Best Practices was introduced as a roundtable in 2019. Topics were varied. First was a fit-up test for first-stage nozzles and transition pieces (TPs) two to three weeks before the outage to avoid surprises.

Other BPs included these:

• • Do a proper repair spec and follow your parts through the shop for best results.

  • Specify a full thermal barrier coating (TBC) for TPs. It will extend part life.

  • Exhaust-gas thermocouple jumpering: Don’t jumper to the adjacent T/C or to the one with the highest or lowest temperature. Use the algorithm in TIL 1524 to calculate the exhaust spread.

  • Check T/Cs during startup for possible problems ahead. If you find a T/C lagging the others by about 100 deg F, and eventually catching up, consider replacement at your next opportunity.

  • Replacement of wheel-space T/Cs can be challenging. Before carefully removing the defective T/C to avoid breakage, use a Sharpie® marker to indicate the proper depth of insertion and mark the replacement T/C accordingly so you know when it’s fully inserted.

  • Parts stocking strategies also generated meaningful discussion.

The sharing of best practices among owner/operators contributes to safer working conditions and increases in unit availability and reliability fleet-wide. The Frame 6 users have been proactive in this regard, contributing their experiences during the annual meetings, in the group’s online forum, and via CCJ’s Best Practices Awards program.

Two innovative entries recognized with awards last year, submitted by steering committee member J C Rawls, Utilities Dept technology engineer at BASF-Geismar, are profiled in this issue. One discusses a home-grown boiler efficiency controller that improves performance through process automation, the second a performance dashboard that tells at a glance if a particular system or piece of equipment is meeting operational expectations.