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Utility mergers and acquisitions are on the upswing again. When faced with flat load growth, pervasive regulatory uncertainty, and the rising cost of doing business, larger companies are better able to afford expensive new plants while maintaining shareholder dividends.

Modern distributed control system platforms can provide many tools to capture best operating practices and automate them. This case study shows the steps taken to automate a hypothetical simplified feedwater pump system for a combined-cycle power plant. It describes a combination of controls automation strategies and human-machine interface techniques designed to increase the overall level of automation while improving ease of use.

Fourteen years ago, the MHI T-Point demonstration combined-cycle plant in Takasago, Japan, changed the way modern gas turbines are validated under real operating conditions. In February, T-Point marked yet another milestone by starting to validate the world’s largest and highest efficiency gas turbine, which operates at the unprecedented turbine inlet temperature of 1,600C.

With natural gas serving as the fuel de jour, many utilities and merchant generators will be considering the purchase of new combustion turbines in the near future. If you are in the market for a gas turbine, here are some key design features you should discuss with turbine vendors prior to your next purchase.

Life-cycle cost of ownership is a common metric used to compare power plant system alternatives. However, the familiar formula for calculating the cost of generating electricity omits factors that are becoming increasingly important to business decisions. A new formula addresses those blind spots by estimating the value of the part-load performance of cycling combined-cycle plants.

ABB has launched its Symphony Plus distributed control system (DCS), a product the Zurich-based company says will improve power plant productivity and energy efficiency as well as enhance operational security and plant safety. Symphony Plus meets a broad spectrum of plant configurations and applications, and it is flexible and scalable, designed to serve the needs […]

Testo’s 350 portable emission analyzer is a complete redesign of the company’s existing emission analyzer for measuring nitrogen oxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and oxygen. Improvements include a high-definition color graphic display, new exclusive sensor design, and a new housing, bump protection, and industrial connectors, so it can stand up to any field […]

The new Moyno 2000 Model WA and WB pumps provide unmatched performance in a compact, close-coupled configuration. The close-coupled pumps are specifically designed for lower-pressure, lower-flow applications that do not require the full features and benefits of the Moyno 2000 G1 pump. They are ideal for municipal and industrial applications that require the transfer of […]

The new Heise DXD digital pressure transducer delivers the unique benefits of digital communication at what the manufacturer says is a bargain price. This instrument is now available with a LabVIEW driver and new LabVIEW-based utility software that allows the user to address, configure, and monitor one or more DXDs. The DXD is offered in […]

Meggitt Sensing Systems introduced the Endevco model 7251A series, a family of small, lightweight, hermetically sealed piezoelectric accelerometers with integral electronics. The centrally located thru-bolt mounting hole of this series provides both 360-degree cable and connector orientation, allowing the sensor to offer a flat mounting surface, even when not fully perpendicular, for ease of use […]