HRSGs

There’s a new test standard for evaluating the efficiency of HVAC and industrial air filters—Classes G1 to F9. ISO 16890, which completed an 18-month phase-in period in June 2018, is the first uniform filter standard for the world, Jason Tiffany, a product development engineer in the Gas Turbine Systems unit of Donaldson Company Inc, told […]

Managing a powerplant for top performance can be a thankless task. You always seem to be at odds with those controlling the purse strings who don’t fully understand how generating assets work. So you write a business case to illustrate that a better balance sheet would be possible were a given upgrade funded. Sometimes difficult

The Australasian HRSG Users Group (AHUG) celebrates 11 years of service to the industry at the organization’s 2018 meeting at the Brisbane Conference and Exhibition Center, November 11-13. Review the agenda here. Of all the HRSG groups outside the US, AHUG has the second longest history, behind only IMechE in the UK. The shared purpose

The nine Best Practices summarized here conclude CCJ ONsite’s coverage of more than 60 entries in CCJ’s awards program that were recognized by the judges in 2018 for their value to owner/operators of plants powered by gas turbines. Judging of the 2019 entries begins in March. Starting-motor trolley rail increases outage efficiency, safety Florida’s Mulberry

The second workshop conducted at the 2018 meeting of the Australasian Boiler and HRSG Users Group covered the types of corrosion found under insulation (CUI)—galvanic, chloride, acidic, and alkaline-induced—attributed to moisture buildup on the external surfaces of insulated equipment (piping and vessels). If untreated, CUI leads to corrosion and forced or extended outages. Common temperature

A workshop on optimization of steam-turbine bypass systems at the 2018 meeting of the Australasian Boiler and HRSG Users Group, led by Bob Anderson, Competitive Power Resources Corp, covered the arrangement, purpose, and methods for operating and maintaining this equipment. Vibrant discussion followed presentations by Anderson, Justin Goodwin of Emerson/Fisher, Ory Selzer of IMI CCI,

One of the most important systems in a powerplant is the boiler feedwater (BFW) system, says Henry Kwan of SNC Lavalin Constructors Inc, who has more than a decade of experience in the design of thermal energy systems. When well-designed it can accommodate the wide range of operating conditions required to meet today’s varying power

After opening drum doors for inspection, replacing manway gaskets typically calls for plant staff to tighten the manway bolts to a given torque to hold the manway cover in place while the drum is below operating pressure. The seal around the manway is formed when the pressure from the steam inside the drum provides enough

Dogwood Energy Facility, Pleasant Hill, Mo, like many other combined cycles, opens its steam-drum doors on a routine basis to perform internal inspections. While properly aligning and closing the doors at the end of an inspection is a challenge in and of itself, the larger challenges and risks often are associated with making sure the

Many combined-cycle units originally designed for baseload operation are now required to cycle frequently, with still more starts and more rapid ramping over a wider range when in automatic generation control (AGC) mode. As a result, a significant number of heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) failures experienced worldwide have been at least partly attributed to