This is the second segment of CCJ’s three-part report on PSM’s 2024 Asset Management Conference, conducted at the Westin Beach Resort in Fort Lauderdale, Fla, January 29-February 1. The first segment was published earlier this year, the third installment will appear in CCJ later this year.
The focus here is fourfold:
- FlameSheet™ keeps getting better.
- Benefits of additive manufacturing (AM) in the production of R1 vanes.
- Technical presentations by industry partners on (1) generator field rewinds, (2) impacts of GT upgrades on heat-recovery steam generators (HRSGs), (3) exhaust-frame mods and improvements.
- Shop tour (below).
A focus of the shop tour conducted Feb 1, 2024 as part of PSM’s Silver Anniversary celebration was the company’s FlameSheet™ product. The assembly drawing A is helpful in understanding the nature of parts displayed at the various manned stations on the tour.
In B, Jose Gutierrez, manager of combustion manufacturing engineering, shows components critical to proper air and fuel flow in the FlameSheet assembly—specifically dome, metering plate, and pilot injector. The main injectors and flow sleeve are in C.
Recall from the text that FlameSheet is a “combustor within a combustor” with four fuel circuits—Main 1, Main 2, Pilot, and Pilot tune—to widen the operating envelope and allow for a larger fuel variance. It is characterized by an aerodynamic trapped vortex, creating recirculation zones to provide a wide margin of stability.
FlameSheet’s modular design allows retrofit of components as the product grows. It also enables PSM engineers to properly dial in emissions and dynamics for the best performance in each engine.
Chris Varney, senior technician, flow system services, is in the final stages of FlameSheet assembly in D. Flow tests of individual components, then of the entire combustor, assure the best possible performance in the field. Last step: Inspection prior to packaging E. After crates are built around the combustors, they are shipped to the job site ready to mate to their respective transition pieces.
Mark Zangara, senior engineer, airfoil manufacturing (center) and Greg Vogel, senior engineering manager of technology (left), display new and engine-run 501F R1 vane segments F. The disassembled R1 vane, manufactured using 3D printing technology, is shown prior to coating removal. Its disassembly and inspection, conducted after the first full-service interval, revealed no cracks in the vane, and vane segments were fully repairable.
This stop also showcased the first full-interval GTOP7, including repair of PSM’s first additive manufactured set of hot-gas-path components (R1 vanes).
Shear-wave testing G is used to check for cracks in OEM’s 501F support housings. A cross section, shown on the left in the photo, was beneficial for supporting speaker commentary. The PSM team: Darius Marchal, technical lead, manufacturing engineering of combustion, cases, and rotors; Timothy Hleboski, technical lead, fuel system services; Ryan Griffen, cell lead, fuel system services.
Joshua Eads, technical lead, metrology (x-ray, white light, blue-light scanning, CMM, and faro arm) calibrates portable scanning equipment H that allows PSM to ensure conformity with both repairs and new manufacturing activities. Fixed and portable equipment also is used to support field findings and activities.
Derek Ji, engineering management, coating processes, shows PSM’s new coating booth I, installed in 2023, to add capacity for both new manufacturing and repair processes. Robotic thermal spray booths accommodate bond-coat and top-coat applications. HVOF (high-velocity oxygen fuel) and APS (air plasma spray) are available.
Attendees were told that PSM offers several unique thermal barrier coating applications for both stationary and rotating equipment, developed in concert with the company’s new manufacturing engineered solutions activities.
Eric Rosenlieb, senior technical lead, workshop operations, introduces PSM’s flow lab J to conference participants. Behind the speaker are fixtures for combustion components used to accommodate tight flow tolerances and wheeling of combustion systems.
The M&D Center, last stop on the tour, operates 24/7 along with its sister facility in Houston. M&D Engineers Sanjana Singh and Vojtech Bednar, and M&D Operator Josh Massie, were on hand to discuss the company’s experience in tracking the performance of 52 gas turbines, three steam turbines, and 55 generators.
By James Azar, AP4 Group
While cybersecurity has been inoculated into most everyone who works in critical infrastructure, like the power industry, some may not realize that the threat vectors are shifting from clever hackers to state-sponsored malicious actors.
In 2015 and 2016, Ukrainian power grids targeted by state-sponsored actors suffered widespread power outages. The attacks, attributed to a group linked to the Russian government, exposed broader vulnerabilities within the energy sector’s operational technology (OT) environments.
In 2020, a cyberattack on an Israeli water treatment facility was reportedly carried out by Iranian state-sponsored hackers. The attackers attempted to alter water chlorine levels, posing a significant risk to public health and highlighting the susceptibility of water infrastructure to cyber threats. A similar attack took place at the water plant in Oldsmar, Fla, during a Superbowl weekend in nearby Tampa. Once again, the events exposed vulnerabilities in OT control systems for infrastructure.
As geopolitical tensions continue to rise, so does the sophistication of cyberattacks aimed at critical infrastructure. Because the Russian cyber attack on Ukraine stands as one of the most significant and well-documented examples of a geopolitical cyber-event, much has been learned from it.
How it went down
The coordinated attack targeted three of Ukraine’s regional electricity distribution companies, ultimately affecting approximately 225,000 customers on Christmas Eve:
- Initial compromise. The attackers gained initial access through spear-phishing emails containing malicious Microsoft Office documents. Once the documents were opened, the software installed BlackEnergy malware, a sophisticated tool used for reconnaissance and credential theft.
- Network reconnaissance. After gaining access, the attackers spent several months performing detailed reconnaissance within the IT networks of the power companies. They mapped out the network, identified critical systems, and harvested credentials.
- Credential theft. The attackers stole VPN and remote-access credentials, allowing them to move laterally within the networks and access the OT environments.
- Attack execution. Scada systems were compromised on Dec 23, 2015. The attackers opened circuit breakers at multiple substations, effectively cutting power to the affected regions.
- Destruction of systems. To delay recovery efforts, the attackers deployed KillDisk malware, which wiped the hard drives of key systems, and disabled uninterruptible power supplies, wreaking havoc on the system.
- Denial-of-Service attack. Concurrently, the attackers launched a DoS attack on the call centers of the electricity companies, preventing customers from reporting outages, impairing management’s ability to respond.
General lessons
First, the attack underscored the importance of properly segmenting IT and OT networks to prevent lateral movement by attackers. Although the power industry has been focused on this for many years, there is still much to be done.
Second, the need became evident for robust incident response and disaster recovery plans that include cyber-attack scenarios—including regular drills and coordination with national cybersecurity agencies.
Third, the event drove home the need for continuous monitoring of network traffic to detect and respond to unusual activity and threats before significant damage occurs.
Finally, organizations must invest in regular training and awareness programs so that employees recognize phishing attempts, often the initial attack vector, as in the Ukraine event.
In the US, the mandate given by Congress to CISA (Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency) and DOE, is serving as the playbook to help build resiliency in the energy sector. These and other agencies offer threat intelligence sharing forums to help keep powerplants informed and updated about actual threats and existing attack vectors.
What’s behind it all
The emergence of Cyber Crime as a Service (CaaS) has lowered the entry barrier for committing cyberattacks. CaaS platforms offer various illicit services, from distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks to ransomware deployments. These services can be purchased or rented by individuals with minimal technical knowledge. In effect, cyber-attacks can now be carried out by almost anyone, not just highly skilled hackers.
Regulatory frameworks for cybercrime are outdated and do not address the latest risks and challenges. A new legal framework should specifically address nations that harbor cybercriminals and allow them to operate with impunity. Economic and diplomatic consequences should be built into the framework, hopefully as deterrence.
Collaboration among various sectors and sharing of threat intelligence is crucial. The Electricity Information Security and Analysis Center (E-ISAC), operated by NERC, and InfraGard, a partnership between the FBI and the private sector, both offer robust support for regional infrastructure businesses.
Bad actors know that traditional security measures are often inadequate against such a dynamic threat landscape. They simply are not nimble enough. Advanced threat intelligence and monitoring systems, falling under broad names like network monitoring, IDS (Intrusion Detection Systems) and IPS (Intrusion Prevention Systems) offer continuous, real-time monitoring.
It is well-known that the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices in critical infrastructure has introduced significant risks. IoT devices often serve as entry points for cyber threats because of their frequent lack of robust security measures. Some IoT devices provide no way for the powerplant to make network changes or change default passwords. Others introduce backdoor risks from poor coding and patching mechanisms that require additional network access.
What you can do
When scoping and purchasing IoT devices, ensure that you have the ability to change the default password, patch the device with limited or no downtime, and network and manage the device without having to change network topology. Insist on a full software bill of materials.
Conducting regular audits and penetration testing, and following industry standards and regulations, will help you identify vulnerabilities. Make sure your intrusion detection, anomaly detection, and firewall systems are specifically designed for OT environments.
Cultivate a culture of security awareness among all employees. When the water treatment plant in Oldsmar became a target during Super Bowl weekend, it was one engineer’s awareness that prevented a disaster. Conduct training and drills regularly to ensure that staff are aware of the latest threat vectors and understand and adhere to best practices. Make sure you have a well-documented incident response plan in place and stress-test it regularly.
No one knows your powerplant or business quite like you. Assess your facility’s weaknesses and areas of concerns. Cultivate program champions, reward great behavior, acknowledge the good, and deal with the bad as a team. Everything should be documented and organized in a binder available at multiple locations. Finally, join E-ISAC and InfraGard to gain more insights on how to defend and recognize threats to your business.
James Azar, chief information security officer (CISO) at AP4 Group, has two decades of experience leading information security and engineering teams to solve complex challenges head-on and align technology, security, and privacy to business goals. He is the host of CyberHub podcast, CISO Talk, as well as Goodbye Privacy, a new podcast focusing on privacy concerns. The widely published Azar is a frequent speaker at industry events.
By Vignesh Bala, Vogt Power
Editor’s note: This is the first of three articles exploring the impacts of gas-turbine upgrades on heat-recovery steam generators (HRSGs). It examines the driving factors behind GT upgrades. Part 2 will focus on the concept of “re-rating” the HRSG after its upgrade. Part 3 will address implementing the HRSG mods onsite and the associated planning considerations.
Gas-turbine upgrades are becoming more prevalent due to a confluence of factors. There are three primary drivers behind upgrades. They are: growing demand for power generation, optimization of efficiency and heat rate, and flexibility or low-load operations.
Growing demand. The US experienced little growth in net demand for electricity between 2007 and 2017. Although there was a need for more power, efficiencies resulting from technological improvements accommodated most of the net growth in demand and consumption.
This has changed in the last five years, with the demand for electricity forecasted to expand by more than 4.3% annually over the next eight years (Fig 1). This growth is driven by data centers, cryptocurrency, the expansion of domestic industrialization, and proliferation of electric vehicles. More concisely, the demand for electricity in the form of “final energy” is increasing. By boosting the capacity of existing combined-cycle assets through GT upgrades, companies can increase generation with minimal economical and operational impact.
Increasing efficiency. In deregulated merchant states, power producers are burdened with fuel cost and motivated to find ways to maximize efficiency. Turbine upgrades are a good tool for increasing efficiency while boosting output at affordable cost and with minimal impact to operations. As GT efficiencies and heat rates improve, combined-cycle gas-turbine (CCGT) plants can produce more power at less cost. Fig 2 shows capacity factors have risen significantly since 1990, in part through GT upgrades.
Flexible or low-load operation. Renewable generating resources may cause CCGT plants to cycle (shutdown/restart) multiple times daily. Cycling is an inherently slow process and can increase the fatigue experienced by the unit and its components. Vogt Power’s field experience and customer feedback point to premature cracking and failure of pressure-part components, such as HP drums and superheaters.
To mitigate fatigue, GT upgrade packages are used to allow plants to operate at a very low load. This is a popular choice as operators decide how to best use their equipment to match demand and reduce the time need to ramp the GTs.
Many plants are performing GT upgrades because of the factors discussed above. However, the impacts of GT upgrades on the HRSG and the rest of the combined-cycle plant cannot be ignored because upgrades can result in significant changes in GT exhaust flows and temperatures. A detailed study is required to quantify the impacts of a GT upgrade on the HRSG and balance of plant. Regarding the HRSG, the impacts of GT upgrades can be classified into two categories: pressure parts and non-pressure parts.
Pressure parts impact the feasibility of the upgrade; therefore, this is a primary focus. The associated pressure parts most often affected are these:
- Superheaters and reheaters. The increase in HRSG exhaust temperature can mean higher operating temperatures for tubes and headers, and may exceed the design temperatures of these components. This can occur during low-load operation when exhaust-gas temperatures typically are high and exhaust-gas flows are low. Result: Low steam production at high temperature. This can be problematic because high temperatures increase tube operating temperatures and low steam flows mean less cooling flow to reduce the operating temperature.
- The economizer sections should be analyzed to ensure there is no steaming in them because of the GT upgrades. Steaming can disrupt flow through the economizer sections due to vapor lock. During low-load operation, low water flow through the economizer can cause buoyancy issues. These typically occur in downward passes of the economizer where velocities are very low (less than 2 ft/sec).
Furthermore, during low-load operation there also can be issues with the distribution of water within the header: Water sometimes flows to tubes directly below piping connections instead of being distributed through the header. This can result in some tubes operating with very little or no cooling flow and hence expanding differently than tubes with flow, thereby causing undue stress on tube-to-header welds. - If exhaust flows increase because of a GT upgrade, drum internals must be evaluated to ensure there are sufficient cyclone separators and/or chevrons for steam/moisture separation. Undersized drum internals can result in moisture carryover into the superheater, which can quench and damage the tubes. Note that carryover also can cause undesirable steam-turbine deposits.
If exhaust flows increase significantly because of the GT upgrade, drum retention time also must be evaluated to ensure there is no risk of the evaporators running dry during an upset condition. - The need for attemperation can change significantly if a GT upgrade results in higher exhaust-gas temperatures. Analysis is required to properly size the control valve for the new range of flows. If increased attemperation flow is needed, the type of attemperators in operation (probe versus ring type), as well as downstream straight-length requirements, also must be analyzed to ensure there is no moisture carryover into the downstream superheater tubes (Fig 3).
- Safety relief valves may require replacement if the design pressure of the system is increased and the entire system is “re-rated.” New safety valves also may be necessary if there is a significant increase in steam flow because of the GT upgrade.
GT upgrades often are performed to increase plant capacity or efficiency and these result in increased GT exhaust flows and temperatures which, in turn, increase steam flows. In a sliding-pressure unit, the higher steam flows result in higher pressures. Units with supplementary firing may require limits on the maximum firing rate so the maximum design pressure of the system is not exceeded. While these measures allow implementation of the GT upgrades without needing system re-rates, such firing limits also curtail power production and must be considered when evaluating the total capacity increases of GT upgrades.
Regarding non-pressure parts, the following also could be affected by GT upgrades and should be inspected periodically:
- Liners in the diffuser duct and inlet duct are sometimes damaged after a GT upgrade—especially if there are significant changes in flows or exhaust-gas profiles.
- Distribution grid (a/k/a perforated plate) helps ensure GT exhaust gases are distributed evenly when they reach the HRSG’s heating surfaces and burners, and catalyst. However, a GT upgrade could change the exhaust-gas profile or flow rates, which can damage the grid (Fig 4).
- The temperature of the exhaust stream at the catalyst could change because of a GT upgrade. This could affect catalyst reactivity and should be analyzed.
About the author
Vignesh Bala is VP HRSG Services at Vogt Power, a Babcock Power Inc company. He leads a group providing cutting-edge analysis and retrofit solutions for combined-cycle powerplants to increase capacity and reliability in support of a changing power market. Bala and his team conduct studies, inspections, and turnkey retrofits, and provide parts for HRSGs manufactured by all OEMs.
Bob Anderson, principal, Competitive Power Resources Corp
Bob Anderson joined CPS in 2005, following a 33-year career at Florida Power Corp/Progress Energy (now Duke Energy). The independent consulting firm, based in Palmetto, Fla, focuses on heat-recovery steam generators and their related auxiliaries for combined-cycle and cogen plants.
Recognized globally as an HRSG expert, Anderson has deep experience in powerplant design, operation, and maintenance. His positions at Progress included boiler engineer, steam-turbine engineer, plant manager, and director of gas-turbine major maintenance. As manager of PE’s combined-cycle services section, he was involved in the procurement, design, and O&M of the utility’s CC fleet.
Over the years, Anderson has participated in the installation of thousands of tube-temperature thermocouples in a variety of HRSGs and analysis of the resulting data. His expertise includes the optimization of boiler drain systems and attemperation systems. Plus, he has contributed to the development of startup/shutdown procedures for more than 70 combined-cycle and cogen plants around the globe. Results of his work have been published in many conference papers and the CCJ.
Anderson, chairman of the HRSG Forum (www.HRSGforum.com), is a skilled discussion leader well known both for his technical leadership in combined-cycle seminars and conferences and willingness to share his knowledge with users worldwide.
Nick Bohl, plant manager, St. Charles Energy Center
Nick Bohl as been plant manager at St. Charles, a 2 × 1 7F.05-powered combined cycle, since July 2018. Earlier, he was GM at Cogentrix Energy’s Effingham County Power and held various leadership positions at CAMS from June 2007 to June 2015. He began his career in the energy industry as a technician for Mirant in 2001, migrating to Progress Energy in June 2005 as a production team leader. Bohl’s journey began in the US Marine Corps, where he served as an avionics technician for five years before going to Mirant.
Bohl and his present and former colleagues at St. Charles Energy and Effingham County Power continue share many of their valuable O&M experiences with the industry through CCJ’s ongoing Best Practices program. The two plants have received more Best of the Best awards than any other facility since the program’s inception 20 years ago.
Dr Barry Dooley, senior associate, Structural Integrity Associates (UK)
Barry Dooley, respected worldwide for his encyclopedic knowledge of powerplant materials and chemistry, has served the electric power industry for more than five decades. During that time, he has authored or co-authored more than 300 technical papers.
Dooley organizes and chairs boiler/HRSG and chemistry forums worldwide—including the Australasian Boiler and HRSG Users Group, European HRSG Users Group, Film Forming Substances conferences, and several others.
Prior to joining Structural Integrity, he was a technical executive at EPRI, specializing in cycle chemistry, materials, boilers, HRSGs, and steam turbines. Management of the research organization’s boiler/HRSG tube-failure reduction/cycle-chemistry improvement and FAC programs was one of his responsibilities.
Earlier in his career, Dooley provided cycle chemistry and materials services for Ontario Hydro’s fossil fleet and conducted oxidation research at the UK’s Central Electricity Research Laboratories.
Dooley is well known today for his ongoing work as executive secretary at the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam where he chairs the development of IAPWS Technical Guidance Documents so valuable to powerplant personnel, among others. Access the TGDs at no cost on www.iapws.org.
Sam Graham, plant manager, Tenaska Virginia Generating Station
Sam Graham was promoted from maintenance manager to plant manager at TVGS in fall 2017 with nearly two decades of experience in the power industry. His current responsibilities include facility operations, maintenance, and overall performance to ensure optimal efficiency and compliance with industry standards.
Graham came to Tenaska Virginia Partners in July 2005 after nearly a decade with Edison Mission Energy where his focus was instrumentation and controls. Responsibilities at Edison included maintaining and troubleshooting control systems, ensuring the accurate operation of instrumentation, and contributing to the overall efficiency of the power-generation process.
Graham has been stalwart in advancing and expanding the reach of industry user groups and championing the cause of owner/operators as long-time 7F Users Group steering committee member and instrumental in the development of many of the Power Users Group conferences like the Steam Turbine Users Group and Frame 5 Users Group.
Garry Grimwade, utilities generation technician, Riverside Public Utilities
Garry Grimwade is a seasoned powerplant operator and the only member of the Editorial Advisory Board with extensive aeroderivative O&M experience. He currently volunteers as vice president of the Western Turbine Users Inc, the world’s largest organization of aeroderivative owner/operators, where he holds tremendous responsibility for organizing and managing its extensive technical program.
Grimwade has been with Riverside since May 2011 with responsibilities for an LM2500-powered combined cycle, four LM6000s, and four GE10 engines that include safely starting up and shutting down units, ensuring environmental compliance, maintaining logs and readings, adjusting plant water chemistry, providing safety training, and managing the plant’s self-reporting ORAP® program.
Earlier, Grimwade was a CRO for GE Energy, attached to two 7H-powered single-shaft combined cycles. From August 2007 to January 2010 he was a powerplant operator for Dynegy at a 700-MW merchant facility with natural-gas-fired boilers and steam turbine/generators. His role included ensuring emissions compliance, performing and writing switching orders and LOTO, and troubleshooting faulty equipment.
From July 2003 to August 2007, Grimwade was at Duke Energy and Diamond Generating Corp. After mustering out of the US Navy in March 1999 with four years of experience as an engine mechanic, Grimwade joined the Pacific Gas Turbine Center as a rotor-balance team leader, supervising the overhaul of JT8-D engines.
Jason Makansi, president, Pearl Street
Jason Makansi, chairman of CCJ’s Editorial Advisory Board, founded Pearl Street, an independent consulting firm, in 2001 and continues to serve as the firm’s president. A chemical engineer by education, Makansi has spent the last four decades evaluating the global engineering, business, and regulatory issues governing advanced energy technologies, with a special focus on electricity production and delivery—including energy sources, electricity production, transmission, and distribution, customer-side energy services, and energy storage.
Earlier, he was employed as a process engineer for Heywood Robinson and as a chemical engineer for TVA.
Makansi is recognized worldwide as a thought leader in energy storage, clean-coal utilization technologies; environmental management; emissions control processes and carbon-footprint reduction; diagnostics, automation and information technologies, and knowledge management; powerplant asset optimization, gas-turbine and combined-cycle technologies, sustainable development, and industrial ecology.
A highly skilled communicator in energy technologies—verbal and written—Makansi has authored several books, including two for John Wiley, and hundreds of magazine articles on power generation technologies for CCJ and Power magazine, among others. Other credits include executive director of the Energy Storage Council and Coalition to Advance Renewable Energy through Bulk Storage, founder of Pearl Street Capital, and principal, Pearl Street Liquidity Advisors.
Bobby Noble, senior program manager for gas-turbine R&D, EPRI
Bobby Noble and his research team work on topics involving all aspects of the gas-turbine system, with a focus on combustion dynamics, high-hydrogen and other alternative fuels, next-generation low-NOₓ combustion architectures, and engine health and performance analytics—including digital twins.
Noble, an ASME Fellow with more than 20 years of GT experience, was awarded the 2024 Westinghouse Silver Medal for his work on behalf of the power industry. He holds five patents and has authored/co-authored/edited/co-edited more than 15 journal publications and more than 60 conference publications.
Peter So, project development/management director, Calpine Corp
Pete So currently manages technical development for Calpine projects in the West—including those involving carbon capture. He has been involved in powerplant development, operations, and maintenance for three decades and has a wealth of experience at facilities relying on traditional fossil fuels as well as leading-edge resources and technologies.
So’s efforts have been rewarded with patents in the following areas:
- Inlet bleed heat and power augmentation.
- A method for providing off-gas to a combustion system.
- GT engine controls for minimizing combustion dynamics and emissions.
Among his many professional accomplishments, So led the software development of the first PSM LEC III retrofit on a 501D5 engine. Plus, he was the lead controls engineer for the company’s Humid Air Injection project.
User-group credits include development of user-to-user discussion forums, serving on founding committees of Power Plant Controls User Group and Low Carbon Peer Group, as well as more than a dozen years on the steering committee for the 7F Users Group, where he contributed significantly to the group’s growth and its transition to Power Users (www.powerusers.org), a 501c(6) organization. So remains involved with the not-for-profit organization as treasurer.
SVI DYNAMICS, a division of SVI BREMCO, is a leading supplier of engineered noise control and gas path solutions for industrial sites including power generation and process applications. We design, engineer, and manufacture custom solutions to meet project specific requirements and specifications. It is a fast-paced small business environment that is very rewarding for someone who is self-motivated and is good at multi-tasking.
SVI DYNAMICS is seeking a Proposal Engineer with some previous experience in the sales, scoping, estimating and offering proposals for engineered equipment. Relevant equipment includes turbine exhaust silencers, stacks, ductwork, steam vent silencers, liners, expansion joints, and acoustical barrier systems. The position will support tasks related to the sales and marketing of engineered products and will need to understand acoustical engineering analysis and be able to apply it to customer focused solutions.
Position: Proposal Engineer
Type: Remote position
Travel: ~20% – as needed for customer visits, vendor fairs and EOS meetings
Job Duties:
- Application engineering support for sales by creating product designs, associated drawings, material lists, product cost estimates, and field construction sequences for large-scale silencers, ductwork, exhaust stacks and other equipment at heavy industrial sites
- Support technical marketing efforts for engineered products used at heavy industrial sites including website and direct-to-customer content, industry tradeshow and professional event participation, case- study development,
- Work with the Sales Director to support targeted marketing communications for existing prospects by working with the CRM (Customer Relationship Management system). Help organize targeted customers in the CRM database to further develop prospects and prioritize prospecting For core product line of noise control products, drive proposal efforts for the sales department, coordinating responses directly to the customer. Assisting Director of Acoustical Engineering with site evaluations, technical reports, virtual modeling of customer sites, and noise control product and material selection development
- Field inspection support for heavy industrial equipment including gas turbine simple cycle exhaust systems, Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSG’s) and other gas path systems
- Utilize engineering best practices and six sigma techniques to implement standardized processes across the organization to support growth
Position qualifications include:
- Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering or equivalent
- Experience with acoustical engineering, sound level and vibration measurement equipment, and modeling software (SoundPLAN) a plus
- Proficient with CAD software (preferably SolidWorks and/or AutoCAD) to generate drawings and drafting procedures
- Experience with design of steel ductwork, stacks, and support structures a plus
- Proficient with suite of Microsoft products including Project, Word, Teams, and
Candidates for this position shall be:
- Self-motivated and high energy
- Customer focused with ability to interface in board room or on job site
- Highly organized with good time management skills to prioritize multiple tasks
Please contact Scott Schreeg (219.380.9267 or sschreeg@svi-industrial.com)
The popular keynote duo of Tony Brough, president, Dora Partners & Co, and Mark Axford, Axford Turbine Consultants LLC, kicked off the 33rd annual Western Turbine Users Inc (WTUI) conference with their analysis of the gas turbine (GT) market, players, and key drivers.
Brough began with the rhetorical questions: Are GTs going away? Is the GT market viable? Answers, No, and absolutely. And Brough had the receipts, based on hundreds of conversations with investors, OEMs, and users.
Annual global orders may have fallen 13% in 2023 in megawatts but the number of units was up slightly at 3%. Parsing out aeros from these numbers, Brough noted in his slides that North American aero orders were down 11% in units and 16% in megawatts in 2023. Worldwide, those figures are 5% and 16%, respectively.
Nevertheless, up to $137-billion is expected be spent on new packaged engines (just the engines) over the next 10 years, $22.3-billion for aero units. The forecasted aftermarket value for frames is around double that figure, and 50% higher for aeros. New machine design offerings add to owner/operator choices.
Brough explained that one reason for the inverse relationship between units and capacity is a pause in orders for the largest advanced GTs, like the latest F, G, H, and J designs, as users and OEMs work out technical issues.
The LM2500, which Brough described as a “market-killing machine,” (Fig 1) took 61% of the market between 2018 and 2023, up from its previous five-year share of 53%. For power generation, the machine took a whopping 81% of the past five-year market in the 30-40-MW capacity range. In North America, GE Vernova/Baker Hughes garnered 100% of the aero market and 82% of the global in 2023.
As for other models, the FT8 gets a small share in North America only in the 20-30-MW category, while the Siemens SGT-800 dominates against the LM6000 outside of the US in the 40-100-MW segment. Brough said only five LM6000s were ordered in 2023 (Axford later said eight), although the 2024 outlook is more positive.
Nature abhors a vacuum, but so to do market players eyeing total market dominance by one competitor. Solar Turbines is aiming its new Titan 350 design squarely on GE Vernova’s success with the LM2500. Brough gave a quick comparison of the two machines.
The Titan 350 has a slight advantage in dry-low-NOₓ emissions (9 ppm capability), and the two machines are comparable in efficiency and output. Two big differences are in weight and footprint. The Titan 350 is 50 tons heavier and almost double the footprint of the LM2500. Both these parameters rarely are important except in the oil/gas offshore platform market. Another key difference Brough notes: A user has one repair option for the Titan 350, the OEM, while there are three or four options for the LM2500.
Brough concluded by forecasting that the peaking electricity market will be a huge driver for aeros over the next 10 to 15 years.
Geopolitical instability
Axford then took the stage and mused on geopolitical events impacting the GT market. Topping the list was the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza which, adding to the military volatility in the West Bank and general tensions in the region, could blossom into a full-fledged Middle East war. This has already caused shippers to divert cargo vessels around the tip of Africa, adding 40% to shipping costs. What happens if military activities escalate in the Persian Gulf, Axford posed.
Axford invited his audience to contemplate the impact of blowing up the Nordstream pipeline in September 2022, which used to carry Russian natural gas to Europe. Curiously, all country-level investigations into that event have been closed, according to investigative journalists’ reports.
Nordstream, claims Axford, has become a “dirty word,” and something that, geopolitically, falls under “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Yet since then, the US has displaced Russia as the chief exporter of natural gas (as LNG) to Europe. At the same time, US government regulators have “paused” permits for additional LNG export facilities, part of what Axford and plenty of others call the “war on fossil fuels.”
Axford labeled Nordstream the most important event in global energy markets since the Iraq War in the early 1990s. Even though LNG markets are currently volatile, the market for LNG is expected to rise 50% by 2026, he added.
Artificial stupidity
Joking that he’s glad no one is pushing artificial stupidity as there is enough natural stupidity to last forever, Axford then explained how the need for electricity to power AI data centers is creating huge demand for baseload power. AI data centers run 24/7/365 and the “new breed” isn’t just for storage of data but are “manufacturing sites converting data into intellectual property.”
Utilities serving the AI clusters around Loudon County (Virginia), Chicago, Dallas, and Atlanta, have had to “correct” their load forecasts while economic developers are holding back new AI facilities until power supply catches up with demand. Coal-plant closures are even being delayed to accommodate the need.
“The AI demand spike on electricity is the single most important fact for you to take home,” Axford said, unless you want to be considered naturally stupid. One utility serving the Atlanta area forecasts its summer peak to rise by 40% in 2030, partly because of AI data center growth (Fig 2).
OEM circle dance
The big story with OEMs is the spinoff of Vernova from GE, Axford noted, which was completed Apr 2, 2024. This didn’t seem to affect LM2500 market activity, although the Siemens SGT-800 is “clobbering” the LM6000 overseas. MHI and Siemens are focused on their heavy frame machines; Siemens has had zero orders for aeros, MHI “hardly any sales.” Echoing Brough from earlier, “it was a great year for the LM2500.”
Axford also supported Brough’s comments on the large gas-turbine market. Siemens and MHI were numbers one and two, respectively, for large turbine orders over the last two years. While GE has captured 95% of the aero market, the OEM has “lots of work to do to win back market share” in large units.
Next, Axford offered thumbnails of others in the aero market:
- ProEnergy is selling new LM6000 gensets on a turnkey plant basis (GE Vernova sells only the engine) and is repurposing overhauled CF6-80C2 aircraft engines as the PELM6000, while also manufacturing parts for this machine.
- Wattbridge, a ProEnergy affiliate, owns and operates 50 LM6000 gensets at various plants serving the Houston area. Axford coyly notes that ProEnergy’s service shops overhaul LM2500 and LM6000 machines, “shops not authorized by GE, but by users.”
- Dynamis Power Solutions will sell you a trailer-mounted LM2500 package you can move from site to site, AMP (Accelerated Mobile Power) Solutions will lease same.
- Relevant Power Solutions also sells LM6000 and LM2500 trailer-mounted units (a/k/a TM2500).
A wild card in the market, according to Axford, is Wärtsila, not a GT supplier, by selling a 24-MW reciprocating-engine genset to customers who traditionally buy aeros and have LM6000s. Several of the recent customers for this engine, notes Axford in a slide, are competing in two-minute-start balancing markets.
The envy of the world
The diversity of US power supply is “the envy of the world,” says Axford. In order to keep it that way, Axford suggested that the industry needs to answer the question, “What is the optimal percentage of renewables?” By his account, that number is 30% to 40% if you want to balance the trifecta of reliability, sustainability, and affordability. Says a speaker who, in his opening remarks, likes to joke that “he identifies as a turbine” today, the renewables percentage is already at 26% (solar, wind, hydro).
Although the US is gunning for “net zero by 2050,” he notes that 80% of the world’s population is “not playing a role” countering global climate disruption. For example, in 2022, China approved the addition of 106,000 MW of new coal plants to its grid.
As for a fuel that many expect to play a large role in net zero, Axford asks “why do we even talk about hydrogen?” In his mind, it can’t compete with natural gas. There may be some blending of 10% to 15% H₂ in pipeline gas, and some niche plant projects, but he doesn’t think it will play a significant role in the US. Anyway, electric utilities strongly prefer battery storage paired with renewables to meet the net zero challenge. Perhaps think of hydrogen as the IGCC (integrated coal gasification combined cycle) of the power industry’s future.
EVs: Kong vs Godzilla?
Tesla is the world’s most valuable (by stock-market value) auto manufacturing company, Axford noted, as he delved into his last market-impacting trend, growth in the electric vehicle (EV) market. However, China’s BYD, selling EVs at half the price of Tesla, is closing in and could be the market share leader by the end of the year.
This is important as Tesla is selling to the dwindling “wealthy buyer,” early-adopter market, while BYD is ready to build low-cost manufacturing plants in Mexico to serve North America. Brakes on the market include the observation that “EVs are piling up on dealer lots,” and that EVs have gotten some bad press for performance during winter storms.
While China dominates in processing lithium and has a tight grip on the market for EV batteries, large lithium deposits are being found and developed in the US. “2023 was a great year for grid-scale batteries, the fastest growing segment of the market,” Axford concluded, with Texas and California leading in installations.
Form Energy’s iron-air (reversible rusting technology) long-term battery storage solution, at 100-MWh an order of magnitude larger than current offerings, has attracted orders from at least four major utilities. It is reported to be 90% lower cost than lithium-based options.
A rosy 2024
Axford ended his presentation on an upbeat note, anticipating that US gas-turbine orders will be up by 7% to 10% over 2023 (though not matching 2022’s banner year), largely driven by electricity demand in the AI sector. However, he cautioned that excessive lead times may inhibit follow-up orders.
The Combined Cycle Users Group’s 2024 conference, a major component of Power Users’ end-of-summer meeting portfolio, is now but two months away with the early-bird registration discount terminating in only a month. Consider reserving your seat now at this premier event for gas-turbine owner/operators at www.PowerUsers.org.
CCUG is one of five user groups (also, Generator, Steam Turbine, Power Plant Controls, and Low Carbon) conducting their annual meetings at the Arizona Grand Resort, in Phoenix, August 26–29. Important: The registration fee allows your participation in any user group’s sessions throughout the conference. More important: Each group has its own 3.5 day agenda to guarantee a fruitful learning experience.
Another plus for attendees: All conferences associated with Power Users now offer PDH certificates to help fulfil PE continuing education and/or company training requirements.
The five groups share the vendor fair on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 27 and 28, and the Wednesday evening off-site event sponsored by Diamond Sponsors GE Vernova, MD&A, and Rexroth (a Bosch company).
This year’s program, still in development by one of the industry’s most experienced steering committees (sidebar), will include the following:
- Professional development—Lube oil and lube-oil testing.
- Hot topics—Ammonia system issues (AIG cleaning and tuning), motors/breakers and relays, cold/hot-weather operations, corrosion under insulation, safety-valve testing, vibration analysis and monitoring, powerplant life extension.
- Lessons learned and roundtable discussions—Weather preparedness, improving reliability by way of pre-start checks, forced outages and how to prevent them, results of short cuts for short-term gains.
- Safety discussion topics—JSA/hazard analysis and qualified electrical workers, accident investigations and what to do when OSHA arrives.
Program updates will be posted to www.PowerUsers.org as they become available.
Value proposition. Perhaps the most objective way to illustrate the value of CCUG annual meetings is to review highlights from previous conferences and reflect on the positive impacts they have had on plant operations and maintenance industry-wide. Example: Two broad themes from the 2023 conference were:
- How aging plants adapt to changing, sometimes radically different, operating missions.
- Continuing issues with supply chains—both labor and material—especially in terms of quality of work.
For more than a decade, combined-cycle plants have been following wind and solar with greater load cycling and more starts and stops. Today, many of those plants are cycling more frequently for even shorter periods with as much capacity as they can muster. One reason: The well-worn “duck curve” has become a “canyon,” referring to the changes in dispatch curves where more gas capacity is “in the money” during daytime hours (the canyon floor) compared to five years ago.
But if three of the facilities highlighted in the user-driven presentations last year are representative, some plants are having to adapt to radically changing missions, like being scheduled for shutdown in a few years, but then suddenly being called upon to run for years more—if not one or two decades. This presents obvious challenges in many areas, including safety, obsolescence, staff knowledge, and others.
Even many of the highly efficient H-class machines installed over the last five years or so are not running baseload and are “cycling all over the place,” said an OEM rep who also noted that earlier model gas turbines expected to be retired in 2045 are now having to plan on operating another 20 years.
Engaging with your colleagues in Phoenix two months hence may well provide the best value for your training/travel dollar. You’ll get the details on emerging trends and operational experience first hand from industry leaders in the trenches dealing with challenges you may face in the months ahead.
Supply-chain issues and quality of work continue to dominate discussions at many industry forums. There was a time, when competitive power supply emerged as a counter to regulated-rate-of-return utilities, that industry soothsayers predicted OEMs and/or contract service providers would be responsible for the major plant subsystems—such as the gas turbine, steam turbine, HRSG—while onsite staff was reduced. Although this has been a major trend over the last two decades, it may have run its course.
Several presentations made last year suggest that owner/operators are reasserting responsibilities for onsite work, or at least acknowledging that OEMs and contractors require much greater oversight. Other speakers noted that equipment commissioned recently is failing prematurely, or exhibiting unexpected downtime and repair needs.
A seasoned expert from a major owner/operator reported on implementing a broad fleet-centric borescope inspection strategy for its turbines to respond to “narrow grid margins and cost pressure on “lower priority units.”
A steam-turbine expert for a large fleet of machines concluded that two D11s of similar vintage can exhibit vastly different first- and second-major outage characteristics. Somewhat surprisingly, the unit with 1000 starts and more than 20 years of service required few repairs, while the one with 70+ starts and eight years of operation required significant repairs during its first major. The two units were procured around the same time but one remained in long-term storage for seven years.
In one session on NERC compliance, there appeared to be audience consensus around the statement, “don’t trust the equipment OEM or the control system OEM to do any of this [verify models, capabilities, data, etc] for you.” An expert in a session on severe-service valves noted “make sure your vendor has QA/QC processes you can refer to after the fact.” A presenter on a BOP subsystem replacement noted “major communication issues,” referring to a non-responsive vendor.
Some of the comments in a “generator quality roundtable” echoed these sentiments:
- Experience has dropped over the last decade across the industry.
- One-third of events in 2022 are accounted for by quality issues.
- Cannot rely on contractors: Owners must force accountability.
- Be wary of vendors “preferred by management” which may not be best for the job at hand.
Finally, the conference presented its traditional share of deep discussions in broad areas affecting all plants all the time—like safety and lock-out/tag-out (LOTO), hot and cold weather ops, and regulatory compliance. Plus, unique equipment events and failures which may seem like “one-offs” but offer warnings, guidance, and lessons learned that often can be broadly applied in similar or other situations.
Register today and join your colleagues in Phoenix to continue these discussions and others to gain perspective on current and future issues impacting personnel safety and your plant’s bottom line.
CCUG steering committee, 2024
Brian Fretwell, director of mechanical services, Calpine Corp
Phyllis Gassert, director, asset management, Talen Energy
Steven Hilger, PE, plant manager, Dogwood Energy Facility, NAES Corp
Jason Jauregui, production team lead, Woodbridge Energy Center, CAMS
Aaron Kitzmiller, plant engineer, Fayett Power Plant, Luminant
Robert Mash, plant manager, River Road Generating Plant, GE Power Services
Jonathan Miller, maintenance manager, Arcadia Power Station, CLECO
Marih Salvat de Jesus, operations manager, Tenaska Virginia Generating Station, Tenaska
Ben Stanley, VP operations, Diamond Generating Corp.
The Combined Cycle Users Group annually recognizes industry professionals who have demonstrated excellence throughout their careers in the design, construction, management, operation, and/or maintenance of generating facilities powered by gas turbines with its Individual Achievement Award. Recipients of the 2024 IAA will be announced during the CCUG conference, August 26-29, at the Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix.
More than 20 users and consultants have been recognized since the first awards were conferred in 2013. Recipients over the years include many gas-turbine users familiar to CCJ readers, including: Peter So, Pat Myers, Ray Martens, Harry Carbone, Paul White, Pierre Boehler, Bob Anderson, Wayne Kawamoto, Rick Shackelford, Ed Barndt, Chuck Casey, Jeff Gillis, Mike Hoy, and Kevin Geraghty.
TICA. This year, for the first time, the Turbine Inlet Cooling Assn will recognize, at the CCUG meeting, plants that have demonstrated the successful use of one or more inlet cooling technologies to improve the performance of frame gas turbines—including evap media, fogging, wet compression, chillers (with and without thermal storage), and hybrid systems.
TICA’s Executive Director Dharam (Don) Punwani announces that you can nominate facilities for this award until July 26. Download the nomination form here.
Criteria used for evaluation of nominations include the following:
- Number or turbines using TIC.
- Power increase attributed to the TIC system.
- Percent increase in capacity by TIC.
- Age of TIC installation.
- Noteworthy/innovative details of the TIC system or its use.
The 2023 symposium of the Gas Turbi
ne Energy Network (GTEN), held in October 2023 in Banff, Canada, and reviewed earlier in the year (CCJ No. 77, p 96), included many presentations on hydrogen, proposed as a key fuel for a “net-zero world,” when no additional carbon is being discharged to the atmosphere. GTEN focused on gas turbines for pipelines, petrochemical facilities, and in other industrial settings, in addition to their widespread use in electric power generation.
As illustrated in the summaries below, several of the experts were attuned to the realities of hydrogen as a fuel, especially for non-electric applications, rather than assuming that H₂, as a net-zero strategy, is a fait accompli.
H₂ for Gas Turbines—a Technical Overview, Griffin Beck and Brian Connolly, Southwest Research Institute. Presenters dove into the intricacies of hydrogen combustion versus natural gas and other fuels. The fuel blend percentage and combustion temperature are more important than pressure, they stressed. Additional “prompt NOₓ” (Fig 1) can form from the oxidation of nitrogen in the air (as opposed to the fuel) at the higher combustion temperatures. H₂ can improve flame stability and extend the lean blowout limit compared to NG. But flashback hazards are amplified.
New gas-turbine designs employ micro-mixing nozzles in the combustor to achieve high H₂ blends. However, there are design challenges (Fig 2) in the areas of (1) flashback (flames can back-flow into the fuel lines and injectors), (2) hot spots (poor mixing, high NOₓ, non-uniform heating), (3) large volumes of gas (H₂ requires more oxygen), (4) auto-ignition (H₂ auto-ignites at a wide range of concentrations), and (5) the Joule-Thompson effect (at process temperatures, H₂ heats when expanding).
There are also impacts on the balance of the GT package. For example, combustion products contain more water vapor and heat transfer is higher. Both could introduce new corrosion risks in the hot gas path.
Prerequisites for the Use of Low-Carbon Alternative Fuels in Gas Turbine Power Generation, Antonio Escamilla, ETN Global/University of Seville. Alternative fuel-composition standards—such as for ammonia, biofuels, e-methanol, and others—lag other areas of technology development. These fuels are not primarily produced for use as a fuel in GTs, presenter observed.
Example: Ammonia’s exact composition is not known, so there’s no good design basis for exhaust gases from combustion or interactions with the extremely sensitive alloys used in GTs. Industry needs to address this by developing new testing methodologies and measurement techniques.
Impacts of H₂ Blending on Mainline Natural-Gas Compression, David Campbell, Enbridge. Up to 20% hydrogen blends raise the parasitic power consumption of the compressor by up to 25%. Thus, the GT consumes more fuel to maintain an equivalent amount of natural gas moving through the pipeline, raising the specter of more carbon discharged rather than less. On top of that, a 20% blend in the pipeline drops its energy content by 14.5%.
This is in addition to the equipment impacts (Fig 3) noted elsewhere—such as flashback, auto-ignition, and combustion instability. Presenter suggests that 20% blends in pipelines are probably achievable after review and equipment modifications, but 2.5%, ramping up to 5%, is a good initial goal.
Decarbonizing the Gas Turbine Fleet: Combustion Solutions to Meet Today’s and Future Energy Demands, Hany Rizkalla and Katie Koch, PSM. Company’s “FlameSheet and LEC combustor technologies offer “tri-fuel applications for plant-wide decarbonizing: refinery off gas (to avoid flaring), natural gas, and hydrogen. FlameSheet has now been demonstrated for up to 60% H₂/NG blends and requires “minimal changes” to use the same combustor in multiple GT frames.
How Energy Systems Change: The Energy Transition in North America, David Burns and Brooke Cuming, Enbridge. Company plans to produce and export up to 1.4-million tons annually of so-called blue/green ammonia and other e-fuels by 2028. Hydrogen can be produced via electrolysis using inexpensive (and carbon-free) renewable electricity and stored in pipelines and salt caverns. Presenters note that ammonia has 70% more energy than H₂, an important parameter when considering long-distance transport.
Industrial Gas Turbines in a Decarbonizing Environment, Rainier Kurz and others, Solar Turbines Inc. Presenters introduce concept of a dual-drive package with a gas turbine/electric motor, separated by clutches, to power centrifugal compressors on pipelines. Generator/motor can be used to augment gas-turbine power and produce electricity when compressor is operating at low loads, as well as add a level of security to keep the pipeline operating during electricity outages. In other words, dual drive offers arbitrage (gas and electricity market costs and contract prices) and optimization of emissions, energy sources, and equipment availability.
Practical Oilfield Applications of H₂ Electrolysis, Richard Ens, Alberta H₂, and Mark Kuppe, Acero Engineering Inc. Focus is on the Dynamic Brine Electrolysis (DBE) process to generate and use H₂, and potential advantages over traditional ion-exchange membrane, alkaline electrolysis, or solid oxide electrolysis. Key components are bipolar electrolytic cells relying on induction capacitance, which is said to allow easier plate cleaning and replacement.
Linden Generating Station
Owned by JERA Co (Japan), EGCO Group (Thailand), Development Bank of Japan, and GS EPS
Operated by NAES Corp
972 MW, 5 × 3 7EA-powered 800-MW combined cycle designed to burn natural gas and butane and equipped with three D11 steam turbines, plus a 1 × 0 7FA-powered 172-MW cogen unit (Linden 6) designed to burn natural gas and distillate and later modified to co-fire up to 40% hydrogen. Power station is located adjacent to the Bayway oil refinery in Linden, NJ
Plant manager: Stephen Reinhart
Challenge. Linden Cogen is located on a very small footprint in Linden, NJ. Storm water is collected in one central location—a detention basin under the air-cooled condenser shown in the plant photo above. Given the pond is open to the environment, debris collects in the water, which is pumped into the Arthur Kill, a narrow saltwater channel that separates New Jersey from Staten Island.
To improve the quality of its discharge water, Linden Cogen began periodic cleaning of the detention basin to remove collected debris and organic growth (Fig 1). Manual collection of the detritus with shovels, brooms, and vacuum trucks was expensive and required removal of all the water. Plus, the exposed arrangement of the detention basin limited the site’s ability to perform cleaning activities without consideration for the weather. Precipitation added water to the pond and made cleaning challenging at best.
Solution. To increase cleaning frequency, an in-situ process was developed. It uses a remote-controlled vacuum system to clean the pond (Fig 2).
Results. Use of the in-situ process described for periodic cleaning of the storm-water detention pond improved the quality of water discharged to the Arthur Kill while reducing the cost of cleaning.
An added benefit of the process: Employees and contractors were not exposed to the waste material collected, helping to prevent slip, trip, and dust issues.
Project participants:
Stephen Reinhart, plant manager
Barry Durham, EHS manager
