The John E. Amos Power Plant in Winfield, West Virginia, is owned and operated by Appalachian Power, a subsidiary of American Electric Power (AEP). The nearly 3,000 MW of energy it generates is enough to power approximately two million homes.

The plant features three supercritical, dry-bottom boilers powered by a blend of low-sulfur coal and Northern Appalachian Basin high-sulfur coal. Unit 3 was started up in October 1973 as the first 1,300 MW power plant in the United States.

When plant operators observed that the unit could not light off, they called upon Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) to help assess the condition of the ignition equipment and develop a plan to refurbish it to safe, reliable operation.

For the inspection, we pulled the internal guide tube assemblies from the unit and noted significant fly ash pluggage — up to 80 percent in some of the tubing. Several holes were also found in the tube assemblies and in the stationary guide tubes. In addition, some of the eddy plates were bent and not made or positioned to OEM specification; spark rod assemblies were in poor condition; and locking cams that fasten the atomizers and the unit’s oil and air connections were inoperable because of accumulated residue.