7F Users Group

Spending two full days at the DistribuTECH® 2018 Conference & Exposition in San Antonio, Tex, in January, was an opportunity for the editors of GRiDToday and CCJ ONsite to assess progress as the electricity industry “transforms” from centralized to distributed assets with customer service at the core of the enterprise. Or so all the executives […]

Air-cooled condensers (ACCs), like their water-cooled (WCC) cousins, get little respect from plant personnel. These heat exchangers typically are viewed as being of secondary importance compared to the steam turbine/generators they serve. They certainly are not eye candy. The most popular version of the former looks like a huge elevated stage with spindly legs, the

Sharing ideas, and solutions to problems encountered in operating and maintaining powerplants, is why users groups were formed by owner/operators. Talen Energy is a big supporter of these self-help all-volunteer organizations, its personnel actively participating in several—including the Combined Cycle and 501G Users Groups. An idea sure to generate discussion at upcoming meetings comes from

Optimization of the utility production and delivery system at the University of Texas, Austin (UT-Austin) is the poster child for a work in progress. After all, you don’t optimize a 90-year-old powerplant, one with a mix of really old boilers and state-of-the-art gas turbine/HRSGs overnight or even in a few years. It’s also a glimpse

In today’s topsy-turvy world of electric-power generation and delivery anything can happen, and it does. Recall that only a couple of years ago, the OEM with the largest position in the generation sector purchased a major competitor and tried to take by storm the industry’s aftermarket business—worldwide. That might have led some to conclude that

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

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.

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

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

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