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Mr.Baseball02
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172 Posts |
 Posted - 11/04/2009 : 8:44:43 PM
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Air Products awarded $30 million from feds to build ‘green’ power plant at Works.
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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer
Updated 6:57 AM Wednesday, November 4, 2009
MIDDLETOWN — A ?$300 million project that will create about 220 temporary construction jobs and generate electricity for AK Steel’s Middletown Works operations is headed to Middletown.
Air Products and Chemicals Inc. of Middletown has been awarded $30 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to construct a combined cycle power generation plant at AK Steel’s Middletown Works, it was announced Tuesday, Nov. 3. The project is valued at $300 million and will take about two years to construct, said Alan McCoy, spokesman for AK Steel, which has its corporate headquarters in West Chester Twp.
The new generation plant will capture and process blast furnace gas its Middletown facility. The gas, which is generated in iron-making operations, is either flared — burned off — or used to make steam needed for industrial processes. About 50 percent of the blast furnace gas is flared, and is visible as a light blue flame around the blast furnace, McCoy said.
This project will use that waste gas to generate more than 100 megawatts of power and saving an estimated 2.7 trillion Btu annually, according to department of energy officials.
“This is a project that has environmental benefits and has energy cost benefits, and we are just pleased that the DOE has funded a portion of it,” McCoy said.
The project has been in the works by AK Steel and Air Products for several months. With only 10 percent of the funding in place through the DOE announcement, where the rest of the money will come from through the partnership is still being defined, and there are “still many hurdles we have to overcome,” McCoy said.
AK Steel, as the generator of the fuel, would receive all of the steam and electricity the plant produces to power its Middletown Works operations. McCoy said officials are still determining how best the energy will be used.
Lisa Patt-McDaniel, director of the Ohio Department of Development which oversees the state’s Office of Energy, said making manufacturing more green on Ohio is important to its future and described the newly announced AK/Air Products project “an awesome contact.”
“Green energy, that is where the future is for the state and we are always going to be a manufacturing state,” she said.
With budgetary issues of its own, Patt-McDaniel said her office will have to “think outside of the box” and wants to work with both companies to secure any available funding for the new plant.
The award comes from federal stimulus monies set aside for industrial energy efficiency projects in Ohio.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who supports the new AK/Air Products project along with U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, said the funding will help AK and Middletown’s competitiveness.
“This investment of $30 million in Department of Energy recovery funds will enable AK Steel to capture waste gas to provide an efficient source of power for the plant. It’s this kind of ingenuity that will cut costs, create jobs and make Ohio a clean energy leader,” he said.
It’s just one of a series of recent moves by AK Steel to find alternative sources of energy to power its operations. The company agreed to buy the approximately 50 megawatts of the electricity that could be co-generated from the heat-recovery ovens of a coke plant SunCoke Energy plans to build in Middletown. AK also announced in September that it had secured a financial interest in the electricity produced by another heat-recovery coke plant SunCoke has in Franklin Furnace, Ohio.
McCoy said this new project would in effect displace 100 megawatts of power the company is using in Middletown.
However, he said AK has concerns that pending climate legislation does not “look favorably on a project like this” because the process the plant will use has not been considered in legislation before Congress.
“It clearly is a project that is in AK Steel’s best interest and in the public’s best interest to use what is wasted gas and steam right now and make electricity. We’ve heard no one argue with that analysis,” he said.
Jim Wainscott, AK Steel’s chairman, president and chief executive, has been especially vocal about climate change legislation and the effect it could have on the U.S. steel industry.
Signing off the company’s third quarter earnings report last week that if the Congress does not get climate change legislation right, he said “its incredibly high stakes will harm the U.S. economy, will move our remaining manufacturing activities to China and elsewhere. And the global carbon emissions will actually grow, not decline, and that’s the exact opposite of the goals of climate legislation.”
The industrial sector uses more than 30 percent of U.S. energy and is responsible for nearly 30 percent of U.S. carbon emissions, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. |
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Mr.Baseball02
New Member
172 Posts |
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Posted - 11/04/2009 : 8:45:33 PM
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| Interesting to say the least is all I have to say. |
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Houndog
Senior Member
USA
2529 Posts |
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Posted - 11/04/2009 : 9:22:19 PM
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Why is it interesting?
AK will save a tremendous amount of money per month on electricity costs by using energy which is currently being expended for no other reason except for having no where to use it. |
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Hornet86
Advanced Member
11107 Posts |
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Posted - 11/04/2009 : 9:25:33 PM
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quote:
[i]Originally posted by Houndog[/i]
[br]Why is it interesting?
AK will save a tremendous amount of money per month on electricity costs by using energy which is currently being expended for no other reason except for having no where to use it.
quit making sense dammit!!! |
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Smalltownfeel
New Member
USA
43 Posts |
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Posted - 11/04/2009 : 11:22:02 PM
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http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-207591621.html
AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) said that it has reached agreement with SunCoke Energy, Inc. (SunCoke) to provide AK Steel with metallurgical-grade coke from SunCoke's Haverhill facility in Scioto County near the Ohio River in southern Ohio.
The agreement has a 12-year term with two five-year renewal options. Under the agreement, SunCoke Haverhill will provide AK Steel with up to 550,000 tons of coke annually, as well as a financial interest in the electricity co-generated from the heat recovery coke battery. Terms of the agreement were not released. |
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Jane Smith
Average Member
1453 Posts |
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Posted - 11/05/2009 : 08:28:17 AM
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That is wonderful, any steps taken for the environment is better then none at all.
I wonder where they found the idea for it ? |
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Doc
Advanced Member
USA
8259 Posts |
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John Beagle
Advanced Member
USA
10560 Posts |
Posted - 11/05/2009 : 11:19:21 AM
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Interesting statement from AK:
"Signing off the company’s third quarter earnings report last week that if the Congress does not get climate change legislation right, he said “its incredibly high stakes will harm the U.S. economy, will move our remaining manufacturing activities to China and elsewhere."
Do we care who we pollute so long as it is not us?
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MainStreetMonroe.com is news of, for and by the people of Monroe, Ohio. |
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Tom B
Senior Member
4701 Posts |
Posted - 11/05/2009 : 11:26:35 AM
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quote:
[i]Originally posted by isis[/i]
[br]That is wonderful, any steps taken for the environment is better then none at all.
I wonder where they found the idea for it ?
Waste gas recovery and use is far from a new idea. GE Power has been selling and implementing it for twenty years. A lot of companies use waste gas like that. You just mix it with natural gas to maintain even power production.
And I strongly object to using tax money to fund it. Every dollar spent on things like this, means basic research was not funded in the same amount. |
Tom Birdwell
tombirdwell@aol.com
(513) 539-7411
Feel free to call or email |
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Bartleby
Junior Member
USA
429 Posts |
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Posted - 11/05/2009 : 5:12:44 PM
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Tom,
You imply that AK is a group of idiots whom should have been taking advantage of this gas for twenty years. Why? |
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Houndog
Senior Member
USA
2529 Posts |
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Posted - 11/05/2009 : 8:29:31 PM
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I think he was just stating the technology has been around a very long time, no indictment on AK. Honestly, multi-stage steam driven turbines, which is basically what this will be, have be in use for over a hundred years.
A couple of weeks ago I spent a few days at a facility that utilizes a smaller version of what is projected to be used at AK. Being the mechanical junkie I am I was brought to tears at the beauty of a turbine in operation. |
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Tom B
Senior Member
4701 Posts |
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Posted - 11/05/2009 : 10:22:28 PM
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quote:
[i]Originally posted by Bartleby[/i]
[br]Tom,
You imply that AK is a group of idiots whom should have been taking advantage of this gas for twenty years. Why?
Uh... because it would have saved AK money and helped the environment for at least the majority of a career as I worked in GE Aircraft Engines Engineering? We made the core engines that drive most medium gas turbine generators. They are slight derivatives of the engines on 767 and 747 aircraft, and more recently the ones on 737 and many Airbus aircraft as well. These also drive most Navy ships. This will apparently be a steam turbine, but either technology is FAR from a new invention and has been available for a long time.
Yes. Every dark winter day I drove home up Yankee road, illuminated by the waste of burning gas, all of it totally wasted, I thought they were idiots. Other companies implemented it for years, hell decades, now we am paying for it in taxes just turned over to AK, a for profit company. Will the taxpayers get a return on their investment in AK? No, but their stockholders will. We would get the same outcome at no cost by just requiring them to implement it. Since it pays for itself and more, they would not close the plant over it.
Sorry Houndog, I know you defended me, but the truth is the truth. |
Tom Birdwell
tombirdwell@aol.com
(513) 539-7411
Feel free to call or email |
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MFD50
Junior Member
USA
238 Posts |
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Posted - 11/05/2009 : 10:58:26 PM
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| Tom, I couldn't agree with you more. For many years I have told my wife that they were just being wasteful disposing of all that energy and it could be saved. I also know that several years ago AK then ARMCO received a permit to build an electrical plant using byproducts of the steel manufacturing process but it was never profitable. I presume now with the higher costs of energy that it must make sense or they wouldn't be doing it. I also wonder why TEPPCO on Todhunter and Yankee can't use the gas they flare off to provide energy or heat? Even if it is a mixture of the gases they transport it still provides a fuel source. |
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cmsquare
Senior Member
USA
2572 Posts |
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Posted - 11/06/2009 : 04:58:24 AM
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I always wondered why they just burnt up and wasted all that gas.
So wait...this technology has been around for sometime...and it could help the environment and surrounding community have cleaner air...and AK is just NOW using it.
AK doens't give a care in the world about Monroe or Middletown for that matter. They care about $$. That is all. When it makes sense to up and leave middletown because it no longer turns a big enough profit they will...and then what will become of Middletown?
Go ahead and look around at other small cities who put all their eggs in one basket.
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"I brought it back, not cm"
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Jane Smith
Average Member
1453 Posts |
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Posted - 11/06/2009 : 07:00:08 AM
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doc~ that was sarcasm.... they care about what the stock holders want, thats it. If the stock holders wanted AK to be more environmentally friendly or reduce emissions 10-20 years ago, they could of.
"The company agreed to buy the approximately 50 megawatts of the electricity that could be co-generated from the heat-recovery ovens of a coke plant SunCoke Energy plans to build in Middletown"
http://www.pewclimate.org/acesa
Starting to take steps now reduces the impact of change later. And lays the foundation for Suncoke and the appropriate hand shakes and slaps on back, to walk all over the people.
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2454/show If legislation does get approved of you will notice more companies making similar changes. And even more companies growing trees around their grounds and around the world, because they can keep polluting as long as they show they are reducing pollution in some way...yin/and a rotten yang...
On another note AK will offer a free clinic on how to use N95 respirators for all those homeowners in the area. (just kidding~!) |
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Wolfie
Junior Member
201 Posts |
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Posted - 11/06/2009 : 08:04:05 AM
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[/quote]
Uh... because it would have saved AK money
Yes. Every dark winter day I drove home up Yankee road, illuminated by the waste of burning gas, all of it totally wasted, I thought they were idiots.
[/quote]
RU sure it would have saved money? If it would have, they would have. Ask cm^2, all they care about is money!
Glad everyone out here knows how to run a (the) mill. They are hiring! |
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Wolfie
Junior Member
201 Posts |
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Posted - 11/06/2009 : 08:06:34 AM
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quote:
[i]Originally posted by cmsquare[/i]
So wait...this technology has been around for sometime...and AK is just NOW using it.
The economy has changed. Nat gas and elect prices have changed. This is not the same as "twenty years ago" |
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Wolfie
Junior Member
201 Posts |
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Posted - 11/06/2009 : 08:10:45 AM
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quote:
[i]Originally posted by Tom Birdwell[/i]
They are slight derivatives of the engines on 767 and 747 aircraft, and more recently the ones on 737 and many Airbus aircraft as well. These also drive most Navy ships.
Ship or Boat? Steam or Gas? I didn't know a ship used a gas turbine. How does a nuclear generator run a gas turbine? |
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Wolfie
Junior Member
201 Posts |
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Posted - 11/06/2009 : 08:14:53 AM
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I think it is funny watching all the back seat drivers that always have a better way.
Does anyone use geothermal to heat/cool their home? Anyone have a windmill or solar panels in their yard? Anyone off the grid? Why not?
The reason that you don't see windmills and solarpanels in Monore is the initial cost, maint costs, and current great price you are probably purchasing electricity.
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ClarkWestern1
Average Member
USA
936 Posts |
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Posted - 11/06/2009 : 08:53:55 AM
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quote:
[i]Originally posted by Wolfie[/i]
[br]quote:
[i]Originally posted by Tom Birdwell[/i]
They are slight derivatives of the engines on 767 and 747 aircraft, and more recently the ones on 737 and many Airbus aircraft as well. These also drive most Navy ships.
Ship or Boat? Steam or Gas? I didn't know a ship used a gas turbine. How does a nuclear generator run a gas turbine?
Two different propulsion systems-nukes are nukes and gas turbines are essentially jet engines used for propulsion on many of the smaller surface ships (not carriers) or what the bubbleheads in the subs like to say "targets". What was intersting as a recruiter was if someone had a certain degree of color blindness they could not work on aircraft jet engines but could work on gas turbines. Guess the theory was the ship would just blow an engine-not splat into the ocean from 30,000 ft...
(And nukes are just a different of making steam to run the turbine) |
"Just spittin out words to see where they splatter." |
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John Beagle
Advanced Member
USA
10560 Posts |
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Posted - 11/06/2009 : 09:14:42 AM
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This is true. We explored geo for our office building. The cost to install was around $60K. We said, no thank you.
quote:
[i]Originally posted by Wolfie[/i]
[br]I think it is funny watching all the back seat drivers that always have a better way.
Does anyone use geothermal to heat/cool their home? Anyone have a windmill or solar panels in their yard? Anyone off the grid? Why not?
The reason that you don't see windmills and solarpanels in Monore is the initial cost, maint costs, and current great price you are probably purchasing electricity.
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MainStreetMonroe.com is news of, for and by the people of Monroe, Ohio. |
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Wolfie
Junior Member
201 Posts |
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Green Power Plant at AK Steel
