Power Plant environmental cleaning schedule optimization

Abstract

Since switching to natural gas as their primary fuel, the boilers at a power plant of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority are kept cleaner and with minimum environmental pollution. According to a consent decreed with the Environmental Protection Agency, the boilers have to be cleaned every 18 months, a standard that was established previously, when the plant was using oil. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority that, because it is now using natural gas as primary fuel, their boilers are cleaner and its components are subject to less corrosion, therefore the time between cleanings can be increased from 18 to 36 months. By means of cost analysis, it is demonstrated that there is a considerable amount of money to be saved by extending the time between environmental cleanings. It is also demonstrated that the internal components of the boilers can sustain an extended period of time without service of more than 18 months, but no less than 3 years.