With over 25 years of experience serving the power plant industry, the Merrick Group has grown its list of comprehensive services in both power plant cleaning and maintenance. Strictly adhering to evolving industry standards, The Merrick Group makes it their goal to ensure maximized quality and safety on every job. Their team of technicians are highly trained to ensure power plants are performing optimally and are safe for employees and the general public.
Fossil Fuel and Thermal Power Plant Maintenance
Lifetime of a Fossil Power Plant
The lifetime of a fossil power plant depends on which type of power
it offers, government regulations, and how well it is maintained.
A typical operational lifetime ranges anywhere from 30 to 50 years. A recent study in the journal Science estimates that a large majority of coal, natural gas, and oil power plants will have reached their life expectancies by 2035. These estimates are mostly based on our knowledge of how long technology typically lasts (Grubert). However, a power plant may be allowed to operate past its technical lifetime if it can prove it is in good condition and it’s up to current regulations. The most effective way to extend the lifetime of a power plant is to adhere to a comprehensive power plant cleaning and maintenance schedule.
Fossil Power Plant Cleaning Services
Cleaning services can help prolong the life cycle of fossil power plants by preventing costly accidents.
The Merrick Group offers a variety of cleaning services aimed to keep power plants up and running as safely as possible:
- Condenser cleaning and tube plugging: Aims to maximize heat transfer capacity by removing contaminants and pollutants like dirt, algae, and scum that are commonly found in open water (ie: seawater or river water).
- Heat exchanger cleaning: Aims to maximize your bottom line by identifying possible fouling of exchangers which can affect performance and output and overall efficient heat transfer.
- Underground piping: Aims to improve production by preventing buildup and blockages of debris that can cause issues over time. Solutions may include hydro milling and retro jetting.
Fossil Power Plant Maintenance Services
Regular maintenance can go a long way in maximizing day-to-day efficiencies that can impact a power plant’s ability to keep up and running. The Merrick Group offers maintenance solutions for all facets of the power plant industry including outages and on-line maintenance like:
- Cooling tower maintenance: Ensures cooling towers are functioning at peak performance levels while mitigating the risk of issues caused by improper or irregular maintenance. This involves tailoring solutions to each facility’s unique needs while focusing on efficiency improvement, downtime reduction, and decreased expenses for profitable operation at each location. Solutions may include (but are not limited to): structural repairs, nozzle inspection, and replacement, handrail and ladder inspection, mechanical fan service, concrete and steel coating prep and repair.
- Inspections: Determines whether acceptable conditions exist for a plan to operate up to NACE’s current standards. Inspections are undertaken by specialists with either a NACE Coating Inspector Level 1 certification and/or a NACE Coating Inspection Level 2 certification.
- Coating applications: Aims to minimize the effects of corrosion on operations by utilizing specially trained employees to apply coating which will protect substrates from the damaging effects of rain, sunlight, wind, heat, cold, humidity, and oxygen in various combinations and cycles.