Barney Davis Energy Center, a 670-MW, 2 × 1 combined cycle in Corpus Christi, Tex, is owned by Talen Energy and operated by Consolidated Asset Management Services (CAMS). Plant manager is Gary Clark.
Multiple benefits accrue from gas-chromatograph install
Challenge: Getting accurate gas-quality data to provide real-time gas-flow readings in Btu. Prior to installing the gas chromatograph, plant would have to wait until the end of the month to get a report from the gas supplier. In addition, staff was having to send out a gas sample monthly for analysis to get the gas composition data need to comply with air permit requirements.
Solution. Install a gas chromatograph and integrate it with the plant’s gas-flow transmitters and CEMS.
Results. Once the chromatograph was installed and integrated with the DCS and CEMS, Barney Davis was able to verify its gas supplier’s flow data and provide the CEMS with real-time gas composition data to satisfy air-permit requirements and eliminate having to wait for an end-of-month gas report and gas sample analysis.
Plus, by using this information together with market data received from our QSE we can calculate and analyze the combined cycle’s economic performance on a real-time basis. Plant personnel also are able to better analyze the performance of each gas turbine and the duct-burner performance for each HRSG.
One of the unexpected benefits was the increase in interest by control-room operators in plant efficiency. Now able to see, in real time, the cost of producing a megawatt-hour, they are more interested in reducing operating costs.
Project participant: Robert Lee Garza, operations manager
