POWER June 2012 - 20

Farris described the compelling economics of using CNG as a transportation
fuel. One gallon of unleaded gasoline contains approximately
125,000 Btu. At a price of $4.00 per gallon, this equates to $32 per
million Btu. At a price of 5 cents/kWh, fueling a vehicle with electricity
costs $14.50/million Btu. If CNG could be purchased at a fueling
station for $5/million Btu, it is easy to see why the U.S. might be
better off migrating to natural gas as a transportation fuel instead of
gasoline or electricity. " The rest of the world gets it, " said Farris (Figure
3). While the U.S. has by far the largest fleet of cars and trucks,
only a small fraction of the U.S. fleet is fueled by natural gas. "
Gas Turbine Orders Up
Is it a coincidence that 2011 was a strong year for gas turbine
orders, up 30% for U.S. projects alone (Figure 4)? Arguably, new
generation capacity is closely linked to projected demand for
electricity in regional markets, but the expectation of a stable,
low-cost supply of natural gas may already be programmed into
the decision-making mindset of U.S. utility executives.
Tom Farrell, CEO of Dominion Resources, is still not completely
comfortable, remembering the natural gas price run-up to $12/
million Btu a few years ago. Nevertheless, he expects the fraction
of natural gas-fired generation to increase from its current 25% to
more than 35% over the next 10 years. Dominion needs to add approximately
5,600 MW of generation to its system by 2019. During
2011, Dominion ordered gas turbine and steam turbine generators
3. Left behind. The acceptance of compressed natural gas vehicles
is very low in North America compared with the rest of the world.
Source: Steve Farris/Apache Corp.
Worldwide
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Natural gas vehicles by region
4. Gas turbine orders up. 2011 was a strong year for gas turbine
manufacturers. Source: McCoy/Axford March 2012
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
2007
2008
2009
Year
20
2010
2011
Asia-Pacific
Latin America
Europe
North America
for a 1,300-MW combined cycle in Warren County, Va., that will go
into service by early 2015. " Our job is to keep the lights on and the
server farms continuously powered, " said Farrell.
-Mark Axford (maxford@attglobal.net) is a principal of Axford
Turbine Consultants LLC and a POWER contributing editor.
Combustible Dust Management
Training: Rely on Best Practices,
Not Shifting Regulatory Winds
None of you reading this magazine needs an article-or new governmental
regulations-to tell you that flash fires and explosions
involving coal dust can cause catastrophic incidents, fatalities, facility
damage, and financial consequences. One of the most tragic incidents
occurred at a Michigan power plant in 1999. Six people were
killed and 38 were injured when natural gas from a boiler exploded,
setting off secondary explosions caused by disturbed coal dust. In
the past decade, managing combustible dust hazards to prevent such
tragedies has received increased attention from companies, industry
groups, insurers, and regulators. (See " Coping with Coal Dust, " in the
March 2012 issue or the archives at www.powermag.com.)
A turning point was the 2006 U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB)
report identifying 281 combustible dust incidents between 1980 and
2005 that caused 119 fatalities and 718 injuries. That sparked efforts
to enhance standards and ramp up enforcement, and those efforts
intensified after a 2008 combustible dust explosion killed 14 people
and injured 38 at an Imperial Sugar refinery in Georgia (Figure 5).
Recently, on the fourth anniversary of that tragedy, CSB Chairman
Rafael Moure-Eraso stated that " safety recommendations that
followed from our investigation of this accident will go far in saving
lives. I am pleased to report that on this accident anniversary all but
one of our recommendations have been successfully adopted. "
The unfulfilled recommendation? That the U.S. Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) create a new " comprehensive
standard to reduce or eliminate hazards from fire and
explosion from combustible powders and dust. "
Seeking a Comprehensive Combustible Dust Standard
The quest for a " comprehensive standard " has taken the industry
down a long and winding road, inspiring countless debates and some
confusion. After OSHA spent years laying the groundwork for such
a standard, while pursuing a vigorous Combustible Dust National
Emphasis Program (NEP), it is somewhat baffling that the agency
recently shifted its combustible dust rulemaking initiative from " active "
to the ambiguous " long-term actions " status (Figure 6).
Regardless of the meaning of that shift, even without a new
standard, OSHA has found plenty of regulations to cite and has
made the energy industry a priority for related inspections. Beyond
the obvious need to protect your workers, facilities, and
bottom line, there are solid reasons not to take a " wait and see "
approach that relies on new standards.
OSHA has cited facilities based on 17 existing standards in
the NEP, including those involving electrical installations, housekeeping,
hazard labeling, personal protective equipment hazard
assessment, and the " General Duty " clause.
According to Sanji Kanth, senior safety engineer with OSHA's enforcement
directorate, from the launching of the program through
October 2011 there were 2,600 inspections related to the NEP, resulting
in more than 12,000 violations (approximately 8,500 classified as
" serious, " " willful, " or " repeat " ) and total civil penalties exceeding
$24 million.
Companies may be held civilly liable in the absence of a federal
standard, because consensus standards exist, including stringent
state-run OSHA, local, and organization-specific requirements, as
www.powermag.com
POWER | June 2012
Sales of gas turbines (MW)
Millions
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POWER June 2012

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