BEST PRACTICES: Aurora
Pre-job briefing card promotes safer workplace
Challenge, solution, and results. NRG Energy has developed a safety process called “Hurt Search” to keep plant personnel from falling victim to hazards that could be easily overlooked. We perform “Hurt Searches” on all work requiring lockout/tagout as well as on random daily work activities.
Prior to performing work, a second or third party performs a safety review (card, left). These “Hurt Searches” consist of viewing and considering all hazards within a 20-ft radius of where the work is being performed. The safety review has been a great success with zero recordable injuries, zero loss time injuries, zero minor injuries in over four years.
Demin-water checklist
Challenge, solution, and results. Plant operators perform continuous conductivity monitoring of the demineralized-water produced during operations. A checklist is used (below) as a guide to test and track the conductivity of individual anion beds. Once an anion bed reaches a point of being depleted, it is isolated from the process.
This practice has proven to increase the throughput of the demin trailers by more than 10,000 gallons. This increase has generated a cost savings on average of $20,000 per year for the plant.
Project participants:
Jim Brown, plant manager
Robert Isaac, O&M supervisor
Aurora Generating Station
NRG Energy Inc
946-MW, gas-fired, 10-unit, simple-cycle peaking facility located in Aurora, Ill
Plant manager: Jim Brown
