Orlando Utility Commission – HRSG Blowdown Pump Station
HRSG Blowdown Pump Station Project Description
Orlando, Florida is a city in the central part of the state and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida. The population was 307,573 in the 2020 census but the metropolitan area is home to 2,673,000 people which includes Kissimmee and Sanford.
This city is home to the Universal Orlando Resort, Walt Disney World Resort, Magic Kingdom Park, Epcot theme park, SeaWorld, with over a dozen other local theme parks.
Lake Apopka is just to the northwest providing a variety of recreational opportunities. Tampa is about 95 miles to the southwest.
With such a large population center in the metropolitan area, the Orlando Utility Commission utilizes the Stanton Energy Center to create power for the electric grid in the area. The power facility is a 1,951.0-megawatt (MW) coal- and gas-fired power plant that provides electricity for the greater area.
Romtec Utilities designed, engineered, and supplied two pump stations for a power plant in this area.
These pumping systems are used to recirculate extremely hot water as part of a combined-cycle power process that makes use of an HRSG, or heat recovery steam generator.
Romtec Utilities used Goulds 10hp turbine pumps in a duplex configuration for one of the pump stations, while the other less powerful system uses duplex Goulds turbine pumps with a 5-stage bowl assembly.
Using turbine pumps mounted above the sump was an engineering decision due to the near boiling temperatures of the water that is being pumped. This also allowed the pumps to utilize effective and economical air cooling on the motors.
Between pumping cycles, blowdown water is stored inside a stainless-steel tank with an interior and exterior coating of Thermaline 450 for increased protection against hot water temperatures. A Vega pulse radar was selected for this industrial application for continuous level measurement for liquids inside the sump and is not affected by the presence of steam.
What Romtec Utilities Provided
- Pump Station Design & Engineering
- Package Pump Station Supplier
- Package Pump Station Manufacturer
- Package Pump Station Specification Writer
- On-Site Construction Adviser
- On-Site Start-Up Management
| 100, 800 | 85.6′, 135′ |
| GPM | TDH |
Why They Chose Romtec Utilities
The Curtis H. Stanton Energy Center is a large power plant that is managed by the Orlando Utility Commission, the second largest municipal utility in Florida. Romtec Utilities was hired to design and supply pump stations to support a combined-cycle power generation process that requires significant amounts of recirculated water to function.
After supplying several of these facilities for the private sector, Romtec Utilities began work on an HRSG pumping system designed to handle hot water, steam, and potentially corrosive water due to distillation.
The design was completed using information provided by Worley Parsons, OUC’s engineering firm. This project took place over several years and was delivered in multiple phases over this timeline.
Once the system was delivered, it was installed by Irwin Industries, a contractor working for OUC. Romtec Utilities sent a field technician to Florida when each pump station was ready for start-up.