As veteran plant staff retire, it's crucial to pass on technical knowledge to new employees responsible for water treatment, steam generation and related environmental management, according to Brad Buecker, president of Buecker & Associates and a member of the Electric Utility and Cogeneration Chemistry Workshop (EUC2W) planning committee. The EUC2W, now in its 43rd year, is accepting abstracts for its upcoming event June 16-18, 2025, in Champaign, Illinois.
The conference addresses cutting-edge water/steam chemistry, cooling water and environmental topics that relate to many industries. These include:
- Makeup water pre- and primary treatment technologies and chemistry control:
- Membrane pretreatment methods, including micro- and ultrafiltration
- Reverse osmosis
- Ion exchange
- Methods for industrial plant condensate return polishing
- Methods for treating alternative raw makeup supplies such as municipal wastewater treatment plant effluent. (Topic also applies to other water systems.)
- Feedwater/Boiler cycle chemistry and chemistry monitoring issues at:
- Combined Cycle/HRSG plants
- Cogeneration and heavy industries
- Remaining conventional fossil-fired power plants
- Cooling water treatment:
- Modern methods to control microbiological fouling, scale formation and corrosion in cooling systems
- Techniques to maintain the reliability and efficiency of cooling towers
- Issues related to closed cooling water systems
- High-priority environmental issues and concerns:
- Evolving technologies to remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
- Ever-changing EPA water and air quality control regulations
- Continuing development of projects that reduce the carbon footprint such as methane/biogas recovery, combined heat and power (CHP), and advanced biofuels/biochemicals production methods.
- Wastewater treatment:
- Removal of priority pollutants including heavy metals
- Water conservation and recovery
- Zero liquid discharge (ZLD) developments
The EUC2W committee is looking for industry perspectives regarding plant operation and the regularly changing regulatory landscape. Technology suppliers are also welcome to submit abstracts. Presentations should be technical in nature and not sales promotions.
Time slots are usually 30 minutes in length, with 20 to 25 minutes for the presentation followed by 5 to 10 minutes for questions and answers.
For full consideration, please send titles and abstracts to Conference and Event Services, at [email protected]. Submission deadline is December 6, 2024.
"Whether you present or just attend, the workshop offers much practical information in an intimate setting with plentiful networking opportunities,” says Buecker. “The 2025 topic will be combined cycle and cogeneration steam generation chemistry, with world-class expert Michael Rziha from Switzerland as a co-presenter."
