A presentation entitled “Does Your Backup System Work—Really?” during Week Three of the Combined Cycle Users Group (CCUG) 2021 virtual conference reminds why user groups can be worth their weight in gold. The presenter, asset manager for a 600-MW, 2 × 1 combined cycle with Siemens 501FD gas turbines and a KN steam turbine/generator, reviewed […]
Non-chemical alternatives control algae in River Road’s cooling tower Five years after COD, Clark Public Utilities’ River Road Generating Plant, operated by GE, was compelled by the Washington Dept of Ecology to eliminate the use of chlorine for biological control in its cooling tower. Instead, the plant was instructed to use bromine. Several years after
2020 Best of the Best: River Road Read More »
A combination of ultrasonic energy, AM radio-frequency waves, and sun shades managed to tame severe algae growth in the cooling tower at River Road Generating Station, according to Operations Manager Justin Hartsoch, GE Gas Power O&M. He told participants in the 2021 conference of the Combined Cycle Users Group (virtual) that algae blooms became a
Minimize growth of ‘non-cash crop’ in your cooling water system Read More »
You’ll want to watch the video below from Bill Kitterman’s “Tube Repair Clinic: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” even if just to see the pictures of the “uglier” and the “ugliest” tube-to-header welds (photos). In true photojournalism fashion, Kitterman, head of Bremco Inc, now part of SVI Industrial, described six different styles of
Weld repair clinic particularly valuable to users with limited HRSG experience Read More »
Since virtually everyone at a cycling plant faces issues with their attemperators (Fig 1), you’ll probably want to know about a unique design retrofitted to several Duke Energy combined cycles, one that uses the existing spray ring. Key to the design is use of HP steam to provide the energy to atomize the spray water
Novel attemperator for HRSG reheater circuits eliminates legacy issues Read More »
Presentations made by MD&A, Shell Lubricant Solutions, ARNOLD Group, and EthosEnergy Group to owner/operators participating in Weeks Three and Four of the virtual STUG2020 conference are summarized below. You can access the recordings and PowerPoints on the Power Users website. MD&A: Using turbine performance to improve your maintenance strategy This presentation by James G Miller,
If you have never attended a STUG event, the summaries of user presentations from Week Three and Four of the 2020 virtual meeting in this issue of CCJ ONsite will encourage your participation in future in-person, live events. The information shared at these forums, vital to your professional development and your plant’s success, is available
It’s not often you get something for nothing, or in this case almost nothing. Pay for an expert review by a couple of top global gas-turbine consultants with man-decades of experience, have them tweak your controls, and you likely can squeeze out a few megawatts and/or efficiency gains from an older gas turbine. No capital
Eke out more performance from your old gas turbine Read More »
Twenty years ago, few people probably thought that a tube cleaning technique for HRSGs attached to gas-fired turbines would be adapted from those used for solid-fuel boilers. Yet that’s where we are today. Carl Wise, Thompson Industrial Services, and Vince Barreto, PowerPlus Cleaning Systems, showed attendees at the HRSG Forum Supplier Workshop, Oct 7, 2021,
Shock waves deep clean HRSGs Read More »
Unlike many user-group events, the 2021 Combined Cycle Conference for the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region began with a primer on combined-cycle facility design, which set the stage for detailed presentations on gas-turbine, steam-cycle, and balance-of-plant upkeep, repair, and upgrade techniques and technologies. Perhaps the only major subsystem omitted was steam/water treatment for maintaining proper
Global suppliers tout upkeep, repair, upgrade solutions for GTs, HRSGs, BOP systems Read More »
