Category: Blog

In today’s world, a vast amount of resources are rightfully devoted to discovering newer, more efficient, and more affordable ways to create energy. Although early versions of gas turbines were created as early as the year 50 AD, the gas turbine as a major power producer came about just before the turn of the 20th century, and they are continually being improved to provide reliable energy communities around the world today.

Parts of a Gas Turbine

Although the operations of a gas turbine are complex, there are three essential parts: the compressor, the combustion system, and the turbine. The compressor works by pulling air into the engine, which is then pressurized and fed into the combustion chamber at up to several hundreds of miles per hour. The combustion system uses fuel injectors to inject natural gas into the combustion chamber, resulting in temperatures of over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Finally, the combusting gas enters the turbine, where it spins rotating blades that in-turn spin a generator, producing electricity for different energy markets. This process also pulls more air into the compressor, restarting the process.

Types of Gas Turbines

Although gas turbines all operate with the same main process, there are differences between two major types of turbines: heavy frame engines and aeroderivative engines. One main difference is in the pressure ratio, which is the ratio between compressor discharge pressure and inlet air pressure. While the pressure ratio for heavy frame engines is normally below 20 psi, it is generally in excess of 30 psi when it comes to aeroderivative engines. Another difference is that aeroderivative engines are generally compact and used when less energy is required, and heavy frame engines are larger and have much higher power generation. However, this also means they have higher emissions, and therefore must be designed differently to reduce emissions of pollutants such as NOx.

Heating and Cooling

Without achieving very high temperatures, a gas turbine would not be able to create energy efficiently. Gas turbines can reach up to 2300 degrees F. However, many materials used to create the turbines cannot sustain this heat. To solve this, some air from the compressor is used to cool important components of the turbine, and although it may reduce overall efficiency, this system upgrade increases the lifespan of the system.

Gas Turbine Controls

Because gas turbines have such a massive output of energy, advanced control systems and solutions are essential for the safety and efficiency of the process. Many advanced control systems can create or update controls for electro-hydraulic, analog-electronic, or relay and pneumatic based control systems. For compressor drives, these systems include DCS interface and a graphic operator interface, turbine and compressor sequencing, and surge and capacity control. For generator drives, they include complete turbine control, trending and data logging, and synchronization and protection.

Gas Turbine Uses

Variations of gas turbines have been used by Leonardo Da Vinci, Nikola Tesla, and Sir Charles Parsons, and they have entered into common use in many fields today. These turbines are used to create thrust for jet engines, for mass power creation, or in ships, locomotives, helicopters, and tanks. A small number of cars, buses, and motorcycles also use gas turbines.

Benefits of Gas Turbines

Although no means of energy creation is 100 percent efficient, there are many benefits of gas turbines over other energy solutions. Because the gas production costs are low, there is generally a lower operational cost than many other generators. They also have less operational failure and downtime relative to other solutions. When running on natural gas instead of coal, these turbines also produce less exhaust gas pollution than internal combustion engines (ICE), using the excess air for more combustion.

It’s true that gas turbines offer a cost-effective and efficient energy solution, but they can’t operate without an effective control system. For more information about Petrotech’s control system solutions and to view technical documentation about our full application line, visit our literature library.

Most of the electricity throughout the United States is produced with the help of steam turbine engines—according to the U.S. Department of Energy, more than 88 percent of the energy in the U.S. is produced through steam turbine generators in central power plants such as solar thermal electric, coal, and nuclear power plants. Offering higher efficiencies and low costs, steam turbines have become an integral part of many American power production industries.

The First Steam Turbine

The first modern steam turbine was developed by Sir Charles A. Parsons in 1884. This turbine was used for lighting an exhibition in Newcastle, England and produced merely 7.5 KW of energy. Now, steam turbine generators can produce over 1,000 MW of energy in large-scale power plants. While generation capacity has increased immensely since Parsons, the design has remained the same. But, as intuitive as Parsons’ design is, it isn’t as simple as steam moving across blades. It was based on the Second Law of Thermodynamics and Carnot’s Theorem (), which claims that with greater steam temperature comes greater power plant efficiency. Let’s dive into how steam helps power most of the nation’s power production plants.

How Is So Much Energy Captured From Steam?

Going back to high school physics, water boils at 100°C. At that point, the molecules expand, and we get vaporized water—steam. By harnessing the energy contained in the rapidly expanding molecules, steam provides remarkable efficiency for energy output.

Given the high temperature and pressure of steam, it comes as no surprise that there have been instances where accidents occurred due to poor use or implementation of safety valves. One of the most notable incidents occurred at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. The event all came down to a buildup in pressure from steam when the pumps feeding water to the steam generators stopped working.

How Does a Steam Turbine Work?

In simple terms, a steam turbine works by using a heat source (gas, coal, nuclear, solar) to heat water to extremely high temperatures until it is converted into steam. As that steam flows past a turbine’s spinning blades, the steam expands and cools. The potential energy of the steam is thus turned into kinetic energy in the rotating turbine’s blades. Because steam turbines generate rotary motion, they’re particularly suited for driving electrical generators for electrical power generation. The turbines are connected to a generator with an axle, which in turn produces energy via a magnetic field that produces an electric current.

How Do the Turbine’s Blades Work?

A turbine’s blades are designed to control the speed, direction, and pressure of the steam as it passes through the turbine. For large-scale turbines, there are dozens of blades attached to the rotor, typically in different sets. Each set of blades helps to extract energy from the steam while also keeping the pressure at optimal levels.

This multi-stage approach means that the turbine blades are reducing the pressure of the steam by very small increments during each stage. This, in turn, reduces the forces on them and significantly improves the overall output of the turbine.

The Importance of Flexible Controls for Rotating Turbine Machinery

With so much energy passing through steam turbines, there need to be control mechanisms that can regulate their speed, control the flow of steam, and alter the temperature inside the system. Since most steam turbines are in large power plants that require on-demand loads, being able to adjust the flow of steam and overall energy output is a necessity.

How Petrotech’s Control Systems Can Make Your Steam Turbine Generator More Efficient

The invention of the steam turbine changed our capacity to produce energy on a large scale. And even with something so seemingly simple as steam moved through a set of blades, it’s easy to see that these mechanisms are quite complex. As such, they need a reflexive, smart steam turbine control system in which to monitor and control their operations. Petrotech’s advanced steam turbine controls for compressor and generator drive applications feature an integrated control package that provides speed and capacity control. Our products include integrated control systems for gas and steam turbines, generators, compressors, pumps, and the associated ancillary equipment. To learn more about our steam turbine controls, explore our white papers on Advanced Steam Turbine Controls for generator and mechanical drives.

At Petrotech, we believe in customer-centered service, which is why we design control systems tailored to fit each customer’s application, delivering our products based on your requirements on-site. Instead of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) who may require Long Term Service Agreements (LTSAs) to provide immediate service, we’re able to provide 24/7 aftermarket phone support on demand to make sure our customers’ turbomachinery control systems and all ancillary systems are operating properly and efficiently. We were able to do just that recently with a Midwest municipality.

The Problem

This June, one of our long-time Municipal Power customers lost connection to the nation’s power grid. They were put into a situation in which they had to run a 25MW gas turbine driven generator of their own (and with our control system) in order to keep the lights on in the city. This GE gas turbine was installed in the 1970s with GE controls. We had updated the controls to a Petrotech system in 1996, and again in 2015. They had not run the gas turbine in island mode in many years and needed support on how to synchronize back to the grid when their connection was restored.

The Solution

Our team responded right away to help them. We directed them to modulate the speed setpoint from either the pistol grip switch on the panel door or from the HMI/SCADA to manually synchronize the unit back to the grid. Once they closed the breaker, we instructed them to switch the control mode back to their normal Droop setting. Albeit a very simple solution, their access to Petrotech engineering resources gave them the peace of mind that they could reconnect to the grid without interrupting power to their customers. After they were back to normal operation, the municipality sent us an update, saying: “Everything went as planned. The combustion turbine saved the day. We haven’t actually relied on it during an emergency in many years, but it came through for us.”

The Importance of a Reliable, Flexible Control System Company During an Emergency

When systems break down for businesses in the power production industry, there are not just consequences for the company itself or its shareholders bottom dollar; there are also dire consequences for the citizens that require their services. A mass power outage in the middle of summer can be detrimental to those in nursing homes or young children and infants. By working with Petrotech, this municipality was able to keep their customers safe and comfortable.

Aftermarket Support, No Matter When Your Control System Was Installed

No matter how much time has passed since an installation or retrofit of a turbomachinery control system, we provide assistance and aftermarket support to make sure your system keeps working.

Since we use non-proprietary control hardware, the power is back in the hands of our customers to manage spares and repairs without an obligation to purchase from a single source. This comes with a full range of performance configurations, from simple simplex configuration to high-available/high-reliable Triple Modular Redundancy. To see a full list of our available applications, including control systems for gas & steam turbines like the one used by this municipality, visit our literature library.

All of our turnkey solutions are administered under the Petrotech ISO 9001-2015 Quality Assurance program, and it includes a custom control system as well as all installation related items. After installation, we tailor training programs for our clients’ requirements, and we are always available for field service and troubleshooting needs. Our technical support provides 24/7 support and expertise in turbomachinery, general plant automation, and design.

Work With a Reliable Team of Turbomachinery Control System Experts

No matter what the application, Petrotech helps power companies run safe and efficient operations while increasing revenue. We’re proud of the relationships we have built over the past 40 years with our customers. If you’d like to work with a team of engineers and field service support staff who will not only improve your system but also make sure it delivers when you need it to for years to come, then Request a Quote with us today.

According to a market report from Transparency Market Research, the global exploration and production (E&P) software market is expected to reach a valuation of US$14.7 bn by the end of 2024, up from US$3.1 bn in 2015. As part of the upstream segment of the oil and gas industry, resource owners and operators of E&Ps work in the search for hydrocarbons beneath the ground (exploration), and then the subsequent well development and production from viable well fields. By utilizing intelligent software that can not only help locate viable well fields more accurately but also increase current production efficiencies with real-time data, companies can streamline their operations to improve their returns.

Recent Struggles in the Upstream Sector, and Possible New Production Leader

Current prices for oil barrels have been hovering around $70. While this is an improvement over previous barrel prices, Gifford Briggs, president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, states, “The rise in crude prices is not jump-starting an industry that’s been struggling.” But this doesn’t mean there’s no optimism for the upstream sector. Many are finding success with natural gas. For instance, according to the Department of Energy (DOE), in 2013, “there were at least two million hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells in the U.S., and up to 95 percent of all new wells drilled were done so by way of fracking.” Whether the future of the upstream exploration and production lies in traditional oil production or natural gas extraction, one thing is for sure—technology is increasing to make all industries more efficient.

Areas of Increased Production Within Oil and Gas

Transparency’s report points to one particular area of development that could see some increase with the introduction of enhanced software—brownfield development, going after previously used but thought to be derelict land or area. In particular, The North Sea has seen a production increase in brownfield development of 16 percent since 2014, according to Oil & Gas UK. According to a report from Offshore Magazine, a large part of this improvement lies in, “intelligent well planning and its accompanying software innovations. These technologies allow operators to find and exploit bypassed zones in the reservoir by allowing engineers to set drilling parameters for each trajectory and compute well path uncertainty and collision risks.”

How Innovative Software Can Streamline Industries

Digital technologies found in other industries are also seeing more applications in offshore oil and gas. Just as machine learning technology is being used to predict an internet browser’s user behavior or to anticipate complex scenarios in industries ranging from agriculture to robotics, it’s being put into use for software engineering for well planning logistics and production data.

Machine learning is being used to address complex petrophysical and reservoir engineering challenges. PowerLog™ from CGG Software, for example, enables users to calculate the probability of different rock-type distributions and develop porosity and permeability models in unconventional reservoirs. It utilizes Python’s own plugins and database, which includes a litany of data, visualization libraries, and programs. By reducing downtime and giving exploration geoscientists raw data at much quicker rates and eliminating unsuitable field sites, opportunities exist where we once thought they were futile.

In Transparency’s report, they divided the E&P software market into two segments—on-premise and cloud-based software. While on-premise holds the largest market share at almost 71 percent, they predict cloud-based software to grow at a significant rate and eventually becoming a majority leader in the market by 2025. Not only that, but they also predict production software to rise with a maximum CAGR of 18.7 percent during the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. This is exciting news not only for those in the exploration and production market but also players across the upstream segment, including control systems designers and operators for production sites.

Petrotech Delivers Custom Control System Solutions for Companies in the Upstream Sector and Beyond

As software continues to improve the efficiency and scalability of exploration and production models, Petrotech will be there to provide the solutions that resource owners and operators require in the upstream market and beyond. We don’t just provide a product—we provide a flexible, custom solution based on your company’s needs, be it a turn-key Capacity and Loadsharing controls for oil and gas production or customized solutions for pipeline booster compressors for pipeline and gas processing further down the pipeline. Browse our latest white papers to learn more about our specific applications.