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July 2016 www.coalage.com 27 coal ash continued "In some cases, we were inventing the technology," Hill explained. "Another challenge was dealing with the instru- mentation and monitoring side, and working internally with our IT (informa- tion technology) folks. We were trying to bring in a process that hadn't even been proven as a robust technology." Getting those individuals to buy into the project and educating regulators on their vision were both obstacles that had to be over- come. As he noted, many must see to be- lieve, and once those stakeholders see, they love — but getting to that point is a key challenge. "Our dam safety organization, in charge of all dams [and] we're regulated by them as well…they had an audit from a reputable ASDSO community [with an] instrument/monitoring plan," he added. "We brought our instrumentation to a world-class rating across the board. We [are now] recognized as being beyond the curve in the dam safety community, far exceeding state/federal guidelines." While regulations outline once a month monitoring, the TVA has gotten this down to every five minutes. That's a long way from a beginning that was strewn with seemingly insurmountable hurdles. So, what does the future hold? A good bit, according to the group. In terms of the monitoring instru- ment, sharing the cutting-edge technology with others and getting feedback from the industry are both important goals. "I can see others seeing what we're do- ing and getting to where we're at now. We're constantly developing, always improving," Walker said, adding that it will always continue to polish and improve the util- ity's software tools. "[Changes] may cost us pennies here in comparison to costs of cleanup on a site." Another one of the TVA's safety ad- vancements is ensuring 100% of the ash stack is mapped. The ash map can be likened to today's tools to an MRI of sorts, allowing it to take a "slice" of in- formation from any point in time to see how the ash was stored at any site and the factors that were at play during that specific time. That may include imper- fections or even how heavily it may have rained when that portion of the ash pile was compacted. Using technology from the transporta- tion industry as a basis, TVA's hope is that they can not only compact the material more tightly than ever before — improving safety as well as the environmental foot- print — that it will also be able to take a figurative page from any site's history book and learn from it, applying that knowledge to future scenarios. With 43,560 square feet in an acre, that's a lot of information to have available at one's fingertips, and on-demand. One thing the group has already learned using some of this information is the specific role that water percentage has to compaction; it has allowed it to move to- ward the best possible percentages with optimal consistency. Of course, as a coal blend changes, so will that spec for the ash. "It's dynamic, constantly changing," McClung said. "We're consistently looking at that. Moisture is the key." U S T S U B A K I . C O M Total Package ROLLER CHAINS • ENGINEERING CLASS CHAINS • BACKSTOPS • SPROCKETS • CABLE & HOSE CARRIERS • POWER TRANSMISSION PRODUCTS WHY RISK GOING WITH ANY OTHER BRAND? Stack the deck in your favor by choosing Tsubaki chains, sprockets and backstops. U.S. Tsubaki's portfolio of Mining products will provide the reliability and durability required to keep your operation running at its best, even in the harshest conditions. U.S. Tsubaki's leading service and engineering support will design the right solutions for your application, minimizing downtime and saving you money. So be an ACE and go ALL IN with Tsubaki! DEAL YOURSELF A WINNING HAND ©2016 U.S. Tsubaki Power Transmission, LLC All Rights Reserved.