Since its inception, Indianapolis Power and Light (IPL) has always strived to be one of the most environmentally-friendly utilities in the Midwest. It has employed extensive emissions reduction technologies from the time its first power plants were constructed in the 1930s through current construction. Most recently, a $600 million, 10-year multi-pollutant reduction initiative validates that IPL is dedicated to generating power with the least possible impact on the environment.

A component of this initiative involves the shift to wet scrubber technology at the Petersburg, Indiana facility. The chimney serves Unit 3 at the Petersburg Power Station – a station with a generating capacity of 500-megawatts. In 2006, the retrofit was scheduled during an outage. The project involved wall-papering the top 385 feet of the existing liner with alloy C276 plate. Next, the lower 136 feet of the existing liner was demolished and replaced with alloy C276 clad plate. New support beams also were added at the 323 foot elevation to accommodate the changed liner configuration and operating conditions. Additional platforms and platform modifications also were included as part of the project. 

Because this retrofit occurred during a scheduled outage, and access to the chimney was limited because of plant operations, pre-planning was essential to meet the 14-week schedule.