AmerenUE Sioux Power Plant

USA / Missouri / Portage Des Sioux /
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AmerenUE was formerly Union Electric Company.

LOCATION
In St. Charles County, Mo., 28 miles northeast of downtown St. Louis.

HISTORY
First unit built in 1967. Second unit built in 1968.
Built at a cost of $140 million; current value: $258 million.
Union Electric's Sioux Power Plant accomplished many industry firsts:
Pioneered slag-removal techniques now used nationwide.
One of the first to install cyclone furnaces that can burn multiple fuels.
One of the first to receive coal on the unit train concept.
Became the first generating plant in Missouri to burn chipped rubber tires to augment coal as an alternate fuel source.

OPERATION
Each boiler is equipped with 10 cyclone burners—essentially a 10-foot diameter barrel into which crushed coal and air are introduced. Each uses 1/4-inch crushed coal or other fuels. This process requires less equipment and less horsepower to crush the coal, versus grinding the coal into the consistency of talcum powder as is done with other types of boilers. Combustion occurs in a swirling motion within the cyclone burners; in more conventional boilers, pulverized coal is blown into the main furnace along with air and burned in suspension in the furnace.

FUEL TYPES
Tire chips, Petroleum Coke and Coal. Sioux can burn in excess of 20,000 tons of tire chips annually—the equivalent of 25,000 tons of coal per year—providing electricity for more than 4,000 residential customers. This consumes more than 2.5 million discarded used tires a year. Sioux's maximum burn is 12,000 tons of coal over 24 hours—3.0 million tons of coal annually.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   38°54'49"N   90°17'23"W

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This article was last modified 13 years ago