New feeder's self-adjusting shoe gives high maintenance costs the boot
An electrical power generating plant installs five new rotary seal feeders in its reinjection process, decreasing maintenance costs and process downtime.
FPL Energy AVEC LLC, an electrical power generating plant located in Fort Fairfield, Maine, is fueled with biomass -- wood waste produced by the area's forest products industries. FPL Energy AVEC uses five rotary seal feeders in its process to reinject a mixture of reclaimed wood char, fly ash, and grit back into its furnace for further burning. "We process about 380,000 tons of biomass each year, which doesn't include the reinjected fly ash's weight. The plant operates 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, and burns over 40 tons of biomass per hour, producing 35 megawatts of electricity an hour, which is sold throughout the area," says Kevin McKeen, FPL Energy AVEC plant manager.