EQUIPMENT
ABB/Bailey Net90/Infi90 DCS
PROJECT: DCS Upgrade Project
An independent power producer (IPP) owned a significant portion of the west coast generation assests including a 210 MW unit consisting of a natural gas fired Riley Stoker boiler and a Westinghouse tandem compound turbine/generator. This client needed to install a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system to meet recent air emission standards but their existing Bailey pneumatic boiler combustion control system with a partial Westinghouse WDPF temperature control system was obsolete and inadequate for this type of a control system upgrade.
The IPP's choice was to perform a full unit control system upgrade. The IPP's in-house control system expertise was talented and enabled them to bid a full control system upgrade specification with the successful supplier being ABB Inc. with their Symphony control system.
A project of this magnitude would have overloaded the IPP's single control system expert to manage so the IPP contracted me to be a formal Project Manager. I was selected to fill this position because of my extensive project management background in harmony with my process and control system capabilities.
RESULTS
• Managed and directly participated in the instrumentation loop checks. Organized limited resources in a short timeframe to complete this critical path activity. Designed a loop test strategy to accommodate many problematic electrical circuits.
PROJECT: Total Unit Trip Testing Project for a Large Generation Site
This project was a 180 MW, natural gas-fired fossil fueled generating unit with a Babcock & Wilcox 1.2 MMlbs/hr boiler at 1800 psig and 1000F final superheat. The unit was originally constructed in 1952 and owned by Consolidated Edison of New York. An independent power producer (IPP) purchased the plant which consisted of five larger generating units. The first two large units had been destructively decommissioned by Consolidated Edison in 1992. In the eight years of retirement, both of these units were pirated by Consolidated Edison personnel to maintain the remaining three operational units. The new IPP determined that one of the previously destructively decommissioned unit's generation availability would economically benefit their total mix of generation assets in the east coast competitive market place.
The IPP contracted various independent contractors to provide restoration expertise to the revitalization of the project unit. While presenting potential alternatives for boiler flame monitoring systems, I discovered that the restoration work also needed engineering resources for the complete research, restoration, and testing of the hardwired trip circuits for the boiler, turbine, and generator/transformer protective systems.
In addition, the primary contracted Project Manager realized that my extensive background in overall unit technical knowledge could be used to build an engineering inspection team to oversee restoration activities, testing, and final startup. I was the lead engineer for a team consisting of myself on the boiler trips, a Mechanical Engineer on the turbine trips, an Electrical Engineer for the generator trips, and a Senior Operator for overall startup and unit clearance coordination work.
RESULTS
• Provided expert control system technical oversight to Black & Veach during DCS construction and startup; especially in the area of hardwire trip protection integration into the DCS.