Combustion Turbine Power Plant Upgrades Overdue

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A recent feature in Power Engineering that featured several industry experts confirmed what Industrial Info's Power Industry Platform had already concluded: Major upgrades and uprates on combustion turbine power plants built in the early 2000s are long overdue.

Currently, IIR is tracking 28 combustion turbine power plant upgrades or uprates valued at $1.49 billion, as well as 266 major maintenance outages valued at $1.77 billion in North America at natural gas fired simple-cycle and combined-cycle power generation facilities.

Major upgrades and uprates to combustion and steam turbines include advanced gas path (AGP) upgrades, dense pack upgrades and distributed control system (DCS) upgrades.

These projects reflect the foresight of the facility owners and original equipment manufacturers to continue to invest in and improve the efficiency of the equipment in order for a unit to remain viable in an increasingly competitive environment.

The steam turbine dense pack upgrade delivers improved turbine performance by creating the most efficient steam path through stage optimization, advanced aerodynamic design and enhanced seal technology, which, when completed, can significantly improve a plant's profitability and competitiveness and heat rate, while extending the life of the turbine.

The advanced gas path upgrade is implemented to increase output by 6% to 10%, improve unit heat rate, increase availability, reduce maintenance costs, and reduce emissions by using less fuel.

DCS upgrades typically provide superior performance and improve heat rate resulting in significant savings over legacy systems. Also, improved operator interface can enable quicker responses to incidents requiring immediate attention, preventing small problems from escalating into expensive downtime. A new plant DCS, once upgraded, also will have superior cybersecurity measures, which include a high level of application security, access control and auditing to the facility.

Power augmentation upgrades focus on the reduction of temperature before or during compression, such as inlet air fogging systems, which boost power output, reduce NOx emissions and decrease fuel consumption.

These upgrades can be performed in phases to avoid downtime during high load times, especially during the summer and winter months, and to make it more economical for the owner, since these can be capital-intensive projects.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.