Success Stories

From The Leader in Clean Power Production Technologies

Hawthorn Unit 5 Plant Rebuild — Missouri, USA

Success Story

Hawthorn Unit 5 Boiler Babcock Wilcox

Kansas City Power & Light

Kansas City, Missouri

An explosion during a maintenance outage on February 17, 1999, destroyed the original Hawthorn Unit 5 boiler. In August 1999, B&W was released to design, supply, erect and commission a complete replacement boiler on an accelerated schedule. The new boiler began generating electricity in June 2001, only 22 months from project commencement.

Plant Owner

Kansas City Power & Light

Plant Name

Hawthorn Unit 5

Location

Kansas City, Missouri

Owner’s Consulting Engineer

Burns & McDonnell

B&W Scope

  • Complete boiler island from coal-conveying system to stack, including:
    • structural steel
    • dry FGD
    • fabric filter
    • ash systems
    • electrical, including motor control centers, switchgear, and wiring
    • auxiliary piping systems
    • critical piping to the turbines
    • Construction by Babcock & Wilcox Construction Co., Inc. (BWCC), a B&W subsidiary
    • Architectural services for the boiler island
    • Startup and commissioning services

Boiler Specifications

  • Type: Pulverized coal-fired radiant drum boiler (RB Carolina-Type)
  • Design fuel: Low sulfur Powder River Basin coal
  • Capacity: 550 MW net
  • Steam flow: 4,000,000 lb/h (504 kg/s)
  • Superheater outlet pressure: 2600 psig (17.9 MPa)
  • SH/RH outlet temperature: 1005/1005 F (541/541 C)

Environmental Equipment

Other Equipment Supplied by B&W

Contract Order: 1999

Commercial Operation: 2001

Project Facts

  • Rebuilt unit’s capacity uprated from 476 MW to 550 MW
  • PJFF was built on the foundation of one of the original electrostatic precipitators (ESP) and adapted the existing hoppers and support steel.
  • Even with a compressed schedule and the constraints of rebuilding within an existing site, the project achieved every major milestone. Sectional Side and Plan Views of Hawthorn Unit 5

Download The PDF

Hawthorn Dry FGD

Pollution control equipment on Hawthorn Unit 5 includes an SCR system for NOx reduction, dry FGD for SO2 control, and a pulse jet fabric filter for particulate control.