APM Thermal Advisory Software: Performance Intelligence

The ways to improve the performance of your power plant vary from expensive equipment upgrades that have a major impact, to smaller, more affordable upgrades, such as improving training for employees to ensure best practices are current. Equipment upgrades and modernization includes advanced control systems, turbine retrofits, and implementation and adoption of smart sensors. Modernization also includes advanced software that can provide predictive maintenance, combustion optimization, heat rate reduction, and more in either close-looped or open-looped solutions. Other improvements can include lowering temperatures, using motors that utilize variable speeds, reducing leakage of air, fluids, steam and water, as well as regular methods to reduce heat rate.

The performance parameters of power plants need to include key parameters that provide insights into efficiency, reliability and overall effectiveness.

These include:

• Power plant output
• Power plant heat rate
• Power plant auxiliary consumption (such as pumps, fans and cooling systems)
• Energy Performance Index (EPI)
• Compensated Performance Ratio (CPR) – Typically used for renewable power plants which looks at the actual energy production of a renewable power plant relative to its expected performance under specific conditions
• Power Performance Index (PPI) – Also typically used for renewable energy sources and focuses on the actual output of renewable energy sources compared to their design capacity
• Yield and Performance
• Business Intelligence (BI) dashboard

Software used in power plants can be found in nearly every department. Commonly used software in power plants includes:

• Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) and enterprise management (EAM). These are used to modernize work orders, scheduling, tracking and purchase order management.
• Simulation and analysis tools are commonly used for Grid commercial teams to handle unit commitment, economic dispatch and transmission reliability requirements.
• Security software to assess power system security for both offline and online
• Power engineering software
• Asset Performance Management to avoid unplanned downtime and optimize maintenance strategies.
• Asset Optimization software to reduce fuel and emissions.
• Carbon Emission Management to manage and reduce emissions.

As you can see, software is used across the plant to improve efficiency, reliability, safety, productivity and the bottom line. Software is continuously evolving to help power plant accelerate and succeed in a dynamic and competitive market.

Power plant performance monitoring is a critical practice to continuously track and evaluate the behavior of various parameters related to plant operation. It involves comparing observed values with expected behavior based on models, digital twins, historical data, or correlations.

• Heat Balance Analysis and Data Analytics are used to continuously monitor using a combination of first-principles and advance data analytics. Heat balance analysis applies conservation of mass and energy principles, along with combustion modeling, to enhance the measured data. This provides information on temperatures, flows, equipment efficiencies and heat rates.
• Data Reconciliation techniques detect and resolve inconsistencies. This involves measurement and calibration errors.
• Predicted vs. Actual Performance is also used for plant performance monitoring by evaluating current performance to predicted performance. Predicted Performance can come from Advanced Pattern Recognition (APR) correlations. For more accurate predictions, often hybrid APR correlations are used that measure both data and heat balance outputs.
• Fault Detection and Optimization helps identify faults, improve maintenance cycles and optimize processes.

Regardless of whether the power plant generates electricity from nuclear, coal, or gas, the most important measure of performance is plant efficiency. Plant efficiency impacts financial performance and environmental sustainability. It is measured by heat rate, which is the amount of energy required to generate 1 kWh of electricity.

Plant reliability may be different depending on what sector your industry falls under. Specific strategies and focus areas will be different based on the specific needs and challenges for each sector. For the power industry, for example, plant reliability focuses on ensuring the power plants consistently generate electricity without unplanned outages and that the plant(s) are optimized to provide availability. Key aspects include equipment maintenance, performance monitoring, and outage management. For the oil & gas industry, plant reliability is essential for maintaining production levels and ensuring safety. Key aspects include asset integrity management, risk assessments, and operational efficiency. Nearly all industries with plants prioritize reliability to enhance safety, reduce costs, and ensure continuous operation.

To improve plant reliability, a systematic management approach is critical. The management system needs to encompass strategies to maximize plant performance and increase lifecycle through proactive maintenance, risk assessments, and condition monitoring. For visibility across all assets and predicative equipment diagnostics, reliability analysis software is a crucial tool for successful operations.

A combination of key strategies and tactics to consider:

• Strategic planning backed by leadership to prioritize reliability and align to the business goals.
• Effective communication for clear and effective results across departments such as operations, maintenance and engineering.
• Preventative and predictive maintenance to address potential issues before the can lead to unplanned downtime and failures. This is where condition monitoring, predictive analytics and data analysis are essential.
• Modernize and leverage technology like smart sensors and solutions to automate maintenance tasks.
• Training for continuous improvement and to enhance skills and knowledge in reliability practices
• Root Cause Analysis to understand the underlying issues and to prevent recurrence.
• Standardize operations for operations and maintenance to ensure consistency and reliability.