STORM Resources
Recent Newsletters
May 2022 - Pulverizer Puffs - Part 2
 Click Here to Read! | In Part II of this two-part newsletter, we are highlighting two more common concerns that plants often face. The first being the rotating throat geometry. As stated in Part I of this series, Storm’s experience has been that 7,000 ft/min velocities must be maintained at the throat to keep raw coal from spilling through the throat. The second point that we will cover in this article is something that over the past ten years seems to have been at the forefront of most pulverized coal plants, and that is changing coal quality. Many plants have been fighting to stay competitive with the addition of natural gas combined cycles and the influx of renewables into the energy market. One of the easiest ways to cut the total operating cost of the plant is to switch to a lower-cost fuel; however, this can come with an array of new challenges; one of them being mill puffs. |
April. 2022 - Pulverizer Puffs - Part 1
| Click Here to Read! | It is too late to conduct preventative primary airflow calibrations or internal mill once a pulverizer puff has occurred. Storm Technologies, Inc. has been a proponent of quarterly testing programs since the company was founded in 1992. While most plants do not conduct testing this frequently, plants that do complete this testing along with performance inspections on an annual basis are much more likely to not experience a mill puff that is related to poor airflow control, throat geometry, or even a change in fuels. In this two-part technical newsletter series, we are providing several examples where these variables can cause or have caused puffs to occur. |
Feb. 2021 - Understanding Air Preheater Performance
 | The air heater is the last heat trap in most utility boiler systems. Once flue gas passes through the air heater it is rejected out of the stack, in most systems. Dry gas losses, which is any remaining heat in the flue gas, is lost energy, which reduces the boiler efficiency/heat rate. Dry gas losses account for the largest losses in PTC 4.0 boiler efficiency testing. Air heater performance is directly impacted by the conditions in which it operates including flow rates, entering temperatures, and pressures. Air heater performance is typically evaluated by these factors:
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Sept. 2020 - Ignoring the Fundamentals of Combustion
 | Most boilers are equipped with tube metal thermocouples installed on the terminal superheater and reheater tubes and provide an indication of the final metal temperatures of the selected tubes. This is important because metals, just like most other materials when heated, have properties that begin to change and, therefore, knowing your metal’s limitations is important. This newsletter will address the common questions of:
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Aug. 2020 - The Importance of Fuel Fineness - Part 2
 | This is a follow-up to our June Newsletter which focused on combustion airflow measurement and balance. Fuel Balance and fineness are also important for optimum combustion, best heat rate, fuel flexibility, minimal slagging, best NOx performance and more. If one were to take a look at Storm’s 13 Essentials for achieving optimum combustion in pulverized coal boilers, 9 of the 13 essentials are fuel related. We hope that you appreciate it and find it useful. |
June 2020 - Airflow Managment on Corner Fired Boilers - Part 1
 | Storm Technologies has been solving difficult combustion problems for many years. We thought that sharing some of our experiences and case studies would be helpful to those of you working in the utility industry. Some of these same issues that we have identified and made corrections to are certain to still be challenges today. This is the first newsletter of a series that uses data and experiences from the last three decades. Most of the figures used are slides from our “Large Utility Boiler Combustion and Performance Improvements” seminar. We hope that you appreciate it and find it useful. |
Apr. 2020 - How Low Can You Go? Part 2
 | In our last newsletter, pt. 1 explored the limitations in emissions and obstacles in furnace performance in extremely low load operations. This time, we look at low load impacts on the pulverizers and the solid fuel injection system. This covers primary air flow and velocities and potential damage to out of service burners and their components... |
Jan. 2020 - How Low Can You Go? Part 1
 | Most large-scale coal utility boilers were not designed to run at less than 75% MCR for extended periods, but as other sources become more prevalent, these units now have to run lower than ever before. To make matters even more difficult, they have to be ready to achieve MCR at, literally, a change in the weather. This presents new challenges to operations. In Part 1 of an ongoing series, we begin to explore how to manage a unit’s performance at low load operation and minimize its vulnerability in the ever-changing power market! |
Specialized Resources
Pulverizers
Airflow Measurement & Control
 | June 2020 Newsletter - "Airflow Management on Corner Fired Boiler" |
| Mar. 2015 Newsletter - "Cycling of Large Utility Boilers, Some Thoughts to Consider" |
| Oct. 2012 Newsletter - "Measurement of Combustion Airflow" |
| Sep. 2011 Newsletter - "Airflow Measurement: The Growing Importance of Accurate and Reliable Combustion" |
| May 2010 Newsletter - "The Benefits of Flow Nozzles and Venturies" |
| Dec. 2009 Newsletter - "#1 Controllable Stealth Loss - Boiler Air In-Leakage" |
| May 2009 Newsletter - "How Storm's Resources Can Be Utilized for Measurement and Control of Airflow" |
 | Oct. 2007 Article - Power Magazine: "Managing Air to Improve Combustion Efficiency" |
| Oct. 2006 Article - Power Magazine: "Apply the Fundamentals to Improve Emissions Performance" |
Burners & Boilers
Air Heaters to Stack
| Aug. 2016 Newsletter - "Would You Like to Better Utilize Your Outage Resources" |
| May 2013 Newsletter - "Coal Fired Boiler Optimization and the Impact on Emission Control Devices" |
| Mar. 2013 Newsletter - "Three Tips on Applying Performance Driven Maintenance" |
| Apr. 2012 Newsletter - "Maintenance vs. Manpower" |
| July 2010 Newsletter - "Invest Maintenance Dollars Wisely" |
| Dec. 2009 Newsletter - "#1 Controllable Stealth Loss - Boiler Air In-Leakage" |
| Sep. 2009 Newsletter - "The Cost Impact of Poor Airheater Performance" |
| Dec. 2008 Article - Power Magazine: "Getting the Most From Boilers, Industrial Fuels" |
| Mar. 2008 Article - World Coal Magazine: "Quality Counts" |
| Mar. 2005 Article - Power Magazine: "How stealth combustion losses lower plant efficiency" |
Other
| Jan. 2014 Newsletter - "Is Your Plant Ready For MATS/MACT in 2014-2015?" |
| June 2012 Newsletter - "Yes, There is a War on Coal! But Somebody has to keep the lights on!" |
| Mar. 2011 Newsletter - "Meeting MACT Compliance" |
| Dec. 2009 Newsletter - "Coal Ash Chemistry Slag Management 101" |
| Aug. 2009 Newsletter - "The Impact of Furnace Performance on the Reliability of Superheater and Reheater Metals" |
| July 2009 Newsletter - "A Practical Approach to Biomass Firing" |
| June 2009 Newsletter - "Considering the Economics of Combustion Optimization" |
| Jan. 2009 Newsletter - "Four Suggested New Year's Resolutions for Coal Plants" |
Published Articles
2020 - Recent
 | Mar. 2021 | Power Magazine: "Improving Load Response and NOx Emissions with Boiler Tuning and Coal-Fired Unit Optimization" |
2010 - 2019
| Dec. 2019 | Power Magazine: "Is Chasing Grid Demand Killing Your Large Coal Boiler?" |
| Nov. 2017 | Power Magazine: "Improve Power Plant Heat Rate with a Pulverizer Performance Program" |
| Dec. 2015 | Power Magazine: "Coal Pulverizer Maintenance Improves Boiler Combustion" |
| Jun. 2015 | Power Magazine: "Typical Causes of Slagging and Fouling Problems in Boilers" |
| Jul. 2013 | World Coal: "Why Remembering the Fundamentals Can Yield Cost-Effective Results in Coal Combustion" |
| Nov. 2010 | Coalblog: "The Benefits of Applying the Fundamentals" |
| Oct. 2010 | CoalPower: "Pulverized Coal Pipe Testing and Balancing" |
2000 - 2009
| Oct. 2009 | Power Magazine: "Measuring Coal Pipe Flow" |
| Mar. 2009 | Power Magazine: "Blueprint Your Pulverizer" |
| Dec. 2008 | Power Magazine: "Getting the Most From Boilers, Industrial Fuels" |
| Oct. 2008 | Power Magazine: "Finessing Fuel Fineness" |
| Jun. 2008 | Power Magazine: "Boiler Optimization Increases Fuel Flexibility" |
| Mar. 2008 | World Coal Magazine: "Quality Counts" |
| Oct. 2007 | Power Magazine: "Managing Air to Improve Combustion Efficiency" |
| Feb. 2007 | Power Magazine: "To Optimize Performance, Begin at the Pulverizers" |
| Oct. 2006 | Power Magazine: "Apply the Fundamentals to Improve Emissions Performance" |
| Sep. 2006 | World Coal Magazine: "Crush It, Pulverize It and Burn It" |
| Mar. 2005 | Power Magazine: "How stealth combustion losses lower plant efficiency" |
Technical Papers & Presentations
2010 - 2019
2000 - 2009
1990 - 1999
 | May 1997 | 3rd Annual Conference on Unburned Carbon on Utility FLyash - "Three Years Operating Experience at a NOx Limit of 0.33 lbs./ MBtu with Flyash Carbon Content Less Than 5%" |
| April 1997 | American Power Conference - "Time and Cost Effective Repairs to Boiler In-Leakage" |
| 1996 | PowerGEN - "Performance Combustion and Reliability Optimization of a 360 MW Unit Firing 90% Pulverized Coal and 10% Municipal Solid Waste" |
| 1995 | PowerGEN - "Performance Optimization of a Boiler Equipped with Low NOx Burners" |
| April 1995 | IJPGC ASME - "A Comprehensive Common Sense Approach to Low NOx Combustion in Pulverized Coal Fired Boilers" |
| April 1991 | 13th Annual Kentucky Coal Utilization Conference - "Pulverizer Coal Boiler Optimization Through Fuel / Air Control" |
| 1987 | ASME - "Coal Fired Boiler Performance Improvements Through Combustion Optimization" |