7EA users captured one Best of the Best and two Best Practices Awards in the 2019 judging. None of the best practices is frame-specific so they may be of value to owner/operators of other frames as well—especially facilities focusing on performance improvement and safety. Thumbnails of the three plants receiving awards: Investigative process addresses, helps […]
7EA Best Practices: Three plants recognized with 2019 awards Read More »
One of the most important systems in a powerplant is the boiler feedwater (BFW) system, says Henry Kwan of SNC Lavalin Constructors Inc, who has more than a decade of experience in the design of thermal energy systems. When well-designed it can accommodate the wide range of operating conditions required to meet today’s varying power
Cheaper feedwater systems don’t always cost less Read More »
After opening drum doors for inspection, replacing manway gaskets typically calls for plant staff to tighten the manway bolts to a given torque to hold the manway cover in place while the drum is below operating pressure. The seal around the manway is formed when the pressure from the steam inside the drum provides enough
Eliminating the risk of hot-torqueing steam drum doors Read More »
Dogwood Energy Facility, Pleasant Hill, Mo, like many other combined cycles, opens its steam-drum doors on a routine basis to perform internal inspections. While properly aligning and closing the doors at the end of an inspection is a challenge in and of itself, the larger challenges and risks often are associated with making sure the
Checking HRSG drum door gaskets: An open and shut case Read More »
The Power Cycle Chemistry (PCC) working group of the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam participated in the 2019 IAPWS annual meeting in Banff, AB, Canada, Sept 29 – Oct 4, where it announced the availability of several new Technical Guidance Documents (TGDs) and provided updates on the development of others. The
Plant digital systems are not necessarily top of mind when acquisitions are undertaken, reminds Tyler Ward, VP security of Infinite Group Inc (IGI), Rochester, NY. That includes cybersecurity. Organizations are not only inheriting equipment, employees, finances, and practices of the other party—but also the cybersecurity practices (good or bad) and accompanying potential cyber risks. Yet very few
Make sure cybersecurity issues don’t overwhelm an acquisition Read More »
During the 7HA Users Group Conference second day, “GE Day,” high-level managers kicked off the event by proclaiming “significant progress in [corporate] restructuring,” HA technology investment is up in 2019, and “we are moving from financial metrics to operating metrics, and users should feel this going forward.” GE officials shared progress on several issues discussed
GE Day @ 7HAUG: Some permanent solutions in place, other root-cause analyses on-going Read More »
Now in its second year, the 7HA Users Group Conference fosters an open and transparent dialogue among users and the OEM on all aspects of the turbine, so that technical issues can be resolved and best practices shared. Because the 7HA fleet is relatively young, the user group’s steering committee has structured the event to
7HAUG 2019: Progress with centerline issues; non-drive-train topics dominate discussion Read More »
Two recent unrelated field events at separate sites had a common factor: A single point of failure originating in one device out of a redundant set. Together, they offer an opportunity to tighten up start sequences and avoid failures to start, noted Abel Rochwarger, chief engineer, Gas Turbine Controls Corp. The first case involves a
Disparate ‘no starts’ offer chance to review for single points of failure Read More »
How to reduce the time to analyze operating data—and do it remotely Monitoring and diagnostic tools typically allow plant personnel to visualize trends and store historical data for future analysis. Most also provide the capability to create notifications by email, alarms, and perform comparative calculations of current versus expected performance. However, some tools are not
Alstom Best Practices: Chihuahua Read More »
