PREPARATIONS FOR A POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE TEST?
There are different reasons to evaluate the performance of a power plant. It could be to demonstrate the performance guarantees in a new project, conducting a periodic evaluation to demonstrate the performance guarantees of a Long-Term Service Agreement (LTSA) or for the diagnostic of a specific equipment. Regardless the type of evaluation that is being conducted in a power plant; there are different activities that are common in a performance test. We will focus the discussion around an “official” performance test used to demonstrate the performance guarantees in a power plant.
PREPARATION
As with any activity the preparation is the first step to conduct a successful performance test. In an ideal world, we will have all the time to plan and carefully ensure all the details. However, in the real world, like Benjamin Franklin said, time equals money. At the preparation stage is important to have the advice of an experienced performance engineer that can guide the activities to conduct all the preparations for a power plant performance test.
We can divide the preparation activities in three areas. Documentation preparation; On-Site Preparations and Off-site preparations.
DOCUMENTATION
The team involved in preparing for the upcoming performance test will start exchanging information with the site to understand the scope of testing and the technical specifications that the test should comply with. The information to be reviewed will the contract describing the performance guarantees and if available the guaranteed power plant heat balance.
Once the scope of testing is defined. The team should prepare a site-specific performance test procedure. In this procedure there will be a description of the following points.
-
- Power plant performance test purpose.
- Performance test boundaries.
- Performance test methodology.
- Calculation of testing results.
- Correction Curves.
- Fuel sample procedure (method and frequency)
- Measurements and instrumentation definition:
- Pre-Test Uncertainty Analysis
- Instrumentation List
- Calibration requirements
- Site operation:
- One-line diagram electrical isolation
- Valve line-up for cycle isolation.
- Restriction on water replenishment, frequency control, etc.
- Formats for Manual data collection, test deviations, etc.
OFF-SITE PREPARATIONS
One of the main activities to prepare before the performance team travels to the power plant is the preparation of the testing equipment to be used for the official power plant performance test.
Instrumentation Preparations
The power plant performance test procedure will have a list of the measurements and instruments to use for the performance test. Some of these instruments will be the instruments already installed at the plant and some will be precision instrumentation that the team should bring to the power plant.
For the permanent instrumentation at site, the team should make preparations to ensure that these instruments are calibrated prior to the performance test.
For instrumentation that is brought to site, typically called “precision instrumentation”, the team should make preparations to ensure the availability of these instruments to match the precision requirements as well as the calibration requirements. For many projects, these instruments come from a different country, so enough preparations should be done to ensure the logistics and availability of these instruments at the time of the test.
Preparing the Calculations Tools
Before arriving to the power plant, the team should have ready or almost ready the power plant performance test calculation tools to use for calculating the test results. These tools, should be prepared specifically for the site and reflect the contractual requirements and performance guarantees. It should also be taken into consideration that the files to use to calculate the results, will be shared at some level of detail with the companies involved during testing. The purpose would be to review the accuracy of the results and agree easily on a final set of test results.
ON-SITE PREPARATIONS
The preparations for a power plant performance test at site involve different activities, many are very particular to each power plant, but in general we can summarize them in the following items:
-
- Calibration of testing instrumentation
- Ensuring the calibration of primary elements for power output measurement and fuel flow (in the case of using the direct method for calculating fuel flow)
- Coordination with the other companies involved. The communication between all parties involved is key to maintain an optimum schedule.
- Preparations for fuel sample collection.
- Confirming that the connections showed in the P&IDs for the temporary instrumentation are available and accessible.
- Confirming specifications of the permanent instrumentation (model, s/n, range, precision, quantity)
The preparation stage can be called successful once the official performance test procedure is ready, the precision instrumentation is at calibrated and ready at site and all the preparations for connecting the equipment at site are ready.
You can read more information about our services here.
PREPARATIONS FOR A POWER PLANT PERFORMANCE TEST?
There are different reasons to evaluate the performance of a power plant. It could be to demonstrate the performance guarantees in a new project, conducting a periodic evaluation to demonstrate the performance guarantees of a Long-Term Service Agreement (LTSA) or for the diagnostic of a specific equipment. Regardless the type of evaluation that is being conducted in a power plant; there are different activities that are common in a performance test. We will focus the discussion around an “official” performance test used to demonstrate the performance guarantees in a power plant.
PREPARATION
As with any activity the preparation is the first step to conduct a successful performance test. In an ideal world, we will have all the time to plan and carefully ensure all the details. However, in the real world, like Benjamin Franklin said, time equals money. At the preparation stage is important to have the advice of an experienced performance engineer that can guide the activities to conduct all the preparations for a power plant performance test.
We can divide the preparation activities in three areas. Documentation preparation; On-Site Preparations and Off-site preparations.
DOCUMENTATION
The team involved in preparing for the upcoming performance test will start exchanging information with the site to understand the scope of testing and the technical specifications that the test should comply with. The information to be reviewed will the contract describing the performance guarantees and if available the guaranteed power plant heat balance.
Once the scope of testing is defined. The team should prepare a site-specific performance test procedure. In this procedure there will be a description of the following points.
-
Power plant performance test purpose.
-
Performance test boundaries.
-
Performance test methodology.
-
Calculation of testing results.
-
Correction Curves.
-
Fuel sample procedure (method and frequency)
-
Measurements and instrumentation definition:
-
Pre-Test Uncertainty Analysis
-
Instrumentation List
-
Calibration requirements
-
-
Site operation:
-
One-line diagram electrical isolation
-
Valve line-up for cycle isolation.
-
Restriction on water replenishment, frequency control, etc.
-
-
Formats for Manual data collection, test deviations, etc.
OFF-SITE PREPARATIONS
One of the main activities to prepare before the performance team travels to the power plant is the preparation of the testing equipment to be used for the official power plant performance test.
Instrumentation Preparations
The power plant performance test procedure will have a list of the measurements and instruments to use for the performance test. Some of these instruments will be the instruments already installed at the plant and some will be precision instrumentation that the team should bring to the power plant.
For the permanent instrumentation at site, the team should make preparations to ensure that these instruments are calibrated prior to the performance test.
For instrumentation that is brought to site, typically called “precision instrumentation”, the team should make preparations to ensure the availability of these instruments to match the precision requirements as well as the calibration requirements. For many projects, these instruments come from a different country, so enough preparations should be done to ensure the logistics and availability of these instruments at the time of the test.
Preparing the Calculations Tools
Before arriving to the power plant, the team should have ready or almost ready the power plant performance test calculation tools to use for calculating the test results. These tools, should be prepared specifically for the site and reflect the contractual requirements and performance guarantees. It should also be taken into consideration that the files to use to calculate the results, will be shared at some level of detail with the companies involved during testing. The purpose would be to review the accuracy of the results and agree easily on a final set of test results.
ON-SITE PREPARATIONS
The preparations for a power plant performance test at site involve different activities, many are very particular to each power plant, but in general we can summarize them in the following items:
-
Calibration of testing instrumentation
-
Ensuring the calibration of primary elements for power output measurement and fuel flow (in the case of using the direct method for calculating fuel flow)
-
Coordination with the other companies involved. The communication between all parties involved is key to maintain an optimum schedule.
-
Preparations for fuel sample collection.
-
Confirming that the connections showed in the P&IDs for the temporary instrumentation are available and accessible.
-
Confirming specifications of the permanent instrumentation (model, s/n, range, precision, quantity)
The preparation stage can be called successful once the official performance test procedure is ready, the precision instrumentation is at calibrated and ready at site and all the preparations for connecting the equipment at site are ready.
You can read more information about our services here.