Pleasant Prairie Power Plant
Encyclopedia
Pleasant Prairie Power Plant is a base load, coal
fired, electrical
power station
located in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin
in Kenosha County
. In 2009, it was listed as the largest generating station in Wisconsin with a net summer capacity of 1,210 MW and generates roughly 13% of Wisconsin's electricity, burning around 13,000 tons of coal daily. The plant uses experimental technology designed by French Alstom SA
to separate carbon dioxide from the exhaust, and is seen as a proving ground for clean coal technology
. The plant is owned by We Energies.
The 30-year old power plant has developed and applied a retrofit system that has helped reduce nitrogen oxide by up to 90 percent and sulfur dioxide by up to 95 percent. However, the Pleasant Prairie plant still pours out “8.6 million tons of annually – about as much as (that produced by) 1.7 million US cars,” according to the Wall Street Journal
In an effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the plant uses a chilled ammonia process developed by Alstom Power, Inc. that captures up to 90 percent of carbon emissions as it escapes the flue gas
. The demonstration project began in March 2008 and will last for two years.
In 2009, the America’s Power Factuality Tour stopped at the Pleasant Prairie Power Plant to report on its role in generating electricity in the United States.
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
fired, electrical
Electric power
Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.-Circuits:Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations...
power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
located in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin
Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin
Pleasant Prairie is a village in Kenosha County, Wisconsin located between Milwaukee and Chicago. The population was 16,136 at the 2000 census. The neighborhoods of Carol Beach, Dexter's Corner, Ranney, and Tobin are located within the village.-Geography:...
in Kenosha County
Kenosha County, Wisconsin
-Demographics: As of the census of 2000, there were 149,577 people, 56,057 households, and 38,455 families residing in the county. The population density was 548 people per square mile . There were 59,989 housing units at an average density of 220 per square mile...
. In 2009, it was listed as the largest generating station in Wisconsin with a net summer capacity of 1,210 MW and generates roughly 13% of Wisconsin's electricity, burning around 13,000 tons of coal daily. The plant uses experimental technology designed by French Alstom SA
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
to separate carbon dioxide from the exhaust, and is seen as a proving ground for clean coal technology
Clean coal technology
Clean coal technology is a collection of technologies being developed to reduce the environmental impact of coal energy generation. When coal is used as a fuel source, the gaseous emmissions generated by the thermal decomposition of the coal, include sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon...
. The plant is owned by We Energies.
The 30-year old power plant has developed and applied a retrofit system that has helped reduce nitrogen oxide by up to 90 percent and sulfur dioxide by up to 95 percent. However, the Pleasant Prairie plant still pours out “8.6 million tons of annually – about as much as (that produced by) 1.7 million US cars,” according to the Wall Street Journal
In an effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the plant uses a chilled ammonia process developed by Alstom Power, Inc. that captures up to 90 percent of carbon emissions as it escapes the flue gas
Flue gas
Flue gas is the gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue, which is a pipe or channel for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, oven, furnace, boiler or steam generator. Quite often, the flue gas refers to the combustion exhaust gas produced at power plants...
. The demonstration project began in March 2008 and will last for two years.
In 2009, the America’s Power Factuality Tour stopped at the Pleasant Prairie Power Plant to report on its role in generating electricity in the United States.
External links
- Pleasant Prairie Power Plant (P4) http://www.powermag.com/powerweb/archive_article.asp?a=40-CS_WI&y=2007&m=october