A representative from the News-Gazette reached out to Steve Breitwieser with questions regarding Abbot Power Plant:

Please also see the attached spreadsheet with data on steam supplied buildings.

Hi Kathy,

 

Abbott Power Plant generates all district heating and almost 275,000

megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity each year using a high-efficiency

cogeneration process, which simultaneously produces both steam and

electricity. When the campus load for heat is highest during the

winter months, the plant, along with the two utility-scale solar

farms, provides almost all the electricity that the campus needs,

with the remainder coming from wind energy that is imported onto the

campus grid. Throughout the year, Abbott's sustainable cogeneration

process supplies approximately

85 percent of the total energy demand (steam and electricity) for the

Urbana campus, which includes almost 50 percent of the overall electricity usage. The electricity not generated at Abbott, from

 on-site solar arrays, or acquired through a wind power purchase

agreement is purchased through Prairieland Energy, a corporation

solely owned by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. More

information about utilities production is available at https://fs.illinois.edu/services/utilities-energy/production.

 

 Happy Holidays!

 Steve B.

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Hi, Steve. As I'm assembling this week's column, I have several

 follow-up

 questions:

 

 Can you clarify what's meant by "district heating"?

 

 Does most of the steam generated by the cogeneration process end up

 heating some of the older buildings on campus? (I spent 20+ years in

 Mumford Hall and remember the sounds the pipes made at certain times of year.)

 

Any idea of approximately what percentage of the campus' interior spaces are still heated with ssssssteam heat?

 

I took a look at the website you mentioned, and have a couple of questions

 about that: What does  UES stand for?   And the website says, "During low

campus demand for both heat and air conditioning, Abbott typically

 burns natural gas. During the winter months, when the campus heat load

 is highest, a combination of both coal and natural gas is necessary."

Is that information still accurate? (I thought the coal scrubbers were

no longer in use on campus...?)

 

 

If it's not possible to get answers to me this week, that's OK; I can hold the item for next week.

 

Thank you,

KR

---------------------------------------

 Hi Kathy,

 

 I'll follow up on these in greater detail when everyone returns next week.

 

 UES is the acronym for the Utilities & Energy Services division that is within Facilities & Services. District heating is referencing the process used to distribute steam from Abbott to campus facilities through underground pipes.

 

Steve B.

---------------------------------------

Mike/Dave,

 

There were a couple of follow of questions to this media inquiry from the NG before the break.  Can you help clarify the highlighted sections by Wednesday with any additional information? For the interior spaces question, let me know if you can explain that more precisely – on our website we say “More than 250 campus buildings use the steam produced at Abbott for their heating.” The UMP also indicates: From discussions with U of I staff, approximately 85% of the campus condensate is returned to APP (if that would be something to note from a process standpoint along with an explanation like below).

 

Abbott uses gas turbines, natural gas-fired boilers, and coal fired boilers, recovering reject heat from electric generation to help produce steam. The plant pipes steam underground across campus to provide buildings with space heating, domestic hot water, sterilization, and more. Once used, the steam condenses into water and returns to the plant where it is recycled and reused.

 

 

I could respond to the fuel item with what we have said previously…

 

When the campus load for heat is highest during the winter months, natural gas and coal are utilized to meet the significant energy demand. The coal-fired

boilers are also a part of research efforts, primarily related to carbon capture technology. Additionally, maintaining fuel flexibility provides the university operational reliability and the ability to respond to market factors for purchased utilities.

 

Thanks for helping out with some more detail on this one.

Steve B.

-----------------------------------------

Mark/Dave,

 

Do you guys or maybe steam distribution know approximately what percentage of campus buildings are still on steam heat?

 

Thanks

David Hardin

------------------------------

I have not seen a list. We will ask Steam.

 

When time allows maybe we could add a column to note the steam yes or no. Hmmmmm Elizabeth stated Keith Erickson had a list and she recalls some sort of building database that listed utilities per building such as steam,  electricity from Abbot or Ameren, gas etc. It would be nice to find this.

 

Dave

---------------------------------

Mike/Frank,

 

Are you guys aware of the list/database Dave referenced below and if so where it is located?

 

Thanks

--------------------------------

David,

 

I would think that EBS would provide a list of building that are served with steam, based on the meters in EBS.

 

Tony and/or Kate,

 

Can you clarify/confirm how many buildings on campus are served with steam from EBS?  The email string below indicates that the Util. Master Plant said over 250 buildings are served by steam from Abbott. Is that still the case?

 

Mike Larson

------------------------------

According to EBS, there are 175 active steam meters. Some buildings have multiple meters so there would be fewer buildings than that.

 

Thanks,

 

Kate Brewster

------------------------

Anthony should be able to run a query that will give us an exact number from our last billing cycle.

 

Regards,

 

Tony

-----------------------------

As of our last EBS billing the count is 147.  I have attached the file that supports this number for your reference.

 

Regards,

 

Tony

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