1. FAST STARTS

• Engine/fuel system/controls/emissions uprates/improvements/enhancements to enable fast starting of existing gas turbines in both simple- and combined-cycle service.
• Improvements/enhancements to enable other grid ancillary services—such as black start, synchronous condenser, etc.

2. NEW SKILLS/WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

• O&M staffing plan (permanent employees) for the next 10 years in terms of numbers, skills development required, etc, for peaking and combined-cycle facilities.
• Training program for single plant or fleet (rotating staff).
• Multi-skills training—e.g., operator/mechanic.
• Specialized training—e.g. controls, cycle chemistry, etc.
• Capturing intelligence.
• Training for simple-cycle facilities running more.
• Finding time for combined-cycle training at high capacity factors.
• Scenario training—e.g., what-if problem solving, how to respond to off-normal and emergency conditions.
• Retraining programs.
• Qualifying employees for advancement.
• Repurposing coal-plant personnel for peaker and combined-cycle duty.

3. WATER MANAGEMENT

Water-use restrictions and higher prices, plus bans in many areas on plant liquid discharges, have placed additional burdens on owner/operators. What are your best practices for such things as:

• Water-use survey and ongoing monitoring.
• Demand reduction—for example, reducing boiler blowdown, raising cycles of concentration.
• Onsite treatment of drains for reuse.
• Treatment and use of municipal and industrial wastewaters for plant makeup.
• Alternative uses for plant wastewater streams.
• Sampling and pretreatment of ground and surface waters.

4. PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS

• Starting reliability.
• Availability.
• Emissions reduction.
• Thermal performance monitoring program.
• Benchmarking.
• Data retention and analysis.
• Diagnostic and analytic tools.
• On-staff or contract service for monitoring.
• Program for identifying/correcting deficiencies; trigger points for action.
• Staff awareness/training.
• Condition-based maintenance program.
• M&D center.

5. PLANT SAFETY PROCEDURES

Goal is to identify successful procedures for assuring compliance with critical safety standards developed by such industry organizations and professional societies as:

• NFPA (56, 70E, 85, 850, etc).
• ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code.
• IEEE.

6. OUTAGE MANAGEMENT

• Planning process.
• Outage safety programs.
• Pitfalls to avoid from previous outages.
• Personnel responsibilities—plant staff, fleet specialists, contractors.
• Improving upon past performance—e.g., reducing outage cost, shortening the schedule.
• Planned-outage strategy—e.g., shut down or run 1 x 1 while working on one GT and HRSG.
• Forced-outage strategy.
• Pre-outage inspection program to fine-tune outage scope.
• Review process for OEM alerts.

7. O&M—GENERATORS, TRANSFORMERS, HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRICAL GEAR

Best practices for:

• Inspection.
• Maintenance.
• Repair.
• Upgrade.
• Safety.

8. O&M—MECHANICAL: MAJOR EQUIPMENT, BALANCE-OF-PLANT

BOP includes condensers, cooling towers, high-energy piping systems, major valves and pumps, water treatment, fuel handling and treatment, plant auxiliaries, etc.

• Inspection.
• Maintenance.
• Repair.
• Upgrade.

9. PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS/M&D CENTERS

Shrinking staffs and inexperienced operators demand new solutions to “watch over” plant systems and equipment for impending problems and to maintain desired levels of availability and reliability. Two such solutions are M&D centers and software packages to warn of developing issues. What best practices can you offer in these areas, among others:

• Vulnerability analysis: How do you determine what’s most likely to cause a forced outage at your plant?
• How do you decide which software packages best meet plant needs?
• How to evaluate the economic value of software packages.
• Staff capabilities/training necessary to successfully implement a software solution.
• How to evaluate in-house versus contract M&D center
• Capabilities required in an in-house M&D center, staffing, communication, decision-making regarding plant shutdown, etc.
• Alternatives to predictive analytics.