Jackson Generation

Owned by J-Power USA
Operated by NAES Corp
1200 MW, two 1 ×1 combined cycles powered by Mitsubishi 501JAC gas turbines and SRT40AX steam turbines with HRSGs from John Cockerill, located in Elwood, Ill
Plant manager: Rick Dejonghe

Establishing safety parameters for Jackson’s retention pond

Challenge. When constructing a powerplant, the EPC takes the contract agreed on by the owners and begins to build the facility based on the engineering plans. The retention pond designed by the EPC for Jackson Generation met the specifications required by the contract. However, during the commissioning phase of the project different ideas were proposed to improve existing infrastructure and processes.

While the Jackson Generation team was creating plant rounds and water-chemistry procedures, participants noticed numerous safety/environmental challenges that would need to be addressed when monitoring and testing pond water. Examples included the following:

• How would staff safely retrieve water samples?
• How would staff rescue someone if they fell into the pond?
• How would plant personnel keep wildlife out of the pond?

Solution. To access and remove the pond-discharge manhole cover to verify discharge flow, staff would walk on the sloped foundation liner down to the engineered platform provided. This walkway proved to be a slip hazard, especially during winter operation.

A metal walkway was erected and installed to mitigate slip hazards while performing this task (Fig 1). It provided personnel a solid foundation while verifying flow from the retention pond.

The Jackson team also purchased ladders, which were mounted around the pond boundary (Fig 2). They ensure staff can escape a potential hazard in a safe and immediate manner.

Lastly, the Jackson team equipped the retention-pond fence boundary with safety ropes with permanent grab rings attached (Fig 3). In the event the employee cannot use a ladder, a rescue rope is readily available.

A chain link fence was also installed around the border of the pond to keep wildlife and trespassers out of the area (Fig 4).

Results. The initial walkway to the retention-pond discharge had many hazards. First, the liner would become slick when snow, rain, or dust accumulated on its surface. This made grabbing water samples or checking discharge flow hazardous.

The liner also was black, so during night operation it became difficult to recognize where the engineered platform was without a flashlight. With the walkway installed, the operator now can walk from the gravel to the engineered platform without the need to be on the slick foundation liner.

The safety ropes and ladders make a rapid rescue feasible if a person were to fall in.

Plus, the 7-ft-tall chain-link fence provided a safeguard against encroachment by deer or other trespassers from the neighboring fields.

In sum, staff made it possible to enhance the safety factors around the pond and mitigate the hazards identified.

Project participants:

Corbin Shanklin, Lead control room operator
Entire plant O&M team

Develop your training program during commissioning

Challenge. Constructing and commissioning a powerplant is challenging. Each system goes through several stages—including construction, testing, commissioning, and turn-over to the startup team. All of these are handled by the EPC and its construction/startup crew.

Roadblocks in the process that the startup crew may experience may be aggravating, but they can serve as excellent training exercises for the operators who will take over after commissioning. Jackson Generation’s management understood the importance of this experience and began building the plant’s training program with every evolution witnessed.

Solution. First step: Each operator had to choose one or more systems that he or she would become a “system expert” on. Anytime a system walkdown, test, or vendor was onsite, or commissioning was to be done, the system expert was present, taking notes along the way.

This proactive approach proved more valuable than the traditional classroom training given before turning over the plant to its owners. From the notes taken, many different training tools were developed. SMEs (subject matter experts) used the information gathered to complete one-on-one training and table-top exercises with their peers to share the knowledge gained.

Results. Knowledge operators gained from their commissioning experiences was used to develop the plant’s training program—including operating procedures and troubleshooting tips. Vendors that were onsite participated by helping in the creation of operators’ rounds checks/parameters and preventive-maintenance tasks.

Working hand in hand with the startup crew enabled staff to develop more-detailed procedures for starting, stopping, and troubleshooting equipment than could be produced by using equipment manuals only (Fig 5). Procedures developed incorporated Jackson’s actual valve numbers, photos, and setpoints required for future use. Going a step further, the system experts labeled every pipe, valve, and important piece of equipment in their respective systems.

Next step was for the plant expert to gather every P&ID, system description, equipment manual, and procedure pertaining to a given system and build a so-called system folder—a collection of everything plant personnel would need to operate and maintain their systems. As you might imagine, such a library is invaluable for making decisions. Finally, the P&IDs were marked up by the operators to identify the critical valves and equipment for creating the LOTO points needed for tagging out certain processes (Fig 6).

The end goal of this exercise was to be prepared for any obstacles after the owners took care, custody, and control of the plant. By shadowing the startup crew, the system experts experienced many unusual events. Creating the system-expert folders laid the foundation for the training program future employees would benefit from.

Project participants:

Corbine Shanklin, Lead control room operator
Entire plant O&M team

Fairview Energy Center

Owned by Competitive Power Ventures, Osaka Gas, and DLE
Operated by NAES Corp
1050 MW, gas-fired 2 × 1 7HA.02-powered combined cycle located in Johnstown, Pa
Plant manager: Irvin Holes

Relocating sample cooling panel makes plant safer

Challenge. It didn’t take long for O&M technicians at Fairview Energy Center to realize the difficulties that came with performing routine maintenance tasks on the steam sampling system. This system, which is in a 10 × 30-ft enclosure, is equipped with coolers, filters, flow meters, and analyzers used to monitor the steam quality and drum chemistry of both HRSGs.

The compact space with limited access posed several safety challenges—such as exposure to high temperature and pressure, hot surfaces, and hand traps. Of special concern was the building’s limited egress given the amount of high-pressure/high-temperature piping squeezed into the small sampling-system enclosure. How would one quickly escape in the event of a major steam leak?

In addition to the hazards mentioned, the lack of double isolations on incoming sample lines presented a major hurdle when trying to isolate and lock-out equipment. To prepare for what should have been a simple maintenance task, an extensive LOTO was needed to isolate the entire system to ensure that adequate double-block-and-bleed protection was provided to protect technicians. Occasionally, a plant shutdown was required to adequately isolate the leaking components.

The resulting LOTO consisted of more than 50 isolation points located across various levels of each HRSG that took multiple personnel more than four hours to hang and verify—a daunting task for what should have been a simple maintenance task involving a single set of double-block-and-bleed isolations.

Solution. After talking through options with the sampling-panel manufacturer, it was decided to use an external panel to house the primary coolers and include a set of double-block-and-bleed isolation valves on each incoming sample line.

Moving this hazard to a remote panel located just outside the sample room (Fig 1) would eliminate the need to bring high-pressure/high-temperature fluid into the congested sampling room.

The insulated enclosure was equipped with two roll-up access doors and an electric heater for freeze protection. This option allowed locating the new panel close to the existing sample-line penetrations through the fixed enclosure, making for a quick and easy transition and allow the job scope to fit within the allotted outage window.

Results. With the primary coolers now located outside the sampling room, the temperature and pressure of samples entering the original enclosure are greatly reduced, thereby minimizing the risk to the technicians who routinely perform maintenance and take chemistry samples. The noticeably lower ambient temperature inside the enclosure provides a more favorable environment for the analyzers with the added benefit of reducing the burden on the HVAC system and giving the system a larger design margin.

The space freed-up by relocating the primary coolers has provided a much safer access to the secondary coolers and inline filters still located inside the original sample enclosure, lessening the potential for hands to get trapped and minimizing pinch points. Access to the double-block-and-bleed isolation valves in the external panel (Fig 2) has made isolating the system for repairs much safer and less time-consuming, resulting in less down time for the plant and minimizing the number of man hours involved in the LOTO process, without sacrificing the safety of technicians.

Project participants:

Phil Christopher, I&E technician (NAES)
Scott Misiura, O&M technician (NAES)
Jim Amos, O&M technician (NAES)
Curtis Speer, lead CRO (NAES)
Engineering team: Jeff Lellock (NAES) and CPV’s Joe Michienzi and Preston Patterson

Signage to assist plant visitors, emergency personnel

Challenge. At Fairview Energy Center’s main entrance, visitors are greeted by the control room operator (CRO) via an intercom system. Visitor verification and purpose confirmed, guests are directed to the location required. It can be challenging for the CRO to describe routes and landmarks around the plant, especially to first-time or infrequent visitors. This burden on the operator is compounded during outages and times of high-volume traffic, and magnified during an emergency situation.

Following a recent sitewide emergency drill with local emergency response teams, the suggestion was made to add signage to the plant to help in the coordination of emergency responders. The recently commissioned site had no efficient means for directing responders to the proper location or effectively identifying hazardous situations or hazardous areas within the plant.

Solution. Several factors were considered when developing routes around the plant, such as which visitors most often needed guidance, and what locations were most frequented or most difficult to direct someone to. After deliberation, three of the most common routes were mapped out in color-coded fashion: Green arrows direct traffic to the main administration building’s visitor parking lot, blue arrows direct contractors to a designated contractor parking area, and orange arrows direct chemical deliveries to the chemical unloading area (Fig 3).

Additionally, areas presenting a flammable hazard are identified to warn drivers against prolonged engine idling and prohibit contractors from performing any type of hot work without a permit (Fig 4).

Results. Directional arrows and signs for each route’s destination were procured and installed along the plant’s roads (Fig 5). The signs chosen are of high-quality aluminum with a reflective surface suitable for roadway use, and visible at night. Existing lighting poles and structural columns were used as the mounting point for most signs to avoid additional posts and to maintain a cleaner look. All signs were positioned at a height which would easily be visible to drivers in personal and commercial vehicles.

This project has been an excellent aid to the CRO when giving directions to visitors at the main entrance. By instructing each visitor to simply follow the green, orange, or blue arrows to their respective destinations, the time devoted to gate communication has been greatly reduced. The well-marked and simplified routes make it easier for drivers to locate different areas of the plant, prevent miscommunication over the intercom, and negate the need to remember any potentially confusing directions after entering the plant.

Project participants:

Joe Naugle, CRO (NAES)
Greg Kilgore, CRO (NAES)
Joel Wantiez, CRO (NAES)
Shawn Simmers, EHS coordinator (NAES)

Energía del Valle de México II (EVM II)

Owned by EVM Energía del Valle de México Generador SAPI de CV
Operated by NAES Corp
850-MW, 2 × 1 combined cycle powered by 7HA.02 gas turbines, located in Axapusco, state of México, México. Site conditions limit GT rated ISO output of 384 MW to 275 MW in baseload service
Plant manager: Javier Badillo

Mix demin, service water to improve evap-cooler performance

Challenge. EVM II’s filter houses are equipped with evaporative coolers designed for service water consistent with vendor specifications. During the first year of operation, the evap-cooler media was encrusted with foulant because of water-quality issues. Result: The gas turbines lost power and efficiency. Media that had a lifetime expectation of around three years required replacement in year one. Cost estimate for new media for both evap coolers was about $250,000, plus outage time and the cost of replacement.

Solution. Determine the best option for improving water quality, keeping project cost and safety in mind. The approved plan was to mix 80% demineralized water produced by the plant’s existing water-treatment system, and 20% service water, thereby increasing the cycles of concentration and reducing water consumption.

The new evaporative-cooling system consists of the following: HMI, PLC, control valves, and instruments with interlock of temperature and level. It is controlled by the DCS for each gas turbine.

During commissioning, the O&M staff was trained to understand how the new system works and how to troubleshoot problems to maintain high evap-cooler availability. Development of maintenance and chemical-analysis procedures were part of the program to maintain good control of water condition using the HMIs.

Results. The lifetime expectation for the new media is three to four years based on performing the maintenance procedures and conducting the required chemical analyses online twice monthly. The new system and operational plan boost power output by 15 MW per engine (Fig 1).

Equipment cost for both evaporative-cooler systems was $314,000. To his must be added the cost of demineralized water and the loss of generation for the week to install the new equipment. Evap-cooler water rejected after achieving the desired cycles of concentration, is sent to the plant’s zero-liquid-discharge (ZLD) system.

Project participant:

Carlos Moreno, plant engineer

Integrating hydrogen leak detection on generators

Challenge. Each of EVM II’s gas and steam turbines is coupled to a GE hydrogen-cooled Model H53 generator. The high-purity H₂ required by this equipment means the machines are constantly venting and adding hydrogen to assure purity. Nothing was provided by the EPC to detect H₂ at connections, cylinders, and the generator hydrogen-supply pipeline. Safety and H₂ consumption were ongoing concerns. Plus, the O&M staff had no procedure for safety training, nor a PM for detection of hydrogen leaks in the supply pipeline.

Solution. Conduct an industry review to identify the best methods for reducing hydrogen loss and promoting a higher degree of safety.

Example 1: Install H₂ detectors/transmitters in the generator enclosure and behind the generator, complementing those with visual means and audible alarm, to facilitate detection of a hydrogen leak by the O&M staff.

Example 2: Develop a safety procedure, “EVM2-SEG-023, Inspeccion de Fugas de Hidrogeno,” and a checklist of inspections to do weekly in the various areas and zones, enabling O&M staff to track leaks and generate corrective work orders.

Example 3: Install hydrogen-detection tape at every pipeline, tubing, and hydrogen-analyzer connection to visually identify a leak, if present.

With PM safety procedures, hydrogen HazGas detectors/transmitters (Fig 2), and H₂ detection tape (Fig 3), staff and facilities have triple redundancy to easy leak detection.

Results. A diagram was developed, enabling staff to understand easily the way H₂ leaks are identified and reported, thereby making the plant a safer facility. Today, O&M personnel are more comfortable about safety because they have many ways to detect hydrogen leaks.

Cost of the equipment—including HazGas detectors/transmitters, detection tape, etc—was only around $5000. Plant’s safety program now includes H₂ leak detection and emergency-situations training for staff. All of the equipment required was installed, commissioned, and implemented by plant personnel, as directed by the plant engineer.

Plant participant:

Carlos Moreno, plant engineer

Hydrogen generator mitigates gas-supply challenges

Challenge. As noted in the previous best practice, the H53 GE generators serving EVM II’s gas and steam turbines are cooled by hydrogen with a high purity requirement. The cost of constantly venting and replacing gas to maintain its purity is significant. Important to note is that the as-built plant was not equipped to produce hydrogen onsite, making it necessary to buy gas on the open market and rent the cylinders to maintain coolant pressure and purity for each generator.

Recall from the previous best practice that EVM II did not have a system for detecting hydrogen leaks at piping/tubing connections, cylinders, and the H₂ supply pipeline—a concern regarding the safety of personnel and facilities.

In the event of a generator emergency—such as a trip or maintenance call-out—requiring the venting of hydrogen there were two major concerns: safety and the immediate need for a large quantity of the generator coolant.

Solution. Select equipment for producing hydrogen onsite by electrolysis of demin water and then drying and purifying the product gases. To integrate this system, EVM II required only a source of demin water and instrument air—both already available in sufficient quantity to support the production hydrogen required. The H₂ detector/transmitter in Fig 2 allows operators to detect any leaks that might occur.

Installation of two hydrogen generators (Fig 4) to serve the plant increase the reliability of electric supply—important given EVM II’s close proximity to a major city.

Results. Cost of the hydrogen generators was about $260,000; upgrade of support facilities—such as for demin-water production, compressed air, and electric power—was not required. O&M personnel were trained on the new equipment and did the installation and commissioning under the watchful eye of the plant engineer.

System payback is estimated at five years. A cumulative cost saving of more than $400,000 is expected by the time the project reaches its 10^th anniversary. Expected lifetime of the hydrogen generators is 20 years.

Plant participant:

Carlos Moreno, plant engineer

CPV Towantic Energy Center

Owned by Competitive Power Ventures
Operated by NAES Corp
805-MW, gas-fired 2 × 1 7HA.01-powered combined cycle is equipped with DLN2.6+ AFS combustion systems, located in Oxford, Conn.
Plant manager: Larry Hawk

Reducing nuisance alarms

Challenge. Since commissioning, CPV Towantic personnel have identified an abundance of nuisance alarms, as well as other alarms whose priorities were improperly identified.

Primary concern was that there were several Priority-1 alarms that weren’t as serious to Towantic operation as they were indicating. There also were alarms with priority locations that were easy to miss on the busy alarm screen and needed some sort of audible sound that wasn’t available. This resulted in an increase of alarms, making it difficult to identify when action was needed, while nuisance alarms may have been given more attention.

Solution. First step in resolving the issue was to export all alarm-system points to Excel and begin the process of identification and remediation. There were 9490 points that had to be sorted through, verified, and prioritized.

Management divided the project among the plant’s five control room operators with help from the lead CRO in reviewing the points and making changes/comments on the revised priority levels.

On the first run-through, the CROs identified 706 alarms that would benefit by changing their priority levels to reduce the number of nuisance alarms, and by making some low-priority alarms a higher priority. There was a large number of alarms that the CROs wanted audible alarms for, but they didn’t necessarily meet the plant’s Priority-1 definition.

Solution was to create a secondary audible sound for Priority-2 alarms, different from the Priority-1 tone, to help get the attention of operators and enable them respond appropriately without causing a nuisance.

Having a second audible alarm, Towantic was able to reduce the number of alarms earmarked for a priority change to 196. The operations manager and plant engineer compiled the final changes and during the spring 2022 outage, staff programmed a Priority-2 audible and changed the priority of 196 alarms.

Screen shots of an alarm workbook page and an alarm screen were provided with the entry but their resolutions in print were too poor for publication.

Results. Though alarms still are received in the control room, their organization, frequency, and urgency are better defined and appropriate for helping the CROs respond effectively. The changes also give the CROs confidence that they can take action and understand the true plant condition when issues arise—this while avoiding the stress of a nuisance alarm taking them away from other important duties.

While the bulk of the proposed changes have been made, plant personnel continue their remediation efforts in reducing nuisance alarms and making the alarm system more effective.

Project participants:

Ryan Earnheart, lead control room operator
Stosh Kozloski, control room operator
James Murray, control room operator
Michael Gilbert, control room operator
Jason Johnson, control room operator
Brandon Martin, control room operator

In-house fabrication of critical turbine transmitter enclosures

Challenge. The OEM-supplied turbine enclosures at this outdoor facility left critical gas-turbine transmitters exposed to ambient conditions without heat tracing, weather guarding, or insulation.

Towantic experienced trips attributed to instrumentation freeze-up and quickly put in place a foam-board insulation “stop gap” to help protect the transmitters (Fig 1). Temporary heat tracing also was installed as part of this impromptu freeze-protection effort. Insulation and heat tracing addressed most concerns, but equipment still was susceptible to the colder “polar vortex” days that the site might experience.

Several other improvements also were proposed and implemented to mitigate the effects of cold weather—such as capturing heat radiated from gas-turbine lube-oil lines (Fig 2).

Solution. Plant personnel wanted a more-permanent freeze-protection solution and invited several vendors to walk down the gas-turbine enclosures and share their expertise. But staff soon realized that an ideal solution was not available on the market, or at least for reasonable cost. Internal discussions resulted in a custom-designed, fabricated, and installed set of enclosures proposed by Plant Mechanic Brian Kennedy.

Having previously completed similar projects, Kennedy explained his design and provided a list of materials and tools needed to complete the project. The three-sided enclosures installed are of a shelled design consisting of 16-gauge, Type-304 stainless-steel inner and outer shell walls with a high-temperature polyisocyanurate insulation embedded between them (Fig 3).

The stainless-steel walls were bent using purchased tooling and insulation was placed between the walls and stitch-welded along the seam to create an effective weather-tight barrier. The new enclosures also feature weather-sealed double doors of the same design for access to the transmitters and self-regulated heaters (Fig 4) specified and installed by IC&E Technician Matthew Trafficante. This design also allowed field fabrication for bulkhead penetrations and installation to be done without interrupting generation. The enclosures require no painting or maintenance.

Finally, the ambient indications available on the transmitters protected by these new enclosures were added to the DCS screens in the control room, thereby allowing remote monitoring (Fig 5). An alarm alerts the CRO when further attention is needed—such as when a heater fails.

Results. Towantic has eliminated, or severely reduced, the possibility of lost generation and equipment damage caused by transmitter freeze-up and other weather-related complications. Enclosures were installed for the cost of materials only (Fig 6) while the units were online (no downtime required). This amounts to a six-figure saving compared to the alternative of contracting out the project to a third party.

Project participants:

Brian Kennedy, plant mechanic
Matthew Traficante, IC&E technician

Capital improvements to plant infrastructure focus on personnel safety

Challenge. Final plant design/construction upon turnover to the Towantic O&M team lacked capital infrastructure platforms, ladders, enclosures, etc. This required the erection of scaffolding to serve as “temporary” enclosures and platforms to perform routine plant operations.

While not ideal with respect to performance and safety, scaffolding also is costly to retain onsite and maintain its certification. Plant personnel have been very careful working around the temporary scaffolding and there have been no injuries or OSHA recordables since commissioning. However, the possibility remains.

Solution. Plant management and Towantic’s owners developed a prioritized capital improvements list to address the lack of infrastructure and the safety/operational concerns it creates. Owners have set aside money for capital investments every year since commissioning to complete permanent projects for safer and more reliable operations. Management works through the agreed upon capital-improvements list, completing projects through a prioritized and fiscally responsible program annually.

This list includes 27 identified areas that could benefit from capital improvements; the list is a living document undergoing continual updating both by the owners and plant management. To date, a dozen of the 27 areas identified for capital investments have been addressed.

Thumbnails of several projects completed through calendar year 2022 are described in Figs 7-12.

Results. CPV Towantic has eliminated safety concerns through engineering and installation of permanent structures, while simultaneously improving O&M reliability. This initiative continues as areas recommended for improvement are identified.

Project participants:

All plant O&M personnel

Cape Canaveral Next Generation Clean Energy Center 

Owned and operated by Florida Power & Light (FPL)
1200 MW, 3 × 1 combined cycle powered by Siemens SGT6-8000H gas turbines, located in Brevard County, Fla
Plant manager: Chris Mabou

Challenge. In Florida, the supply of natural gas through pipelines can be limited during severe weather events, such as hurricanes. Thus, it is imperative that powerplants in the state have the ability to start and operate on alternative fuels—such as oil. FPL owns and operates three 3 × 1 H-class combined-cycle plants in Florida and was experiencing lower starting reliability on fuel oil compared to natural gas.

Solution. Plant’s approach was to initiate ignition on a small amount of natural gas and then switch to fuel oil early in the ramp-up sequence. At the time this entry was submitted, FPL’s advanced-gas-turbine plants were being equipped with dedicated natural-gas storage tanks to assist in fuel-oil startup. Bear in mind that, in addition to the storage tanks, additional valves and piping, and logic modifications, also were needed to connect to the existing system.

Results. The solution described had been implemented on five gas turbines—including the three at Cape Canaveral—at the time this entry was submitted to CCJ and had demonstrated multiple successful starts. More specifically, reliability on fuel-oil starts improved to greater than 95% on some units since January 2023. Fleet average reliability was greater than 81% and expected to improve when all units are implemented.

Project participants:

Chris Mabou, plant manager
Tobias Augsten, principal engineer, FPL gas-turbine fleet team