SEP Session 3, Day 2 Field Trip

This morning students in "The Science and Policy of Sustainable Energy" ventured just 2 miles down the road to the heat plant next to the UVA Hospital. The facility produces hot water and steam for the university. The hot water produced is used in the dorms and buildings around Grounds and the steam is used primarily in the hospital system for sterilizing equipment. Even during the summer heat is important. In order to remove the humidity from air, air is cooled. However, cooling the air brings down the temperature to about 45 degrees. The air has to be heated back to a comfortable temperature. You might wonder why public buildings like hospitals are so cold. Aren't companies wasting money by keeping the temperature low? During the summer, the UVA hospital is actually saving money with lower temperatures because the air does not have to be reheated as much.

The plant uses a variety of resources to produce heat. Coal is the primary fossil fuel used, followed by natural gas, and diesel. There are 3 silos that store coal and 2 silos that store natural gas. One silo can hold 900 tons of coal.

The coal is mined in Kentucky and transported to the plant on railcars. The railcars arrive in a holding area on site where the coal is removed from the car. It takes a day for the coal from four cars to be removed. Six to twelve cars arrive a week the plant, ready to be turned into heat.

A shaker shakes the train car to help loosen any frozen coal. The coal falls through the metal grates at the end of the video.

Next, the coal falls into a funnel like structure where is it dropped onto a conveyor belt to be distributed around the plant.

Students also saw the natural gas pipeline and boiler. The plant burns more natural gas in the summer and coal in the winter.

In addition to fossil fuels, the plant is testing renewable resources including wood pellets and switch grass. The tour of the plant ended with the control room. Students saw how workers monitor operations of the heat plant.