TECO - Tampa Electric
There are over 650,000 homes and businesses located in Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties which are customers of TECO – Tampa Electric at Big Bend Power Station, Big Bend Road, Apollo Beach Florida.
Big Bend Power Station has four coal fired units that generate a total of about 1,700 megawatts. Tampa Electric uses coal and natural gas to produce electricity in a responsible manner for the environment. The manatee viewing center next to the power station is the best example.
A machine called a turbine is used in the production of the electricity; heat from the burning coal turns water inside boilers to steam, which then turns the power station’s four turbines. Each turbine is part of a process that makes 22,000 volts of electricity per unit at the stations.
When coal is burned, it will produce fly ash; most of it is collected by a special machine called an electrostatic precipitator and is stored in Silos. After the fly ash is removed, the flue gas is treated with water and crushed limestone to remove sulfur dioxide gases formed in the boiler - this is called a scrubber system, or the process that produces the white plumes you see coming of Big Bend Power Station. The white plumes form when the hotter wet stack gases, cleaned by the scrubbers, come into contact with the cooler air in the environment.
The scrubber system creates synthetic gypsum that is used as wallboard in construction for homes and businesses, fertilizer to enrich soil in farming (gardening and golf courses), also in cement to improve the setting time and durability of the product.
TECO - Tampa Electric
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