Stack appears Sometimes white smoke 2

[Zalman Fariz]

Hi All
Now I'm Working in Coal Fired Power Plant. Power Plant stack sometimes appears white smoke sometime the white smoke is not coming My Question. What Cause the white smoke happen? How to control it?

Regards,

 

[crshears]

White or gray? In either case, what is your actual concern? Have you asked the plant operators or anyone else who works there?

I would figure that if I could get white smoke from a coal-fired power plant, I must be doing something right...

Many years ago as an auxiliary plant operator at a coal-fired generating station, when the plant and its electrostatic precipitators were running optimally, the stack effluent was generally a very thin light gray or off-white; it was when it got at all black that the phone would start to ring off the hook with local citizens' complaints.

In very cold weather the water vapour in the stack gases will condense, forming continuous dense clouds.

The best way to eliminate white smoke is to stop burning hydrocarbons.

CR

"As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." [Proverbs 27:17, NIV]

 

[Dhurjati Sen]

Dear Zalman Fariz,

Guess you are the maintenance guy.

Ask the operation guys reg. white smoke or simply go through the operation manuals, you'd learn a lot.

Regards.

DHURJATI SEN

https://www.nace.org/people/dhurjatisen

 

[MJCronin]

I believe that this means a new pope has been elected .....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_conclave

MJCronin
Sr. Process Engineer

 

[crshears]

Hmmm...does that make the pope a straw man?

CR

"As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." [Proverbs 27:17, NIV]

 

[racookpe1978]

Usually, "pure" and "dry" coal contains little water internally (chemically) because it is all carbon. All carbon (theoretically at least) burns into all CO2.

In the real world, coal gets physically wet during cleaning, open pit mining, transportation in open rail cars, storage in open coal piles, and washing. Chemically, impurities are nearly always present in small but varying amounts: Poor quality coal (lignite especially) add chemicals and minerals that also get burned. Burned coal goes through today's SO2 scrubbers, which add water.

At very high ignition temperatures, water breaks down into )2 and H2, so the H2O (and water vapor kicked out from the physical water in the coal) goes up the stack and condenses when cooler. A change in local weather (temperature, humidity, wind direction and higher elevation/colder air temperatures changes that condensation point and amount of visible condensed vapor.

So, a valid answer one day from operations may be incorrect for another day and relative humidity or batch of coal or rainy days on the train. Or it may be a wrong answer in the first place.

 

[crshears]

I guess that means "it depends..."

CR

"As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." [Proverbs 27:17, NIV]