CCI’s Performance Impresses HF Lee Generating Station

They say that nothing beats a great first impression. By delivering a high-performance replacement valve on time to meet a critical outage deadline at Carolina Power & Light Company’s HF Lee Generating Station, CCI put its best foot forward, prompting the new customer to pursue additional CCI replacements.

Located in Goldsboro, North Carolina, the coal-burning, steam-generating power plant was experiencing serious problems as a result of chronic erosion of its minimum flow recirculation valve trim. As trim erodes, the flow through a valve becomes difficult to control, and compromised control can shorten a valve’s life, threatening plant performance and reliability. Indeed, several conventional valves at HF Lee had failed over the years, resulting in increased expenses. The eroded trim was also causing excessive valve leakage, which cost the plant money as it interfered with plant efficiency.

CCI replaced HF Lee’s old valve with a pump recirculation valve featuring DRAG® technology, including 24 stages of pressure reduction to control the trim exit velocity and prevent erosion. The replacement valve also sports MSS-SP-61 shutoff for zero leakage.

This successful installation is performing extremely well, saving the customer the extra costs associated with valve repair and reduced efficiency. The new valve also acts as boiler feedwater pump insurance, protecting the expensive equipment and offering peace of mind to the plant operator.

Prompt delivery and superb performance certainly pleased CCI’s new customer, and HF Lee is now moving forward with plans to install CCI solutions in its second unit.

Published in SOLUTIONS Spring 2004