1 Site Visit Report Linden Generating Station 4001 South Wood Avenue Linden , NJ 0 7036 May 26 , 2010 1.0 Background and Objectives The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in the process of developing 316(b) cooling water intake structure requirements t hat reflect the best technology available (BTA) for minimizing adverse environmental impact for all existing power plants and manufacturing facilities. As part of this process, EPA staff is visiting electric generators and manufacturers to better understan d the cooling water intake structure (CWI S) technologies in use at facilities, including the site

specific characteristics of each facility and how these affect the selection and performance of CWI S technologies. EPA is also visiting facilities to better understand cooling water use and specific issues or technologies that can affect 316(b) compliance. Li nden Generating Station (L inden) was selected for a site visit due to its proximity

to EPA Headquarters , its use of combined cy cle , and its use of gra y w ater as makeup for wet cooling towers. 1 2.0 Facility Description The L inden facility is located on approximately 102 acres in Linden, NJ on the banks of the Hudson River’s Arthur Kill. The facility is surrounded by

a saltwater marsh. The facility employ s 5 5 people and is owned by Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) . L inden began operations in 1957 as a cogeneration plant to an Exxon refinery

- it burned oil and provided steam to the refinery; electric power was a secondary product. 2 In 2002

- 2005 , t he f acility repowered to combined cy cle. Two of the three now - retired generating units and all five stacks from the former ac tivities we re retired in place ; Unit 3 from the old plant was leveled to make room for the repowered facility

. F our new stacks were b uilt as part of the repowering effort. The facility holds NPDES permit number NJ0000663 which expires June 30, 2013

. 3.0 Electricity Generation and Transmission Linden consists of two active generating units with a total generating capacity of 1230 MW. In 2002, Unit 1 was repowered to a combined cy cle natural gas combustion turbine with a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG); Unit 2 was similarly repowered in 2005. Each unit has two natural gas combustion turbines, two HRSGs, and one steam turbine. The ste am turbines produce about 313 MW

1 EPA w as unable to provide a copy of this report to the facility for review prior to publication. 2 Linden also maintained a synthetic gas plant at one point which has since been demolished. The facility now serves as a primary producer of electricity for the gri d and is no longer associated with the refinery.2 each

. 3 Duct firing in each HRSG can add another 60 MW per HRSG, however this also increases the heat rate. 4 The capacit y utilization rate (CUR) for the facility averaged approximately 3 5% in 2009 and is trending upward s . 5 Li nden provides power to just under 1 million homes. Fuel efficiency

is estimated at about 65%. The air flow rate through the gas turbine inlet filters is not constant and is not measured. However, facility staff said that the exhaust mass flow of the turbine should be somewhat analogous to the inlet flow; the exhaust mass flow maximum is around 900

- 950 lb/sec and varies with combustion needs. Facility staff noted t hat the amount of air allowed through the compressor is based on inlet guide vane angle to facilitate gas flow for combustion. 4.0 Cooling Water System and Intake Structure Linden does not currently emplo y a CW IS . Instead, the facility uses reclaimed wastewater from the nearby L inden/Roselle Sewage Authority (L RSA) for all its cooling w ater needs. LRSA is a secondary treatment facility ; p rior to delivery to Linden, treated wastewater is exposed to UV light and treated with hy pochlorite to remove microbes . The wastewater is then passed through a seven bed sand filter 6 to further remove residual oil, grease, and suspended solids and finall y pumped 1 mile to the L inden facility

. Approximately 7
- 8 MGD is pumped from LRSA to L inden. After being used for cooling, an y remaining water (e.g., cooling tower blowdown) is pumped back to L RSA and put through the treatment process again. L inden supplements its cooling water supply from L RSA with municipal water as needed, howev er this practice is infrequent. L RSA discharges approximately 2 MGD through an outfall to the Hudson River about 1⁄2 mile fr om the treatment plant

. Linden employ s a closed

- cy cle recirculating cooling s ys tem for the entire facility

. (See Section 6.0 below.) Prior to repowering, Linden used one shoreline CWI S with vertical traveling screens and a debris/fish handling s ys tem. The CWIS is inactive and not tied in to the current configuration. The parasitic load from the use of reclaimed wastewater was not quantified, but is expected to include the energy required to pump the wastewater through the sand filter and the 1 mile di stance from the treatment plant to the facility

.

3 Facility staff stated that the temperature of steam produced in the steam turbine is approximately 1050 o F; steam at the stack is about 200 o F. 4 Without duct firing, the heat rate is about 7000

- 7200 btu /KWh ; with duct firing, the heat rate increases to approximately 7500 btu

/KWh

. 5 Facility staff noted that the CUR for June 2009 w as 55%. They also noted that the CUR for the facility is steadily increasing, as the low price of natural gas and the facility’s h igh efficiency make it an attractive plant to operate. 6 Silica sand provided by US Silica is used in the sand filter. Linden leases the space used for the sand filter from LRSA and is responsible for the filter’s operation and upkeep.3

5.0 Impingement and Entrainment Information No impingement or entrainment information was provided since the facility does not withdraw water for cooling from a surface waterbody

. 6.0 Cooling Tower Feasibility A s noted above in Section 4 .0 , L inden repowered to combined cy cle in 2002

- 2005 and retrofit to mechanical draft cooling towers during this time. The 10 cell towers are arranged in a back

- back 2x5 configuration ; facility representatives stated this arrangem ent was necessary due to space constraints. The fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) cooling towers use corrugated plastic fill material and drift eliminators. Each cell tower has 10

- 12 blades; the blade pitch is adjusted seasonall y to gain more efficiency. T he towers include drift eliminators; no plume or noise abatement was deemed necessary by the permitting authority and facility staff noted that fogging has not been an issue

. Chemical treatment for the cooling towers includes chlorine, acid and antifoam ; the towers operate at approximately 3 cy cles of concentration (COC) . Cooled water is pumped back through the s ys tem by two main circulating pumps; two auxiliary pumps are used for other cooling water needs. Water is returned to the towers from the cond enser via an 84” pipe. The cooling towers can be operated independentl y , 7 although it is common for all ten cells to be operating during hot day s or during peak generation

. The total parasitic load of the cooling towers was estimated by facility staff at about 4.2 MW per unit. This estimate is comprised of the following:

 10 fans on each cooling tower: approximately 1.1 MW/unit  2 main circulating pumps on each cooling tower: approximately 2.1 MW/unit  2 auxiliary cooling pumps on each cooling tower: appro ximately 0.5 MW/unit  R iser valves and chemical equipment: approximately 0.5 MW/unit 7.0 Debris Handling There are no issues with debris handling, as no water withdrawn for cooling

.

7 Each riser has it s own shut

- off valve.4

8.0 Repowering/Future Uses Linden was full y repowered in 2002

- 2005 as a state of the art facility

. No additional modifications or facilit y expansion is expected in the near future. 9.0 Cooling Ponds There are no cooling ponds on site. 10.0 Ownership Linden is owned by PSE G , an investor

- owned company

. 11.0 316(a) There are no section 316( a) requirements since there is no thermal discharge from the facility

. 12.0 Ash Handling There is no ash handling at the facilit y since it does not burn coal. 13.0 Air Emissions Controls The facility

uses selective catal yt ic reduction (SCR) to reduc e NOx emissio ns from each unit. NOx emissions are measured at 2 ppm. Other air emission control efforts were not discussed. 14.0 Additional Information The administration building was recentl y remodeled as a “green building.” Linden is appl yi ng for LEED gold certificat ion for the building.
Attachments Attachment A List of Attendees Attachment B Aerial Photos Attachment C Site Visit Photos5

Attachment A -- List of Attendees Paul Shriner, EPA Headquarters Erik Helm, EPA Headquarters Tom Born , EPA Headquarters Ke lly Meadows, Tetra Tech Shari Goodwin, Tetra Tech Mark Strickland, PSEG Carmine DeNicola, PSEG Guy Rivera, PSEG Ry an Paley , PSEG Ed Majeski, L RSA6

Attachment C -- Site Visit Photos Please see DCNs 10

- 6557B through F accompanying this document.