Tarong

	TARONG Power Station is located on a 1 500 hectare (ha) site near Nanago, 180 kilometres from Brisbane. The 1400 megawatt (MW) station produces more than 30% of Queensland's electricity needs and is designated as a baseload station that operates continuously. Construction of Tarong Power Station commenced in 1979. The first of Tarong's four 350 MW units became fully operational in May 1984 and the station was completed by 1986. Construction involved more than 2000 workers and cost $1 220 million (1984 prices)
	COAL Tarong Power Station uses more than 5 million tonnes of coal per year. A 1.5 km conveyor belt feeds the coal directly from the adjacent Meandu open-cut mine to the power station. Exploration has established coal reserves of more than 110 million tonnes, enough to meet the lifetime requirements of the station.
	BOILERS The walls of the boilers are made of steel tubes. Inside the boiler, the furnace temperature reaches 1 470øC. This converts water in the wall tubes to steam. The steam is collected in a large drum at the top of the tubes. From the drum, the steam is piped to the turbines that drive the generator. Each of Tarong's four massive boilers stand as high as an eight-storey building. Each boiler can convert 285 litres of water a second to steam at a pressure of 17 650 kilopascals and a temperature of 541øC.
	CHIMNEY Tarong's single chimney consists of a 203.5 metre high concrete windshield, 20 metres in diameter, housing four 210 metre high flues, one for each boiler. About one million bricks line the four 6 metre diameter flues, and about 12500 cubic metres of concrete was used to build the chimney. Tarong has two cooling towers, each serving two generating units. The towers cool circulating water used in the station's condensers where spent steam coverts to boiler feedwater for returning to the boilers. About 1000 litres of water a second is needed to make up evaporation losses caused by the cooling process of both towers.
	ENVIRONMENT Emissions from Tarong are reduced because electrostatic precipitators remove dust from the boiler flue gases before they pass to the chimney. The four precipitators have a very large collecting area and cover about three hectares. Inside the precipitators are plates, charged with high voltage, that attract dust. When the plates are rapped mechanically, the dust falls into hoppers where it is mixed with water and pumped into the ash dam. All waste products from the station are properly treated, monitored and controlled to avoid harmful effects on the environment. Waste products that have other uses, such as fly-ash, waste oil, cenospheres, scrap metals and other usable products, are recycled by other industries. A water monitoring program checks water quality at the station and the program is regularly reviewed by independent consultants. Most of the natural surrounds have been retained and thousands of native trees and shrubs have been added. The Department of Forestry conducts a vegetation monitoring program in the areas near the station. An environment Management System being implemented at Tarong and a cooperative association with the Department of Environment and Heritage will ensure that standards of environmental mangement continue to improve.