FRP Delivers Resiliency for Power Plants

The chemicals and water present in power generation plants can have a corrosive effect on metal. Integrating fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) into power plants can help reduce downtime due to maintenance.

Power generation plants almost have “too much of a good thing.” The demand for power in the U.S. alone has skyrocketed in the last few years, due especially to the increase in electrification and the boom in artificial intelligence and data centers. But this means demand is outstripping supply.

The cost of downtime—even for essential repairs or routine maintenance—now has an even greater impact on bottom lines. Any power generation plant that processes nonrenewable sources such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas will use lots of water and may generate harsh chemicals like sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and many more. These can corrode or damage metal piping, tanks, buildings, stacks, parts, and other materials, particularly when combined with water or water vapor. Once corroded, these parts of the power plant will need to be repaired or replaced, taking away from power production time.

One way to help increase resiliency in power generation facilities is to integrate fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) in appropriate places both inside and outside a power plant. FRP has an exceptional strength-to-weight ratio and inherent corrosion resistance, which can help maintain power plant uptime for longer.

How FRP Supports Power Plant Resiliency

FRP consists of reinforcement fibers, polymer resin, and additives. As an engineered material, the formulation can be altered to achieve the desired performance properties and to deliver an extremely strong and durable material suitable for parts inside equipment up to large, heavily loaded civil infrastructure.

FRP’s inherent corrosion resistance makes it ideal for use in power generation plants. Lab testing indicates the material can have a service life of up to 100 years, and many real-world installations remain in place after nearly three decades, often having required almost no maintenance. FRP can offer long-lasting performance both inside and outside power generation plants.

Inside the Plant

The corrosive chemicals and water vapor inside and around  power plant operations create conditions for corrosion and damage to essential systems. Composite parts offer significant corrosion resistance to reduce the need for maintenance or downtime for emergency repairs.

Instrument stands may be made of FRP, supporting electrical instruments and switch station stands and racks. Stand options include:

• Single, double, and triple post options.
• Floor pushbutton stations.
• Floor switch racks.
• Wall mounts.

These are more corrosion-resistant than stainless steel or galvanized instrument stands and are more cost-effective over their service life. They’re also compatible with metallic post bases and support structures and are available fully assembled to speed installation times.

Cable tray systems organize industrial environments and help maintain functionality, protect equipment, and increase security. Systems can include wireway with snap-on covers and strut, which can attach to industry-standard materials and structures to provide light structural support and protect pipes, data wires, and mechanical systems. These systems protect electrical and other cables from harsh conditions, avoiding:

• Accidents like electrical fires.
• Downtime due to accidents.
• Required recurring repairs due to damage.

Cable tray systems (Figure 1) can protect data control, communication, and power cables from atmospheric conditions like dust, dirt, oil, and water. The highest-quality wireway is not only corrosion resistant but is also fire retardant and highly durable. And an additional benefit to FRP wireway and strut systems is their high strength-to-weight ratio: they are highly durable but very lightweight, speeding installation without compromising stability.

Even walls and ceiling panels can take a beating from the chemicals and water vapor inside power generation plants. FRP siding and roofing panels can reduce the frequency of replacement, in addition to providing benefits like:

• Additional lighting via translucent roofing panels.
• High strength-to-weight ratio.
• Safer maneuverability and installation.
• Optional insulation.

Because they resist corrosion, the panels have a significantly longer maintenance-free service life compared to metal alternatives.

Outside the Plant

As power plants ramp up production, cooling is at an even greater premium. The concrete cooling towers these plants rely on are field-erected, permanent, huge, and immovable. This makes it very difficult to easily add towers when more cooling is needed.

Modular cooling towers made from FRP simplify supplemental cooling for power generation facilities. Composite towers can be fully factory-assembled and delivered in one piece to the site. They are up to 50% lighter than field-erected towers, and some models are designed without side louvers, minimizing the amount of necessary free-board space. This allows power generation plants to put more supplemental towers in a smaller space. Supplemental, modular, FRP towers can maximize the efficiency of the heat-removal process without significant construction or changes to the existing cooling tower system. They can also aid in pre-cooling in once-through or single-pass cooling, to keep power plants within environmental regulatory guidelines. These modular “support” towers can also be added to distribution substations to ensure that power stays on in hotels, convention centers, and other high-capacity commercial buildings.

Once produced, the next step is getting power safely and reliably to customers via transmission and distribution poles. FRP can help here, too. Photos of the aftermath of hurricanes, tornados, and other extreme storms often show wood utility poles splintered or felled. This can spell disaster for thousands, even millions, of people who will be without power until the poles can be replaced. Just recently, nearly half a million Ohioans were without power after four EF-1 tornados wreaked havoc on the Northeast Ohio region—some for over six days, pushing the governor to declare a state of emergency.

FRP poles (Figure 2) support a more resilient infrastructure from the power generation facility to the customer’s outlets. Pultruded from a human-made, engineered material, FRP pole break strengths exhibit a very low coefficient of variation (COV around 5%) compared to wood (COV around 20%). FRP poles are also corrosion-resistant and unattractive to termites and woodpeckers, eliminating this too-common source of damage to wood poles. All of this delivers predictable performance among many different poles at diameters and heights ranging from ANSI H-Class equivalents for transmission down to smaller, telecom sizes (Figure 3).

FRP’s high strength-to-weight ratio combines with its modulus of elasticity to provide a material designed to bend within limits but not break—ideal performance characteristics in extreme storms.

Transmission-voltage power is “stepped down” to usable, distribution voltages at substations located closer to the customer. These are sometimes controlled by the utility but often are part of the larger power generation facility ecosystem. Many older distribution substations around the U.S., especially in rural areas, are made of wood. The material introduces concerns about resiliency, chemical leaching, and even fire.

Wood permitted for use for power poles and substations must be treated with preservative and fire-retardant chemicals, which can leach into the groundwater. This is why regulations exist governing how close to wells wood poles may be installed. And even with fire-retardant chemicals, wood itself is still flammable, especially if the substation is the target of arson.

FRP is an ideal alternative for these smaller substations. It requires no additional foundation and construction work as required for steel poles, and it will not leach anything into the groundwater, as its fire-resistant chemicals are part of the resin when the pole is produced. High-quality composite poles are self-extinguishing per UL 94, with a V0 rating, and pass “hot stick” recertification tests per ASTM F711 and IEEE 978 at the time of manufacture.

Most substations will use 10- to 16-inch diameter FRP poles and utilize FRP crossarms as bracing in the bays to provide mounting locations for switches, conductors, and other equipment. Some manufacturers even offer octagonal pole profiles to facilitate the many attachments required in a substation (Figure 4). Customers who have replaced wood substations with FRP note decreased installation costs compared to steel with concrete foundations, as FRP poles can be directly buried. They also note the pest-resistance compared to wood.

FRP Delivers Resiliency for Power Plants

Meeting current and future demands for electricity requires innovation. Power plants can incorporate composite materials in strategic locations in their facilities for long-lasting corrosion resistance that can significantly reduce downtime. FRP is an investment in the longevity and low- or no-maintenance resiliency of power plants—both inside and out.

—Dustin Troutman is Chief Sales Officer with Creative Composites Group.