Combined Conference 2020: CCUG, STUG, GUG

Location: Online
Date: 2020/11/10 - 2020/12/10

The Power Users Group Combined Annual Conference includes Combined Cycle Users Group, Generator Users Group, Steam Turbine Users Group, and Power Plant Controls Users Group will be held online in November/ December. Sign up online!

Save the DATE for MD&A expert’s presentations:

Wednesday Nov 11th 3-3:30pm and then repeat 3:30-4pm- Title: MD&A IBECS® – The Integrated Solution to Power Plant Control and Monitoring
MD&A will present our proprietary IBECS® system which provides a state of the art integrated solution for power plant monitoring. IBECS® is an HMI/SCADA system that integrates with many different platforms and provide a single place to control and monitor the entire powertrain and selected BOP.
Speaker: Mike Broggi
Key takeaways for users:

• A single hardware platform can be used as an HMI, Historian, Remote monitoring unit, and BOP system integration device
• Modern communications protocols ensure that various systems can be brought to one monitoring location with a minimal of infrastructure
• With the multitude of diagnostic software platforms available in the marketplace today, integrating data with sub second accuracy and synchronized time stamps greatly enhances unit monitoring and planning capabilities

Wednesday Dec 2^nd 2-3pm- Live Special Technical STUG Presentation on “Using Turbine Performance to Improve your Maintenance Strategy”
Knowing performance shortfalls and most likely cause of the loss prior to the outage can reduce outage duration and cost.   We will give examples of pre-outage performance test results and what was found during the steam path audit to identify the source of loss. Presentation will cover how to use performance testing and analysis to improve effectiveness of outage maintenance.
Speaker: Jim Miller
Key takeaways:

• Using performance testing and steam path audits as part of a turbine maintenance program can help improve performance and reduce maintenance costs.
• Comparing performance test results to steam path audit results will ensure identification of performance losses.  Case studies will be provided to illustrate this point.
• Repairs should be prioritized based on cost of the repair and the estimated recovery.
• Performance testing and steam path audits help evaluate the internal condition of the turbine, but other factors should also be considered.

Thursday Dec 3rd 3-4pm- Live Special Technical GUG Presentation on “MD&A Generator Findings & Case Studies, and Preparing Generator Rotors for Cyclic Duty”
Recent Generator Findings presentation will include a percentage breakdown of work in the MD&A shop over the last 18 months in addition to case studies defining: why the unit was brought down, the root cause, the applied repair, and if it was planned work or emergent / forced outage work.  Preparing Generator Rotors for Cyclic Duty presentation will include case studies with cycling impacts on generator rotors with actual findings and applied repairs.
Speaker: James Joyce
Key takeaways for users:

• Be thorough in your investigation when a unit is down, and document everything.  Most items can be viewed overtime and will give clues to when a failure will occur.  Review these documents before an upcoming outage so you have a good baseline on where you have been.
• If your unit is down for any length of time utilize a borescope and get your eyes on the machine (if possible) and take note of everything you see.  It never hurts to get additional eyes on your system even if it isn’t a planned outage.
• Regular maintenance of the unit should not be delayed if possible.  A rigorous inspection and maintenance schedule should be followed whenever possible.