Billingsley road power plant noise

LightRoasted

If I may ...
If I may ...

As a result, Dominion is in the process of building a big compressor plant at the Cove Point terminal which reverses the LNG process. Rather than importing LNG from ships at the pier, they take gaseous natural gas and compress/cool it for liquefaction (using some of the gas in the process). As part of that project, the pipeline that was originally designed to carry gas from Cove Point to its interconnect with the rest of the Dominion system, has been upgraded to carry gas from the Dominion pipelines down to Covepoint. I don't know whether the new Cove Point facility would be equipped to import gas if need be.

Cove Point LNG has always has the ability to liquefy NG. After the plant shut down its import operations, the facility was used as a storage platform for the NG system. When NG needed to be stored it was pulled from the pipeline, liquefied, and the tanks were filled up. When the system needed NG the process was reversed. At all times in the 70's the plant could have been deemed an import/export facility because it could convert NG to liquid or from liquid to a gaseous state, though its direct mission was to import. Even today, when Dominion finishes their project, it will be able to offload tanker ships as well as fill tanker ships.

When finished, Dominion Cove Point LNG will be completely self sufficient, aka "off-grid" (no SMECO bill). "The Cove Point Liquefaction Project will use two new natural gas-fired turbines to drive the main refrigerant compressors. The waste heat from the gas-fired turbines will be used to generate electric power on-site to meet the power demands of the liquefaction facilities." These will have the capability to provide up to 130 megawatts but with the system design will only need about 80 megawatts for operations. "Dominion states that check valves in some existing piping will be modified to enable bi-directional flow, depending on whether the ships are loading or offloading." In other words, import/export.
 

officeguy

Well-Known Member
If I may ...



Cove Point LNG has always has the ability to liquefy NG. After the plant shut down its import operations, the facility was used as a storage platform for the NG system. When NG needed to be stored it was pulled from the pipeline, liquefied, and the tanks were filled up. When the system needed NG the process was reversed. At all times in the 70's the plant could have been deemed an import/export facility because it could convert NG to liquid or from liquid to a gaseous state, though its direct mission was to import. Even today, when Dominion finishes their project, it will be able to offload tanker ships as well as fill tanker ships.

When finished, Dominion Cove Point LNG will be completely self sufficient, aka "off-grid" (no SMECO bill). "The Cove Point Liquefaction Project will use two new natural gas-fired turbines to drive the main refrigerant compressors. The waste heat from the gas-fired turbines will be used to generate electric power on-site to meet the power demands of the liquefaction facilities." These will have the capability to provide up to 130 megawatts but with the system design will only need about 80 megawatts for operations. "Dominion states that check valves in some existing piping will be modified to enable bi-directional flow, depending on whether the ships are loading or offloading." In other words, import/export.

It seems odd that they had to do additional work on the pipeline to make it bi-directional if they always had the capability to liquefy at the Cove Point site. Where did the gas come from if not from the Dominion pipeline ?
 

LightRoasted

If I may ...
If I may ...

It seems odd that they had to do additional work on the pipeline to make it bi-directional if they always had the capability to liquefy at the Cove Point site. Where did the gas come from if not from the Dominion pipeline ?

There are miles and miles of pipeline. No idea where in the pipeline, or which pipeline system, where additional work is needed to install bi-directional flow valves. But they were already there being used in some pipes and systems. Maybe the update is part of a system that never had them? Don't know. Maybe it is an update to natural gas pipelines required by the gov't. It has been 40 years or so. Dominion is not the only owner of natural gas pipeline systems.
 

obxtracey

Member
Is there anyone else out there that is bothered by the unacceptable noise that this new plant emits?.We , our neighborhood, live 2 miles from it as the crow flies and the rumbling keeps us up at night and you can hear it all day.We have complained to the plant and the county with little response although the plant says they are working on the noise problem. At least they admit to it.
Charles County used to have very tough noise ordinances but I understand special variances were approved for the plant which is now the biggest taxpayer for the county. Imagine that.
Any thoughts?.Anyone know any higher up county contacts?.

Oh yeah, I can hear it. It's not every night/day, thankfully. Took me forever to figure out it was the plant on Billingsley. It always sounded like there was heavy construction equipment running in the middle of the night.
 

acommondisaster

Active Member
The Eastern shore folks need to be thanking their lucky stars that the wind turbines never appeared. With wind turbines comes a constant hum and buzzing feeling that cause many folks and animals 24/7 distress due to the constant stimulation. If you don't believe me, read up on how the people and farmers in Central City, PA are making out with their wind turbines.

I can tell you how the people in PA are doing - most of the old coal towns that lie just below those turbines are nearly ghost towns. No one has jobs, other than running drugs and pouring beers for the unemployed. It's really disturbing to drive through some of those towns.
 

acommondisaster

Active Member
Is there anyone else out there that is bothered by the unacceptable noise that this new plant emits?.We , our neighborhood, live 2 miles from it as the crow flies and the rumbling keeps us up at night and you can hear it all day.We have complained to the plant and the county with little response although the plant says they are working on the noise problem. At least they admit to it.
Charles County used to have very tough noise ordinances but I understand special variances were approved for the plant which is now the biggest taxpayer for the county. Imagine that.
Any thoughts?.Anyone know any higher up county contacts?.

Not sure who your commissioner is, but I'd start a campaign, calling him/her and posting to their FB page about the noise. Have your neighbors make a fuss too.
 

Lurk

Happy Creepy Ass Cracka
That's the one. It is a natural gas fired twin GE turbine. The gas is pumped underground from Virginia.It was quite loud Saturday night around midnight.

Is it louder than the crap out of Regency Stadium during home games?
 

officeguy

Well-Known Member
Keep the heat on them. Find out about noise abatement and force them to get quiet hours either passed or enforced. Or you can just throw up your hands, say nothing can be done and be a victim.

301-609-6751 is the phone number for the health department. The noise limit in an area zoned industrial is 75dB and that does not change between day or night.

Sure, file noise complaints every night and from multiple people and eventually the county has to hire someone to do a study. As the plant is the largest taxpayer in the county and received approvals for their operation I strongly doubt that the county will do anything about it. Maybe they have to shroud a turbine intake or some other cosmetic measures but this plant isn't going anywhere (and there are two more like it under construction/in planning).
 

bones1

New Member
The plant just did a week long noise study and we have not received the results yet.But they have been out here at night and heard the noise firsthand. They have been very good about it so far and seem to want to find the problem.We live about 2 miles line of sight from the plant at about the same elevation. Equipment was placed in my yard and in my living room for a week. My neighborhood gets the low frequency, around 57HZ, most of the time but it sets in all night vibrating the interior rooms of the home making sleep impossible.Patience is running thin, we will see where this goes but most likely nowhere.
 

LightRoasted

If I may ...
If I may ...

The plant just did a week long noise study and we have not received the results yet.But they have been out here at night and heard the noise firsthand. They have been very good about it so far and seem to want to find the problem.We live about 2 miles line of sight from the plant at about the same elevation. Equipment was placed in my yard and in my living room for a week. My neighborhood gets the low frequency, around 57HZ, most of the time but it sets in all night vibrating the interior rooms of the home making sleep impossible.Patience is running thin, we will see where this goes but most likely nowhere.

Keep up the good fight.
 
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