Operate drain valves on different HPSH harps simultaneously, not in sequence, prior to and during hot, pressurized startups. Most operators know it’s important to drain the high-pressure superheater during startup before steam flow is initiated to prevent accumulated water at the bottom of the harps from migrating up some tubes—quenching them and the upper […]
HRSG January O&M tip: Drain valves Read More »
The Air-Cooled Condenser Users Group (ACCUG), established by NV Energy in 2009, has recently publish technical guidance document ACC.02, Guidelines for Finned Tube Cleaning in Air-Cooled Condensers. This document includes fundamental principles, operational factors that can limit efficiency, types of tube fouling, debris removal methods and examples, cleaning frequency, as well as safety and environmental concerns. Following is a overview.
ACC Users Group publishes tube cleaning guidelines Read More »
Last year, NAES Corp, well known to CCJ ONsite readers as a leading third-party plant O&M services provider, acquired Gridforce Energy Management LLC, extending NAES’ services into the transmission and distribution arena. Gridforce’s genesis was at Duke Energy North America (DENA) back in the late 1990s when the industry was driving towards unbridled competition. For almost 20
NAES fills reliability gap at the plant/grid interface Read More »
Richard Walton of SSE (formerly Scottish & Southern Energy plc), spoke to participants in European Technology Development Ltd’s International Conference on Power Plant Operation and Flexibility, London, July 2018, on thermal transients and their impacts throughout the company’s fleet, suggesting more targeted inspections, monthly monitoring and reporting, trending and investigating, and the need for improved industry guidance. Details
Rob Wang of Engineering Analysis Services Ltd (UK), presented on outage planning and life extension of cycling plants at European Technology Development Ltd’s International Conference on Power Plant Operation and Flexibility, London, July 2018. He highlighted both piping system health management and analytical techniques for component life assessment. Piping system details are, perhaps, too often overlooked. Wang reminded participants of
The Air-Cooled Condenser Users Group’s 10th annual meeting (October 2018, Colorado Springs) hosted over 100 participants—more than half users, with first-timers in the majority. The overriding takeaway this year was new information, supported by informative looks into the fundamentals. Such balance expands the benefits of meetings, concludes CCJ Consulting Editor Steve Stultz, who attended the conference for CCJ
Impact of chemistry on ACC performance once again a focal point of user group meeting Read More »
Part 2 of CCJ ONsite’s coverage (access part 1 here) of the Air-Cooled Condenser Users Group’s 10th annual meeting (October 2018, Colorado Springs) by Consulting Editor Steve Stultz focuses on air in-leakage, which increases vacuum and contributes to a loss in thermal performance. Ingress of oxygen and carbon dioxide also can cause problems in the steam/water cycle and
Air in-leakage: ACC performance thief Read More »
Capitalizing on work presented by Xcel Energy at meetings of the HRSG Forum with Bob Anderson, ETD’s Dr Ahmed Shibli and William Moore produced an extensive report for the consultancy’s Group Sponsored Project on drones and robots for powerplant inspection. The highlights of this work were discussed at European Technology Development Ltd’s International Conference on Power Plant Operation and Flexibility, London,
Superstorm Sandy was one of those events which changed most everyone’s thinking on infrastructure reliability, especially in the NYC metropolitan area. But Sandy is only one element in the “perfect storm” which led Montclair (NJ) State Univ (MSU) to add a microgrid to its relatively modern combined heat and power (CHP) system. Other elements include a unique
Resiliency, demand charges drive Montclair State to add microgrid to CHP Read More »
From central to distributed: The inflection point still not clear At the Distributed Energy Conference in Denver, Oct 15-17, 2018, one of the electric-power industry’s top analysts came away with the sense that the “inflection,” marking the point at which investment in distributed assets grows faster than that in centralized assets, hasn’t yet arrived. And
Reflecting on the presentations at the Distributed Energy Conference Read More »
