Hydrocarbon Processing - June 2022 - GP-17

SPECIAL FOCUS: PIPELINES & TRANSPORT
times conflicting thermal and electrical
demands is needed in such applications.
Plant operators have traditionally
lacked comprehensive, timely and accurate
data and tools that provide a single
integrated source of truth to make sense
of it all. Only with a complete picture of
a plant's operations, maintenance and actual
capability, coupled with market and
environmental conditions, is it possible
to make decisions about dispatch that
maximize revenues while reducing fuel
and maintenance costs.
This is where digitization comes in.
Software can provide the information
and analytics necessary to operate and
dispatch a plant and gas turbine in a way
that meets today's complex and continuously
evolving market dynamics most efficiently.
For example, AI-enabled software
can reduce dispatch plan uncertainty with
accurate capacity predictions (power and
steam) and heat rate for the gas turbines
and other supplementary power assets in
the plant, such as duct burners, boilers
and inlet conditioning. When coupled
with a unit commitment optimizer using
advanced numerical methods that can
manage the wide range of constraints and
inputs required, fuel and CO2
0.5% or more may be achievable.
As weekly or daily plans change during
operations due to a shift in demand
or ambient condition, a digitized plant
can respond almost instantly, without any
manual handoffs, to optimize based on
the latest inputs and constraints.
Maintain optimal performance. In addition
to deploying new operating modes
and optimizing dispatch, digital technology
can be applied to maintain the optimal
performance of the gas turbine and plant.
Assets (i.e., gas turbines) degrade over
time, and companies are always searching
for ways to keep their assets healthy. To do
that, companies must have visibility into
the operation of that asset, not only to prevent
unplanned and unwanted downtime,
but to recover lost performance. This recovered
degradation will reduce the cost of
fuel, save emissions and potentially boost
output. Operational and system efficiencies
are critical to ensure business and environmental
performance are paramount.
Industry professionals responsible for
managing assets are faced with numerous
challenges in designing cost-effective
maintenance strategies for equipment.
Intelligent approaches for identifying optimal
processes and systems for managing
assets combine data-driven modeling
of known degradation mechanisms with
field expertise in asset performance and
plant operations.
Many companies use digital twins,
digital representations of physical assets
that apply advanced analytics and ML to
reduce operational costs and risks. Digital
twins are a key piece of the digital transformation
puzzle and a great example of
how software connects the dots. By embedding
digital twins in fully automated
software, engineering and plant personnel
can achieve operating targets through
benchmarking, analytics-based alerts and
advisors across thermal performance and
flexible operating modes, such as starts,
ramping and minimum load.
Takeaway. Without digitizing a gas turbine
or plant, ensuring the assets are operating
as expected can be challenging. For
example, a gas plant's primary operating
cost is fuel. Heat rate-a measurement of
savings of
plant efficiency-is a moving target that
changes with seasonal load profile, operating
modes, ambient conditions and equipment
health. Heat rate is not directly measurable
in the plant, so without a digital
twin to benchmark performance against,
it can be unclear whether a change in heat
rate is attributable to a change in operating
conditions or a change in equipment
health and degradation. With clarity of the
source and the magnitude of the change,
the most efficient use of resources can be
deployed to achieve the most significant
impact on recoverable degradation and
ensure optimal performance over time.
Automating more operations creates a
more reliable and safe plant. To improve
profitability and reliability while lowering
operation and maintenance costs, plant
operators must evolve and adapt. Tapping
digital tools that enhance flexibility, visibility
and analytics for optimal operation
is one readily achievable way to do that. GP
RACHEL FARR is a Senior Director of Product
Management for GE Digital, and is responsible for
delivering operations performance management
software solutions that increase revenue and margins
with visibility, insights, decision support and advanced
edge controls to optimize performance for power
generation fleets. Ms. Farr has more than 18 yr of
experience in digital power and aviation, gas turbine
and plant technologies, and product and technology
strategies. Ms. Farr holds a BS degree in materials
science and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania
and an MS degree from Ohio State University.
Gas Processing & LNG | MAY/JUNE 2022 17
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Hydrocarbon Processing - June 2022

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