Power Plant Performance Engineering
Remote Monitoring & Diagnostics Center
Power generating plants face numerous challenges in today’s volatile market:
rising fuel costs, increased environmental regulation, difficulty attracting qualified
technical personnel, and “brain drain” due to an aging workforce.
Many plants have found a way to address these issues by utilizing GP’s technology
solutions such as EtaPRO™ Performance Monitoring
and Optimization System and
GPiLEARN™ web-based training.
Access the experts who revolutionized plant performance.
For access to GP’s performance experts on an on-going basis, our Monitoring
and Diagnostics Center, located in Amherst, New York, provides remote monitoring
and notification services to power plants using the latest EtaPRO and
VirtualPlant™ technologies. GP can provide monitoring
and diagnostic services in support of individual plants, as well as augment central
monitoring staffs.
By subscribing to the Monitoring and Diagnostics (M&D) Center you will be able
to:
- Gain fleet-wide, near real-time information and alerts when opportunities arise
to improve plant capacity and efficiency.
- Utilize existing resources more effectively by using technology-based tools to
provide targeted improvement opportunities.
- Maximize return-on-investment from your EtaPRO system.
Track KPI through GP’s comprehensive monitoring process.
Prior to adding a generating unit to the monitoring center, an initial setup and
initialization process is followed to establish key performance indicators (KPI’s)
in EtaPRO. KPI’s are then routinely monitored by GP to detect process changes.
GP’s EPWatch™ is a web-based application that receives hourly process
updates from the plant’s EtaPRO server. This information is displayed for
all units. An example KPI would be the ratio of first stage pressure-based throttle
flow and feedwater flow-based throttle flow. Changes in this ratio can indicate
any number of things, such as a change in the HP steam path (deposits, SPE, peening,
etc.), boiler tube leaks, excessive blowdown, flow bypassing, etc. Other KPI’s
include HP enthalpy-drop efficiency vs. expected and air heater x-ratio actual vs.
expected.
GP’s remote monitoring and notification service includes the following:
- Continuous monitoring during standard business days, M-F, 7:30 AM through 4:00
PM CT, with timely notification of deviations in KPIs (listed below)
- Detection and notification of faulty performance-related instrumentation
- Actual vs. expected heat rate
- KPI alerts and notification summary
- Capacity reconciliation
- Component level expected vs. actual capacity deviations
- Heat rate reconciliation
- Component level expected vs. actual efficiency deviations
- Primary flow reconciliation
- Feedwater vs. main steam/throttle flow deviations
- Controllable parameter expected vs. actual cost deviations
- “Lost opportunity” report summarizing all financial opportunities
that were not reconciled
Rely on our knowledgeable and professional staff.
GP’s M&D Center is supported by plant operations and performance experts
that understand how power plants operate. Our professional staff has broad expertise
in power plant equipment such as boilers and HRSGs, gas and steam turbines, and
condensers and feedwater heaters.
Dedicated monitoring analysts perform day-to-day monitoring and notifications under
the technical supervision of the M&D Center director. You’ll have collaborative
access to GP’s entire performance engineering staff for thermodynamic analysis,
on-site testing, and optimization.
Contact us today to find out how GP’s remote monitoring can help improve your
plant’s performance: