Power Plant

ConrailRailfan wrote:Hi thanks, what is CNG and LNG?

Compressed Natural Gas and Liquified Natural Gas.

Ok thanks

There are currently three units at the plant, one of which burns coal only and will be fully retired. At least one of the oil burning units has scrubbers which are currently compliant.

Last time I was there on a tour the plant was running 2 coal and 1 Oil (Bunker C) unit with at least both coal units using the scrubber. This enables the plant to use cheap West VA high sulfur coal instead of Power River coal.

Here is a listing of all of the units at the plant and their capacity.

glennk419 wrote:

Ken W2KB wrote:

NostalgiaRails wrote:If the BL England power plant switches to natural gas , either cng or lng, couldn't it still be shipped by rail?

It is highly unlikely to be Liquefied Natural Gas or Compressed Natural Gas. Gas pipeline would be built to the station property, and would also be sized to increase the capability for other customers along the route.

The time and cost to build a natural gas pipeline to the plant will not be insignificant, considering the amount of water, wetlands and eminent domain involved. I don't know how much excess capacity exists in the mains currently running to Ocean City but I doubt it's enough to fuel the plant. There are currently three units at the plant, one of which burns coal only and will be fully retired. At least one of the oil burning units has scrubbers which are currently compliant. Given all of that, we could very possibly still see some tank trains and I wouldn't categorically rule out CNG or LNG in the future, especially given the seasonal nature of the plant. CSAO has improved the line in the last couple of years including new grade crossing equipment, a new turnout on the Milmay siding and a good bit of rail welding. It would be nice to see them recoup some of that investment.

See http://www.rocklandcapital.com/ble.htm
The scrubber is on one of the two coal units. The station will go 100% natural gas (except likely the very small emergency diesels). Reports indicate that a settlement has been reached with NJDEP to extend the operating authority for the scrubbed coal and the Bunker C oil unit for an interim period to allow conversion to natural gas. Assuming a 300MW station results, at least 3 million cubic feet of natural gas per hour would be required. That volume is about 40,000 gallons per hour of Liquefied Natural Gas (if I calculated correctly) which is two LNG tank cars per hour. A 10 day supply, which is likely the minimum required to meet reliability requirements, would be about 240 cars assuming 12 hours of operation per day. That is a substantial inventory and when the station is not operating, there must be a way to capture the boiloff of the LNG. Gas companies inject the boiloff into their distribution system. Compressed Natural Gas would not be practical as its energy density is far less than LNG. In either case, the energy required in the liquefaction (if LNG) or compression (if CNG) increases the cost of the fuel significantly which lessens the value of the electric station in a competitive bulk electric supply market. Construction of a natural gas pipeline of the size required is far less problematic than might be envisioned. The natural gas line may be able to utilize the right of way of the 138kV electric transmission line to which B. L. England Station is interconnected, with the additional possibility of utilizing railroad rights of way. The pipeline would be far smaller than typical interstate natural gas transmission lines. The economics probably do favor the pipeline, especially if a portion of the new capacity would be available to South Jersey Natural Gas for its purposes. Once the pipeline is built O&M costs are negligible, unlike shipments of gas by barge, rail or tanker truck.

It is my understanding that the line from a couple thousand feet east of Tuckahoe to the generating station is in poor condition; substantial refurbishment might be required to safely handle LNG hazmat cars.

Overall, it will be interesting to see how this plays out over time.

I believe Unit 1 has very little in the way of pollution control and is the unit to be retired. Unit 2 (coal with scrubbers) and Unit 3 (Bunker C) will both get the conversions. The current scrubber removes sulphur dioxide which is apparently converted ionto gypsum. Also, the current owner is Rockland Capital Energy who bought the plant from Pepco / AC Electric in 2006.

Are there going to be any coal trains coming anytime soon, when is the last time a freight train ran past Winslow?

Thanks

ConrailRailfan wrote:Are there going to be any coal trains coming anytime soon, when is the last time a freight train ran past Winslow?

Thanks

WPCA51 sometimes continues to Tuckahoe for delivery/pickup of stored freight cars to/from Cape May Seashore Lines.

Not a lot of additional information here besides a little more on the timeline:

The B.L. England power plant in Upper Township will shut down one of its coal-fired units next year and will convert its two other units to natural gas by 2016

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news ... f887a.html

Looks like we may still see some trains for a while, especially oil.

glennk419 wrote:Not a lot of additional information here besides a little more on the timeline:

The B.L. England power plant in Upper Township will shut down one of its coal-fired units next year and will convert its two other units to natural gas by 2016

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news ... f887a.html

Looks like we may still see some trains for a while, especially oil.

Well, yes, until at least late 2015 i would think!! Especially if these hot summers continue!

NY Times article on the piece.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/06/ ... al.html?hp

I think the article isn't quite accurate about the complete lack of pollution controls. One of the coal units is equipped with an SO2 scrubber. It looks like Tony won't have Conrail to kick around as a nemesis anymore. Of course he probably won't have much of a railroad to run his trains on either.

Jersey_Mike wrote:NY Times article on the piece.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/06/ ... al.html?hp

I think the article isn't quite accurate about the complete lack of pollution controls. One of the coal units is equipped with an SO2 scrubber. It looks like Tony won't have Conrail to kick around as a nemesis anymore. Of course he probably won't have much of a railroad to run his trains on either.

Looks like both papers took the story right off of Reuters.

That's good that there will be trains coming, will the oil trains start when they convert to natural gas?

Thanks

ConrailRailfan wrote:That's good that there will be trains coming, will the oil trains start when they convert to natural gas?

Thanks

No. As mentioned in an earlier post, a pipeline is much less costly and safer. Liquefaction of natural gas is costly and transportation is costly, plus including the issue of boil-off from storage when a generator is not operating. It is highly unlikely that a large generating station would be fired by liquefied natural gas. From a news report a few months ago:

"In a letter to the committee, Rockland Capital, the parent company of RC Cape May Holdings, LLC, owners of the B.L. England plant, explained that it hoped to extend a high-pressure natural gas pipeline 22 miles to the Beesley’s Point facility for its $65 million project."

http://www.ocsentinel.com/article.php?article_id=4416

Mystic station units 8&9 in Boston are entirely fired by LNG, 1400 MW !

There is a lot of LNG in the world. Certainly, it's a market place with it's own complexities, but the pipelines in the northeast are knotty and jittery.
Building a 22 mile connector sounds like a way to get LNG into the market as well as an alternative supply option for the plant.
A plant capable of pulling from either could well become very valuable - The reliability issue is far more significant than energy price.

OK, so will it just be trains that are going to the CMSL to store cars now. And do you think the CMSL will run more between Richland and Tuckahoe? And are there any updates on the Cape May line?
Thanks