As the world is moving away from fossil fuel power stations and embraces more sustainable sources of energy like solar, wind, wave, geothermal, and hydroelectric, we need to make sure that these sustainable power plants are protected against the harmful effects of airborne humidity for more production uptime, better ROI and lower operating costs. Uncontrolled, humidity issues in power plants can easily give rise to big issues that can be avoided with the right dry-air solution.
Common issues:
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Corrosion and other humidity-related damage to control systems, equipment, fittings and structures
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Lower ROI because of shorter service life for this valuable, often-sensitive equipment
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Less power generation availability, with longer response times
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Service glitches as a result of unexpected downtime
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Higher overall operating costs, including increased service and maintenance costs
Controlled humidity means greater reliability
HUMIDITY CHALLENGES IN modern POWER GENERATION PLANTS
Water, airborne moisture and steam are often present in modern power plants – both large and small. The high levels of humidity that result from this can easily give rise to a wide range of problems and operating glitches stemming from corrosion, condensation and rust in – and on – turbines, boilers, reactors and other generating equipment, as well as piping, support structures and other installations.
Temperature differences between hot or cold materials and the surrounding air provide a good basis for airborne moisture condensing and pooling. This then results in corrosion of metal surfaces and components as well as having negative effects on mechanical and electronic equipment. All this can then impact both operational availability and generator-set reliability.
All these in turn impact uptime, generating capacity and operating costs, adding a level of risk decidedly unwelcome in an industry where KPIs, profits and reputation depend heavily on reliability.
TACKLING THE PROBLEM
When equipment is big, expensive and operations-critical, it pays to keep it in the best possible condition. Prevention is a whole lot cheaper than cure – be it mopping up or repairs.
Equipment and machinery inside power plants require reliable protection against airborne humidity. In many cases, this involves blowing dry air into the equipment in order to hinder the onset of any problems stemming from condensation and resulting corrosion of metal components and surfaces.
In energy generation plants powered by gas turbines, considerable volumes of air are required, and the output, as well as the fuel bills, depend heavily on the specifications of the airflow into the combustion chamber.
Cotes dehumidifiers help you improve the quality of the air passing into – or inside – your turbines, generator sets and boilers. Better air specs, including controlled removal of airborne moisture and any suspended corrosive salts, add up to less risk, longer service life and lower operating costs.
Cotes dehumidifiers make it easier to completely prevent corrosion condensation and issues of this kind by controlling the point at which the inevitable water vapour in the air inside your power plant condenses (the dew point). The basic laws of physics mean corrosion simply cannot occur if the relative humidity is kept below 65% at 20oC.
How you benefit
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Better control of air conditions in and around key equipment and installations inside power plants of all kinds
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Preventing corrosion and other humidity-related damage in equipment, fittings and structures
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Better ROI because of longer service life for costly equipment
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Greater power generation availability, with better response times
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Lower overall operating costs, including reduced service and maintenance costs
How Cotes stands out
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Fully capable of dealing with very large volumes of air [up to 34.000 m3/h for larger units]
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Designed for reliability
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Available with advanced monitoring and control systems
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Exceptionally energy efficient and inexpensive to run
