Fixing Leaking Pipes at Duke Energy Facilities to Avoid Future Coal Ash Disasters
The recent coal ash spill at a Duke Energy facility, which contaminated over 70 miles of the Dan River with 40,000 tons of toxic material, has led to urgent calls for inspections and repairs across all 14 of the company’s sites—both active and decommissioned. While initial assessments have shown that most infrastructure is functioning as designed, several leaks have already been found in riser pipes and pipelines throughout the facilities. The Eden plant, responsible for the major spill, is not the only one with issues. The Weatherspoon Steam Electric Power Plant, though retired in 2011 and demolished in 2013, still contains a 54-acre coal ash pond with a cracked riser still in operation. This steel-lined concrete pipe is meant to draw clean water from the surface when levels rise, allowing heavier particles to settle. Although experts believe a large-scale leak like the one in Eden is unlikely at Weatherspoon, concerns remain about the crack potentially releasing contaminated water into nearby streams and rivers. Coal ash is known to contain dangerous substances such as mercury, lead, arsenic, and chromium. Duke Energy has been given until July 20 to submit a repair plan. Failure to comply could result in daily fines of up to $500. The crack at Weatherspoon was discovered through a camera inspection, leading to further engineering evaluations to determine the best course of action. A similar issue was found at the Cape Fear Steam Electric Plant, where a 40-foot crack in a coal ash dam caused by shifting earth led to a bent riser. While the problem at Cape Fear has been resolved, no repair plans have yet been announced for Weatherspoon. Power plants like Duke’s rely on a circulating water system to cool steam after it passes through turbines. This process condenses the steam back into water for reuse. However, the riser pipes used to transport this cooling water are vulnerable to corrosion, which can cause cracks and leaks over time. In a case involving a power plant in the southwestern U.S., corroded risers were leaking. To address the issue, HJ3 implemented the CarbonSeal™ system. The process began with excavating the affected pipes and removing their concrete casings. The exposed steel was prepared to near-white metal standards, then primed. A high-modulus carbon paste was applied, followed by saturated carbon fabric. An abrasion- and UV-resistant topcoat was added to protect the fabric. Steel sleeves were installed at the base of the repair area, and new concrete casings were placed around the repaired sections. The client also requested a paint finish to match the original aesthetics. All 22 steel risers were successfully reinforced within a tight timeframe. The project saved the client over $1 million per day in potential downtime costs, prevented the use of 127,000 gallons of water, and reduced energy consumption by 17,000 kWh. Additionally, the repair approach avoided 3 tons of CO2 emissions and 2.5 tons of construction waste from landfills. If you're facing issues with steel risers and want to explore the benefits of HJ3's CarbonSeal™ system, don't hesitate to contact them today.solar pile driver is mainly used in pile driving for photovoltaic Solar power station , pile driving for Highway guardrail, highway guardrail construction engineering construction
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