Unlocking the Truth About Alternative Energy Sources

Development of alternative energy technologies has become a major national undertaking. It is an effort embraced by government and business, one that seeks to create an infrastructure of environmentally compatible processes that will, over time, supplant fossil fuels as the linchpin of economic progress and living standards. Investments in the field are soaring, and indications are that many of the technologies will eventually lead to economically viable applications that are safe, reliable and sustainable.

Phasing in alternative energy processes is a long-term proposition with plenty of opinions as to how quickly it should occur. Most experts that work in the field say it will be decades before technologies advance far enough to have a significant impact on the use of fossil fuels like oil and natural gas.

“In the time frame that seems plausible, in the next several decades, Chevron would not articulate that the value proposition for biofuels is the replacement of oil and gas resources,” says Rick Zalesky, vice president of biofuels and hydrogen for Chevron Technology Ventures in Houston.

The Department of Energy, in fact, predicts in its Annual Energy Outlook 2007 report, that oil, coal and natural gas will still have roughly the same share of primary energy supply in the United States in 2030 as in 2005—86%. The DOE attributes this not to a failure of alternative energy to find applications, but to its initial low penetration of the energy market and to the continuing growth in demand for electricity over the next 25 years.

Nevertheless, processing and distribution facilities are being built for the first wave of these technologies, and that means more valves and actuators will be employed in select energy markets, notably those involving high-heat and high-pressure processes, and in an application that’s not usually associated with “green” technology—nuclear power.

“Nuclear energy is an alternative to current energy policy,” says Greg Johnson, president of United Valve Company, a valve service and repair facility in Houston. His view is shared by many in the valve industry.

The demand for high-performance valves and actuators in these and other areas will expand as facilities come online. It may also spur many valve makers to increase investments in R&D. Experts working in technologies like coal gasification, nuclear power and hydrogen, say these applications will have operating conditions that require highly engineered valves—commodity items or off-the-shelf products will not be applicable. In the case of nuclear plants, valve manufacturers will additionally need to acquire an “N” stamp, indicating they meet a stringent set of quality requirements and documentation procedures for their products.

Nuclear plants will probably have the highest engineering standards for valves and actuators due to the dangers of a catastrophic failure. The first of a new generation of power plants, called Gen III+, are slated to be built in the United States beginning in 2010 (the first new U.S. nuclear plant since 1996).

“These plants operate a lot differently than old nuclear plants, so there will be different requirements for valves in the containment buildings,” says Rob Gormley, senior product manager at Enertech, a Brea, CA, company that supplies nuclear pressure-relief valves and other products in partnership with Dresser Consolidated, Addison, TX.

Looking farther ahead, Gormley notes the next step in nuclear plant design is Gen IV. Designs for these plants are now in development though construction won’t take place until around 2030. “The Gen IV plants will have much higher temperature requirements,” he remarks. “Valve designs don’t even exist today that could function in the high-temperature environment of those plants.”

Technologies for Today and the Future
About a dozen technologies are being developed as clean, renewable sources of fuel and energy. They include:

Wind, solar and geothermal. While these are probably thegreenest of the technologies interms of environmental impact,none is yet capable of generatinghuge amounts of power by itself.Nor can they, for obvious reasons,be located anywhere and stillachieve optimum output—they aremost effective in certain parts ofthe country. A knotty problemwith wind farms is the “Nimby”effect—“not in my backyard.”Many people dislike seeing windturbines on the horizon or at sea.
Hydrogen. An integral component of fuel cells where it reacts with oxygen to generate electricity, hydrogen has a small environmental footprint, produces no toxic byproducts and is two to three times more efficient than conventional internal combustion engines. Applications for fuel cells include cars, buildings where fuel cells provide heat and electricity, and portable electronic devices. Fuel cells are relatively expensive, owing to the cost of natural gas, a hydrogen feedstock, and may not last the life of an application.
Biomass. Plant-derived materials are being converted into a range of fuels as well as used for heat and power generation. The best known examples are ethanol, an octane-enhancer derived from corn, sugar cane and other starches that can be mixed with or used in place of gasoline, and biodiesel which, while costly to produce, burns much cleaner than conventional diesel fuel. Biomass is also gaining use in generating electricity. It has become the largest source of non-hydro renewable electricity in the United States.
Coal Gasification. Few think of coal as an alternative energy source, but gasification processes that expose it to air, oxygen and steam under high temperature and pressure, generate chemical reactions that produce 50% greater fuel efficiency on average in coal-fired power plants, minimize particulate emissions and even create hydrogen as a byproduct. The Department of Energy is developing technologies that will yield low-cost hydrogen from coal. Last November, the DOE awarded $1 billion in federal tax incentives to nine companies for rapid deployment of advanced coal-based power generation and gasification technologies.
Nuclear Power. Though demonized by many environmental groups in the past, nuclear energy produces zero carbon emissions, and is a reliable and powerful method of generating electricity. It is poised for a renaissance in the U.S. and other countries, due to a new generation of highly efficient plant designs from leaders in the field such as GE and Westinghouse.

Will the Valves Need to Change?

Most alternative energy plants specify conventional valves and actuators. “Except for critical installations, U.S. valve makers can use many of their designs in these plants,” says Don Caffee, president and owner of Valpers Performance Partners, Houston. The reason is cost as much as performance. “Contractors will tend to use the least expensive valves on non-critical applications,” he notes. “They’re not going to use junk, but they’re not going to pay twice as much for a valve that’s going on a simple application.”

“They don’t require the pressures and the temperatures that get anybody excited,” remarks Don Cumming, sales manager for the Americas at Pacific Valves in Houston, about most of the specs he’s seen in this market. “A 300-lb. valve is the biggest requirement they’ve got because most plants aren’t working with significant pressures or temperatures.”

The technology behind some alternative energy plants hasn’t progressed beyond the basic process needed to convert a feedstock into fuel or power.

“Ethanol really isn’t made in a petroleum or chemical facility today,” notes Zalesky. “It’s made almost exclusively in the Midwest, in stand-alone facilities that take the corn in and out comes the ethanol.” Zalesky says that in the next 20 years, companies like Chevron will be exploring the feasibility of changing biomass into “some type of biocrude” that can be processed in existing refineries.

He doesn’t know whether—or if—this will affect the design of valves and pumps, but insight will be gleaned into how effectively biomass can be refined, which will be a plus in developing the technology and an infrastructure to support it. “We do need to know this,” he acknowledges, “but we haven’t gotten there yet.”

Upping the Specs
When it comes to more established ways of generating alternative energy, valve and actuator needs are less speculative. Transporting liquid hydrogen, for example, might require the development of new valve systems due to its extreme temperature and chemical structure, says United Valve’s Greg Johnson. “Most valves are designed for use with temperatures as cold as those of liquid nitrogen; liquid hydrogen is a lot colder.” The boiling temperature of liquid nitrogen is - 196° F, while for liquid hydrogen it’s - 423° F.

Even hydrogen in a gaseous state is a challenge. Johnson notes that its molecular size as a gas is so small, it requires valves with highly effective containment properties.

The coming boom in construction of Gen III+ nuclear plants is creating little doubt that many valve and actuator specifications will be higher than in conventional nuclear power plants. In the containment structure, valves will need to resist harsher seismic shocks. Valves will also have to remain operable for 20 minutes at 370° F, at 200° F for 50 days under 375-Mrad gamma radiation, and in rain-like conditions stemming from evaporative cooling and, in the case of an accident, opening valves to flood a reactor with coolant.

Gormley says one component affected by these specs will be elastomer seals. Most conventional seals will not withstand exposure to that much radiation. He believes the elastomers will have to be reformulated with radiation-resistant materials to assure proper valve operation.

He also notes that smart valve technology like digital positioners will have many applications in the plants due to the need for advanced control and condition monitoring capabilities. They will also need to operate reliably under similarly harsh conditions. The electronics will have to be radiation-resistant, and suppliers will need to adopt digital protocols to avoid problems with obsolescence.

There are 27 Gen III+ plants currently planned for the United States, and 116 slated for construction worldwide over the next 20 years. Since the U.S. is recognized as a global leader in the development of severe-service valves, manufacturers will probably have a good chance of securing overseas supply contracts, as well.

Valves, Lots of Valves
What might all these plants mean in terms of valve use? Gormley says that while they will generate much more electricity than current nuclear power plants— the Westinghouse AP 1000 design will produce 1,100 megawatts, while GE’s ESBWR plant will generate 1,500 mw—the Gen III+ plants will be smaller and use fewer valves and pipes than conventional nuclear plants. Nevertheless, there will be between 10,000 and 18,000 valves in each plant, including 2,500 valves in the reactor structures.Assuming an average of 14,000 valves per plant, this would create potential demand for 378,000 valves in the U.S. and 1,624,000 valves overseas, or slightly more than 2 million valves in all.

The size of the market and the extreme engineering requirements likely means a lot of buyers will be turning to North American valve and actuator makers with expertise in chemical processing, undersea drilling, refining and related areas.

It’s entirely possible that more Gen III+ plants will be built, both in North America and overseas. Gormley says most of the 116 foreign plants will be in Russia, India and China, countries with ravenous appetites for power and, in the case of Russia, an energy infrastructure in need of modernizing.

“When you look at China, its demand for energy is going to grow phenomenally,” says Caffee. “And the Chinese, based on what we know, don’t buy severe-service valves from manufacturers in China, they buy from North American or European countries.”

Nuclear Power’s a Rising Star
The DOE’s Energy Outlook 2007 report contains data that suggest more Gen III+ plants may be needed to meet demand for electricity. The DOE forecasts that total nuclear-generating capacity in the U.S. will increase to 896 billion kilowatt hours in 2030 from 780 billion kw/h in 2005—a jump of almost 15%.

Nevertheless, nuclear’s share of total electricity generation will decline to 15% in 2030 from 19% in 2005, a 21% drop. The environmental benefits of nuclear power coupled with new, more powerful plant designs, could promote construction of more facilities in the U.S.

The growth curve for nuclear power has, in fact, been rising since the 1970s. Nuclear energy currently accounts for 16% of global electricity, a more than 400% increase from its 3% level of 30 years ago.

Alternative energy technologies are years away from reducing dependence on fossil fuels and the occasional price shocks and instability they bring. But a commitment has been made to develop the sector, bringing with it numerous opportunities for producers of valves and actuators in the long march to sustainable energy.

Writer PATRICK A. TOENSMEIER, based in Hamden, CT, specializes in manufacturing and technology issues. His background includes covering the global plastics and tooling industry for 20 years and writing for a variety of industry and business publications.