Whats mean Isochronos mode in a Gas turbine?

Luis Enrique Borda Castillo Supervisor de Operaciones Generacion Electrica

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Joseph Joseph Clappis Senior Control Engineer at MD&A Turbines, Control System Division Isochronous Speed Control--for any prime mover (gas turbine; steam turbine; reciprocating engine) refers to the prime mover governor speed control mode that attempts to very tightly control prime mover speed--which is directly proportional to generator frequency. Think about riding a bicycle on a flat road, and having to maintain a constant speed. You are providing the torque to the crankset (pedals) and if you provide too much torque the speed will be higher than desired, and if you provide too little torque the speed will be lower than desired. You are adjusting your torque in order to maintain a constant speed-you in operating in Isochronous Speed Control mode. Now, let's say you have a basket on the front of the bicycle, and someone throws a heavy package into the basket. The initial effect of the increase in weight you propelling with the torque from your body is for the bicycle to slow down--but you sense the decrease in

speed and you increase the torque being applied to the pedals in order to maintain the desired bicycle speed. Now let's say that the bicycle is actually a tandem bicycle--with two cranksets/pedals. They are chained together so they rotate at exactly the same speed. Another rider hops on the bicycle and starts pedaling. The initial effect is for the bicycle speed to increase, but you sense the increase in speed and decrease your torque output in order to maintain the desired bicycle speed. If the second rider keeps his torque output constant and you then keep your torque output constant and the number of packages in the basket doesn't change the bicycle speed will remain constant. If another package is added to the basket the speed again will start to decrease. And, if the second rider keeps his torque constant then you will have to increase your torque to keep the bicycle at the desired speed. The second rider keeping his torque contribution constant is akin to Droop Speed Control mode. He is helping to move the load, but you are responsible for the maintaining speed by adjusting your torque. Imagine that the second rider didn't keep his torque output constant and instead increased his torque output when the new package was added to the basket. And, if you also increased your torque then the bicycle speed would increase above the desired speed. If you both then decreased your torque outputs then the bicycle speed would decrease below the desired speed. Unless one of you stopped changing your torque output and let the other adjust his torque output to maintain the desired speed the bicycle speed would be fluctuating--and that's not good. It's exactly the same on an AC grid. A generator is a device for converting torque into amperes, and a motor is a device for converting amperes into torque. On an AC grid, this is to be done at a constant frequency--and frequency is directly proportional to the speed of the generator rotor, which is driven by the prime mover. As the load changes (the number of motors and lights and computers and computer monitors), the grid frequency would tend to change. But an Isochonous machine will adjust its energy flow-rate in order to maintain a constant frequency/speed. Without some kind of Isochronous LoadSharing scheme, there cannot be more than one governor operating in Isochronous Speed Control mode (just like on the bicycle example)--the frequency will be unstable. So, most every generator set synchronized to a grid--save one--is operated in Droop Speed Control mode, and only one generator set is operated in Isochronous Speed Control mode. (That's the theory!) Small loads, sometimes called "islands" can be powered by one generator set--usually operated in Isochronous Speed Control mode. If more generator sets are synchronized to that "island" they are to be operated in Droop Speed Control mode for frequency stability. Isochronous Speed Control is intended for small electrical loads, or when only a small number of generators are synchronized together.

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Ramesh Ramesh Rajagopal Operation Engineer at PETROCHINA HALFAYA POWER PLANT Isochronous speed control is for island mode operation in gas turbine.If this mode is selected the gas turbine will run in island mode
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Randy Randy Ransdell Start-Up Manager at Black & Veatch The turbine is running by itself, not tied to any other generation.
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widhya Putra

widhya Putra Propatria Condiiton Monitoring at PT.Indoturbine hi, you can its check wiring diagram and take noted where those connection flow into.. from isochronos mode, when it's selected. hope this'll help. :)
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Dennis Dennis Follis Production Assurance Specialist at NextEra Energy in Juno Beach, FL. As stated by others above: Isochronous mode is for island operation or synchronizing to a dead bus (black start or recovery mode). This mode you have control over cycles and must maintain for grid stability(in US it is 60 Hz or cycles). The other mode is droop mode which is the more common why to run generator when tying onto an energized grid. This mode is used with the generator cycles matching the grid, and load is adjusted with the cycles constant (in the US at 60 Hz or cycles).
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Wayne Wayne Karberg Independent Utilities Professional Joseph, There are never any isochronous machines in a large grid. They ALL operate under droop control", with a master grid control center constantly sending corrective speed/load

setpoint signals to selected generating units to maintain system frequency. As previously stated, isochronous units are operated in "island" mode, where only one prime mover is being used for power generation.
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Joseph Joseph Clappis Senior Control Engineer at MD&A Turbines, Control System Division Wayne, I did say in "theory" there would be only one governor operating in Isochronous mode.... And, on smaller "island" loads there may be several generators (depending on the size) and only one may be operating in Isochronous mode, or, if there is an Isochronous load sharing scheme there may be two or even more operating in Isochronous mode. About the only thing that can be assuredly stated about Isochronous mode is that it is very tight speed (frequency) control, and only one prime mover governor >should< be operating in Isochronous mode at any given time on any grid of any size without some kind of Isochronous load sharing scheme or some other over-riding frequency control system/method. Droop speed control is the speed control mode that allows multiple generators to participate together in supplying an electrical load ("grid") that is likely larger than any single generator and its prime mover could supply by itself. Though I dislike the term "sharing" when referring to Droop speed control mode, it does allow multiple generators and their prime movers to share in supplying a large load without fighting each other to control the frequency. Isochronous mode does NOT mean that if one selects this governor mode that the prime mover and generator will automatically separate itself from other generators and their prime movers. It just means that when Isochronous speed control mode is selected the prime mover governor will attempt to control the frequency of the grid and other generators with which it might be synchronized. Selecting Isochronous speed control mode should only be done by experienced operators, and only under specified conditions (usually defined by plant Standard Operating Procedures so as to limit the potentially

disastrous effects). When a single generator and it's prime mover is supplying an electrical load independently of other generators and their prime movers (usually referred to as "island" operation) then Isochronous speed control mode would afford the best chance of automatically regulating the frequency of the load and generator output.
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Wayne Wayne Karberg Independent Utilities Professional Lets just say the Isonchonous Speed Control is a special case of Droop Control, where the "droop" is set at zero.
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Robert Robert Fox Allen CT Site Foreman at Tennessee Valley Authority Constant speed varying load
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Krishnamoorthy Krishnamoorthy Sarma Associate Vice President (Offshore Maintenance) at Gujarat State Petroleom Corporation Ltd Interesting discussion. Thanx
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Salvatore Salvatore Paolucci Consultant, Owner at GT Accent Services All good comments and explanations, especially Joe Clappis, with always his long and very detailed explanations, one thing to remember, the unit operating on isochronous control should be maintained around 50 to 60% of his rated load in order to be able to maintain the frequency. If is too close to Base Load or min load, as the load changes and the turbine will adjust load automatically, up or down, when it reaches the Temperature Control, it cannot take any more load. Viceversa, if it operates too close to zero MW and the frequency goes high, it will decrease load to the point that it may come off-line. So the load should be monitored and adjusted manually by taking or shedding load from the Droop running generators.
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