Extended Content White Paper

Beyond the Manual

Round in Power Plants
How to Cost-Effectively Increase
Power Plant Asset Reliability
Beyond the Manual Round in Power Plants White Paper

Beyond the Manual Round in Power Plants

How to Cost-Effectively Increase Power Plant Asset Reliability

Executive summary
Electrical energy production in the U.S. has been changing dramatically over the last
few years. While overall electrical consumption has flattened, the sources of power
continue to shift. The biggest disruption has been the steady decline of coal from more
than 50 percent of the power generated at the beginning of this century, to about 30
percent now. This has been driven partially by renewables, but far more by the growth
of natural gas-fired generation. The increase of natural gas-fired generation effectively
mirrors the decline of coal, and is now the leading source of power in the U.S.
Up until quite recently, the role of gas-fired plants was much different. With coal and
nuclear units generating base load, utilities used gas turbine plants for peaker service.
These plants were relatively small in terms of power output, could be located close to
heavy use areas, were cheap to build, and much easier to get permitted than coal.
When power demand got too high for conventional sources, the peakers could be
brought online quickly to make up the deficit and stabilize the grid. Reliability was
critical since the plants had to be ready to go when called upon, and depending on the
area, they might not run more than a few hundred hours a year.
With the environmental impact of coal and the fall of natural gas prices, more gas
plants were built. New installations moved from straight gas turbine to combined-cycle
gas turbine (CCGT) units able to deliver exceptionally high thermal efficiency(1)
(Figure 1-1). The use of renewables also increased, but the power output from these
units is erratic and makes the need for reliable, flexible generation even more
important.

Figure 1-1.

Thanks to their high efficiency and flexibility, CCGT plants have displaced coal as the primary generating technology.

Combined cycle plants fit the bill by meeting all requirements. They can run as base
load, or cycle up and down to compensate for fluctuating demand and output from

1
Beyond the Manual Round in Power Plants White Paper

renewables. Among other sources of generation, only hydropower can cycle up and
down quickly, and the best locations for large hydro facilities have already been
exploited. This makes the need for reliable and efficient combined cycle plants critical,
and their role in the power generation landscape continues to grow.
Gas-fired plants may be small in utility terms, with output typically averaging 300-550
megawatt (MW) as opposed to 900 MW plus from coal and nuclear units, but they are
complex. A combined cycle gets its high efficiency by capturing heat effectively. Most
of the power comes from the gas turbines, but feeding the hot turbine exhaust into a
heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) drives a steam turbine. As a result, all the
equipment necessary to handle steam is required, such as boiler drums, condensers,
pumps, and cooling towers. This leaves many places where reliability and efficiency can
be gained or lost, so improvements can have a large impact.

Keys to Improving Reliability and Availability

Most combined cycle plants are relatively new, but as mentioned previously, the
changing load from the market has put greater stress on these assets from continuous
cycling of the units.
As energy production has evolved and combined cycle plants take on a much more
prominent role, concerns focus on four areas:
 Reliability
 Availability
 Heat rate
 Emissions
Reliability is arguably the biggest issue. Will the plant run and produce electrical power
when it needs to, even given the demands placed upon it by constant cycling? There
are many ways in which a plant can break down, and the most critical needs to be
monitored carefully to avoid incidents.
Availability is reliability in action. In a well-managed plant, outages become infrequent
events, and few are unscheduled. Availability is particularly important for plants
supporting base load operations. Statistics describing overall performance can be
found in the Generating Availability Data System (GADS) reports.
Heat rate indicates how efficient a power plant is. It focuses on the financial
performance of the plant and calculates how much it costs to generate a megawatt
(MW) hour, so the lower the heat rate, the better. This can vary plant-to-plant and
unit-to-unit across a utility’s fleet. A utility will naturally want to run the most profitable
plants most of the time, so it is important to get an accurate picture of each facility’s
heat rate and efficiency.
Emissions are just as critical for a natural gas plant as any other, although the
mechanisms are less complex. Natural gas combustion does not create nearly as many
types of pollutants as a traditional coal plant, so there are fewer abatement
mechanisms. The main concern is nitrogen oxide (NOx) production. Eliminating this
2
Beyond the Manual Round in Power Plants White Paper

group of pollutants costs money, so it is important to minimize formation through

carefully controlled combustion and effective use of chemical reagents used in
mitigation systems.
Following these three steps that go beyond the manual round can provide
cost-effective solutions to all four of the key performance indicators stated above.

Step 1: Evaluate Transmitters, Data and Communication

Anything that needs to be monitored needs to be measured, and measurements
require instrumentation. Even the least sophisticated plant will monitor its basic
functions, but if improving performance in one or more ways is the objective, such
systems often lack the detail and granularity to collect the required data.
Information necessary to support decision-making usually requires a larger number
and variety of instruments deployed in strategic points throughout the facility to
gather data. In many plants where everything is wired, adding more instrumentation is
often thought to be too costly. Fortunately, a range of new tools can help ease the cost:
 Innovative wireless transmitter technologies
 Reliable and secure wireless networks
 Effective data distribution and analysis tools
Emerson™ devices, communicating via WirelessHART®, are the realization of the
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), all tied together using a variety of Plantweb™ Insight
networking and analytical applications. Plantweb Insight is a software analytics
visualization package that helps change the fundamentals of your automation strategy
by transforming raw sensor data into actionable information. Having an IIoT approach
changes the fundamentals of automation in a combined cycle plant facility
(Figure 1-2).

Figure 1-2.

All the operational elements of a plant can be tied together using a Pervasive Sensing™ strategy.

3
Beyond the Manual Round in Power Plants White Paper

A critical element to having a sound IIoT strategy is knowing what to do with the data.
Analytical applications turn the data gathered by wireless and wired transmitters into
actionable information, allowing every aspect of a plant’s operation to be analyzed in
detail to quantify any operating characteristic and determine its contribution to
reliability, availability, heat rate and emissions. At the same time, the condition of
equipment can be monitored continuously either onsite or remotely via a secure
laptop, PC, smartphone or tablet (Figure 1-3).

Figure 1-3.

Apps turn data from transmitters into actionable information, which can be displayed on laptops, PCs, smartphones and
tablets.

Evaluating Applications
There are many opportunities for applying this comprehensive approach throughout a
plant. Once the process begins, new ideas quickly emerge following the initial
successes. Most applications address more than one of the four main concerns. For
example, items improving reliability also often improve availability.
Pumps (reliability)—In a typical combined cycle plant, there can be dozens of pumps
related to many applications for moving water, steam, and chemicals (Figure 1-4).

Figure 1-4.

Pumps have many shapes and sizes but share a variety of common problems which can be detected using data provided by
wireless transmitters.

4
Beyond the Manual Round in Power Plants White Paper

The most critical, such as injection pumps related to the HRSG or cooling tower, will
likely have vibration as a continuous monitoring point. Vibration is not the only method
of pump failure. Cavitation, bearing noise, seals and other critical parts may not be
considered critical enough for continuous monitoring, but can cause major operational
problems if they fail.
Pumps can be installed in remote or difficult-to-reach locations, where using wired
transmitters for monitoring may be too expensive. WirelessHART monitoring devices
make it far easier to perform continuous pump monitoring without adding signal or
power wiring. The Plantweb Insight continuous pump monitoring application gathers
sensor data and provides analytics that can be used to detect problems at their earliest
stages, such as the noise from a motor bearing increasing. It is important to catch
these problems early while there is still time to schedule maintenance before a pump
failure causes an outage. Information from the app makes it simple to know when to
take action.
WirelessHART has changed the landscape of continuous pump monitoring. At a
fraction of the installed cost of wired transmitters, plants can enhance preventive
maintenance and even take the step towards predictive maintenance by having an
early indication of when a problem may occur. Plantweb Insight not only gives an early
indication of failure, but also avoids unnecessary maintenance on healthy pumps.
Cooling towers (availability)—Exhaust steam must be cooled to turn it back into liquid
water so it can be re-injected into the HRSG. The extracted heat from this
condensation process is often diffused into the atmosphere using a cooling tower
(Figure 1-5).

Figure 1-5.

Cooling towers are frequently under-instrumented, resulting in poor maintenance and low operating efficiency.

In many locations, these installations tend to be under-instrumented. Consequently,

control and monitoring are poor, operations are inefficient, and the towers fail more
often than they should—particularly the fan motors.
The most common problem is fan motor failure, the leading indicator of which is high
vibration. When this fails, the cooling capacity and efficiency of the tower drops

5
Beyond the Manual Round in Power Plants White Paper

substantially. Emergency shutdowns due to cooling tower damage can last four to
eight hours, causing a significant loss of generation output and revenue.
Cooling towers also require chemicals to treat their cooling water, so minimizing water
consumption saves substantial sums. Automated monitoring provides data to enable
proper dosing of cooling tower water to prevent excess additive use, and to provide the
right chemistry to avoid fouling and damage to the pipes. Proper dosing also improves
cooling tower efficiency.
WirelessHART instruments can be installed on a cooling tower to monitor motor
condition, basin level, water temperature, motor power consumption, and water flow.
Using Plantweb Insight analytics, the system can indicate when a problem is
developing. Typical measurement points include fan vibration, level of the water
supply, pressure and temperature on the water supply and return, and conductivity
and pH of the water supply.
Boiler drums (heat rate and reliability)—The HRSG in a combined cycle site typically has
a critical level application, which has a major influence on heat rate and minimizing
trips during startups at the boiler drum level. Configurations vary, so specific
installations may be different.
Boiler drum level is a critical place, but for different reasons. Maintaining optimum level
in the boiler drum during load swings is challenging because the separation between
liquid and gas becomes harder to define due to the vapor and changing liquid density.
Many of the traditional methods used to measure level do not work well.
Generally, the preferred level-controlling method is differential pressure (DP), but
changes in density can add error. Another approach is to use conventional guided wave
radar (GWR), but these can be fooled by changes in the dielectric constant of the
steam. Rosemount™ GWRs include a technology specifically designed for drum level
called Dynamic Vapor Compensation. This technology reduces the level measurement
error to less than two percent, even in dynamic conditions, while eliminating the
maintenance problems related to impulse lines used with traditional DP setups. See the
Rosemount 5300 Proven Result.
Steam leaks (heat rate)—The main product of the HRSG is steam which drives the
turbine. Any steam lost or wasted reduces the amount of power generated, so finding
and fixing leaks is critical to maintaining a sustainable and profitable heat rate. Leaking
valves and poorly performing steam traps or condensate pots (Figure 1-6) contribute
to the cumulative steam loss, but it might not be visible to a maintenance technician
making manual rounds.

6
Beyond the Manual Round in Power Plants White Paper

Figure 1-6.

An acoustic transmitter can determine if a valve is leaking or if a steam trap is malfunctioning.

A well-sealed valve is silent, whereas a leaking valve makes an identifiable noise.

Similarly, a malfunctioning steam trap makes a different sound than one working
correctly. Acoustic transmitters can be added to steam traps and condensate pots,
listening to sounds transmitted directly through the metal. These monitors have
sophisticated analysis capabilities and can recognize the sounds of bad actors and
initial signs of deterioration.
Since valves and traps are rarely instrumented, they are typically located in areas where
there is no existing means to connect back to a maintenance management system.
Using self-powered transmitters communicating via WirelessHART is therefore often
the best method to implement the solution. Plantweb Insight apps turn the data from
these acoustic transmitters into actionable information, and provide this information
to maintenance and other plant personnel to warn of problems and identify which
steam traps need attention, and which can be left alone. Steam saved improves the
heat rate and can be used for generating more billable power.
Pollution abatement (environmental)—Most people assume burning natural gas is
essentially pollution free. Compared to burning coal there are far fewer types of
emissions, but turbines produce NOx. In areas where this must be controlled, the most
common abatement technology is selective catalytic reduction (SCR). Gaseous
ammonia is injected into the gas stream in the HRSG where it mixes while passing
through the tubes (Figure 1-7). A catalyst bed at the outlet helps the ammonia and
NOx compounds react to form innocuous nitrogen and water.

7
Beyond the Manual Round in Power Plants White Paper

Figure 1-7.

A poorly controlled Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system can foul boiler tubes and send wasted ammonia out the stack.

This approach is effective but has downsides. Some ammonia slips through the catalyst
bed without reacting. Ammonia also reacts with any sulfur compounds brought in with
the gas to form ammonia sulfate. This happens early enough in the process to deposit
on the tube bundles as a solid, reducing heat recovery. The tubes can be cleaned, but it
is difficult for operators to know where and how heavy the deposits are.
Unreacted ammonia is also a pollutant on its own with limits on its release. The overall
reaction rate depends on the temperature profile of the gas and the condition of the
catalyst bed. If the gas temperature is too low or the catalyst is degraded, more
ammonia escapes.
Solving these two problems requires different approaches. Getting a better picture of
the temperature profile requires adding temperature transmitters at more locations in
the HRSG. Type K thermocouples are very good for this application, and four can be
connected to a Rosemount 848T Temperature Transmitter with WirelessHART. This
sends all four readings via one wireless signal.
The extent and location of tube fouling can be determined by measuring air flow
through the HRSG, stage by stage, using DP pressure transmitters such as the
Rosemount 3051 Pressure Transmitter. If the unit has been cleaned, it is easy to
establish a baseline for airflow. If the flow begins to get blocked, it will be detected.
This information can also be used in conjunction with any falloff in heat rate caused by
the insulating character of the ammonia sulfate.
A second piece of environmental compliance is the continuous emission monitoring
system (CEMS). While many focus on the CEMS unit itself, it is important to evaluate
the reliability of the pressure gauges that are used in the calibration gas bottles. These
calibration bottles typically come onsite within 2,200 to 2,300 psi. At around the 250
psi to 300 psi mark, the bottles are changed out. Typically, operators record
measurements of the bottles every 12 hours to ensure the proper levels of gas.
There are challenges with traditional gauge technologies in this application.
Mechanical gauges often get stuck or fail over a short period, causing false readings, or
an unreliable measurement point. This translates to increased cost for gauge

8
Beyond the Manual Round in Power Plants White Paper

replacements, wasted gas from inaccurate or failed readings, and valuable operator
time that could be spent on something else.
Fortunately, new technology is now available that can reduce these challenges,
including wireless pressure gauges that eliminate bourdon tubes. These gauges tie into
existing wireless networks, featuring a robust design that resists common failures,
delivers dependable information about plant equipment, and constantly informs users
of its status.

Step 2: Transmitter and Networking Technology

Many of the applications discussed so far require adding instrumentation of various
kinds. The cabling necessary to support new instrumentation can be cost-prohibitive,
often costing more than the actual devices.
Fortunately, wireless networking protocols, such as WirelessHART, can eliminate the
wiring cost barrier. Devices such as acoustic, vibration, pressure and temperature, and
level metering are available with native WirelessHART connectivity (Figure 1-8)—
supporting smart transmitter capabilities without the need for power or networking
cabling.

Figure 1-8.

WirelessHART networks use a self-organizing mesh to carry data and create redundant communication paths.

In some situations, such as using GWR level transmitters for a drum level application,
the new transmitter will replace the old one and can use the existing wiring. But if the
wiring is not obtainable and the transmitter is not available in a native WirelessHART
configuration, Emerson’s Wireless 775 THUM™ adapter can be added to convert the
wired transmitter’s 4-20mA output to WirelessHART. In some cases, cabling may be
needed to provide power to the THUM device, but this is usually far less expensive than
running wiring to the automation system.

9
Beyond the Manual Round in Power Plants White Paper

Naturally, the suggestion of wireless networks brings up the topic of cyber security.
This is particularly important for electric utilities under the NERC CIP standards.
WirelessHART is a non-routable secure protocol with enhanced encryption methods,
and it is suitable for use within a NERC CIP regulated environment (See Sidebar).

Step 3: Turn Data into Actionable Information WirelessHART

Adding more instrumentation produces lots of data, within NERC-CIP
and turning data into actionable information takes
sophisticated analytical tools. Plantweb Insight
Standards
provides a simple way to bring all this data to one Any electric utility or CCGT
plant operator must apply any
place, serving up valuable information necessary to
new technologies within the
improve operations. constraints of the NERC CIP
Analytics can find the cause-and-effect relationships standards. Most of the
regulations covering wireless
driving plant performance by watching key device-level networks such as
performance indicators (KPIs) and answering critical WirelessHART are contained
questions capable of moving the needle in the right within CIP-005 and CIP-007.
direction (Figure 1-9). When applied appropriately,
WirelessHART can be
Figure 1-9. integrated into a NERC CIP
compliant environment.
Nonetheless, such a complex
issues merit far deeper study.
Emerson offers two helpful
documents to guide these
efforts:
•Technical Note
00840-0100-6129, Rev AA:
Using Emerson Process
Management Wireless in a
NERC CIP Compliant
Environment
•White Paper: Emerson
Wireless Security—
WirelessHART and Wi-Fi
Security

Dashboards set up in Plantweb Insight apps make it easy to see how KPIs are running in real time.

How much will reliability improve if you monitor for pre-cavitation on pumps? Can you
reduce ammonia use and still get emissions below the limit? Last month you had two
weeks of exceptional performance. How can you get that all the time? Plantweb insight
helps answer these and other questions.
This kind of connectivity, data collection and analysis is the fulfillment of the IIoT’s
promise, allowing managers and operators to view actionable information in real-time
from any part of the operation. Here’s how these concepts work in action.

10
Beyond the Manual Round in Power Plants White Paper

Real-World Examples
So how does this work in the real world? Here are a few examples:
 Nevada: Reactions between a plant’s selective catalytic reduction (SCR) ammonia
and variable sulfur levels in the natural gas supply caused fouling in the HRSG.
Capacity lost due to fouling cost $300,000+ per year of reduced customer billing.
Adding wireless temperature and DP transmitters to monitor temperature profile
and gas flow provided data to determine when fouling was beginning to
accumulate. Installing the new components cost about $50,000, and analysis of
performance over time determined the optimum point to clean out the fouling.
After the first year of operation, the plant estimated savings between $220,000 and
$310,000 in capacity restored and fuel consumption reductions.
 California: A plant was having problems with its cooling towers: excessive
maintenance caused by fan motor failures as well as inefficiency due to
overcompensation and wasted energy. The plant added WirelessHART vibration
transmitters on the fan motors to determine when they were beginning to develop
problems. This worked in conjunction with new temperature transmitters to
measure the temperature drop across the tower, allowing the motors to run more
slowly and reduce the degree of cooling. This reduced vibration and extended
motor service life, while improving HRSG efficiency.
 Connecticut: A plant’s remote pumping buildings were subject to freezing
problems during severe winter weather. Without appropriate instrumentation in
the building, operators depended on manual rounds to check equipment
condition. If a freezing incident happened, it typically cost $20,000 in additional
maintenance and lost production. The plant added 11 Rosemount 648
WirelessHART temperature transmitters which interfaced with the existing wireless
network. This eliminated the need for the operator rounds and has helped the plant
avoid freezing incidents.

Reliability Enablers
These technologies working together improve reliability and efficiency in many ways
but the most significant change is a reduction of downtime. A comprehensive program
routinely cuts downtime between 60 percent and 90 percent. Other areas might not
deliver such dramatic improvements, but they all add up to increased profitability
through:
 Availability improvement
 Preventive maintenance workload reduction
 Calibration workload reduction
 Cost of failure reduction
 Asset lifecycle extension

11
Beyond the Manual Round in Power Plants White Paper

These improvements are not just something to look forward to in the future. They’re
available now and can be put to work anytime. Just as the role of CCGT plants in the
larger energy picture is changing, so are the ways of managing and optimizing
operation.

References
1.U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). "Monthly Energy Review December 2017." Today in Energy -
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). December 01, 2017. Accessed January 19, 2018.
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=25392.

12

Global Headquarters
Emerson Automation Solutions
6021 Innovation Blvd.
Shakopee, MN 55379, USA
+1 800 999 9307 or +1 952 906 8888
+1 952 949 7001
RFQ.RMD-RCC@Emerson.com
00870-0800-6129, Rev AA, February 2018
White Paper
Linkedin.com/company/Emerson-Automation-Solutions
Twitter.com/Rosemount_News
Facebook.com/Rosemount
Youtube.com/user/RosemountMeasurement
Google.com/+RosemountMeasurement
Standard Terms and Conditions of Sale can be found on the Terms and Conditions of
Sale page.
The Emerson logo is a trademark and service mark of Emerson Electric Co. Rosemount
is a mark of one of the Emerson family of companies. All other marks are the property
of their respective owners.
© 2018 Emerson. All rights reserved.