AX Control, Inc.

2021 AX Control Academic Scholarship Winner

We are pleased to announce Dane Justice IV is the winner of the 2021 AX Control, Inc Academic Scholarship. Dane earned a one-time $1,000 scholarship.

A woman works on her academic scholarship submission. — We appreciate all the hard work put into AX Control Academic Scholarship submissions.

Thank you to everyone who applied for the 2021 scholarship. We received so many excellent and deserving essays. It was a privilege reading through your stories. We wish you all well in your academic progress and in your future endeavors.

Please remember to bookmark the scholarship page so you can apply again in 2022. If you have any questions about the essay subject or scholarship requirements, our scholarship page has all requirements posted. You can also reach out to Muirae Kenney at muirae.kenney@axcontrol.com if you have further questions.

The Navy Improves PLC Cybersecurity

USS Paul Hamilton from the US Navy. The US NAVY used the RHIMES system to update PLC cybersecurity. — USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60) Creative Commons image by MC3 Joshua Scott. ID:070318-N-1635S-005 Service Depicted: Navy Command Shown: CVN 76

In response to the myriad of recent “cyber security” attacks, the United States Navy is developing the Resilient Hull, Mechanical, and Electrical Security (RHIMES) system. This is part of a deterrence initiative to safeguard shipboard mechanical and electrical control systems from hackers.

Combined Cycle Power Plants: FAQs

DS200NATOG3 circuit board from General Electric. This board can be part of a combined cycle power plant's control system. — A DS200NATOG3 circuit board. This board can be used as part of a combined cycle power plant’s control system.

In this short blog post we’ll answer some of the most common questions about combined cycle power plants.

What is a combined cycle plant?

Power plants generate electricity by driving a generator rotor through connected turbines. Power plants use different ways to generate the force to turn turbine blades. A mechanical force from wind or water or energy capture from fuels like coal, diesel, natural gas, and uranium changing states turn the blades.

A combined-cycle plant is a kind of thermal power plant. It uses a combination of two cycles of different energy capture. The first cycle uses natural gas combustion, which drives the generator. The heat from this cycle is used to create steam. The steam is used in the second cycle to produce energy via a steam turbine before the steam condenses back into water.