The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities will be going through spring maintenance and continuing work on several projects in the coming months. P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities will be going through spring maintenance and continuing work on several projects in the coming months

On Monday, BPU officials discussed and passed resolutions related to the spring maintenance and ongoing projects. David Leathers, BPU general manager, said BPU officials will be shutting down the LM6000 gas turbine generator in April for in-house maintenance. The LM6000 will go back online later this spring to handle a higher amount of electric generation when people use their air conditioning units during warmer weather.

During the meeting, the board also approved a resolution to inspect the Deltak heat recovery steam generator that is coupled to the LM6000. BPU officials will hire Hamon Deltak to inspect the heat recovery steam generator for $21,390. The Deltak heat recovery steam generator utilizes waste exhaust from the LM6000 to produce steam, which supplies turbines to generate electricity in combine cycle operations.

The LM6000 can be run in simple cycle, with the heat recovery system generator, with an efficient operating range between approximately 21.5 and 43 megawatts. The gas turbine can be run in combined cycle, with the heat recovery system generator, to add approximately 22 megawatts of additional gas-produced electricity.

The unit was installed in 2000 and Cory Allen, BPU associate power plan supervisor, said this is the first time the heat recovery system generator will undergo an inspection.

In other business, the BPU board approved a change order for the Huxley Street substation project.

The board approved to purchase a power transformer for $1,559 from Virginia Transformer Corp. of Roanoke, Va. The resolution was needed because the original order didn’t include the tap changer motor thermal alarm system. The alarm system is designed to prevent severe/irreparable damage to the main motor equipment in the tap changer box.

Leathers also said that the Huxley substation project is ongoing with the hope that the project will be concluded by November or December. Last month, Dave Paterniti and Jarrett Devereaux, BPU electrical engineers, discussed the replacement of the Huxley Street substation. Paterniti said the former 15-kilovolt switchgear at the Huxley station was purchased in 1977 and installed in 2001. He said the new transformer will be a 7.5/10.5 mega volt amp that will be replacing a 3.5/5 mega volt amp.

Devereaux said the new substation will be similar to the one just built by the BPU on English Street. He said the total cost of the project is $1.75 million, with the new transformer costing $330,261 and switchgear’s price being $841,936. He added both the transformer and switchgear are scheduled to be delivered in August.

The board also approved hiring International Chimney Inc. of Buffalo to paint the LM6000 gas turbine combine cycle stack in the amount of $312,251. In June 2018, the combined cycle stack inspect revealed exterior coating is in a deteriorated sate for approximately 50 percent of the stack’s length. The stack is stained with rust and should be mechanically cleaned, spot primed and painted with a high-heat resistant industrial grade coating system. Two bids were received, with International Chimney being the lowest.