Team-CCJ – Page 3 – Combined Cycle Journal

Handling RCAs with future disputes in mind: More is better!

7F Users Group, Advanced GTs, CCUG / By Team-CCJ

The need to recover quickly from plant equipment failure is often at odds with the patient, methodical steps required to conduct a root cause analysis (RCA) that will be accepted by all parties to a potential dispute among stakeholders down the road. Stakeholders may include plant staff, owner/operator, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), insurance companies, component suppliers, third-party operation and maintenance (O&M) service providers, […]

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Offline diagnostics keep big generators honest

Generator Users Group / By Team-CCJ

At the 2025 CIGRE International Symposium in Montréal, Kinectrics engineers Sunny Gaidhu, Krzysztof Pyc, and Ashfak Shaikh presented a practical message for powerplant owner/operators based on the paper, “Comprehensive Off-line Diagnostic Testing and Visual Inspections for High-Voltage Turbo Generators.” Offline diagnostic testing and visual inspections remain a high-value tool for large turbo generators in combined-cycle service. The paper

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Machine learning for power plant managers

CCUG / By Team-CCJ

Primex is an established provider of mission-critical information for power plant managers. Stewart Nicholson, the founder, believes Primex’s machine learning (ML) technology represents a step-change improvement in timeliness, precision, and confidence over traditional performance information systems. “The service helps managers make better decisions and make them sooner,” he concludes. In their webinar series, viewable here, Primex shares

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Practical fixes to steady HRSG performance

HRSGs / By Team-CCJ

Calls to the CCJ editorial office from Tucker York, SVI Bremco’s acoustical engineering guru, are always welcome. This outage season success story comes from a combined-cycle plant with chronic maintenance issues with the “egg-crate” turning vane weldment located in the HRSG transition duct immediately downstream of its 120-MW gas turbine. Over time, vane and support modifications intended to tame aerodynamic loading led to recurring weld

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CCGT seminar offers practical HRSG training, case studies, tools

HRSGs / By Team-CCJ

Held in Asheville, NC, in January 2025, the Vogt Power Combined Cycle Seminar delivered concentrated HRSG fundamentals, inspection how-tos, and deep technical case studies. End users compared notes with peers, and Babcock Power’s business units were on hand with design, construction, field, and product expertise. The content below highlights what attendees learned and why you should consider attending in February. Session

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In-service tank inspections slash risk, cost, and downtime at GT sites

CCUG / By Team-CCJ

End users have long treated API 653 tank inspections as necessary pain from challenges associated with fuel handling, confined-space entry, outage coordination, and weeks of operational uncertainty. A recent Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Incubatenergy Labs demonstration with Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) shows there’s a safer, faster path: submersible, autonomous robots that perform phased-array UT while tanks stay online. The system, developed by Square

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While new capacity waits in line, 7F upgrades deliver flexibility and output now

7F Users Group / By Team-CCJ

Increasing demand from data centers and extreme weather continues to push utilities and independent producers to find dispatchable megawatts fast. New-build capacity is on order, but lead times stretch years. For owners of GE Vernova 7F units, one of the largest installed gas turbine fleets in the world, the near-term opportunity lies in upgrading the machines already in service. Two recent GE Vernova webinars outline complementary paths: a performance leap

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Automated hydrogen purge cuts outage time, boosts safety (Video)

Generators / By Team-CCJ

Hydrogen remains the cooling medium of choice for large turbine generators because of its superior heat-transfer efficiency and low windage losses. Yet that same efficiency creates a narrow safety margin. During outages or emergencies, operators must replace hydrogen with carbon dioxide and, if necessary, with air before personnel can enter the generator enclosure. Each transition

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Record participation marks banner year for CCJ Best Practices Awards

Best Practices / By Team-CCJ

The COMBINED CYCLE Journal and the steering committees of the industry’s leading users groups—including 7F, 501F, 501G, 7EA, HA, Western Turbine, CCUG, STUG, GUG, PPCUG, Frame 6B, Frame 5, 501D5-D5A, AOG, and V—collaborate to expand the sharing of best practices and lessons learned among owner/operators of large frame and aeroderivative gas turbines. In a banner

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October 21 Webinar: Automating Hydrogen Purge to Maximize Power Plant Safety

Generator Users Group / By Team-CCJ

Tuesday, October 21, 2025 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | (UTC-04:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada) Webinar Agenda Hydrogen can pose significant challenges to owners, operators, and maintenance personnel from the standpoint of safety, risk mitigation, and demands for increased efficiency. As a result, the Generator Hydrogen Auxiliary System demands close attention, with proper maintenance,

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