General Physics Corporation (GP) is pleased to present Performance Knowledge News—a free quarterly newsletter packed with the latest information about General Physics' Power Plant Performance Knowledge™ Series. This series of technical seminars provides power industry professionals with an in-depth understanding of factors that affect power plant availability, capacity, and efficiency.
About GP
General Physics Corporation (GP) provides training, consulting, engineering, and technical services to large multinational companies, nuclear and fossil power companies, the DOD and DOE, and other public sector and government clients worldwide.
GP is an approved professional engineer continuing education provider within the states of Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Montana, and New York. Certificates of completion and Continuing Education Units (CEUs) or Professional Development Hours (PDHs), where applicable, are awarded for both our open enrollment and on-site courses.
Back to top of page
Customer Spotlight Q&A
In this issue, we talk with Mike Kloog, Performance Specialist with Ameren Energy Generating in St. Louis, Missouri. Mike assists Ameren's power plants in improving their performance through monitoring and training.
PKN: "Mike, thanks for taking the time to speak with PK News. Ameren Energy Generating has been very proactive in the performance improvement arena. How has recent training improved performance at your plants?"
MK: "We knew early on that successful knowledge transfer through training was critical to supporting our performance monitoring initiative. Thanks to GP, over 125 operations personnel have participated in Advanced Operator Training."
PKN: "Support from management is important. Did they take part in the training?"
MK: "Yes. We also had GP present Advanced Performance Analysis classes for plant and corporate management, and the feedback was outstanding."
PKN: "With the training complete and the performance monitoring initiative in full swing, what type of improvements have you seen?"
MK: "Well, a lot has happened in the performance monitoring arena this year. Just over one year has elapsed since our first performance monitoring system was brought online. Our program has continued to expand as our knowledge has increased. We are now providing real-time monitoring from our centralized performance monitoring center in Effingham, which provides Emissions, Availability, Chemistry, Dispatch Optimization, and Unit Health monitoring for all the AEG plants. The centralized monitoring has significantly helped us with our reporting needs."
PKN: "How have the plants responded to the training and the performance improvement initiative?"
MK: "Based on the success of the training curriculum, plant personnel have worked very hard to identify and minimize efficiency losses. They have had a lot of successes. Utilizing the performance monitoring system, plant personnel are evolving their operating practices to take optimum advantage of the equipment capabilities. The plant performance and operations team deserve a lot of recognition for their commitment to improving plant performance."
PKN: "Thank you again for your time Mike; we are confident that Ameren's approach to improving power plant performance through a combination of workforce development and equipment health monitoring will result in continued improvement for years to come."
Back to top of page
Performance Knowledge—Condenser Performance
by Joe Nasal and Rich DesJardins
The cost of poor condenser performance can be substantial in terms of increased heat rate and summer time unit deratings; yet the causes of high condenser pressure are not always understood. In this tutorial, we examine the thermodynamic and heat transfer relationships that describe condenser performance and use them to better understand causes of increased condenser pressure.
On the steam side, the heat rejected by the turbine cycle may be quantified as the flow of steam entering the condenser times the difference between the heat (enthalpy) in the exhaust steam and the heat (enthalpy) of the condensate:
Q = Wstm X ( hin - hout )
Where:
Q = Btu/hr of heat rejected
Wstm = lb/hr of turbine exhaust steam flow
hin = Btu/lb of steam in turbine exhaust steam
hout = Btu/lb of condensate in the hotwell
On the cooling water side, the heat rejected by the turbine cycle is absorbed by the condenser cooling water, calculated as the cooling water flow times its specific heat times the cooling water temperature rise:
Q = Wcw X Cp X ( Tcwout - Tcwin )
Where:
Q = Btu/hr of heat rejected
Wcw = lb/hr of cooling water flow
Cp = Specific heat of cooling water
Tcwout = Temperature in cooling water leaving condenser
Tcwin = Temperature of cooling water entering condenser
The heat transferred between the steam side and the cooling water is quantified as the overall heat transfer coefficient (U) times the tube surface area (A) times the log mean temperature difference (LMTD):
Q = U X A X LMTD
For a condenser in equilibrium, the heat transferred (Q) in all three of the above relationships is equal. The practical ramifications of this are shown in the table below. A reduction in cooling water flow increases cooling water outlet temperature. Scale or bio-fouling on the inside of the condenser tubes will increase condenser pressure, but typically has little effect on cooling water temperature rise. Similarly, excessive air in-leakage does not show up in cooling water outlet temperature.
Table courtesy of Technical Publishing Co.
Source: Power Engineering Reprint: "Know Your Condenser..."
To learn more about diagnosing condenser problems, attend our Advanced Performance Analysis seminar.
Joseph R. Nasal, PE: Mr. Nasal is Vice President of Energy Services at GP. Over his 33 year career, Joe has helped thousands of power plant personnel improve plant performance with his practical, hands-on approach.
Richard R. DesJardins, PE: Mr. DesJardins is Director of Performance Engineering Services at GP and for the past 20 years has helped power plants improve their performance through training, testing, and real-time monitoring.
Back to top of page
Upcoming Courses
The following courses are scheduled for 2005:
Advanced Operator Training
- 19 - 23 September 2005 ~ Denver, CO
Advanced Performance Analysis for Power Plant Engineers and Managers
- 13 - 17 June 2005 ~ Buffalo/Niagara Falls, NY **
- 15 - 19 August 2005 ~ Chicago, IL
- 3 - 7 October 2005 ~ Denver, CO
Combined Cycle Power Plant Performance
- 11 - 13 October 2005 ~ Buffalo/Niagara Falls, NY
Fundamentals of Power Plant Performance for Utility Engineers
- 6 - 10 June 2005 ~ Buffalo/Niagara Falls, NY **
- 26 - 30 September 2005 ~ Denver, CO
Register early—seats are limited.
Can't make one of our open enrollment courses? Save time and travel costs by hosting a course on-site. If you have a minimum of 4 participants, GP can personalize a course to fit your plant's specific needs.
Register online at www.gpworldwide.com/fossil_fuel_courses, e-mail us at performanceknowledge@gpworldwide.com, or call 800.803.6737 (716.691.1212 outside the US) for details.
** Anyone who registers and attends one of the courses in June will receive a GP golf shoe bag.
Back to top of page
Trade Shows
Learn more about our courses face-to-face by visiting us at one of the following trade shows:
OSIsoft Users Conference: April 26-29, 2005
Western Galleria Hotel
Houston, TX
Coal-Gen: August 17- 19, 2005
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
San Antonio, TX
Electric Power Generation Association: September 7- 8, 2005
Hershey, PA
EtaPRO™ Users Conference: September 12- 14, 2005
Niagara Falls Conference Center
Niagara Falls, NY
Back to top of page
Discover the 2005 EtaPRO™ Users Conference
Registration begins April 25th!
This year's conference will be held at the new Niagara Falls Conference Center in Niagara Falls, NY (across from the Seneca Niagara Casino). This year we are also offering a brand new format with mini training sessions designed specifically for you. Our training sessions will be based on the tallied responses to our survey. The survey and registration form can be found at www.etapro.com/conference.
Back to top of page
Comments
If you have any questions or comments on any of the material discussed, please contact Katie Zoratti at kzoratti@gpworldwide.com.Back to top of page
