What Condition is Your Steam In?

The Cedar Bay power plant, a 258-megawatt cogeneration facility, provides process steam conditioning for export to its neighbor, Smurfi t Stone Container Corporation. Located near Jacksonville, Florida, Cedar Bay supplies up to 215,000 pounds (97,000 kg) of steam per hour to Smurfi t Stone's linerboard paper mill.

When Cedar Bay's conventional valve for its main steam bypass to export system demonstrated poor control and no shutoff, CCI provided an 8 x12-inch (200 x 300-mm) DRAG® globe valve with a DA-M desuperheater. In addition to providing repeatable Class V shutoff, the CCI solution also increased the stroke length from 2.5 to 6 inches (63.5 to 152 mm), allowing for precise controllability to every flow requirement.

With its tight shutoff, longer stroke length, and unique DRAG® technology, the new valve at Cedar Bay offers exceptional response to control room signals and a smooth transfer between the main steam source and the high-pressure extraction steam to export system. In addition, the system provides superb temperature control, and the steam export customer, Smurfit Stone, is extremely pleased with the steam's consistent temperature (± 2ºF /±1.1°C).

Those at both Cedar Bay and Smurfit Stone are impressed with the quality of the CCI solution, noting the vast improvement of the steam supply delivered to the paper mill. In fact, after witnessing the results of its neighbor's new valve and desuperheater assembly, Smurfit Stone itself inquired about Cedar Bay 's new solution and invited CCI to look into its problem valve applications as well.

What is more, based on CCI's proven performance and reliability at the cogeneration facility, Cedar Bay recently decided to replace all of its feedwater regulators and spraywater valves on three boilers with DRAG® technology.

CCI will replace several competitor products at the plant, including three globe feedwater regulators to improve boiler-level control and six superheater spraywater valves to enhance steam temperature control. Other CCI replacement valves will include a DRAG® spraywater valve and DA-O desuperheater for temperature control, a DRAG® vent valve to achieve tight shutoff, and four DRAG® resistors that will take the place of 10-year-old conventional silencers suffering from corrosion damage and inviting noise complaints from the surrounding area.

With its new and improved valve and desuperheater, as well as additional CCI solutions on the way, the Cedar Bay cogeneration facility has made CCI the one source to meet all of its severe service controls needs.

Published in SOLUTIONS Spring 2004