OLLI visited Powerton Generating Station in Pekin, IL. Our tour guide was Mark Kelly, a Chemical Engineer at Powerton, the largest coal burning power plant in the state of Illinois. The station can burn up to 20,000 tons of coal per day. We learned that over the winter months the station stores 1.5 million tons of coal which equals about 75 days worth of coal, and how the coal-fired boilers produce enough electricity to meet the needs of 1.8 million households. Powerton's coal comes all the way from out west near Gillette, Wyoming.
We went behind the scenes viewing the turbines and generators and found out how electricity is transmitted for distribution to commercial, retail, and industrial customers. OLLI members also enjoyed touring the control room to learn more about our local electricity and why blackouts happen.
OLLI thanks Mark Kelly and the staff at Powerton Station for allowing us to tour their facility.
No comments:
Post a Comment