Progress has been made in making online partial discharge (PD) monitoring technology a viable method for assessing the condition of motor and generator stator-winding insulation. Problems have been identified on many machines and maintenance was possible to slow down or correct the problem before failure occurred. To gain this acceptance, earlier skepticism of the usefulness

Ansaldo/PSM PSM’s four-hour session at the 2019 501F Users Group meeting incorporated presentations on the vendor’s product line, combustion options, airfoils and upgrades, plant optimization, and rotor solutions, as well as other topics. The product portfolio was reviewed first. Highlights included the following: PSM said it can supply all hot-gas-path (HGP) parts for the 501F.

The compressor session that launched the user portion of the 2019 501F meeting touched on several topics of interest to the group, including the following: Complications with the re-installation of outlet guide vanes (OGV) surprised many attendees. The OEM installed the airfoils backwards, something most plant personnel didn’t think was possible. A clue that something

Depending on your plant’s power purchase agreement, adding peak-firing capability to simple- and/or combined-cycle gas turbines can provide significant economic benefit—provided the peak-fire capability is used strategically at times of high demand to avoid unnecessary maintenance. Recall that traditional peak firing increases the firing temperature a fixed, incremental amount above the rated baseload value. This

Tuxpan, home to two 501F-powered 2 × 1 combined cycles operated by NAES Corp in Mexico, is located in a salt air environment containing a great deal of dust from both agricultural and industrial activities in the area. These contaminants present a challenge because plant performance rapidly degrades as the air inlet filters foul. Quarterly,

Costly fogging-pump failures and consequent maintenance repairs had negatively affected Fremont Energy Center’s summer peak season performance and its maintenance budget. Plant personnel realized the need to prevent premature pump failures and avert costly fogging-system downtime. The plant maintenance staff began investigation of multiple issues linked to premature failures of the station’s fogging pumps. In

TransCanada, Klamath Energy’s fuel-gas supplier, installed its control, filtering, and metering station at the plant fence. The piping network on plant property, serving the gas turbines, auxiliary boiler, and plant heaters, was buried, and expensive to inspect. Buried gas lines serving the facility’s 501F-powered 2 × 1 combined cycle had to be inspected every five