Power to the people: Heating it up on campus

A worker attaches refractory inside an off-line boiler. - Photo by Helen Spielbauer

The University of Iowa Power Plant operates 24 hours a day to provide many necessities for the UI campus, including heat for buildings and steam for chilled water production.

The plant produces about 30 percent of the University’s electrical power and all of the steam it uses, said Power Plant manager Ferman Milster. In summer, steam generates chilled water to cool buildings, and steam is also used to heat buildings, for sterilization at the UIHC, for humidification, and in campus research.

And this is all done economically, with a continual eye on improvement, he said.

	Boiler smokestacks rise between a silo (left) that stores lime used to reduce sulfur dioxide in a fluidized bed boiler and a precipitator for reducing air pollution. The precipitator has been replaced by newer technology. - Photo by Helen Spielbauer

The plant can generate power for less than it costs to buy it from a utilities company, according to Milster.

He said the University uses about 300 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, and although the difference in cost is only a penny per kilo-watt hour, it really adds up.

"One third of 300 million pennies is a lot of pennies," he said.

This level of efficiency requires that different units work together to keep the plant running smoothly.

Marc Mohn is a member of the Electrical and Instrumentation (E&I) group that maintains and installs electronic equipment, programs computers, and collects emissions data to be submitted to the Department of Natural Resources every three months. The group has worked diligently to convert the main computer controls to a modern operating system to avoid Y2K problems. These duties are divided among the three electrical technicians, one control systems technician, and the electrician in the group.

"When I first got here, I thought, ‘Holy moly, I can’t believe everything that happens here,’ " Mohn said. "It’s a delicate process to keep everything running smoothly."

The computer and sensors maintained by the E&I group monitor everything from sulfur dioxide emissions to the temperature of the 14,000 gallons of Iowa River water entering and leaving the plant each minute.

The group also provides the control room with a computer used for viewing weather-tracking sites. In the event of an impending and severe storm, the plant will go into "storm mode" and make adjustments to counteract a possible weather-related power failure at the utility company.

Tom Jacobs, water systems operator, collects water for sampling from the westside condensate return. The water produces steam for use in boilers, for sterilizing equipment, research, and steam tables in residence hall cafeterias. - Photo by Helen Spielbauer

Randy Richter is a power plant assistant chief operator whose three-person crew (boiler operator, turbine operator, and utility worker) also uses this computer technology to keep millions of dollars in steam and electricity-generating equipment functioning properly. The crew, one of four, works rotating 12-hour shifts, which means they work nights for two weeks, then move to two weeks of day shifts. Richter said this rotation was implemented because too few workers wanted to take the night shift and because it reduced the shock of transferring from night to daytime hours.

"We’re a different breed of people," Richter said.

He said the boiler and turbine operators, whose positions require monitoring computer displays for 12 straight hours, take special measures to stay alert on the job. They watch what they eat ("plenty of fruit, but not as much as coffee"), and get up and walk around when they start to feel drowsy. Shift workers even receive a special newsletter that provides information on the best eating and sleeping habits, he said.

But what keeps the workers going, Richter said, is a sense of pride in their work.

"We’ve got a good group of people who realize they’re responsible for millions of dollars worth of equipment," he said.

Crew members complete a rigorous training process during their first three years on the job. They memorize the location of every control valve in the plant and undergo a work review process every six months during that time.

This training is necessary to ensure that the workers are prepared for any contingency. Richter said there are hundreds of things that could go wrong at the plant, and credited the intensive instructional training program for the good safety record the plant has had over the past three years.

In the control room of the Power Plant, electronic technician Marc Mohn calibrates a turbine generator that produces steam for electrical production. - Photo by Helen Spielbauer

Everything at the plant is inspected repeatedly. A utility worker on Richter’s crew makes rounds every hour to check on equipment. The worker also shovels out the ash hoppers three times during a shift, while checking to make sure that water entering the boilers is nearly pure. This keeps deposits from forming inside the boilers, Richter said. The boiler operator keeps the coal firing properly and maintains the temperature in the boiler. The turbine operator monitors steam and electrical demand, balancing peak electrical loads in the summer and peak steam loads in the winter.

With customers like the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and science labs across campus dependent on the plant, Richter’s crew plays an important role in the daily happenings at the University, and when equipment breaks down, his group turns to the Power Plant mechanics.

It takes about four years to learn the ins and outs of being a mechanic, said Rich Hormel, a Power Plant repair leader. Hormel, a 30-year Power Plant veteran, said his group of 8 to 10 mechanics fine-tunes and tweaks different components of the equipment daily. When they are not checking valves, greasing parts, or repairing systems such as the coal conveyor that are vital to the plant’s operations, they install new equipment. Instead of going to training conferences to learn how to install and maintain new equipment, the group takes an on-the-job approach.

"When we get some new stuff, the company sends us some books," Hormel said. "And we just sit down and read and study them."

The steam and electricity-producing boilers work 24 hours a day, and so do the boiler operators.

In the operators’ office, on the firing aisle near the boilers, three large cans of ground coffee sit next to a coffee machine. Leaning against one of the computer displays is Becky Wehrle-Bowling, a chief operator, and in front of the displays are Rich Lobdell, a boiler operator with 10 years of Power Plant experience, and Michael Poff, a boiler operator trainee. Lobdell said he works to keep the boiler firing cleanly and efficiently by maintaining an optimum fuel/air ratio in the boiler. He must also keep a proper amount of water in the boiler—too little and the boiler could explode and too much and some of the water could enter the turbines and "tear them to pieces," he said. Boiler operators also work rotating shifts, and Lobdell said the coffee comes in handy when he is working nights. Boiler operators know the plant as well, since they memorize where all the piping in the plant is located, he said.

Boiler operators, mechanics, E&I technicians, and control room operators all help with the production of electricity and steam, but there are many others whose contributions are invaluable.

Milster said additional personnel who keep the plant running smoothly include the coal crew, engineering and clerical staff, water lab technicians, laborer crew, and a number of dedicated students.

Article by Steve Schmadeke