7EA Users Group – Combined Cycle Journal

Quail Run: Cooperation on water use benefits both power generator, industrial neighbor

Quail Run Energy Center Owned by Starwood Energy Group Global Operated by NAES Corp 550 MW, two 2 × 1 7EA-powered combined cycles equipped with A10 steam turbines, located in Odessa, Tex Plant manager: Andy Duncan Background. Upon learning that a dig permit had been issued for property close to Quail Run, plant management arranged […]

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How the GT exhaust-thermocouple correction coefficient came to be

7EA Users Group, Controls, Frame 6 / By scottschwieger

LEGACY CONTROLS FORUM, NO. 5 IN A SERIES By Luke Williams, PE, consultant www.geLegacyGasTurbineSupport.com Editor’s note. This article is based on material presented by the author in his training courses on gas- and steam-turbine controls to explain the reason for the algorithm described and how it works. Email clukewilliams@mindspring.com and ask to be notified of

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Damage report on a Mark I SCR static-exciter failure

7EA Users Group, Controls, Frame 6 / By scottschwieger

LEGACY CONTROLS FORUM, NO. 6 IN A SERIES By Luke Williams, PE, consultant www.geLegacyGasTurbineSupport.com An MS7001B gas turbine with Mark I Speedtronic™ controls and SCR static exciter-regulator experienced overcurrent damage to its exciter on a normal startup. Operators think the overexcitation event lasted for several minutes. However, an overexcitation alarm was not received and the

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Protecting MK4, MK5 & EX2000 turbine controls from costly failures

7EA Users Group, 7F Users Group, Frame 6 / By scottschwieger

If you’re managing MK4, MK5, or EX2000 platforms, this Technical Information Post (TIP) from AP4 Group demands your attention (Download here). These “classic” control systems rely on EEPROMs—and in the case of MK5 and EX2000, the U9 chip—to store essential software and configuration data. Failures of these components, increasingly common in systems over 25 years

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ACCUG: Global collaboration drives air-cooled condenser innovation

501 F&G Users Group, 7EA Users Group, 7F Users Group, Advanced GTs, CCUG / By scottschwieger

The 15th annual meeting of the Air-Cooled Condensers Users Group (ACCUG) was held at the University of East London (UK) July 23-25, 2024. Principal content categories were chemistry and corrosion, air-cooled condenser (ACC) design and performance, and system operation and maintenance. The event was chaired by Andy Howell, EPRI; Barry Dooley, Structural Integrity (UK); and

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LTUG25: Advancing Frame 5, 6B and 7E together

7EA Users Group, Frame 6 / By scottschwieger

The Legacy Turbine Users Group (LTUG), part of the Power Users suite of end-user networks, returns this June with its highly anticipated 2025 conference, gathering Frame 7EA, Frame 6B, and Frame 5 owner/operators, OEMs, and independent service providers for four days of collaborative learning, solution sharing, and fleet updates. Held at the Hilton Minneapolis, June

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Legacy Gas Turbines: Main story lines at LTUG24 reveal how to recover after taking a punch

7EA Users Group, Frame 6 / By scottschwieger

To some, here’s the distinction between reliability and resiliency: Reliability is avoiding a punch; Resiliency is recovering as quickly as possible from a punch. Aging assets, such as those with older turbine models, are likely going to take more punches than they avoid because the resources to avoid the punch are devoted to newer, more

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Borescope inspections often more important than ever

7EA Users Group, 7F Users Group, Frame 6 / By scottschwieger

With all the sophisticated gas-turbine inspection technologies available today—including ultrasonic, eddy current array, and phased-array ultrasonic—one might think the borescope had lost a step in status. Nothing could be further from the truth. Borescope capabilities have improved dramatically over time and they put your eyes right into the guts of critical plant equipment—to warn of

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Updating calculations of maintenance intervals, factored hours

7EA Users Group, Frame 6 / By scottschwieger

Legacy Turbine Doctor, No. 4 in a series By Luke Williams, PE, Consultant www.geLegacyGasTurbineSupport.com The first article in Luke Williams’ continuing column, Legacy Turbine Doctor, published last summer (Are your GE B/E-Class hot parts and rotor really near ‘end of life?’), posited that gas-turbine operation at loads less than base would extend the OEM-recommended service

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Controls: Excess-fuel trip logic mitigates explosion potential

7EA Users Group, 7F Users Group, Controls, Frame 6 / By scottschwieger

Legacy Turbine Doctor, No. 3 in a series By Luke Williams, PE, Consultant www.geLegacyGasTurbineSupport.com An MS6001B in Florida experienced a significant failure in 1994 when its stop-ratio valve (SRV) servo failed. On startup, the unit cranked and fired successfully; however, the valve continued to open. The failure was caused by the servo sticking at a

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