Utah's Hunter One Offline Due to a Familiar Foe

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Hunter Power Station, located in Castle Dale, Utah, was once again forced to bring their oft-plagued Unit One offline last Thursday afternoon due to a boiler tube leak, making it more than 20 such tube leaks endured over the past five years on this particular unit.

Most boiler tube leaks require a power plant to shut the entire unit down and bring it offline for repairs, although a small percentage are minor and can be repaired at either full, or de-rated generating capacity. During such a forced outage, the unit is brought offline, the boiler and its super-heated components are left to cool, and then the repairs commence…usually in the form of welders closing up the leaks with patches of metal welded over the leaky spot, or replacing entire sections of tubing. The typical duration of repairs varies due to the different type and magnitude of each individual leak, but usually last between 3-7 days to complete and have the unit returned to service.

In total, roughly 60 tube leaks have sidelined the three units at Hunter Power Station over the past five years. Industry workers know the inherent dangers faced by these unforeseen events. Unfortunately, less than two months ago two Iatan Power Station (Weston, Missouri) workers died as a result of a fierce steam blast from a ruptured high-pressure line, with five workers also being injured. Article on Iatan blast: Two Dead, Five Injured From Steam Blast at Iatan Power Station

Nonetheless, aside from the risks of such bothersome events, every time one of Hunter’s three units is forced offline nearly 500 megawatts of generating capacity is lost.

Hunter Power Station is owned by MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, and operated by one of its subsidiaries, PacifiCorp. Hunter’s three units, when operating together at full-capacity, generate almost 1,400 megawatts of electricity, enough to power around 1.5 million average American homes.

View Plant Profile – 1015354

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) provides marketing communication services ranging from industrial database solutions to market forecasting, custom analytics, and specialty promotions that support high-level image campaigns.