A. B. Brown Generating Station

A. B. Brown Generating Station
Location of the A. B. Brown Generating Station in Indiana
Country	United States
Location	Marrs Township, Posey County, near Mount Vernon, Indiana
Coordinates	37°54′20″N 87°42′54″W
Status	Operational
Commission date	Unit 1 (coal): March, 1979 Unit 2 (coal): Feb, 1986 Unit 3 (gas): June, 1991 Unit 4 (gas): May, 2002
Owner(s)	Vectren
Thermal power station
Primary fuel	Bituminous coal
Secondary fuel	Natural gas
Turbine technology	Steam Combustion gas turbine
Power generation
Nameplate capacity	707 MW

The A. B. Brown Generating Station is a four-unit, 700-MW power generating facility, located on the northern bank of Ohio river, 8 miles east of Mount Vernon, Indiana and 5 miles southwest of Evansville, Indiana just west of the Posey-Vanderburgh County Line. Each of the two coal-fired units has a name-plate capacity of 265.2 MW. Bituminous coal is used as a primary fuel type, which can be substituted for natural gas. There are also two gas turbine units, 88.2 MWe of nameplate capacity each. The facility is owned by Vectren (formerly Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company).

Environmental impact

Emission control

In 1979, Unit 1 was constructed with a dual-alkali scrubber to help reduce sulphur dioxide emissions. In 1986, was completed and also uses a dual-alkali scrubber. From 2001 to 2005, Vectren installed four selective catalytic reduction (SCR) devices on all of the coal-fired units, which successfully cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 80 percent. In 2004, Vectren replaced an existing electrostatic precipitator at Unit 1 with a fabric filter. The investment increased the particulate matter removal efficiency to 99 percent at that unit.

Ash ponds

The A. B. Brown Station ash management impoundment was formed by building a dam to block off the outlet of a natural ravine about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from the Ohio river. The ash pond consists of two dams. The Lower dam (built in 1978) has been classified by the Indiana DNR as a Significant Hazard (State ID#65-7, permit #D-4405, rev 1). The Upper dam (constructed in two phases in 2002 and 2007) was not classified, but has a permit #FW-21909. Liquid wastes being sluiced into the pond include fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, FGD belt filter wash down and water sump wastes, pyrites, material removed from the coal pile run-off pond, plant floor drain wash downs, boiler chemical leaning wastes, reverse osmosis system rejects, and rainfall/runoff from the surrounding area. According to Vectren, no discernible amount of material has been removed from the pond sincee it first began operation in 1978.