GE Energy

9E Heavy Fuel Oil Availability Package

Power Generation with Heavy Fuel Oils
With ever-increasing global energy demand and a relatively limited supply of fuel available, power producers are seeking alternative fuel sources to generate power, including crude and residual oils, also commonly named heavy fuel oils. Most of these fuels are contaminated with heavy metals and require precombustion fuel treatment as well as frequent turbine cleaning to remove ashes and recover lost performance, which often reduces the availability of the power plant. With the introduction of the 9E Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) Availability Package, the availability of the gas turbine is significantly increased and average performance is improved. The gas turbine offline water wash cycle is reduced to less than ~16 hours and the rate of output degradation due to fouling is reduced by as much as ~25%.

fact sheet
MBC firing temperature control
Firing temperature temperature MBC firing temperatur e control control temperature performance zone R ecoverable performance Recoverable

Tfire Traditional Tfire

Operating time betw een turbine w ashes between washes

Firing temperature control with Model-Based Control (MBC)

As the ash deposits build up on the hot gas path airfoils for gas turbines operating with HFO, the turbine efficiency drops due to increasing surface roughness and decreasing nozzle throat areas. With traditional schedule-based gas turbine controls, this loss of turbine efficiency results in a gradual drop in firing temperature, effectively magnifying the performance loss due to fouling. Using MBC, an on-board simulation model directly calculates the firing temperature using sensor inputs, enabling the control system to compensate for the loss in turbine efficiency and thus maintain firing temperature and recover lost performance.

Features
The HFO Availability Package includes three features applied to the gas turbine:

Automated water wash

Turbine and compressor water wash requires manual actuation of up to 26 valves to isolate various systems in the gas turbine and accessories both before and after the wash cycle. The process, which is labor intensive and lengthy, can be fully automated. Main features include: Automated actuation of valves required for turbine and compressor water wash, with manual valves replaced with actuator/valve assemblies. Integrated control of the water wash system. Single push button control for either turbine or compressor wash.

Benefits
Reduces offline water wash duration to less than ~16 hours. Reduces the labor and time required to execute a water wash. Enables more flexible water wash strategies. For instance, washing can now be performed overnight rather than only on weekends, thus preserving daytime work week availability when the demand for power is highest. Improves average performance between washes by slowing the rate of output degradation by up to ~25%. Retains parts life.

Smart cool down

Smart cool down improves shutdown and startup profiles to shorten turbine cool down time without impacting parts life. This significantly reduces the total downtime required for water washing, thus improving unit availability.

Applicability
This offering is intended for 9E gas turbines operating with heavy fuel oil, with Mark* Ve, Mark VI, or more recent control systems.

To learn more about this offering, contact your GE Energy sales representative or visit www.ge.com/energy
Copyright 2010 General Electric Company. All rights reserved. GEA18253 (07/2010)