Middletown Energy Center Owned by NTE LLC Operated by NAES Corp 475-MW, gas-fired, 1 × 1 M501GAC-powered combined cycle located in Middletown, Ohio Plant manager: Dino Padilha Challenge. Middletown Energy Center faced no operational challenges during its first six months in the PJM market, achieving high reliability during that period. However, it faced freeze-protection […]
Middletown: Plant cold-weather operations Read More »
New Harquahala Generating Co Owned by Talen Energy Operated by NAES Corp 1080-MW, gas-fired, three-unit, 1 × 1 combined cycle located in Tonopah, Ariz Plant manager: Jeff Brady Challenge. The confined spaces at New Harquahala Generating Station were identified and numbered a few years ago. It appeared that during the initial project, the numbering and identification
New Harquahala: Taking confined-space identification to a higher level Read More »
Correcting ammonia permissive reduces emissions on startup Challenge. Several years ago, Athens Generating received a new air permit that placed strict limits on stack emissions during startups. The plant faced significant challenges maintaining the prescribed NOx limits for cold and warm starts. Control logic at the plant dictated that the control valve for the SCR
Athens Best Practices: Reduce startup NOx, emergency lighting, stack dampers Read More »
Dr Ahmed Shibli, managing director, European Technology Development Ltd (ETD), recently contacted Consulting Editor Steve Stultz to invite CCJ’s participation in the upcoming High-Temperature Defect Assessment (HIDA) conference, April 20-22. The virtual meeting will assess the behavior of high-temperature plant components containing defects and operating under steady and/or cyclic load conditions. This is considered by
Defects in high-temperature plant components Read More »
Diaphragms are a hot topic at most conferences where owner/operators gather to discuss issues with their steam turbines, such as the Steam Turbine and Combined Cycle User Groups operating under the Power Users Group umbrella. To get the most from these meetings, it’s important to know the basics of steam-turbine design, the differences among machines
Steam-turbine diaphragm repair strategies Read More »
The first thing to note about the GE presentations is that you’re probably going to want to listen to the recordings, if you’re approved to access them at the OEM’s MyDashboard website. A blizzard of information swept through the virtual room, along with a virtual army of presenters and technical support folks at the ready.
CCUG 2020: Team GE focuses on performance improvement, operational flexibility, upgrades Read More »
The annual conference of the Combined Cycle Users Group is being conducted online for the first time this year. The four-week event, exclusive to owner/operators, began November 10 with a program focused on user experiences and vendor presentations. The latter were limited to 30 minutes each and conducted in two half-hour sessions. Each vendor was
Combined Cycle O&M: CCUG2020, Week One Recap Read More »
The annual conference of the Combined Cycle Users Group (CCUG) was conducted online for the first time in 2020. The presentations summarized below took place during Week 3 of the conference and are available to owner/operators on the Power Users website. Access Week 1 (User presentations) and Week 2 (GE Day) recaps here. More to
CCUG 2020: Focus on Covid best practices, safety, HRSGs, emissions control Read More »
TesTex Inc specializes in electromagnetic non-destructive testing and has developed innovative methods and equipment for combined-cycle HRSG healthcare. Founded in 1987, the company, both multi-industry and global, maintains a focus on heat-recovery steam generators in the challenging combined-cycle world. Its primary mission is fast, accurate, and cost-effective NDT services using pioneering state-of-the-art equipment and expertise.
Finding and fixing HRSG tube leaks before they can grow to the point of requiring an unplanned outage to correct them is a priority of many maintenance managers during annual inspections. Tube-to-header welds are particularly susceptible to cracking and leakage given today’s fast-start/fast-ramp operating practices. There are several tools inspection personnel traditionally have used to
How to quickly inspect for cracking at tube-to-header welds in HRSG Read More »
