Unique Software for Monitoring, Projection, and Diagnosing the Degradation of Turbomachinery and Auxiliary Equipment

As with most mechanical devices, the performance of a turbine, compressor, or other rotating machine depends on design characteristics that slowly deteriorate. That degradation can be quantified by comparing the relationships between various process variables to those that existed when the equipment was new.

If a turbocompressor is operated at a constant compression ratio, for example, blade fouling will decrease the flow rate at any given speed. Such degradation can then be quantified by comparing the current flow rate to that a new compressor would produce at the same speed.

CCC's Parametric Diagnostics System (PDS) is a unique set of software components that can be integrated into a TrainTools HMI system to:

• monitor, calculate, and record diagnostically relevant process variables;
• use statistically-derived process models to calculate the values various parameters would have had in the absence of any degradation;
• display and record the deviations of those parameters from their modeled values;
• analyze deviation trends to diagnose existing and predict developing problems;
• recommend appropriate corrective actions and preventative maintenance schedules.

The highly-adaptable PDS modeling engine can be applied to turbines, compressors, expanders, generators, pumps, blowers and most auxiliary systems. Because its mathematical models are statistically developed from recorded measurements, OEM-supplied data is not needed. In many cases, the only inputs required are those used for process control and protection.
Implementation of such a system can increase your unit’s profitability by maximizing energy efficiency, minimizing downtime, optimizing maintenance intervals, and extending equipment service lives.

Product Overview
Each PDS includes:

• a custom run-time diagnostics program that calculates and records various parameters that reflect the condition of your equipment;
• custom TrainTools HMI components that communicate those equipment conditions to your operators;
• a standard retrospective diagnostics program for analyzing the long-term degradation of your equipment.

As with the rest of the TrainTools HMI, these components can be run on a single workstation or distributed among multiple PCs:

• The run-time diagnostics program can be run on one or a few TrainTools or dedicated PDS servers;
• The PDS HMI can be run on a dedicated or all TrainView workstations, and communicate with run-time diagnostics and other server programs running on different PCs via DCOM or TrainTools web services;
• The retrospective diagnostic program can be run (at appropriate times) on the PCs of one or more engineers and/or managers.

Run-Time Diagnostics
Each run-time diagnostics program uses OPC data items to monitor the operation of specific machines and calculate a custom set of derived diagnostic parameters, such as a compressor’s compression ratio and polytropic efficiency. When the monitored process is running at a steady state, filtered and averaged values of those parameters and all relevant field inputs are periodically recorded to a long-term database.
A separate configuration utility is used to specify the data to be recorded, including any calculated parameters and the equations and OPC data items used to compute their values. Following an initial learning period (typically 1000 hours), that utility is used to add calculations that model the baseline values of certain parameters as functions of thermodynamically-related variables. For example, the flow through a turbocompressor is known to be and can thus be modeled as a function of its speed and compression ratio.

By statistically analyzing the recorded steady-state operating data, the best possible modeling equation can be selected for each such relationship and configured into the run-time diagnostics program. Both the actual and calculated baseline values of those variables will subsequently be recorded and made available to that program’s OPC/DA clients.

In addition to analog parameters, this program will also provide boolean OPC data items that indicate whether or not each machine is running and/or healthy (based on specified inputs).

It can also detect various problems by applying a matrix of influence coefficients to the deviations of specified parameters from their ideal values, and communicate them via additional boolean data items.

In some cases, better results can be obtained by testing the process outside its normal operating envelope or installing inputs that are not needed for process control and protection.

TrainTools Interface
The operator interface for the PDS is usually providedby a combination of TrainTools software components running on both the server and workstation PCs:

• Script Engine and/or Generic Controller AE Server programs post alarms and events triggered by OPC data items from the run-time diagnostics engine;
• Custom TrainView screens that display:
  • the overall status of each machine;
  • the values of various diagnostic parameters with bar graphs indicating their deviations from modeled ideal values;
  • trend graphs showing the historical variations of those parameter deviations;
  • any AE messages triggered by them.

Those TrainView screens can be provided by a dedicated workstation, or integrated with your other operator screens.

Retrospective Diagnostics
Equipment engineers can periodically use the retrospective diagnostics program to statistically analyze past and predict the future degradation of your process equipment. This process can reveal emerging problems, and help you develop preventive maintenance and repair schedules. For example, such an analysis might evaluate the long-term degradation of a gas turbine’s hot-section components due to start-up and shut-down thermal stresses, and predict how long it will be before the machine should be overhauled. To aid in such evaluations, the PDS run-time program is also configured to record operating changes that affect the life of your equipment, such as the number of startups, trips, and normal shutdowns; warm-up and cool-down times; and running times in various operating modes.
Experienced CCC engineers are available to assist, either remotely or at your location.

Customized Capabilities
Each PDS customer specifies the variables their system
will calculate, display and record, subject to the availability of needed measurements and thermodynamic relationships. The following example describes a simple PDS for a cracked gas compressor, which does not include all of the features that can be applied to such machines.

Field-Proven Operation
Since the first PDS system was installed in 2000, morethan 50 have been installed or are scheduled for commissioning:

• seven gas pumping units operating at EuroPolGas compressor stations and headquarters in Poland, driven by two-shaft GT-10 gas turbines;
• eight power generators operating on offshore Norwegian oil platforms, driven by two-shaft LM-2500 gas turbines;
• natural gas compressor stations driven operating at OAO Gazprom and Bulgargaz compressor stations in Russia and Bulgaria, driven by:
  • two-shaft Ural-12, Ural-16, GTN-16, GTN-26, and GPA-C-6.3 gas turbines
  • three-shaft GPA-C-16, GPA-C-16L, DR-59, DG-59, D336, and UGT-10000 gas turbines

Want to know more about the PDS? Please download:

brochure (2.3MB)

For additional questions on this product please contact CCC satellite office near you

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