

6 Erie Maritime Museum The building that houses the museum was formerly the generator building of the Pennsylvania Electric Company Front Street Generating Station, a coal-fired steam power plant.

7 Coal-fired power plants are the main customers of the coal mining industry, of course. The museum contains some vintage equipment, including a steam turbine generator set (Unit #3) of 1926 vintage. This plant was in operation from 1917 until the plant closed in 1991.

8 Penelec Front Street Generating Station Source: Erie Maritime Museum Web Site

9 Conveyor to Pulverizer and Boilers Smoke Stack Boiler Buildings Coal Stockpile Turbine/Generator Building

10 Pennsylvania Electric Company s Front Street Generating Station c Coal arrived at the Front Street Station in railroad cars or trucks. Conveyor belts moved it to storage bins, then to pulverizers which crushed it into dust. Source: Erie Maritime Museum Display, Courtesy GPU Energy, Inc.

11 Coal Conveyor Turbine/Generator Building

12 Pennsylvania Electric Company s Front Street Generating Station c Blowers moved the coal dust into boilers where it mixed with air and burned it at 2400 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat turned the water into superheated steam. Source: Erie Maritime Museum Display, Courtesy GPU Energy, Inc.

13 Pennsylvania Electric Company s Front Street Generating Station c The steam turned turbine/generators producing electricity that was transmitted on power lines to Erie s homes and businesses. Source: Erie Maritime Museum Display, Courtesy GPU Energy, Inc.

14 Smoke Stack Railroad Tracks Transformers and Switchgear Power Lines Boiler Buildings Coal Storage Generator Building

15 The Erie Maritime Museum complex is located at the site of the Pennsylvania Electric Company s Front Street Generating Station. The coal-fired station provided Erie with electricity from 1917 until 1991 when it was closed. The station also supplied steam for Erie s steam heat system. Source: Display in Erie Maritime Museum

16 November 5, 2014

17 Erie Maritime Museum, former Penelec Generator Building

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19 Turbine Hall Looking North

20 View of Turbine Hall Looking South

21 Condenser Turbine Generator Unit #3

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23 Steam Turbine Generator Unit #3 DC Exciter 15,000 KW Generator Steam Turbine

24 Turbine Generator Unit #3, 18,750 KVA, 15,000 KW, 80% Power Factor, 4 Poles, Air Cooled, 1800 RPM

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26 Steam Flow

27 DC Exciter Generator, 250 Volt, 1000 Amperes (250 KW), 1800 RPM

28 Commutator End

29 Though this generator was serviceable it was not in service as the AC to DC conversion was handled by a GE Ignitron rectifier in early 1950s

30 Original style brushes being installed April 2014

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32 Showing Guests generator with new brushes

33 Control Panel For Five Steam Turbine Generators and Transformers and Plant

34 Control Panel in the Erie Maritime Museum

35 Instrumentation is pre-digital age

36 Voltages are color coded Yellow = 33 KV; Green = 11 KV; Blue = 2300 Volt; Red = 440 Volt; Black = 208 Volt

37 Former Penelec Smoke Stack

38 Aerial pictures of the Front Street Generating Station

39 Boiler Building (250 PSI Steam Pressure) Coal Generator Building Penelec Front Street Generating Station

40 Boiler Building (650 PSI) Coal Generator Building Penelec Front Street Generating Station

41 Boiler Buildings (650 PSI) (1250 PSI) Generator Building Coal Niagara Penelec Front Street Generating Station

42 A Bit of Power Plant History

43 The first public power station was the Edison Electric Light Station, built in London at 57, Holborn Viaduct, which started operation in January This was an initiative of Thomas Edison that was organized and managed by his partner, Edward Johnson. A Babcock and Wilcox boiler powered a 125 horsepower steam engine that drove a 27 ton generator called Jumbo, after the celebrated elephant. Source: Wikipedia

44 In September 1882 in New York, the Pearl Street Station was established by Edison to provide electric lighting in the lower Manhattan Island area. The station ran until destroyed by fire in The station used reciprocating steam engines to turn direct-current generators. Because of the DC distribution, the service area was small, limited by voltage drop in the feeders. Source: Wikipedia

45 The War of Currents eventually resolved in favor of AC distribution and utilization, although some DC systems persisted to the end of the 20th century. DC systems with a service radius of a mile (kilometer) or so were necessarily smaller, less efficient of fuel consumption, and more labor-intensive to operate than much larger central AC generating stations. Source: Wikipedia

46 Jumbo Dynamo, Pearl Street Station Source: > misci, (museum) 15 Nott Terrace Heights, Schenectady, NY 12308, , Chris Hunter, ext. 241

47 First USA Power Plant 1882 At New York City s Pearl Street Station, where it was first installed, Edison s team designed a huge dynamo the largest ever built which they nicknamed the Jumbo, and built six of them for the Pearl Street Station. Each Jumbo weighed about 27 tons and had a 10-foot armature shaft and an output of 100 kilowatts. Source:

48 Each dynamo was driven by a steam engine, which received steam from boilers located in another part of the plant. ower_system

49 Coal as Fuel For Electricity Generation The fuel for the Pearl Street Station in New York City was coal. Coal is believed to have been the fuel for the Edison Electric Light Station in London, as well. So, coal has been a fuel for the power generation industry from the beginning.

50 Steam Turbine A steam turbine is a device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in Source: Wikipedia

51 Because the turbine generates rotary motion, it is particularly suited to be used to drive an electrical generator. The steam turbine is a form of heat engine that derives much of its improvement in thermodynamic efficiency from the use of multiple stages in the expansion of the steam, which results in a closer approach to the ideal reversible expansion process. Source: Wikipedia Steam Turbine

52 Modern GE steam turbines for electrical power generation are the result of more than 90 years of engineering development. The first GE production turbine was rated 500 kw and went into operation in Source: STEAM TURBINES FOR LARGE POWER APPLICATIONS, J.K. Reinker and P.B. Mason GE Power Systems, Schenectady, NY

53 Penelec Front Street Generating Station Equipment

54 Dates Turbines Were Installed Unit #1 November 1917 (Original #1) Unit #2 June 1918 (Original #2) Unit #3 July 1927 Unit #4 January 1944 Source: Penelec Records

55 Dates Turbines Went Into Service Unit # Capacity Steam Conditions Placed In Operation KW PSIG Degrees F #1 16, * #2 10, * #3 16, #4 28, #5 52, The station started with a capacity of 16,000 KW and grew to a capacity of 124,000 KW. * Original No. 1 and No. 2 turbines of 6000 and 1000 KW capability respectively, installed in 1917, were replaced by the more efficient No. 1 and No. 2 turbines at the dates shown above. Source: Penelec Records

56 Electrical Generator Ratings Unit # Rating #1 GE, 23,408 KVA, 18,000 KW, 80% Power Factor, 2 Poles, 3600 RPM, Hydrogen Cooled, 12,000 Volts #2 GE, 12,500 KVA, 10,000 KW, 80% Power Factor, 4 Poles, 1800 RPM, Air Cooled, 12,000 Volts #3 GE, 18,750 KVA, 15,000 KW, 80% Power Factor, 4 Poles, 1800 RPM, Air Cooled, 12,000 Volts #4 GE, 31,250 KVA, 25,000 KW, 80% Power Factor, 2 Poles, 3600 RPM, Hydrogen Cooled, 12,000 Volts #5 GE, 62,500 KVA, 50,000 KW, 80% Power Factor, 2 Poles, 3600 RPM, Hydrogen Cooled, 12,000 Volts Source: Penelec Records. There are some unexplained differences between some ratings in the Penelec records between this and the previous slide.

57 Synchroscope for Synchronizing the Generator and Grid Before Connecting

58 Synchroscope In AC electrical power systems, a synchroscope is a device that indicates the degree to which two systems (generators and power networks) are synchronized with each other. Source: Wikipedia

59 Synchroscope For two electrical systems to be synchronized, both systems must operate at the same frequency, and the phase angle between the systems must be very close to zero. Also, the generator 3 phase output power leads must have the same phase sequence as the grid. Synchroscopes measure and display the frequency difference and phase angle between two power systems. Source: Wikipedia Voltages must also match.

60 Synchroscope Comment: Modern digital synchroscopes may also display frequency, but the older analog scopes like the one in the previous slide, generally only display the phase angle between the generator and the power system. Source: John Parslow, GE turbine generator engineer (retired)

61 Synchroscope Only when the phase angles are very near zero and the phase sequence is the same (and voltages match within OEM specifications) is it safe to connect the two systems together. Connecting two unsynchronized AC power systems together is likely to cause high currents to flow, which will severely damage any equipment not protected by fuses or circuit breakers. Source: Wikipedia and John Parslow

62 Synchroscope for Synchronizing the Generator and Grid Before Connecting

63 Antique Electrostatic Precipitator Power Supply Vacuum Tube - Penelec Front Street Generating Station 17

64 50 Ton Cleveland Crane

65 50 Ton Cleveland Crane (DC Powered)

66 Auxiliary and Main Hooks

67 Crane Motor Generator Set AC Induction Motor DC Generator

68 Crane MG Set Early 1900s Vintage 50 HP Induction Motor & 275 Volt, 35 KW, 1200 RPM DC Generator

69 The generator controls are a bit simpler than on mining excavators

70 Installing new brushes, same as you do today

71 Other

72 Mined Products Used In Carbon Brushes Lampblack (from Coal Tar) Coal Tar Coal Tar Pitch Graphite Copper (in grades, wires, rivets) Tin Lead Silver Molybdenum

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