The Mt Piper Power Station Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Mt Piper Power Station - Essay Example The power station operates in a scenic mountain area. Wool, forestry and coal mining are the other major local industries. Coal is the principal source of Mt. Piper Power Station. Mt. Piper derives its coal supplies from mines located in relatively close proximity to its Central Coast and Western power stations. On the other hand, a small percentage has been sourced from other areas via the rail receival facility on the Central Coast. The single largest supplier of coal is privately owned with Centennial Coal which delivers all of the mines to Delta, specifically to Mt. Piper Power Station. Either longwall or continuous miner technology is used in producing coal from underground mines; approximately 95% of the coal delivered to the station is produced using this process. Mt Piper also used wood residues and is purchased for co-firing. Wood residues include chipper residues, residues after plantation logging and some construction and demolition material. All of these materials are accredited as materials suitable for the production of renewable energy. Coal is an abundant source of energy in Australia. Mt Piper Power Station converts coal into electricity in a very efficient way. The sophisticated power station is designed to achieve a thermal efficiency rate of 36%, depending on the weather conditions. Coal is cruCoal is crushed in large coal mills, grinding the 25mm pieces of coal down to powder roughly the same as talc, using 80 tonnes of steel balls in a large rotating steel cylinder. In this state, the coal dust (called pulverised fuel, or PF) burns like a gas, and gives off large amounts of heat in a very short time. When both generating units are operating at full load, approximately 14,000 tonnes of coal are consumed daily, leaving some 3,500 tonnes of ash to be disposed of each day. The ash is collected in large fabric filters which ensure that airborne emissions are cut to no more than 0.08 grams per cubic metre. Ash from the bottom of the boilers and dust trapped by the filters are transported by conveyor to a nearby disused open-cut mine for dry disposal. This is environmentally preferable to using ash dams as it lessens the chance of water seeping into the local ground water. The infilled mounds will be covered with earth and gradually revegetated as part of Mt Piper's extensive landscaping program (Delta Electricity 2006). The Resource Utilisation Flow Diagram represents the processes involved in converting energy in coal to electricity. ECONOMIC / SOCIAL BENEFITS Knowing that Mt. Piper Power Station uses state-of-the-art machineries and technology, we may expect better supply of energy that will generate every facility on household, office and big establishments. The electricity industry is a significant contributor to Australia's GDP with an collective annual income of more than $20 billion. Delta's direct employment totals more than 30,000 people with significant flow-on benefits. Reliable, cost-effective energy is also essential to the continued development of the overall economy. In its regions, and within the state of NSW, Delta plays an important