Rapids Energy Center

A tour of Minnesota Power’s Rapids Energy Center was taken on Thursday, 2-3-11, by the Blandin project team. The tour was taken to acquire background information about the steam generation process which supplies the steam consumed by the line six paper machine dryer can section. This information will aid us in our project objective, which is to provide Blandin with possible ways to optimize the consumption of steam used in the cans. As a part of our education, we also have other learning objectives we need to meet. One way to fulfill all learning objectives is to tie in different aspects of the project that might not pertain directly to the project but still have educational value and real world application. As a result, most of us students on the Blandin team will be taking Advanced Thermodynamic Power Cycles as one of our competencies for the semester.

Rapids Energy Center (REC) cogeneration steam process consists of four boilers and two steam turbine generators. Two boilers are wood and coal fired units, while the other two are fueled by natural gas. Blandin is the sole customer of Rapids Energy Center, but they are interdependent operations. The paper mill also provides REC with river water used for cooling various equipment and wash down needs, along with fire protection water. They also supply the fuel needed to operate REC, which is waste wood created in the paper making process. This waste wood supplies roughly 1/3 of the total daily wood burned. On the other side, REC provides the mill with steam, electrical, and pneumatic energy sources necessary for paper production.

Proofed by Felicia Levchak