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Turbine Tip No. 17 from the PAL solutions library applies to most models of legacy GE gas turbines. Fast starting was a feature offered on some General Electric Package Power Plants (PPP) as a response to electric-utility concerns following the Great Northeast Blackout of 1965. Power companies in the US and Canada became aware very […]

OEMs for the 501F gas turbine are Siemens Energy, Mitsubishi Power, and GE, with highly capable PSM and Doosan Turbomachinery Services half a step behind—between the manufacturers having their nameplates on the engines and the long list of specialty products/services providers serving this fleet. Presentations made by Siemens Energy and Mitsubishi Power personnel at the

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,

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

Doyle Unit 1 is a legacy GE 7B gas turbine with a 64-MVA/14.4-kV, 30-psig hydrogen-cooled generator. A thorough investigation of the engine by Oglethorpe Power Corp engineers revealed degradation of its asphalt insulation and estimated remaining life at less than two years. Several equipment condition and operational performance gaps with the hydrogen cooling system also

The 7F Users Group and CCJ are working together to expand the sharing of best practices and lessons learned among owner/operators of large frame engines. One of the user organization’s objectives is to help members better operate and maintain their plants, and a proactive best practices program supports this goal. Details of the 2020 entries

“Interesting” doesn’t do justice to the generator circuit-breaker failure events described by two utility users at the Combined Cycle Users Group’s 2021 virtual conference, although that’s the word they used. Threatening is more accurate. While the events themselves tend to be unique and site-specific, many readers can relate to the pain, and the “lessons from

You could forgive attendees at the Combined Cycle Users Group (CCUG) 2021 virtual conference if their eyes glazed over looking at slides on how to modify equipment and/or operating sequences to meet changing performance objectives. Several of the presentations could have been half- to full-day seminars by themselves. At the same time, it shows the

The gas turbine/generator, steam turbine/generator, and HRSG get the lion’s share of attention at most user-group meetings, but one hallmark of the Combined Cycle Users Group is a focus on the connecting fluid handling equipment—pumps, valves, piping, ducting, and filters—covered in the presentations summarized below. New challenges for filters. Headlines on the weather of course

During the QA/QC Roundtable at the Combined Cycle Users Group’s 2021 virtual conference, led by steering-committee members Jonathan Miller, maintenance manager at Cleco’s Arcadia Power Station, and Ben Stanley, plant manager of DGC Operations’ CPV Valley Energy Center, the facilitators conducted two polls. When asked if their facility had a formal plan for welding contractor