Cogentrix, or otherwise known as the D.C. Battle Steam Plant is a coal fired power plant. The plant was erected in July of 1989. It has two 60-megawatt generators, which allow for as much as 120 megawatts of capacity to be produced. This facility provides North Carolina Power with 115 megawatts of capacity, and delivers an average of 40,000 pounds of steam to Abbott Laboratories Pharmaceutical manufacturing plant per hour. This is enough electricity to light six million common light bulbs. This plant is actually controlled automatically by computers in Richmond, Va.
             We actually saw they huge pile of coal, which is unloaded by conveyor belts from the train. It goes to a tower in which has gates to evenly spread it out. The plant receives 1300 to 1400 tons of coal a day. They store enough coal to supply twenty-five days worth of electricity. These huge conveyors then, take the coal up to the top deck to be placed into the burners. From here the coal I put into the burners where it is burnt. In the burner the temperature reaches 925° at 1600 pounds per square inch.
             After the coal is burnt there is a lot of ashes left. The Bottom ash is deposited into the hopper, and is then made into cinder block. The flyash, which goes up into, the air is collected by steam tubes, and is then sent back through to be burnt again. All the other ash left gets pushed into a scrubber outside of the plant. The scrubber scrubbers or cleans 90 percent of the sulfur dioxide produced. It has to by law. All the residue from the scrubber is then reused as structural fill.
             This was a very clean and efficient plant. Every six months this plant is shut down, so they can come in and clean everything. It only takes a high school diploma to work at these plants. There is very good pay as well. These are just a few of the reasons this plant is good.
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