GIM Channelview Cogeneration plant boosts operational efficiency…s O&M costs with upgrade of steam turbine controls | Emerson

SG 30/12/21, 2:22 PM

GIM Channelview Cogeneration plant boosts

operational efficiency, reduces O&M costs
with upgrade of steam turbine controls

Emerson’s Ovation™ system contributes to additional 8 megawatts of generation

plus annual savings of $25,000 – $40,000 in maintenance and fuel costs

PITTSBURGH (July 19, 2011) — Emerson Process Management has modernized

steam turbine controls at the GIM Channelview Cogeneration LLC plant with
its Ovation™ expert control system. Benefits to the plant located near Houston
have included greater operational efficiency and reduced maintenance costs.

GIM Channelview is an 830-MW, combined-cycle (4x4x1) cogeneration plant

Emerson Process Management
has modernized steam turbine
controls at the GIM
Channelview Cogeneration LLC
plant with itsOvation™ expert
control system
High resolution image
that provides electricity and steam to Equistar Chemical’s Channelview
Complex, with surplus electricity sold for use by Texas consumers. The plant,
which began commercial operation 10 years ago, utilizes four 170-MW Siemens-
Westinghouse 501F natural gas-fired combustion turbines, four heat recovery
steam generators (HRSGs) and one Alstom COMAX steam turbine.
For years, GIM Channelview had experienced significant functionality issues and
high service costs associated with the three controllers originally installed on
the Alstom COMAX steam turbine. In November 2010, the GIM Channelview
plant replaced the existing system with Emerson’s Ovation control system.
Ovation technology was already controlling balance-of-plant (BOP) equipment
and processes at the facility, including the four HRSGs, condensate system,
natural gas system and switchyard, as well as interfacing to the four combustion
turbines.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Upgrading steam turbine controls to the Ovation system has improved the
Grace Capwell
Emerson Automation plant’s operational efficiency. Unlike the previous system, the Ovation control
scheme uses a temperature and pressure differential bandwidth to ensure that

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GIM Channelview Cogeneration plant boosts operational efficiency…s O&M costs with upgrade of steam turbine controls | Emerson SG 30/12/21, 2:22 PM

Solutions the admission steam valve opens properly in order to release low-pressure
+1 (512) 834-7214 steam back to the turbine for improved efficiency. This feature alone saves GIM
Grace.Capwell@emerson.com
Channelview $5,000 –$10,000 annually in fuel costs.

The new Ovation control philosophy also enables accurate tuning of the initial
pressure control loop, high-pressure upstream blade and duct
burners. Resulting performance improvements contribute to the plant’s ability
to generate an additional 8MW of power.

The control modernization also provides GIM Channelview with numerous

operational and maintenance savings. For example, the Ovation system provides
automated steam turbine startup and shutdown sequencing. Prior to the
upgrade, plant personnel had to perform these tasks manually. Ovation’s
automated startup and shutdown sequencing provides tighter monitoring and
control of temperature and speed, thereby greatly reducing the risk of
equipment damage.

Furthermore, with the existing proprietary control system, all maintenance,

service or other modifications had to be performed by the OEM, which was both
costly and time-consuming. In contrast, Ovation technology is designed to allow
users to easily perform diagnostics and modify control strategies. Beyond the
time and inconvenience of relying on the OEM, GIM Channelview expects to
save roughly $20,000 – $30,000 each year in steam turbine maintenance and
service costs.

“Our confidence in efficient plant operation has increased significantly since

installing Ovation for direct control of our steam turbine processes,” said Doug
Marcontell, maintenance manager, Channelview Cogeneration plant. “Now, our
technicians are armed with practical tools for in-house maintenance and
problem solving, allowing them to make immediate changes to the control logic
when needed. Beyond saving us tens of thousands of dollars, this capability will
help us optimize plant operations across the board.”

Consolidating control systems also moves GIM Channelview closer to a

common platform across the entire power block, which is advantageous on
several fronts: It reduces the inventory of spare parts that must be kept on site.
It streamlines operator training and helps optimize personnel deployment. And
it enables plant personnel to operate the entire plant on an integrated system
without having to leave the central control room.

The Ovation retrofit project also included eliminating the manual calibration of
six proportional control valves, renovating the automatic turning gear to engage
automatically on coast down, and streamlining the control schemes for easier
troubleshooting.

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GIM Channelview Cogeneration plant boosts operational efficiency…s O&M costs with upgrade of steam turbine controls | Emerson SG 30/12/21, 2:22 PM

“Over the years, Emerson has supplied thousands of steam, gas, and hydro
turbine control solutions,” said Bob Yeager, president of Emerson Process
Management’s Power & Water Solutions.

According to Yeager, the reason for this success is simple: The Ovation system
offers features proprietary systems don’t have, such as automated startup and
shutdown sequencing, specialty turbine interface cards, built-in security
features, and embedded advanced control applications.

“Ovation’s ability to provide precise and reliable control is more important than
ever, as utilities look to obtain incremental performance improvements from
their existing generating assets,” Yeager continued. “The measurable benefits
GIM Channelview is experiencing dramatically demonstrate how Ovation
technology can greatly improve plant reliability and efficiency.”

The retrofit was a turnkey project, with Emerson responsible for designing,
engineering, manufacturing, testing, training, installing and commissioning the
control systems. In all, the integrated Ovation control system now manages
more than 3,100 I/O points across the entire plant, and includes nine redundant
controllers and nine engineering and operator workstations communicating over
a Fast Ethernet network architecture.

Timing was an important consideration for this project. Because steam flow
could not be disrupted to Equistar Chemical’s Channelview Complex, installation
of the new steam turbine controller had to be coordinated with the upgrade of
the existing Ovation BOP control system. Emerson was able to perform the
entire system upgrade while keeping three of the four gas-fired combustion
turbines operational at all times in order to satisfy GIM’s contractual obligations
for steam production.

Media:
• Contacts: Emerson Automation Solutions Global Media Contacts

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About Emerson
Emerson (NYSE: EMR), headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global
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customers in industrial, commercial, and residential markets. Our Automation
Solutions business helps process, hybrid, and discrete manufacturers maximize

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GIM Channelview Cogeneration plant boosts operational efficiency…s O&M costs with upgrade of steam turbine controls | Emerson SG 30/12/21, 2:22 PM

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