The Sidney herald., 1956-10-18
Montana State
Planning Board Release)

"A Sl&n1l event IN montana 8
economic development occurred
June 9Th with ground breaking
ceremonies for Montana-Dakota
Utilities steam-generating plant
at Sidney.
For this plant represents tn
first ~large-scale use of Montana
huge Ignite coal deposits in cleo
trio power development. AS a fue
source, a chemical raw material
and a source of certain strategi
minerals, this vast resource por
tends new economic activity TO
the Eastern third of the State.
Montana has the second Iarg-
est coal reserves in the country
over 220 billion short tons,
covering about IS per cent Of
the States surface area.
The development OF the idea be-
hind this plant is interesting ant
important. In 1852 a group o
businessmen, based in Minneapo-
lis but interested in the develop
ment of the large trade aret
which includes the Dakotas anc
Eastern Montana, decided that g
new and comprehensive study OF
the areas resources might prop
erly be undertaken. The discovery
of oil and gas in commercial
quantities in the Williston Basin,
the greatly augmented water sup
ply created by new dams in the
Missouri River, the increased
price of competing fuels such as
bituminous coal and natural gas,
and the limited amount of addi-
tional cheap hydro-electric pow
er available in the United States
all these were factors contrib
uting to making this a timely
study. AS a result, sixteen firms
formed the Resources Research
Committee, and subscribed $780,
900 to finance an economic and
engineering study of the area
termed the upper Midwest"
Among these firms were the
Great Northern and Northern Pa
cific Railways, and Montana-Da-
kota Utilities. Ignite was the
major resource in which the
sponsors were interested. They
were convinced that the huge
deposits of Ignite in Montana
and North Dakota will one day
be one of the most important
fuel reserves in the country, an
industrial raw material of the first
magnitude.
This committee engaged an in
dustrial engineering and consult
ing firm to conduct the study. A
result was the Summary of In
dustrial Opportunities of North
Dakota and Adjoining Areas"
published in January of 1855,
which concluded, when Ignite Is
burned near the mine, power can
be generated at costs as low as,
lower than, those for thermal
power in any other section of the
The study also recommended
as feasible associated industries,
aluminium shelters, iron = ore
shelters, ammonia plants, and
chloralkali plants based on salt
deposits. Montana-Dakota's steam
plant Cat Sidney is one of the
first results of this study.
The company plans to strip
mine its own Ignite from eastern
according to Robert
Naylor, Public Relations Director.
Three ~pulverixers at the plant
will dry and grind the Ignite to
4 fine dust the consistency of
powder. These p%ulverizers
viii deliver IS tons of prepared
per hour to the twelve
burners, which will be located in
Zach of the four corners of the
and set at an angle to
produce a whirlpool motion to
he furnace gases. Regular lump
,oaI cannot be used because the
roller is too large for spreader-
itoker equipment. The boiler, or
team generator, will be capable
nitially of converting 51,260 gal
ons of water from the Yellow
tone River per hour into steam
It a pressure of 1880 pounds per
quare inch and at a temperature
# $50 degrees F. This steam will
re delivered to a "A, 000-kilowatt
urbine driving a $500 rpm gen.
rator which will be cooled by
hydrogen gas under pressure.
After processing to remove the
flyash or dust, flue gases
rom the boiler will be discharged
rom a 200-foot stack. Natural
as will be available for emer-
ency and standby use. A COM
letely automatic combustion
ontrol system will regulate boiler /:
in accordance with power |
emands. /
The generator will deliver cleo t
tic current to the transformers,
adjacent to the turbine
Dom, which will step up the vol {
age from 1890 to $4,000 volts c
Or transmission over company 4
mes, or over lines leased from S
lie u. S. Bureau of Reclamation. t
All station processes, with the {
reception of coal handling and
sh removal, will be controlled e
'om a centralized room located f
n the turbine operating deck. F
losed-circuit television cameras d
observe furnace and water b
oiler levels will be used. There Il