PGE/REWE 2015

Sessions Speakers Exhibitors Products Press Releases Show Specials Floor Plan

Enabling Combined Cycle Power Plants to Achieve Near Simple Cycle Start Capability (Room G102-G103, Auditorium Centre, First Floor)

Many gas-fired combined cycle power plants in Europe are currently unable to be economically dispatched due to a combination of high gas prices, low power demand, and low power sale prices. Profitable operation is often only possible in real-time power markets and only when spark spreads are high, which can often occur when intermittent renewable power (e.g., wind) drops off and needs to be quickly replaced. Successful operation in this time-sensitive environment requires combined cycle plant starts that are fast, reliable, and low-cost, similar to what is possible with simple cycle plants. GE, in partnership with EON, developed the OpFlex* Start-up Agility solution suite, an advanced controls technology retrofit package that enables agile and robust combined cycle starts, with demonstrated benefits of up to 35% less start-up fuel consumption and up to 50% faster hot start times. This presentation will review key technologies in this package and their development, including advancements in automated gas turbine combustor tuning (OpFlex AutoTune MX), expansion of gas turbine operation from a single fixed exhaust temperature versus load path to a variable load envelope (OpFlex Variable Load Path), and application of Model-Based Controls to balance of plant equipment such as HRSG Attemperation systems. Additionally, results and insights from field application of this package on multiple combined cycle plant configurations will be shared. *Trademark of General Electric Company