Design and Commissioning of Power Plants

In Design and Commissioning of Power Plants, you'll learn ...

• Design considerations for an evolving U.S. power generation market
• Challenges when considering a plant location, including permitting issues, electrical interconnection and fuel logistics
• Design optimization and redundancy for a typical combined cycle cogeneration power station
• Critical steps in the commissioning process of a new plant to ensure a smooth transition from completion of construction activities through to final acceptance of the tested facility

Overview

Credit: 5 PDH

Length: 56 pages

The North American electricity market has been transitioning in the last 10 years. Industry construction and operational transitions are by necessity requiring greater design engineering insight as to trends regarding asset retirements, asset locational value, regulatory compliance, heat rate, ramp-time, and reliability. Future power stations will need to be well situated for fuel supply and transmission access. These infrastructure assets must operate reliably, efficiently, safely, in compliance with permits, and in an environmentally friendly manner.

Proper power plant design and engineering is the central component to allow for successful generation asset development, construction, commissioning and eventual operations. The design personnel must recognize and link (a.) electricity market fundamentals with (b.) permitting, regulatory, safety, and environmental constraints such that the complex facility operations involving high temperatures, high pressures, waste water streams, high speed rotating machinery, and air emissions can be accomplished in a reliable, responsive, and safe manner. Special attention is necessary to successfully develop and commission a power plant asset while not over-engineering or under-engineering the facility.

This course covers the design issues to support critical embedded operational options that grant the facility the flexibility to support the power gird during periods of extreme stress (such as possible brownouts and blackouts during high temperature ambient weather conditions). Embedded design options are a relatively new concept as the electricity markets have deregulated. Electricity market deregulation has contributed to greater electricity grid volatility which has impacted design priorities.

Overly engineered facilities can result in a design configuration that impairs the asset responsiveness and speed to react to changing load conditions. Inadequate engineering creates compliance, reliability, and potential safety problems that will impair the life of the facility and result in forced outages. This course focuses specifically on combustion turbine combined cycle cogeneration and reviews key design factors, recommended redundancy, and equipment components to consider in properly designing a typical 60MW power generation facility.

Material covered is intended to be highly practical in the application of optimal plant design by Mechanical and Industrial engineers, as well as Civil and Electrical engineering disciplines.