Steam turbine upgrades: A utility based approach

Conference · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998

OSTI ID:20018826

Wakeley, G R

In the increasingly competitive power generation markets utilities must strive towards lower electricity generation costs, whilst relying on an aging steam turbine fleet. By the year 2000 more than 25% of the global steam turbine capacity will be older than 30 years. The heat rate of such units is generally considerably higher than that of equivalent new plant, and such equipment can be further disadvantaged by increased maintenance costs and forced outage rates. Over the past decade steam turbine conversion, modification, and upgrade packages have become an increasingly important part of the European steam turbine market. Furthermore, many utilities now realize that enhanced cost-effectiveness can often be obtained by moving away from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), and the upgrading of other manufacturers' plant is now routine within the steam turbine industry. By working closely with customers, GE has developed a comprehensive range of steam turbine upgrade packages, including advanced design steampaths which can increase the performance of existing turbine installations to levels comparable with new plant. Such packages are tailor-made to the requirements of each customer, to ensure that the most cost-effective engineering solution is identified. This paper presents an overview of GE's state-of-the-art steam turbine technology, and continues to describe typical economic models for turbine upgrades.

• Research Organization: GE Power Systems, Slough (GB)
• OSTI ID: 20018826
• Report Number(s): CONF-9806214--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
AUGMENTATION
CAPACITY
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
RETROFITTING
STEAM TURBINES
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT