Belews Creek Steam Station

Belews Creek Steam Station is a 2.24-GW, two-unit coal-fired generating facility located at coord|36|16|53|N|80|03|37|W|display=inline,title, on Belews Lake in Stokes County, North Carolina. It is Duke Energy’s largest coal-burning power plant in the Carolinas and consistently ranks among the most efficient coal facilities in the United States. During 2006, it was the fifth most efficient coal power plant in the United States with a heat rate of 9,023 Btu/kWh (37.8% conversion efficiency). The remaining 62.2% of energy released by the burning coal is in the form of heat. It is dumped into Belews Lake, a man-made lake created by Duke Power for cooling water purposes in the early 1970s.

The plant is comprised of two nearly identical units, launched into operation in 1974 and 1975. [cite web
title = Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2006
work =
publisher = Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy
year = 2006
url = http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/page/capacity/capacity.html
format = Excel
doi =
accessdate = 2008-07-14] Each furnace, a Babcock & Wilcox boiler, heats steam to convert|1000|F|C in both the secondary superheater and reheater sections. The boilers are supercritical units, operating at convert|3400|psi|atm of pressure. All four generators (two low pressure generators and two high pressure/intermediate pressure generators) are Westinghouse generators. The high and intermediate-pressure steam turbines were originally Westinghouse units, but were replaced during an Alstom steam-path upgrade. The low pressure turbines are original Westinghouse units.

The plant employs multiple pollution control systems, including a selective catalytic reducer which removes nitrogen oxides, an electrostatic precipitator which removes fly ash, and low NOx burners in the boiler. The plant is scheduled to complete a $500 million flue gas desulfurization project which is expected to be online during the beginning of 2008. This project will reduce the plant's sulfur dioxide emissions by 95%.

References

External links

* [http://www.duke-energy.com/power-plants/coal-fired/belews-creek.asp' Duke Energy - Belews Creek Steam Station]
* [http://uaelp.pennnet.com/display_article/314816/34/ARTCL/none/none/1/2006-Operating-Performance-RANKINGS:-Turning-in-impressive-numbers/' Electric Light & Power - 2006 Operating Performance Ratings]