The 2020 Digital Conference hosted by the 7F Users Group was the first web-based annual meeting conducted by a user group serving owner/operators of gas-turbine-powered simple- and combined-cycle generating plants in the US. Most of nearly 700 registered users believed the 13-day event, conducted over five weeks from June 16 through July 16, exceeded expectations.

Unit trips finally stop at Crete after relocating generator PTs—a 12-yr case history Since 2008, perhaps earlier, Crete Energy Venture, operated by CAMS, had been experiencing generator circuit-breaker trips and grid separation because of PT (potential transformer) fuse failures. Between 2008 and 2009, Unit 1 suffered eight PT fuse-failure events (nine total among the plant’s

Hydrogen purge remote activation helps keep employees safe Hermiston Generating Plant Owned by Perennial Power Holdings and Pacificorp. Operated by Hermiston Operations Co. 500-MW, gas-fired, 2 × 1 7FA-powered combined cycle located in Hermiston, Ore Plant manager: Brad Knight Challenge. Provide an automatic remote means to purge a hydrogen- cooled generator without dispatching employees to

Maintenance, outage file-sharing boosts productivity at four peaking plants Challenges: Downsizing of planning staff created a backlog of outage/maintenance planning and scheduling tasks. Personnel at the Kearny, Burlington, Linden, and Essex peaking sites had to communicate together in real time. Needed a way to consolidate all reference materials, procedures, IPBs, drawings, and schedules for use

Turbine Tip No. 8 from the PAL Solutions Library applies to General Electric 5001N, 5002B, 6001B, 7001B-EA and F, and 9001EA and F gas turbines. It is the work of Dave Lucier and Charlie Pond (deceased) of PAL Turbine Services LLC. Proper operation of compressor variable inlet guide vanes (VIGV) is crucial for those gas

Goal of an integrated powerplant knowledge platform nearly reached Twenty-five years ago, at least one powerplant controls company executive articulated a vision of integrating disparate and siloed software applications into a unified whole, anchored by the distributed control system (DCS). That executive was Robert Yeager, long-time president of Emerson’s Power and Water Solutions. At the

It was only a few years ago that owner/operators of GE E- and F-class gas turbines learned technicians from Advanced Turbine Support LLC could extract or blend shims in the first three compressor stages in-situ—no case removal necessary. That was a big deal because shims found protruding into the compressor air stream during a borescope