HRSGs

A special report by Consulting Editor Steve Stultz based on information shared at the HRSG Forum with Bob Anderson The 2018 HRSG Forum with Bob Anderson, held in Houston, March 5-7, like its predecessor in Charlotte, captured the topics of immediate interest to HRSG experts and combined-cycle system owner/operators. There were spirited discussions before, during, […]

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

Powerplant work can be a humbling experience. It seems that once you begin feeling overly comfortable about how well your facility is running, something unexpected occurs and snaps you back to reality. You can blame the “bad luck” on the gremlins, but more likely the cause was human error. Consider the following experience at a

Jeff Bause, Noxco’s CEO, opened the webinar by explaining to turbine users how his company is raising an industry bar with the first LTSA (long-term service agreement) for emissions compliance. He said that by removing the burden and responsibility for protecting and managing complex systems from owner/operators, Noxco delivers performance, predictability, cash flow, and 100%

Metal temperature is, perhaps, the variable most affecting the service lives of superheaters and reheaters. Long-term overheating of these components can result in failures necessitating multi-million-dollar repairs, based on the experience of Bryan Craig, PE, and his colleagues at HRST Inc. There is an upward trend for overheating failures in the industry, and many HRSGs

To address trim erosion on HP-bypass pressure control valves (PCV), HRSG Forum’s Bob Anderson (see previous article) put together a panel of experts—including Ory Selzer, IMI/CCI; Justin Goodwin, Fisher Valve; Vasileios Kalos, GE Gas Power; and Consultant Joe Schroeder. The erosion occurs when high-pressure steam entrains water droplets (not to be confused with saturated steam)

This year’s annual HRSG Forum with Bob Anderson is taking place online in monthly installments. If the first, held May 3, 2021, is any indication, you won’t want to miss any of the upcoming sessions. Follow CCJ ONsite for announcements of session content, dates, and times, and registration link. Invited participants are powerplant owner/operators and

During the Siemens Executive Cybersecurity Forum for Electric Power, held virtually June 17, 2021, Manny Cancel, senior VP, North American Electric Reliability Corp (NERC), encouraged electric-power industry stakeholders to share information on cybersecurity threats, vulnerabilities, and experiences through NERC’s E-ISAC (Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center) platform. Cybersecurity alphabet soup is thick enough, and it’s

The High-temperature Defect Assessment conference has drawn international participation since its inception in April 1998. HIDA began as a European Commission and industry supported research project aimed at unifying defect-assessment procedures validated on materials of interest to high-temperature processes—primarily power generation. HIDA continues to meet periodically in response to industry developments and with a strategic

Bill Gretta, principal, SCR Solutions LLC, presented two case studies at a recent HRSG Forum virtual session, in which a unique field test method combined with sophisticated CFD analysis suggested modifications for improving distribution of ammonia through the SCR catalyst modules to improve NOx reduction and ammonia slip. Old units, and many new ones, are