New Technology for the New Nuclear

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved the construction of four new nuclear reactors in the U.S., the first since 1978.

On February 9, Southern Co. won approval and an NRC construction permit to build two reactors at its Vogtle plant near Augusta, Georgia. The first unit is expected to be in service by 2016, and the second a year later.  Then, on March 30, Scana won approval to build two units at its Virgil C. Summer plant in South Carolina.

Pipelines: Striving for Reliability

Despite a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) from the State Dept. in August 2011 that said the Keystone XL Pipeline will have "no material impact on the environmental resources along the route,” activists continue to oppose the pipeline. At the same time, first nation groups are fighting Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, which would stretch from Alberta to the British Columbia coast to transport oil-sands oil to Asian markets.

Carbon Capture and Storage at the Oil Sands

Shell Canada is developing the Shell Quest CCS Project to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their existing oil sands bitumen upgrader, the Scotford Upgrader, located near Edmonton, Alberta. The plan is to store the Quest CO2 in an underground saline formation where it will be permanently stored. While Quest does have the capability to use the CO2 for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) under the right commercial and market conditions, the primary driver for this project is saline aquifer injection to reduce CO2 emissions affecting climate change.

Understanding that this type of project would provide ample opportunities and challenges for valve, actuator and control manufacturers, we asked Len Heckel of Shell to explain some of the technology in this fully integrated project which will capture, transport, inject and store carbon dioxide.

The Crumbling Water Infrastructure: Challenge or Opportunity for Valve Manufacturers?

The recession that began in 2008 had multiple ramifications for municipalities, many seeing enormous deficits that resulted in “fire sales” of many public assets including roads and water systems. While the short term solution of selling assets puts money into the public coffers, the sale of water systems to private entities focused on profits raises, for many, the specter of rate increases and less concern for sustainability and environmental issues.

Technology the Key to Profitability in the Oil Sands

The Valve Manufacturers Association held its annual Technical Seminar & Exhibits at the Hilton NASA Clear Lake in Houston, March 8-9. More than a dozen speakers presented on a variety of topics that centered on “Prevailing Challenges and Solutions for the Oil & Gas/Petrochemical Industries.”

Gobind Khiani, AIMs specialist (valves), Cenovus Energy, was among the presenters at the VMA Technical Seminar, and he spoke about oil processing and production valve requirements for steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) in the Alberta oil sands.

Multi-Stage Flash for Water that’s Fresh

While fresh drinking water is becoming scarce, the need for desalination is growing. With it comes challenges for valve manufacturers, so, coming up in the Spring edition of Valve Magazine is a comprehensive article covering the consideration of valves in the seawater reverse osmosis process. Here in this Web Feature, is an appetizer covering the Multi-Stage flash process.

Of the major desalination processes available, Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) is the most widely used, producing about 60% of the world’s desalinated water.

Geothermal: A Bottomless Pit of Power?

As economic, environmental and geopolitical conditions have become increasingly volatile, sustainable and dependable sources of electricity have taken on new importance. Wind and solar are often cited as alternatives, but geothermal, which is one of the cleanest sources of energy, is not mentioned quite as often even though as a generating source it has been around since 1904 when Prince Piero Ginori Conti successfully lit four bulbs in Italy.

Concentrated Solar Power Generation

As Germany shuts out nuclear, Japan deals with the backlash over Fukushima and North American governments institute environmental regulations that make coal-fired power generation more expensive, the appeal of exploiting natural alternative energy sources becomes even greater.

What’s in a Word? The Fracas Over Fracking

With the continuing growth in unconventional gas exploration and production comes oftimes unwarranted attacks on the industry’s environmental record and business practices.

Since there are more than 200 valves at each well site, the importance of insuring that accurate information about this segment of the industry cannot be overstated.

Pipelines, Politics and Opportunity

When President Obama called Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to tell him the U.S. had rejected TransCanada’s proposed $7 billion Keystone XL project, he made sure to point out that TransCanada was free to submit an amended plan for the pipeline. Explaining that the decision was a decision made not on the merits of the project, but because of what he called an untenable Feb. 21, 2012 deadline by Congress, the president said that the decision was “without prejudice.”