2015 11 12 Cogeneration & On-Site Power Production

November - December 2015
WHY DEPLOYMENT OF MICROGRIDS IN GRID-CONNECTEDAREAS ISA GROWINGTREND ■ HOW MECHANICALVAPOUR RECOMPRESSION CAN IMPROVE
EFFICIENCY AND HELP INTEGRATE RENEWABLES ■ HELPING COMBINED HEAT AND POWER PLANTS PLAY A ROLE IN GRID BALANCING ■ THE DOS AND
DON’TS OF MAINTENANCE FOR STANDBY POWER EQUIPMENT ■ CONDITION MONITORING WITH DATA-BASED PROGNOSTIC TECHNOLOGY ■ HOW
FAST-TRACK POWER CAN CREATE A BRIDGE TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ■ THE LATEST ADVANCES IN PACKAGED CHP DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
Distributed energy’s
American opportunity

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Cogeneration & On–Site Power Production | November - December 2015 www.cospp.com2
November - December 2015
WHY DEPLOYMENT OF MICROGRIDS IN GRID-CONNECTEDAREAS ISA GROWINGTREND ■ HOW MECHANICALVAPOUR RECOMPRESSION CAN IMPROVE
EFFICIENCY AND HELP INTEGRATE RENEWABLES ■ HELPING COMBINED HEAT AND POWER PLANTS PLAY A ROLE IN GRID BALANCING ■ THE DOS AND
DON’TS OF MAINTENANCE FOR STANDBY POWER EQUIPMENT ■ CONDITION MONITORING WITH DATA-BASED PROGNOSTIC TECHNOLOGY ■ HOW
FAST-TRACK POWER CAN CREATE A BRIDGE TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ■ THE LATEST ADVANCES IN PACKAGED CHP DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
Distributed energy’s
American opportunity
18
Volume 16 • Number 6
November - December 2015Contents
Features
8 America’s distributed energy opportunity
Why forthcoming US federal regulations on emissions reduction are generally positive for
distributed energy, but have also created uncertainty within the industry.
By Craig Howie
14 Microgrids: more than remote power
To ensure continuity of power supply and protect against grid faults and emergency
situations,‘grid-connected’ microgrids are growing in popularity.
By Celine Mahieux and Alexandre Oudalov
18 Advantages of mechanical vapour recompression
How mechanical vapour recompression (MVR) can improve energy efficiency in
process plants and offer possibilities for integrating renewable electricity and
demand side management.
By Egbert Klop
22 CHP’s grid balancing capability
Energy management solutions can result in more economic CHP plant operation
and allow plants to participate in the smarter business of balancing the grid.
By Juha-Pekka Jalkanen
26 Intelligent maintenance with big data
Data-based prognostic technology can determine the future condition of machines, laying
the foundation for intelligent maintenance planning.
By Moritz von Plate
On the cover: The Kendall
Cogeneration Station in
Cambridge, Massachusetts,
US. Photo credit: Jon Reis
Photography

www.cospp.com 3
ISSN 1469–0349
Chairman: Robert F. Biolchini
Vice Chairman: Frank T. Lauinger
President and
Chief Executive Officer: Mark C.Wilmoth
Executive Vice President,
Corporate Development
and Strategy: Jayne A. Gilsinger
Senior Vice President, Finance
and Chief Financial Officer: Brian Conway
Group Publisher: Rich Baker
Publisher: Dr. Heather Johnstone
Managing Editor: Dr. Jacob Klimstra
Associate Editor: Tildy Bayar
Contributing Editor: Steve Hodgson
Design: Keith Hackett
Production Coordinator: Kimberlee Smith
Magazine Audience
Development Manager Jesse Flyer
Sales Managers: Tom Marler
Roy Morris
Veronica Foster
Advertising:
Tom Marler on +44 (0)1992 656 608
or tomm@pennwell.com
Roy Morris on +44 (0) 1992 656 613
or rmorris@pennwell.com
Veronica Foster on +1 918 832 9256
or veronicaf@pennwell.com
Editorial/News:
e-mail: cospp@pennwell.com
Published by PennWell International Ltd,
The Water Tower,
Gunpowder Mill, Powdermill Lane,
Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 1BN, UK
Tel: +44 1992 656 600
Fax: +44 1992 656 700
e-mail: cospp@pennwell.com
Web: www.cospp.com
© 2015 PennWell International Publications Ltd.All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or
by any means,whether electronic,mechanical or otherwise
including photocopying,recording or any information storage or
retrieval system without the prior written consent of the Publishers.
While every attempt is made to ensure the accuracy of the
information contained in this magazine,neither the Publishers,
Editors nor the authors accept any liability for errors or omissions.
Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of
the Publishers or Editor.
Subscriptions: Qualified professionals may obtain free
subscriptions by visiting our website at www.cospp.com and
completing an online subscription form.Extra copies of these
forms may be obtained from the publisher.The magazine may
also be obtained on subscription; the price for one year (six
issues) is US$133 in Europe,US$153 elsewhere,including air
mail postage.Digital copies are available at US$60.To start a
subscription call COSPP at +1 847 763 9540.Cogeneration and
On-Site Power Production is published six times a year by Pennwell
Corp.,The Water Tower,Gunpowder Mill,Powdermill Lane,Waltham
Abbey,Essex EN9 1BN,UK,and distributed in the USA by SPP at 75
Aberdeen Road,Emigsville,PA 17318-0437.Periodicals postage
paid at Emigsville,PA.
POSTMASTER: send address changes to
Cogeneration and On-Site Power Production,c/o P.O.Box 437,
Emigsville,PA 17318.
Reprints: If you would like to have a recent article reprinted for a
conference or for use as marketing tool,please contact Rae Lynn
Cooper.Email: raec@pennwell.com.
www.cospp.com
22 8
29 Genset maintenance dos and don’ts
Because proper maintenance is as critical as the unit itself, we offer top tips for
maintaining your standby power installation.
By Tyson Robinett
32 Packaging CHP
We look at the latest developments in packaged combined heat and power systems to
find out why good things come in ever-smaller packages.
By Tildy Bayar
Opinion
12 A bridge to economic development
How fast-track power solutions can provide developing nations with rapid access to
reliable generating capacity and a better quality of life.
By Laurence Anderson
Regulars
4 Editor’s Letter
6 Insight
34 Genset Focus
36 Diary
36 Advertisers’Index

Editor’s Letter
About being best or
super-best
W
hen three people
stand on the
podium to receive
an Olympic plaque
or to be honoured for a World
Championship, I often think
it is not fair that only one gets
gold, and the others silver and
bronze. For me, all three are
super achievers. The difference
between the top athlete and the
second- and third-place winners
is often miniscule, and generally
depends on just a bit of good
luck.
In many cases there is even
evidence that a silver winner
is very unhappy, since just a
fraction more effort would have
yielded the golden plaque.
Having been so close to the
absolute championship can
cause frustration for an extended
period of time. A bronze winner,
however, is often grateful for
having reached the podium,
and leaving the bulk of the
contestants behind is already felt
as a great achievement. Okay,
bronze is not gold, but there is still
the silver winner in between.
Next time when you watch the
celebration of a championship,
you can verify this story just
by looking at the faces of the
winners. But apart from the
psychology, I like to stress that in
sports nowadays, the difference
in performance between winners
and losers is very small. The
ultimately achievable results are
asymptotically approaching the
theoretical limit.
I was thinking about sports
championships a few times at
POWER-GEN Asia in Bangkok
in early September. On the
power generation technology
track, we had a session on
gas turbines and one on
reciprocating engines. In each
session, four competing original
equipment manufacturers
highlighted the energy economy
of their equipment. These eight
presenters showed close to the
same fuel efficiency. This means
that they all follow the latest
technology and apply state-of-
the-art developments.Combined
cycles based on gas turbines
approach the 61% fuel efficiency
level, while reciprocating engines
appear to reach an amazing
50% efficiency level in simple
cycle mode.
Listening to almost the same
story from each presenter was a
little weird. Some speakers had
even borrowed pictures from
their competitors to show the
benefits of their products. In a
restaurant, you don’t repeat the
order to the waiter if you’d like
to have the same menu as your
table mate; you just say,“I’ll have
the same, please”. In the case
of the conference, the second,
third and fourth speakers could
have said: “We offer you the
same fuel efficiency as the first
speaker”. Next to that, showing
only general performance slides
during a presentation can be
boring. Such presentations
closely approach a sales pitch,
which is officially forbidden at
conferences.
To be a real champion who
beats the rest, you also have
to show the durability and
repeatability of your products.
Having a fraction higher or lower
efficiency is not so important in
practice. Unexpected downtime
and repair costs caused by
growing pains, inadequate
designs or poor spare-part
management are the real issues
that can be detrimental to a real-
life application.
That’s why I would like to see
many more papers presenting
actual operational results.
Papers and presentations giving
evidence of good performance
and proven lifetime profits are
much more relevant than just
showing a data sheet.A few days
ago, I witnessed a presentation
where a manufacturer promised
to extend the intervals between
maintenance actions by a factor
of four and a doubling of the life
of crucial components. These
are the things that potential
customers like to hear, preferably
with real-life evidence based on
user experience.
I would like to invite our readers
to send us articles on such
subjects. They would be very
welcome in this magazine.
PS: Visit www.cospp.com
to see regular news updates, the current
issue of the magazine in full, and an
archive of articles from previous issues.
It’s the same website address to sign-up
for our weekly e-newsletter too.
Dr Jacob Klimstra
Managing Editor

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Insight
6
Steve Hodgson
Contributing Editor
H
ow extensive is the role
played by decentralised
energy in power systems
across the world? This is
not an easy question to answer,
partly because there doesn’t
appear to be any globally-
gathered data, and partly
because no two definitions of
decentralised energy agree. It
is certainly growing, though, as
all the major analysts agree.
The world’s power systems are
therefore in the early stages of
a transformation to a ‘cleaner,
more local future’, as Michael
Liebreich of Bloomberg New
Energy Finance described it this
summer.
Liebriech makes the point
that there is more going on
than the rise of renewables
and decarbonising electricity
generation: ‘There is a third level
on which the struggle between
defenders of clean and fossil
energy must be understood,
and that is in terms of the social
structures in which we want to
live.’ Liebreich continues: ‘While
fossil-based energy lends itself
to scale and centralisation ...
clean energy is inherently more
local, more distributed, more
accountable.’
Though sometimes confused,
the two terms – decentralised and
renewable – are by no means
synonymous. Some renewables
technologies just don’t fit the
decentralised description at all
– I’m thinking of remote, utility-
scale (and usually utility-owned)
offshore wind farms, and the
largest ground-mounted PV
arrays. But it’s true that large
proportions of the rest are local
in nature – feeding their output
to the host building or industrial
facility, or at least connecting
to local, low voltage distribution
grids.
Anyway, it’s not easy to find
reliabledataonjustdecentralised
generation, although there have
been attempts in the past to
quantify the global picture. A
decade ago, an article in COSPP
magazine by Amory Lovins of
the US-based Rocky Mountain
Institute (RMI) suggested that
decentralised generation – it also
used the term micropower – was,
even then, bigger than nuclear
in both installed capacity and
annual output.
The RMI included most
renewables in its definition of
decentralised generation and
suggested a global micropower
capacity of 400 GW back then,
of which around 65% was fossil-
fuelled CHP; i.e., around 260
GW. The RMI says that, globally,
micropower now accounts for
slightly more than 25% of power
capacity, up from about 16% in
2004.
Whatever the history, the
current direction of travel is clear
and power systems are having
to change. One organisation
that has to fully understand
how systems should evolve to
accommodate decentralised
generation is the transmission
and distribution system operator.
Homing in on just one country,
Britain’s National Grid predicts
that small-scale distributed
generators will represent a third
of total UK generating capacity
by 2020, adding that the
concept of baseload supply will
be turned on its head, so that
distributed generators will supply
baseload power, and large-scale
centralised plants will be used to
meet peak demands and fixed
loads from businesses. Demand-
side response and management
will enable the market to balance
supply and demand.
This would be quite a different
system to that of a few years
ago, in which large and remote
coal, gas and nuclear-fuelled
power stations were dispatched
centrally, with smaller oil-fired
stations and pumped storage
plants used to balance the
system. Energy flowed in just one
direction – from generator to
user. Now, thousands of (much
smaller) power stations switch
themselves on as the sun rises,
the wind blows or the plant
operator sees fit according to
local loads, and power flows in
both directions.
Renewable or not,
decentralised energy is changing
electricity.
A more local energy
future
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Policy & markets: USA
Forthcoming US federal regulations on emissions reduction are generally
positive for distributed energy but have created uncertainty within the
industry, finds Craig Howie
T
he US Environmental
Protection Agency
(EPA) released
the final version
of its heavily anticipated
Clean Power Plan (CPP)
in early August, after
several revisions and some
4.3 million comments
submitted within the public
consultation period on the
1560 pages of regulations
which have lasted since the
EPA first announced its plans
for new limits in September
2013.
The agency’s goal is to
reduce carbon emissions
by 32% below 2005 levels by
2030, and to provide America’s
first national standard to limit
pollution from power plants.
US states are expected to
show compliance with the
recommendations by 2022,
on a gradual ‘glide path’ of
emissions reductions to 2030.
The plan is being authorised
under existing primary
legislation – the Clean Air
Act – so it does not have to
be presented to Congress
for approval. The Obama
administration expects that
implementing these emissions
limits will cost $8.4 billion
annually by 2030.
After the plan is entered
into the Federal Record, which
could happen as COSPP goes
to press,it will be subject within
60 days to an expected legal
challenge from 15 states which
are largely invested in the coal
industry, and which do not
necessarily have significant
distributed energy schemes
planned or in place.
Many in the industry have
compared the regulations
to the 2010 effort to create
New US policy
A boon for distributed energy?
Absorption chiller at St Peter’s University in New Jersey Credit: ENER-G Rudox

www.cospp.com Cogeneration & On–Site Power Production | November - December 2015 9
a national cap-and-trade
scheme for carbon emissions
– a plan that failed to pass the
US Senate.
At the CPP’s release,
President Barack Obama
said: ‘There is such a thing as
being too late when it comes
to climate change.’ Distributed
energy is expected by many
to benefit from the new rules,
as decentralised, small-scale
power production that can be
aggregated to meet regular
demand, often linking with
main grids, is a good fit. Of
course, it helps that it can take
the form of renewables such
as solar and wind power, or
harness biogas or biomass
and geothermal power, and
often incorporate combined
heat and power (CHP).
Rob Thornton, president and
CEO of the International District
Energy Association (IDEA),
which has been working with
the EPA for 15 years and has
contributed to the language
and provisions in the CPP’s
current and revised forms, said
the plan is‘a structured federal
guidance to the states to make
the electric generating industry
more efficient’. The emissions
regulations are ‘generally
favourable’ for the distributed
energy sector, he suggested,
but added that the ‘devil is in
the details,’ acknowledging
the states’ legal challenges.
‘We see it as being operable
in certain states; other states
remain to be determined.’
States are expected to
present their own plans to
achieve emissions reductions
in line with the federal
regulations, and can comply
by employing one of two
mechanisms.They can operate
on a rate-based system, where
they are allowed a certain
level of emissions per MWh
per unit; or on a mass-based
quota that sets an allowance
for aggregate total emissions.
The rules will affect states in
different ways depending on
which system they choose.
‘I think CPP is a reasonable
compliance measure that
can help those states at least
move the needle on reducing
emissions,’Thornton said.
Moving the needle
To illustrate how distributed
energy can be utilised to
reduce emissions, Thornton
points to Kendall Cogeneration
Station in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, a 256 MW
gas-fired plant which, under
prior ownership, was a market-
based electricity generator.
Now under new ownership, the
station recovers heat that was
being rejected into the Charles
River, dramatically improving
the heat rate of the plant,
reducing thermal pollution
and supplying more heat to
the district network, where it is
displacing unregulated boilers.
Thornton said some
environmental groups have
expressed disappointment
that the plan does not lay out
an energy vision that is 100%
based on renewables such as
wind and solar power, but, to
Thornton,‘incremental change
is better than none’. He notes
that ‘CPP gives us a vehicle
from which to explain and
demonstrate the advantages
of distributed energy,
particularly at scale.’
The state of Massachusetts
is a leading proponent of
distributed power alongside
California, New Jersey and
Maryland. And state-based
emissions initiatives have given
it a head start in complying
with the federal emissions
legislation, notes Moe Barry, a
spokesman for Energy Choice,
a Somerville, Massachusetts-
based provider of power
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rated from 100 kW to 7.5 MW.
The CPP rules were not a
surprise within the industry,
Barry says. ‘More stringent
emissions regulations have
been consistently happening,
it’s something we anticipated
happening.’
Energy Choice’s main focus
is utilising natural gas to collect
biogas emissions through
reciprocating engines. Barry
suggests that the key impact of
the federal rules will add some
cost to smaller projects through
the addition of emissions-
reducing technology such as
selective catalytic reduction
(SCR), which may deter some
buyers seeking units from
500 kW to 7.5 MW.
‘Emissions catalysts can
make a project less feasible.
You can still do it and you can
hit the emissions regulations,
it’s just [that] costs for some
of these beneficial CHP
technologies are a little more
difficult and harder to finalise,’
says Barry.
But he says the CPP ‘really
makes us confident we can
go to any part of the country,
where traditional forms of
power generation aren’t
feasible anymore. In the
northeast, we’re able to soften
the fear of what’s permissible
today and may be permissible
tomorrow.’
The CPP could also affect
one of America’s main users
of distributed energy: university
campuses. Princeton University
in New Jersey has also
benefited from the state’s long-
standing initiatives to promote
microgrids that provide more
reliability and resilience
of supply, of particular
importance when the state
dealt with Hurricane Sandy and
its aftermath in 2012.When the
hurricane hit, the university’s
15 MW of power provided
by a GE LM1600 gas turbine
serving 180 buildings and
12,000 people helped keep
the research facilities running.
Vital projects in the university’s
data centre could have
been lost without a separate
1.9 MW gas-fired reciprocating
engine that provides cooling
power from waste energy. The
university has also installed
16,528 solar panels.
With a setup like this already
in place, Ted Borer, Princeton’s
energy plant manager, says
that the ‘shock to the system’
of any new federal regulations
‘wouldn’t be nearly as strong.
We’re burning natural gas as
our primary fuel.Diesel is only a
backup, so there is low or zero
impact at our scale’ from the
CPP, Borer explained.
Alongside facilitating the
use of distributed power by
way of renewables including
solar and wind, some CHP
companies invested in natural
gas see increasing benefits
from the CPP regulations.
Tim Hade, a spokesman for
New York-based ENER-G Rudox,
which has supplied some 4000
backup power generators
utilising cogeneration, says:
‘We’re very interested in the
outcome of CPP and, in
particular, how it’s going to be
implemented.Right now there’s
a lot of uncertainty,but CPP is a
step in the right direction.
‘What will come out on the
other side,’ he says, ‘is policy
that integrates greater use of
natural gas.’
‘Ultimately we’re looking at
what states are doing in order
to comply, forward-thinking
the process that they come
up with to meet targets. That’s
a state we’re very interested
in focusing on. Conversely,
if a public utility is fighting
the rule, then we’re probably
going to stay away from those
states.’
However, some distributed
power providers see benefits in
seeking business in coal-reliant
states, seeing greater potential
than in states that already
have many such systems in
place.
Some 15 states have
joined a potential lawsuit to
challenge the CPP. While the
challenge is being led by West
Virginia, which is synonymous
with America’s coal industry,
states involved in the lawsuit
from the Midwest including
Indiana, Michigan and
Ohio also present significant
opportunities for CHP providers,
said Patricia Sharkey, policy
director for the Midwest
Cogeneration Association
(MCA), which has been
working to educate its member
organisations throughout coal-
reliant states.
The MCA is working to pull
together a distributed energy
template in partnership with
the Great Plains Institute,
while working on a potential
eight-state compact to
become ‘trading ready’ or by
way of a mass-based emissions
plan. Some states will be
dragged into the CPP ‘kicking
and screaming’, Sharkey said,
as it is a better alternative
than refusing to follow the
regulations, which then
would involve greater federal
oversight and allocation of
state energy resources.
‘Some utilities are very
friendly to the notion that
we’re moving into new era
of distributed generation as
part of the overall energy mix.
Others are fighting it tooth
and nail. Indiana [has] a lot
of resistance; [there is] a big
battle in Michigan. Ohio [is]
split also. That tells you that
some of the industry groups
really understand that energy
efficiency can lower the energy
costs,’ Sharkey noted. ‘They
have the potential to be doing
the kind of projects in our coal
states, have the potential to
offset coal emissions and keep
those plants going because
they’re able to buy allowances
from the industrial CHP
generators.’
Such additional funds
could be valuable given that
distributed energy and CHP
projects in the Midwest can
also be hindered by smaller-
margin spark spreads, lack of
money for regional greenhouse
gas initiatives,and reductions in
The Kendall Cogeneration Station in Cambridge, Massachusetts Credit: Jon Reis Photography

federal aid for natural disaster
planning and response, which
can feed into distributed
energy.Even then,Sharkey says,
legislators in coal-reliant states
are keeping an eye on how
other states are responding
to the CPP legislation, as a
means of developing a ‘Plan
B’ response to avoiding the
federal oversight and allocation
plan:‘There’s a lot of push and
pull, but the CHP component is
getting a lot of attention. CPP is
one more thumb on the scale
for CHP.’
One state without such
residual opposition is California,
which has learned its lessons
from its energy crisis of
2000–2001 when capacity
shortages led to blackouts.
It has, as a result, pursued
distributed energy as a matter
of political necessity.
The state’s use of coal
in electricity generation is
practically negligible, and it
operates an energy cap-and-
trade system under the nation’s
most stringent greenhouse gas
emissions regulations. Some
19% of its electricity comes
from renewable sources,
according to the California
Energy Commission.
Beth Vaughan, executive
director of the California
Cogeneration Council, said
that her group has fielded
multiple calls from businesses
headquartered outside the
state with one question: How
will this affect us?
But Vaughan, who has
also held positions in the
Canadian and New Zealand
governments advising on
climate change issues, cited a
lack of widespread distribution
of information at the federal
level as contributing to an
air of uncertainty about the
new regulations within the
distributed power industry.
‘Dissemination of information
is not consistently done at a
national level; you need to
get the communication in the
background,’ she says.
Despite this, the message to
companies already operating
within California’s heavily
regulated economy is: ‘Don’t
worry, you’re already covered’,
Vaughan says. However, she
notes that also high on the
priorities list should be:‘How do
we go the extra mile?’
This is a message that the
AmericanCouncilforanEnergy
Efficient Economy, a non-profit
research organisation based
in Washington DC, may have
taken to heart.
In the wake of the CPP’s
release, the group has worked
to convene energy producers,
distributers and users in
working groups to discuss the
way CHP is treated under the
new EPA rules. Meegan Kelly,
a senior research analyst with
the group, thinks that such
outreach will help the EPA
reach its goal of significant
emissions reduction across
America.
‘We think that the CPP could
represent a big opportunity
for the distributed energy
sector and CPP can help
states achieve significantly
lower emissions, increase
competitiveness and energy
reliability and resiliency,’ Kelly
says.‘Business owners are likely
to benefit from the cap-and-
trade aspect, lower operating
costs and by investing in
efficiency.’
Craig Howie is a journalist
based in Washington, DC
This article is available
on-line.
Please visit www.cospp.com
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Opinion
A bridge to economic
development
Fast-track, turnkey power can provide developing nations with rapid access to reliable generating
capacity and a better quality of life, argues Laurence Anderson
Fast-track power:
A
ccording to the
I n t e r n a t i o n a l
Energy Agency,
1.3 billion
people – 18% of the world’s
population – are currently
without access to electricity,
and that number is expected
to grow by 2.1% per year
through 2040.
Approximately 80% of
that growth is forecast to
occur in non-OECD countries
throughout Africa, Latin
America and Asia, largely due
to rapid global population
growth that is spurring
industrialisation, demand for
a better quality of life and a
significant rise in the use of
electronic devices and power-
intensive appliances such as
refrigerators.
The need for additional
generating capacity has
only grown more crucial, and
a number of countries and
governments have voiced
commitments to bridging the
growing gap between supply
and demand.
In Southeast Asia, for
instance, Indonesia’s
government has pledged
that the nation would be 99%
electrified by 2020 – no small
order considering that the
current electrification rate is
approximately 74% and some
60 million people lack power.
In the Philippines, the
challenge to meet that
country’s pledge to attain
99% electrification by 2017
seems even more daunting,
with approximately 29 million
people – roughly 30% of its
population – currently without
access.
Similarly, in the US, the
Obama administration issued
a much-publicised pledge
last year to bring 30,000 MW
of new generating capacity to
Africa.To date, according to a
recent administration estimate,
the Power Africa initiative has
resulted in approximately
2500 MW of new capacity.
That’s enough to power
about 3.5 million homes on
a continent where the Africa
Progress Panel estimates
621 million lack electricity and
the population is forecast to
double by 2040.
While the panel suggests
that solar power is the key
to Africa’s future, the fact
remains that a diverse
portfolio of generating
technology is needed to
offset and compensate for the
disadvantages inherent in any
power technology.
In the case of solar, beyond
the limitation of intermittent
sunshine, there’s also the issue
of high initial cost. Therefore,
with or without the financial
assistance and incentives
that would be needed for
a massive solar build-out in
Africa and other developing
regions, conventional fossil-
powered generation is likely to
remain part of the mix for the
foreseeable future.
The same need for diverse
sources of power generation
can be found in those parts
of the world that are heavily
reliant on other renewables,
such as hydropower. Whether
it is due to the annual dry
season or unexpected
droughts, a number of
developing nations in Africa,
Asia and South America would
benefit from the availability
of supplemental or backup
generation.
Perhaps the greatest
challenge to closing the
power gap facing developing
nations is that bringing
permanent electric generation
online – from planning and
financing to construction and
eventual commissioning – can
take years.Throw in the lack of
available financing, political
instability, permitting hurdles
and socio-political events,
and the timeline can become
insurmountable for many
developing nations.
But that doesn’t mean that
the 1.3 billion people lacking
electricity should have to go
years – even decades – waiting
for this essential ingredient for
economic development and
a better quality of life.
Reliable power
generation – fast
Fast-track, turnkey power,
available using state-of-the-
art gas turbine technology
and diesel- and gas-powered
reciprocating generators,
offers myriad benefits as a
bridge to a better quality of life
and economic growth while
permanent power stations are
progressing along the long
path to reality. Among the
benefits of interim fast-track
power are:
• Mobile power modules
and gas turbines are easily
transportable by land, sea
and air;
• Power modules and gas
turbines can be bundled,
providing scalable
generating capacity from
approximately 10 MW to
500 MW or more;
Laurence Anderson

Opinion
• Installation and
commissioning are rapid
due to minimal construction
and setup required for this
modular solution;
• Rapid installation means
reliable power in weeks not
years – for as long as the
need exists;
• Distributed power means the
capacity can be located
near demand, reducing the
need for transmission and
distribution infrastructure,
while also cutting the power
loss that occurs as electricity
travels long distances across
the grid;
• Up-front customer
investment is minimal,
avoiding long-term
financing and credit issues;
• Mobile, modular design
allows the plants to be
rapidly demobilised and
removed from the site
when a permanent solution
becomes available.
A promising future
Beyond the pent-up demand
for power and the long
timeline to bring permanent
generation online, I am seeing
three other factors that should
drive increased adoption of
interim fast-track power.
The first is that on-site power
solutions can be tailored
to the unique requirements
of each country and
customer. Developing nations
increasingly need a range
of technologies and types of
fuels and voltages, as well as
scalability in project size and
duration. In addition, services
that encompass engineering
and design, project planning,
installation, construction,
commissioning, operation and
maintenance,balance of plant
and decommissioning are
especially attractive in remote
areas of the developing world
looking to industrialise and
grow their local economies.
Case in point is our recent
project in Myanmar,where 70%
of the population lives in rural
locations and approximately
three quarters of the people
are without electricity. In 2014,
APR Energy signed the first
agreement between a US-
based power generation
company and the government
of Myanmar since the lifting
of sanctions by Western
nations. Within 90 days, the
company had installed and
commissioned 82 MW of gas-
fired power and later added
another 20 MW of capacity.
While this fast-track solution
provides the power equivalent
needed to electrify six million
homes in central Myanmar,
this generation predominantly
is being used to grow the
country’s manufacturing
base south of Mandalay. As
Myanmar manufacturing
expands, jobs are created,
household income and
purchasing power rises, and
the production of revenue-
generating export products
grows.
The suitability of mobile,
modular generating
equipment also makes this
an ideal solution for energy-
intensive industries such as
mining, where operations
typically are in remote
locations, far removed from
the power grid. Remote
mining projects in places like
Botswana and Mozambique
required round-the-clock
power and the ability to meet
variable load requirements
until the power was no longer
needed.
The second factor that I see
driving growth for interim, fast-
track power is an increased
demand for mobile gas
turbines, which offer a higher
power density, resulting in
a reduced footprint, and
lower emissions and quieter
operation than reciprocating
generators. They also provide
significantly greater grid
stability, as well as ancillary
services such as spinning
reserves, positive frequency
control and power system
stabilisation.
The growing interest in gas
turbines brings me to the third
factor I see driving growth in
interim fast-track power: the
shale gas explosion and a shift
to abundant, low-cost natural
gas as a fuel of choice for
electric generation.
In developing nations rich
in these natural resources,
declining worldwide
hydrocarbon pricing and
reduced export revenues have
become a disincentive for
exploration-and-production
companies to tap into vast
reserves off the coast of West
Africa, parts of Southeast Asia
and elsewhere.
Mobile gas turbines are an
ideal way for these nations to
monetise the economic value
of their idle gas resources,
and to transform this energy
into electric power that will
support industrialisation and
manufacturing of products
that might generate higher
export revenues. Then, as
the economic wealth of
these developing countries
grows – thanks to this gas
turbine-powered bridge –
they will begin to amass the
financial resources to invest in
permanent generation.
A meeting at the Center
for Strategic and International
Studies, held this past May,
provided an early glimpse
into what future demand
might look like for LNG. An
executive from the Panama
Canal Authority explained
that when the expansion of
the locks was being designed,
LNG shipments were not
a consideration. When the
expansion is completed in the
next year, two LNG shipments
per week from the US are
expected to pass through the
canal,en route to Asia – quickly
ramping up to three shipments
per day.
The executive noted that,
one day, some of the LNG
passing through the canal
could be off-loaded in
Panama – opening the door
to the possible creation of a
regional electricity hub, fueling
300 MW–400 MW of combined-
cycle generation to serve
Panama and its Colombian
neighbors to the south, and
Costa Rica and Nicaragua to
the north.
The interim power industry
is ideally positioned to
provide a bridging solution
that utilises mobile gas
turbines while permanent
LNG-powered generating
capacity is developed – in
Central America and across
the globe.
Bridge to a better life
While the challenge of
providing reliable electric
power to the billions of people
living in developing and remote
parts of the world is massive
and growing, it is one that can
– and will – be overcome. My
optimism is fueled by a simple
truth: the benefits of providing
this essential ingredient far
outweigh the cost of these
commitments.
That said, permanent power
generation – much like Rome –
can’t be built in a day.
Fortunately, with interim
fast-track power, we have
a readily available bridge
that can facilitate near-term
industrial growth and help
developing nations and
billions of people around the
world to attain the improved
quality of life they desire.
Laurence Anderson is CEO
of APR Energy
www.aprenegy.com
on-line.

The modern-day microgrid
Microgrids:
more than remote power
Microgrids offer an economical way to ensure continuity of power supply and protection against grid faults
and emergency situations,write Celine Mahieux and Alexandre Oudalov
.
R
ecentyearshaveseen
a significant growth in
interest in microgrids
as a way of providing
access to electricity in off-grid
locations like remote villages,
mines and islands. Now,
microgrids are increasingly
being deployed as a way
to improve local power
resilience, reduce reliance on
fossil fuels and defer large-
scale grid investments in
areas that have a connection
to the main electricity grid.
This ‘grid-connected’ version
of microgrids is growing in
popularity as a way to meet
rising power demands, take
advantage of the falling cost
of renewable sources, and
improve supply resilience
and autonomy (especially
for critical applications).
They provide an economical
way of ensuring continuity of
supply and protection against
grid faults and emergency
situations.
While many microgrids still
rely on diesel generators as
their energy source, the falling
costs of wind and solar power,
the availability of efficient
energy storage technologies
and the availability of
affordable wide-area
communication infrastructure
are making microgrids based
on multiple generation sources
a highly attractive proposition.
Modern microgrids combine
distributed energy resources
and loads in a controlled,
co-ordinated way. Grid-
connected microgrids can
also deliver additional value by
supporting the grid restoration
process after a major failure
(black-start capability) and
bolstering the grid during
periods of heavy demand.
At the same time, energy
suppliers and industrial
and commercial users are
increasingly interested in
moving away from reliance
on fossil fuels and drawing
from more sustainable and
eco-friendly sources such
as solar and wind. In areas
where the grid is weak,
microgrids can provide a
reliable electricity supply while
dramatically reducing fuel
consumption and carbon
footprint.They offer the flexibility
and scalability to grow in line
with demand, and can be
deployed in significantly less
time than that needed to
complete a grid expansion
project.
The ability to isolate such
microgrids from the main grid
seamlessly when needed is
an important feature. Fast-
reacting energy sources play
a vital role in providing the
resilience to ensure continuity
of supply for critical loads.
The modern microgrid
In many ways, microgrids
are scaled-down versions of
traditional power grids. A key
distinguishing feature is their
Microgrids are increasingly being deployed in grid-connected areas Credit: ABB

Engenharia e Equipamentos TÈrmicos, S.A.
3060-197 Cantanhede - Portugal
Tel: +351 231 410 210 - Fax: +351 231 410 211
E-mail: ambitermo@ambitermo.com - www.ambitermo.com
Standard Industrial Boiler
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Combined cycle
closer proximity between
generation sources and
user loads. The system can
be designed and controlled
to increase power supply
reliability. Microgrids typically
integrate renewable energy
sources such as solar, wind
power,small hydro,geothermal,
waste-to-energy and
combined heat and power
(CHP) systems. Microgrids are
increasingly being equipped
with energy storage systems,
as batteries become more
cost-competitive.
The system is controlled
through a microgrid control
system that can incorporate
demand–response so that
demand can be matched to
available supply in the safest
and most optimised way. A
flywheel- or battery-based
grid stabilising system may
be included to offer real and
reactive power support.
The microgrid control
system performs dynamic
control over energy sources,
enabling autonomous
and automatic self-healing
operation. During normal
usage the grid-connected
microgrid will remain physically
connected to the main grid.
Microgrids interoperate with
existing power systems and
information systems and have
the ability to feed power back
to the grid to support its stable
operation. At periods of peak
load a microgrid may limit the
power it takes from the grid, or
even reduce it to zero. Only in
the case of main grid failure
or planned maintenance will it
implement a physical isolation
of its local generation and
loads without affecting the
utility grid’s integrity.
Resilience and
independence
Even in developed markets
with established grids,
there are rising concerns
over the resilience and
quality of the power supply
among certain end-users.
In critical applications, grid-
connected microgrids are
able to disconnect seamlessly
(becoming ‘islanded’) and
continue to generate power
reliably in the event of a fault,
natural disaster or even outside
attack. In areas where the grid
is weak, such grid-connected
microgrids satisfy the need to
ensure continuity of supply.
In recent years microgrids
have been suggested as a
potential solution after natural
disasters in the US highlighted
the vulnerability of distribution
power grids based on
overhead power lines.
While absolute power
reliability is important in some
sectors, many industries
are also looking to reduce
energy costs and reliance on
fossil fuels for peak shaving
or backup power, whatever
the condition or availability
of the main grid. Here, multi-
generation microgrids provide
the flexibility to take advantage
of a number of options for
self-consumption.
Utilitiescanchoosetodeploy
grid-connected microgrids as
a way of deferring investment
in expansion or upgrading of
the main grid. Such deferrals
can produce financial
value to utilities by reducing
capital expenditure in the
short to medium term. Smart
control of the microgrid’s
distributed energy resources
and integration into markets
enables the provision of
ancillary services for the grid
operator and creates new
value propositions.
In grid-connected
microgrids, the connection
is made through a Point
of Connection (POC) or
Point of Common Coupling
(PCC), which enables it to
import or export electricity
as commercial or technical
conditions dictate.

Microgrid components
Modern microgrid solutions
incorporate a number of key
components.
Control system
The first is the microgrid
control system, which uses
distributed agents to control
individual loads, network
switches,generators or storage
devices to provide intelligent
power management and
efficient microgrid operation.
The system calculates the
most economical power
configuration, ensuring a
proper balance of supply
and demand to maximise
renewable energy integration.
It also optimises the network’s
generator operations so the
entire system performs at
peak potential, and ensures
a compliant grid-connected
microgrid solution.
Power stabilisation and
energy storage system
Second is energy storage that
plays an important role both in
microgrid stabilisation and in
renewable energy time-shifts
to bridge peaks and troughs
in power generation and
consumption.However,the two
functions require very different
technologies for energy
storage.
Flywheel grid stabilisation
technology enables a high
instantaneous penetration of
renewable generation sources
by providing synthetic inertia
and grid-forming capabilities.
This stabilises power systems
against fluctuations in
frequency and voltage caused
by variable renewable sources
or microgrid loads. It stabilises
the electricity network and
reduces downtime by rapidly
absorbing power surges or by
injecting power to make up for
short-term troughs, in order to
maintain high-quality voltage
and frequency.
For microgrid stabilisation
the energy storage system
must provide a very fast
response while possibly being
called several times per
minute. This demands high
power output but small stored
energy.
For renewable energy time-
shifts, battery-based energy
storage systems should be
capable of storing energy for a
few hours to bridge the peaks
of energy production and
consumption.
Meeting both requirements
typically requires a hybrid
system with a combination
of underlying storage
technologies, each with
different performance
characteristics (cycle life
and response time). A hybrid
energy storage system will
combine the benefits of each
storage medium and offer
lower total cost compared with
individual units.
Protection system
A protection system is needed
to respond to utility-grid and
microgrid faults. With a utility-
grid fault, protection should
immediately isolate the
microgrid in order to protect
the microgrid loads. For faults
inside the microgrid,protection
should isolate the smallest
possible section of the feeder.
Optimal energy management
system
Thermal loads usually
represent a considerable
part of total energy used
by end consumers. There is
significant potential for cost
savings, particularly through
the use of CHP systems,
which allow consumers to
realise greater efficiencies by
capturing waste heat from
power generators. Therefore,
cost-effective microgrid
energy management requires
good co-ordination between
thermal energy storage
and other thermal sources,
and between thermal and
electrical systems.
System planning and design
tools
System modeling is
important during all phases
of microgrid development
– from the conceptual
design and feasibility study,
through construction, to
final acceptance testing.
For example, when an
existing diesel-based backup
power supply is extended
with a large amount of
fluctuating renewable energy
resources, stable operation
of the microgrid cannot
be guaranteed. In order to
optimally dimension a grid-
stabilising device and to tune
its control parameters, the
dynamic behaviour of legacy
diesel gensets has to be
known.
Grid storage in Australia
Australian operator SP
AusNet has deployed a
containerised microgrid
solution encompassing
battery, transformer and diesel
generator for a Grid Energy
Storage System (GESS) in
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
This provides active and
reactive power support during
periods of high demand, and
enables smooth transition into
islanded/off-grid operation on
command or in emergencies.It
has also enabled investments
in expanded power line
capacity to be deferred.
AusNet Services, Victoria’s
largest energy delivery service
company, began investigating
GESS in 2013. It chose to trial
the technology to explore
its ability to manage peak
demand, with the potential to
defer investment in network
upgrades.
The GESS consists of a
1 MWh 1C lithium battery
system operating in
combination with a diesel
generator, transformer and an
SF6 gas circuit breaker-based
ring main unit with associated
power protection systems.
Located at an end-of-line
distribution feeder in the
northernsuburbsofMelbourne,
the system was commissioned
in December 2014, and
is currently undergoing a
two-year trial. The GESS is the
first system of this type and size
in Australia, and the trial aims
to explore the benefits to peak
demand management, power
system quality and network
investment deferral.
AusNet Services is
investigating the capabilities
of grid-connected microgrids
to provide peak demand
support. With a generation
source embedded close to the
load,the utility aims to study the
effect on postponing network
investment in feeder line
upgrades to support increased
loads. The belief is that such
an embedded generation
source can also be used to
provide peak load support
by reducing the upstream
feeder requirements during
peak consumption periods
by supplying the loads locally.
AusNet is also investigating the
effect on local system quality
and stability that the GESS
will provide, including power
ABB’s South African factory is to host a solar-diesel microgrid Credit: ABB

factor correction, voltage
support, harmonics, flicker and
negative sequence voltage
suppression.
In addition, AusNet is
investigating the capabilities
of the GESS to operate as an
islanded system, and how
these improve the reliability
of supply and system stability
in the case of larger network
faults.In the event of a fault,the
GESS islands the downstream
feeder, creating an islanded
microgrid which the GESS
supplies until its energy
reserves are depleted or the
fault is cleared. When the fault
is cleared,the GESS reconnects
to the grid and transfers
the supply back to network
and begins recharging the
batteries on a scheduled,
preset programmed time of
day.
Heritage building goes
carbon-neutral
A microgrid solution helped
Legion House, an office
building in Sydney’s central
business district, become
Australia’s first carbon-neutral
and autonomous heritage-
listed building. It generates
its own power on-site from
renewable sources, and can
operate independently of the
mains electricity grid.
The building’s owner
Grocon, Australia’s largest
privately-owned development,
construction and investment
management company,
wanted to create its own
renewable electricity on site
through biomass gasification,
fuelled by wood chips and
waste paper collected from the
50-storey office block. Legion
House can run in ‘islanded
mode’, operating fully from
on-site power generation.
The building’s location
meant it was not able to rely
on solar or wind for renewable
power generation. Instead
it uses two synchronised
gas-fired generators
connected to the stabilisation
and storage system, which
serve as a common power
bus to provide a base
electrical load, while the
battery-based energy storage
system dampens the effects of
instantaneous load steps. The
system exports spare electrical
power to the adjacent tower
building. The battery power
system is also used to serve the
overnight electrical load as
well as minimise the generator
operating hours.
The microgrid’s stabilisation
and battery-based energy
storage systems ensure the
tenants have continuous
access to a reliable electricity
supply. They stabilise the
internal (islanded) power
network against fluctuations
in frequency and voltage that
can be caused by essential
building services such as
elevators and air conditioning
systems. The solution uses
advanced control algorithms
to manage real and reactive
power that is rapidly injected or
absorbed to control the power
balance, voltage, frequency
and general grid stability.
The energy monitoring
control system and battery
monitoring system monitor
and control the batteries to
provide 100 kVA/80 kW power
for up to four hours of electricity
supply. The system monitors
and controls various battery
parameters, including battery
temperature, to maximise
service life, and it can also be
remotely accessed.
Backup power for ABB
in South Africa
ABB is itself installing an
integrated solar–diesel
microgrid at its Longmeadow
premises in Johannesburg,
South Africa. This will integrate
multiple energy sources and
battery-based stabilisation
technology to ensure
continuity of supply.
ABB’s 96,000 m3
facility
houses the company’s country
headquarters, as well as
medium-voltage switchgear
manufacturing and protection
panel assembly facilities.
The microgrid solution
includes a 750 kW rooftop
solar photovoltaic (PV) array
and 1 MVA/380 kWh battery-
based grid stabiliser, which will
help to maximise the use of
clean solar energy and ensure
uninterrupted power supply
to keep the lights on and the
factories running even in the
event of a power outage on
the main grid supply.
Celine Mahieux is
Research Area Manager:
Innovative Applications
and Electrification at ABB.
Alexandre Oudalov is Senior
Principal Scientist with ABB
Corporate Research.
www.abb.com
This article is available on-
line.

Steam recompression
Steaming
ahead
S
team recompression
is an economically
and energetically
attractive technique.
Steam is still a major energy
carrier in all branches of the
chemical industry. It can
be used at several pressure
and temperature levels.
High-pressure steam is used
to drive turbines while low-
pressure steam delivers
process heating.
As soon as the steam
pressure drops below 5 bar, it
hardly has any value since the
corresponding temperature
of approximately 150oC is
too low. However, efficient
recompressing of this steam
yields a valuable energy
carrier: a waste product
becomes useful. The process
is called Mechanical Vapour
Recompression (MVR).
The thermodynamic
principle
MVR is an open heat pump
system. Through compression,
both pressure and temperature
increase, together with the
corresponding saturation
temperature. The required
compression energy is very
small compared to the
amount of latent heat present
in the recycled steam.
In the example in Figure
1, the added compressor
energy is only 310 kJ per kg
steam,whereas the latent heat
of the compressed steam is
3060 kJ/kg. The process is
illustrated by the solid red line.
The system operates as a heat
transformer that upgrades
the quality of the heat in the
steam.
It is primarily the isentropic
efficiency (approximately 75%)
of the compression process
that causes superheating of
the steam. This superheating
can be compensated by
injecting boiler feed water
so that the desired steam
with MVR
Mechanical vapour recompression (MVR) can improve energy efficiency in
process plants and offers possibilities for integrating renewable electricity and
demand side management,writes Egbert Klop

Steam recompression
temperature is created.
One might state that the
overheating of the steam is
transformed into additional
steam production. In the
example shown in Figure 1,
an additional 11% of steam
is produced by injecting
boiler feed water of 70oC.
The trick of the process is
avoiding condensation of the
steam and retaining the latent
heat.
Figure 2 shows the
schematic representation
of steam recompression
and water injection
(de-superheating) based
on two-stage compression.
The knock-out drums and
the demisters prevent erosive
damage to the compressor
blades caused by water drops.
The recycle valve is needed
for the startup process: the
steam will be recycled until the
desired condition has been
reached.
Energetic performance
The energetic performance of
MVR is commonly expressed in
the coefficient of performance
(COP), as is the case with
standard heat pumps. The
COP gives the ratio of the net
recovered heat and the energy
used by the compressor. In
this case, the net heat is the
steam production including
the additional steam yield by
water injection.
Typical economical and
energy-efficient applications
have a minimum COP of 3.5.
Some applications of MVR
prove that a COP of 10 or even
higher is achievable.
Key elements for a high
COP are:
- A low ratio of the absolute
steam pressures.A guideline
for the maximum ratio is 6;
in daily practice the ratio is
about 3;
- A minimum capacity. A
guideline is a minimum of
one tonne of steam per
hour;
- Water injection after
compression.
MVR is very effective
in comparison with other
techniques. Simple electrical
heating yields a COP of only
1. Systems that turn hot water
into steam by means of a
heat pump are also being
developed, but such systems
are hardly available on the
market yet. An interesting
development in this context is
the Radiax compressor from
Bronswerk Heat Transfer.
Available compressor
technology
For MVR, a wide range of
compressors is available. The
compressor type depends on
the pressure and temperature
ratios, the absolute pressure
and the volume flow. Figure
3 gives an overview of the
operating range of the
available compressors, using
atmospheric steam as the
starting point.
Benefits of steam
recompression
The technical and financial
investment risks of MVR are
low. MVR is primarily interesting
for processes with a surplus
of low-pressure or flash steam.
Examples of the benefits are:
- Payback periods between
one and three years;
- Reduced waste of energy;
- Higher energy efficiency and
less use of fossil fuel;
- Flexibility in steam
production;
- High compressor capacity:
up to 200 tonnes per hour;
- Flexibility can be created by
putting compression units in
parallel;
- Control of the power/heat
ratio in case of combined
heat and power;
- Demand-Side Management
depending on the electricity
price. Systems are generally
switched off at an electricity
price exceeding €100
($113)/MWh;
- The possibility of using
renewable electricity for the
compression process;
- Proven technology.
Economic aspects
MVR is always custom-made.
The return on investment
depends on the following
factors:
- The capacity of the
installation;
- The price of the output
steam, which generally
depends on the gas price;
- The pressure ratio;
- The value of the input‘waste’
steam;
- The electricity price.
A number of business cases
have shown that MVR is
‘Bull gear’ multi-stage compressor
Credit: Atlas Copco
Efficient steam recompression
yields a valuable energy carrier: a
waste product becomes useful
Credit: Atlas Copco

Steam recompression
economically quite robust.
This is supported by extensive
sensitivity analyses in which
the electricity price, the value
of the input steam, the value
of the produced steam and
the level of investment vary.
At a ratio of three between
the electricity price and the
gas price per energy unit, the
investment is still profitable,
provided a good COP is
present.
Typical electricity prices
for large industrial users are
€50/MWh. In practice, it is not
the electricity price but the
capital expenditure for MVR
and the price of natural gas
that determine its economic
viability. If renewable electricity
is used, the carbon footprint is
even reduced.
Effect on the
cogeneration sector
High gas prices and low
electricity prices in Europe
are drastically limiting the
economic possibilities of CHP.
Existing installations are often
stopped or mothballed. The
flexible application of MVR
means that excess electricity
does not have to be dumped
at low prices, but can be used.
This reduces the occurrence
of excessively low electricity
prices that hamper the
profitability of CHP.A continued
use of CHP will help reduce
fossil fuel consumption as well
as greenhouse gas emissions.
Social benefits of
electrically-driven MVR
Beyond the direct economic
benefits for the user of
MVR, there are a number of
synergetic effects.
The opportunity to use
renewable electricity,
especially in periods when
production exceeds demand,
is very welcome. Also, the
combined heat and power
(CHP) sector as well as the
grid operator benefit from the
possibilities of MVR.
Policy measures in the
EU have resulted in a large
increase in variable electricity
production from renewables.
This means there will be an
increase in the volatility of
electricity production, mainly
caused by the subsidies
for renewables. MVR is an
excellent tool for balancing
based on Demand-Side
Management.
Co-operation between the
different sectors is key to a
more sustainable society. MVR
is a major tool, provided it will
be applied at a large scale in
industry.
Dutch research organisation
ECN has predicted the
perspective for MVR at an
electric power of 2000 MW in
the Netherlands.This compares
with a thermal energy flow of
around 20 GW.
MVR case studies
In the following three case
studies, the technical and
economical feasibility of
steam recompression are
shown. Cases one and two
show the upgrading of steam
for different capacities, while
case three shows the use and
upgrading of flash steam from
condensate.
The main conclusion from
these cases is that steam
recompression is a very
economical way of improving
energy efficiency, with a simple
payback period between
one and three years. It will be
clear that a high number of
annual running hours boosts
profitability.
Looking at the effect of the
annual running hours on the
economics of cases one and
two,it is obvious that the Capex
dominates the economic
viability.
Upgrading the steam
Two cases have been
evaluated: first, the almost
continuous (8000 hours/
year) upgrading of 50 tonnes/
hour of steam (saturated) at
a gauge pressure of 3.5 bar
to 12 bar; and second, the
upgrading of 10 tonnes/hour
steam at a gauge pressure
of 1.5 bar to 9 bar during
6000 hours/year.
In both cases, there is
no current application for
low quality steam, and it
therefore has no economic
value at present. The steam
is condensed, which even
requires electric energy for the
cooling fans of the condensers.
This aspect has been
neglected in the evaluation.
In both cases,the steam has
been compressed to a level
that can be used in the process.
Two-stage compression is
required because of the high
pressure ratio.Water is injected
between the two stages to
reduce overheating, and
consequently to improve the
efficiency.Figure 2. Steam recompression and water injection based on two-stage compression Source: Atlas Copco
Figure 1. Pressure-enthalpy diagram for steam recompression with water
injection Source: Industrial Energy Experts
Recompression (compressor efficiency 75%) Recompression (compressor efficiency 100%) Water injection Thermal process
Enthalpy

Steam recompression
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Case 1:
• Steam flow: 50 tonnes/hour
• Absolute input steam
pressure: 4.5 bar
• Absolute output steam
pressure: 13 bar
• Compressor power: 4.4 MW
• COP: 9.8
• Running hours: 8000 hours/
year
• Reference energy costs:
7600 k€/year
• Energy costs MVR:
1760 k€/year
• Cost reduction:
5840 k€/year
• Capital investment: 5700 k€
• Simple payback period: one
year
Case 2:
• Steam flow: 10 tonnes/hour
• Absolute input steam
pressure: 2.5 bar
• Absolute output steam
pressure: 10 bar
• Compressor power: 1.1 MW
• COP: 7.9
year
1140 k€/year
• Energy costs MVR: 330 k€/
year
• Cost reduction: 810 k€/year
• Simple payback period:
2.6 years
Case 3: flash steam
In this case, energy that is still
available in intermediate- or
high-pressure condensate
is used. By reducing the
condensate pressure, part
of the condensate flashes to
steam. In case 3, condensate
of 8 bar is flashed at a pressure
of 2.5 bar.This is then increased
to 6 bar by MVR.
• Condensate flow (absolute
pressure 8 bar): 50 tonnes/
hour
• Absolute flash pressure:
2.5 bar
• Flash steam flow:3.2 tonnes/
hour
• Compressor power: 257 kW
• COP: 10.3
year
486 k€/year
• Energy costs MVR:
103k€/year
• Cost reduction: 383 k€/year
• Simple payback period:
2.1 years
Egbert Klop is Managing
Director of Industrial Energy
Experts
www.ieexperts.nl
on-line.
Figure 3. Functional ranges of compressors for vapour recompression
Source: GEA Wiegand

CHP’s grid balancing capability
Grid balancing
with district heating
Energy management solutions can guarantee more economic CHP plant operation
and allow plants to participate in the smarter business of balancing the grid,
writes Juha-Pekka Jalkanen
T
oday’s energy
systems have
become increasingly
complex because
of two major challenges.
Wind and solar, along with
energy storage, pose the first
challenge to the balance
management of any energy-
producing system. The
second challenge is the
continuous turbulence in
electricity pricing. When
wind is abundant, electricity
prices drop radically to a
very low level. The price
changes also need to be
considered at the plants as
quickly as possible.
Although district heat needs
to be produced, a plant must
assess how profitable electricity
production is when selecting
production units for district heat.
Reaching optimal production
is more demanding than ever,
so plants need to plan better
and forecast the future. They
also must react more quickly
to changes in the market, and
produce more electricity at
times when it is most profitable
to do so. How can they know
what the electricity price will
be today? How much heat
is needed? Additionally, how
can they take care of process
disturbances and be ready to
participate in the intraday or
reserve power market?
Synchronising networks
Combined heat and power
(CHP) is used to produce
electricity along with heat
for industrial processes or
heating. The main difference
between the networks lies in
the fact that the heat network
operates locally with the CHP
plant having active control
over it, whereas the balance
in the electricity network is
controlled by the transmission
system operator.
Because day-ahead
electricity prices are at the
Finland’s Fortum Suomenoja
combined heat and power plant
Credit: Valmet

level of a low-cost commodity,
there may be more business
motivation for participating in
the regulating power market.
The key is to find the right
combination of controlling
the heating network and
participating in balancing the
electricity network. This puts
the CHP plant in a key role as
a bridge to enable a smooth
synchronisation of resources.
In the end, the two networks
should not only be sustainable,
they must also be affordable
and reliable. These goals
can be achieved by a clever
co-ordination of various
players in the energy markets
and a smart mix of energy
sources – and the right tools to
control the results.
Novel concepts for
sustainability
FLEXe stands for building
flexibility into energy systems.
The FLEXe consortium aims to
achieve a better energy system
for the future.TEKES, the Finnish
Funding Agency for Innovation,
is funding the project.The goal
is to enable companies to
create novel technological
and business concepts to
ease the disruptive transition
from the current energy
system towards one that
combines smartness, flexibility,
environmental performance
and economic success.
The consortium consists of
17 companies and 10 research
institutes or universities in
Finland. Thanks to a broad
spectrum of competencies,
FLEXe covers the whole energy
system value chain.
As the only company in the
programme that concentrates
on advanced plant-level
and district heating network
controls, Valmet’s role is to
study how to support system-
level flexibility by means of
advanced controls. The target
is to get information from
different business models to
understand future developing
needs. This will enable Valmet
to create a path for companies
to migrate to new systems.
Valmet will specifically study
the optimal operation and
control strategies of power
plants and heat networks in this
new and flexible operational
environment.
Plan, optimise, control
To enable CHP plants to plan
and forecast more effectively
as well as become more
proactive, the Valmet DNA
Energy Management platform
allows plants to plan their
energy production in the
most optimal way. In addition,
energy management controls,
information sharing and
updated production plans
give plants the quick reaction
ability they need.
Valmet DNA Energy
Management is a modular
energy management system,
delivered in collaboration with
partner Energy Opticon Ab in
Sweden. The system forecasts
district heat demand and
optimises production, allowing
units to achieve the best
total economic costs and to
determine the optimal times for
unit startups and shutdowns.
A common user interface
for all personnel improves
communication. Thanks to a
uniform way of planning, fewer
human errors occur.
Valmet DNA Steam Network
Manager and Valmet DNA
District Heating Manager
are part of the energy
management controls. Costs
are minimised because
disturbances can be corrected
quickly, and power generation
can be maximised by keeping
plant availability as high as
possible.
A holistic approach for
district heating
Fortum’s Suomenoja CHP
plant in Finland produces
heat for households in the
greater Espoo region, and
electricity for the national grid.
Its large and complex network
consists of multiple units. The
power plant produces about
1800 GWh of electricity and
2200 GWh of district heat per
year.
Suomenoja is the first power
plant in Finland to optimise
its district heating network
using the DNA District Heating
Manager solution, which
is based on multivariable
model predictive control. Until
the optimisation, operating
conditions in the plant’s
district heating network were
maintained manually, and
operators had to run the
network with more heat than
necessary. At the same time,
constant temperature and
pressure fluctuations at the
plant posed risks for severe
disturbances. The goal was to
provide Suomenoja with both
economic and environmental
benefits through better control
of its network.
Better control of temperature
and pressure fluctuations
in the heat plant minimises
heat stress to the district heat
piping, and is thus one tool
to avoid severe disturbances.
Better control of the pressure
difference throughout the
network also eliminates
the need to produce any
additional heat, resulting in
higher energy efficiency.
The DNA District Heating
Manager keeps heat
production and consumption
accurately balanced
throughout the whole network.
The CHP, heat-only units and
pumping stations are all
controlled by a single controller,
which takes into account the
dynamic interconnections of
all controlled units.
The co-ordinated control
of all production units and
pumping stations allows heat
loads to be transferred from
one area to another with
flexible allocation of heat loads
between production units.
Accurate control improves
heat delivery efficiency by
decreasing the heat losses in
the network.
While the heat production of
the CHP units varies according
to electricity prices, or they
participate in the balance
control of the electricity grid
frequency, the heat-only
stations keep the entire district
heating network stabilised.This
allows all units to be run at
economically optimised loads
and enables a fast response
to unexpected disturbances,
heat demand changes,
electricity prices and grid
balance actions.
Ultimately, all improvements
contribute to the reduction
Realised
ELSPOT price
and power
Forecasted ELBAS
and regulating
power prices
Unit availabilities
Current loads
DH load forecast
Natural Gas
forecasts
(price and
availability)
Optimal loads for units + Deviation from optimum loads
Optimisation
(plant model, other fuel prices)
Intraday production planning at Tampereen Sähkölaitos in Finland. Optimisation
enables calculating the weekly production forecast and the day-ahead production
plan. Source: Valmet

of fuel consumption and
CO2
emissions, making CHP
production an even more
environmentally friendly and
economical form of heating.
Optimisation and
forecasting
Tampereen Sähkölaitos Group,
based in Tampere, Finland, is
a regional operator in energy
with approximately 130,000
customers. The 120-year-old
group provides electricity,
district heating, district cooling
and natural gas.
In 2014, Tampereen
Sähkölaitos Group chose
Valmet as a supplier for the
production optimisation
system for the entireTampereen
Sähkölaitos. The system
features district heat demand
forecasting and production
optimisation of all five power
plants and peak heat centres.
‘Our three main reasons for
implementing the production
optimisation system at
Tampereen Sähkölaitos were to
help the electricity traders plan
the production, to improve
communication between
the traders and the control
room, and to allow the use of
the same optimisation model
for long-term production
optimisation – and even for
budgeting,’ says Marko Ketola,
Senior Specialist at Tampereen
Sähkölaitos.
An accurate forecast of
the district heat demand
forms the basis for decisions.
Optimisation enables
calculating the weekly
production forecast and the
day-ahead production plan to
support electricity trading and
the intraday production plan.
The traders who work 24/7
make the plan for production.
Due to the lower electricity
prices, the production
environment has become
more complex. For instance,
bypassing the turbine is used
more often.Therefore, it is more
difficult to manually optimise
and plan production.
‘In addition to their expertise,
traders now have the tools
for making the production
plan. This reduces errors
and improves the planning
accuracy,’ Ketola says.
The production optimisation
system is integrated within the
automation and information
systems of the company
and individual plants, and
is connected to Tampereen
Sähkölaitos’s financial
system. Therefore the current
production and consumption
rates, availability of the
production units, electricity
purchase data and fuel
prices can be used to quickly
update the production plan,
whenever there are changes
in the market and process
environment. Thus, even
electricity market changes are
reflected in the latest optimal
production plan.
Tightintegrationalsoensures
that the communication
between control rooms and
traders is improved.The current
plan, and any deviation from
it, are shown in the operator’s
interface in the control system.
Communication is also
important, according to
Marko Ketola. ‘Earlier, this was
mainly based on phone calls.
Now, there is a common user
interface that displays the plan
and the reasons behind the
plan. There’s a common basis
to discuss and from which to
make production decisions,’
he says.
The system does not
remove the need to talk, but it
enhances transparency and
thereby production efficiency.
Integration with the control
system makes it possible to
use the district heat demand
forecast and the optimal
production plan to control
production.
Over the long term,
systematically collecting
history and monitoring
information on forecasts,
plans, actual production
and deviations from the plan
enable Tampereen Sähkölaitos
to economically follow up its
energy production.This means
that it is possible to decrease
production costs for district
heat and increase profits from
electricity production.
The upside of being in
balance
With the use of energy
management and controls
for district heating networks, it
is possible for a plant to play
an active role in improving the
overall production economy
and ultimately balancing the
grid.
Short-term benefits include
using the same planning
principles for each shift,
minimising the chance for
human error and eliminating
differences in running the plant.
Also, when the day-ahead
electricity is planned and
communicated to everyone,
the controls can support the
plant in keeping the target.
Additionally, a CHP plant
can capitalise on the potential
offered through electricity
trading. With changes in the
market, weather or process, it
is possible to quickly calculate
and utilise a new production
plan for the current day or
the following hours. This allows
plants to participate in the
short-term market.
In all, it makes sound
business sense for a CHP plant
to proactively participate in
balancing the electricity grid,
not only on the day-ahead
and intraday markets, but
also as a frequency-controlled
power reserve.
CHP plants that take
advantage of advanced
energy management
solutions and district heating
controls can decrease the
production costs of heat
and maximise profits from
electricity sales. This makes
production within complex
networks easier to plan,
optimise and control. In turn,
CHP plants can take a more
profitable role in the future’s
sustainable, reliable, flexible
and affordable energy system.
Juha-Pekka Jalkanen is
Director, Power Automation
Solutions at Valmet.
www.valmet.com
on-line.
District
heating
network
Heat
storages
Electricity
storage
Conven-
tional
producers
Solar
power
Process
steam
demand
Wind
power
Heat-
only-boilers
Pumping
stations
Geothermal
heat
Electrical
network
Consumers
& Prosumers
CHP plants
Link between grid and heat network
The key is to find the right combination of controlling the heating network and
participating in balancing the electricity network. This puts the CHP plant in a
key role. Source: Valmet

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Operations & maintenance
Big data
and intelligent maintenance
Data-based prognostic technology can determine the future condition
of machines, laying the foundation for intelligent maintenance planning,
writes Moritz von Plate
T
he world’s energy
needs are constantly
growing. Worldwide
population growth
and the continuing
industrialisation of emerging
economies, notably China
and India, are the major
causes for this growth in
energy consumption, which
has a negative impact on
the environment. According
to the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), anthropogenic
greenhouse gas emissions,
i.e., emissions caused
by human activity, have
increased significantly since
pre-industrial times and are
currently at an all-time high.
Green technologies, such
as cogeneration plants,
have therefore become
increasingly relevant for
energy production and will
become even more relevant
in the future.
Thanks to the new
technologies of the Internet
of Things, it is now possible
to perform cost-effective
maintenance measures that
can increase security and
prevent unplanned outages
in cogeneration plants. Such
new technologies make it
possible to analyse process
and condition data of plants
and make prognoses of
the system’s future state. In
addition, these prognoses
change the way in which
people make decisions.
The role of data
The industry is offered totally
new possibilities through the
Internet of Things, especially
when it comes to process
optimisation and automation.
The way has been paved for
profound changes to industrial
processes by implementing
modern information
technologies. In the course
of advanced digitalisation,
machines are linked with one
another and collected data is
used to intelligently co-ordinate
and improve processes. When
it comes to maintenance and
operational management,
Big Data technologies enable
a data-based and future-
oriented prognostic strategy.
For example, thanks
to innovative Big Data
technologies, prognoses
on the future condition of
a machine or its individual
components can be
created. With a prognostic
approach, users receive a
data-based prognosis and
can adjust maintenance
plans accordingly. Further,
unnecessary costs or
unplanned outages can
be avoided, for example by
replacing parts in time, i.e., not
too early and not too late. In
this context, prognostics can
be defined as an ‘objective
and data-based forecast
of future conditions with an
explicit time reference’. In
practical terms, this means
that prognostic reports can
provide information on the
future condition of machines
or machine components for
a period of mostly weeks or
months or, in special cases,
even years.
Predictive diagnostics
vs prognostics
This prognostic approach is not
synonymous with the so-called
Predictive Diagnostics or
Predictive Analytics. Predictive
Diagnostics recognises initial
early warning indicators for
future malfunctions by means
of data abnormalities, and
provides diagnostic findings
about the current condition.Yet
it does not provide information
on when an abnormality will
turn into a malfunction, i.e.,
when the time frame until the
next malfunction arises will
close (tomorrow, in a week, or
is it still months?). Prognostics,
on the other hand, not only
reports on when one can
expect a malfunction, but also
indicates when the time frame
during which measures can
be taken will close.
Because the prognoses are
calculated for each machine
individually,they are not based
on average data from other
machines or manufacturers’
specifications. This has the
advantage that the individual
performance curves, the
operational strategy and, if
applicable, previous data on
historical incidents is included
in the prognoses. This results

in the prognoses reaching a
higher level of precision and
reliability. When calculating
prognoses, the historical data
runs through a number of
different steps. These consist
of stochastic methods and
include highly developed
algorithms. The result is an
explicit future risk profile that
illustrates the probability of
malfunctions over time.
The requirement for a
prognosis is to collect and
store enough process data
(e.g., rotation frequency,
speed, temperature and
pressure) and condition
data (e.g., vibration data,
lubrication data and housing
temperature). An ideal time
frame of data history is three
to five years, whereby it is
possible to complete a reliable
prognosis with a shorter time-
frame.The storage format does
not play an important role. It is
more important to ensure that
the data is as complete as it
can be,as this will increase the
validity of the statistics.
Condition-based
maintenance
Instead of relying on fixed
maintenance intervals or
waiting for something to
break, the information from a
prognostic report can be used
to ensure that maintenance
and repair work can be carried
out when needed. Parts will
not be replaced too early on
speculation, but rather when it
is necessary from a technical
point of view. Apart from this,
by means of the prognostic
reports and good data
processing, it is also possible
to recognise the effect that
various operational scenarios
will have on the equipment’s
remaining useful life (RUL),
transparently and objectively.
By doing so, the RUL can be
actively managed through
adjusting the operational
mode.
How the installation
works
Introducing transparency into
the RUL and, ideally, being
able to actively control it were
the aims of a project in which
Cassantec implemented
the solution in a fossil fuel-
fired power plant. The active
management of the RUL
should take place in such a
way that the duration of the
RUL and the operational mode
are balanced to achieve the
desired outcome. Additionally,
maintenance activities should
be optimised to lower the
operational and repair costs.
Such a project is divided into
two phases. As a prerequisite,
historical available condition
and process data from
the power plant must be
collected and prepared for
further processing. During
the first phase – the so-called
configuration phase – the
power plant experts and
Cassantec ascertain the
correlations between data
parameters and specific
malfunctions. The second
phase is prepared based on
this foundation: the actual
calculation and prognoses
of the risk of malfunctions.
This phase also includes the
fine-tuning of the preliminary
component specific warning
and alarm levels.
How the solution works
at a cogeneration plant
The first prognostic reports
compiled for a cogeneration
plant have already delivered
valuable findings for the
operator. For example, by
implementing a scenario
analysis which determines
the dependence of the data
on the operational regime, it
is possible to find a new and
optimised mode of operation
for the equipment. This can
have a positive effect on
the RUL of the equipment, its
reliability and the need for
maintenance.
Based on results produced
by the prognostic solution,
the energy provider receives
valuable insight into the
relationship between
operational strategy and
the RUL of the power plant
and, in particular, the critical
equipment. This goes much
further than the information
available from conventional
condition monitoring and
diagnosis.Theresultsenablethe
operator to make well-founded
decisions on the adjustment
of his or her operation and
maintenance plan for the
An illustrative excerpt from a prognostic report for one example generator Source: Cassantec
The colour green represents a low risk of malfunction Source: Cassantec

critical equipment, in order to
be able to optimise its usage
in three fundamental aspects:
considerable extension of the
RUL, minimising maintenance
costs through optimisation of
the maintenance plan, and
specific information on when
a component will need to be
replaced.
When the operator decides
to expand the implementation
of the prognostic solution to
other similar plants in the fleet,
the configuration phase, as
outlined above, is significantly
shortened. In addition, the
operator can expect extensive
savings in maintenance and
repairs, and a comprehensive
understanding of the condition
of the machinery and of the
factors that influence the RUL.
Fleet-wide implementation
also leads to a fleet-wide
learning effect that boosts the
initial advantages.
How people will make
decisions in the future
Whether consciously or
unconsciously, humans make
hundreds of choices every day.
Gerhard Roth, a professor at
the Institute for Brain Research
in Bremen, has determined
that, quite often, gut decisions
are the better choice. When
choosing what to eat for
breakfast or what to wear,
that is perhaps the best way;
however, for more complex
decisions the basis should
not be intuitive. Especially
when the cause and effect of
a problem are not clear and
decision-makers are faced
with complex structures, data-
based facts can put them
on the right track. Algorithms
help people solve complex
problems such as the
maintenance of equipment,
and help them make better
judgments.
At present, the basis for
making many decisions is still
often experience or intuition.
Humans have their own
‘computer’, the brain. However,
the brain is not immune to
prejudice. Even factors such
as the weather or one’s mood
demonstrably and significantly
influence decisions. Often
many important characteristics
are lacking for a proper
analysis and assessment,
but an algorithm that is
programmed in advance is
subject to fewer such errors
in reasoning. Mathematical
foundations offer the possibility
that decision-makers receive
a formula that is objective,
transparent and applicable to
different situations.
Thus, for example, through
the use of Cassantec’s
prognostic reports, a
foundation is created to
make sound decisions for
maintenance strategies – for
example,to pool maintenance
interventions intelligently and
to plan them in time to avoid
costly overtime and night shifts.
Maintenance plans will no
longer be created periodically
and based on experience, but
with a transparent,data-based
structure.This saves companies
huge costs.
What is holding us back
Society is at the beginning
of a digital transformation.
Industry 4.0 and the Internet
of Things offer enormous
potential to change and
exercise a positive influence
over the way employees
work. Yet technologies such
as prognostics also face
challenges. The prudent
application of prognostic
solutions requires that
reliability and maintenance
professionals possess an
extended skillset: the ability
to articulate risk, to explicate
forecasts, and to consider
both in asset management
decisions. Prognostics
complements and requires
operator experience and
manufacturer know-how, but
it also necessitates a shift
in thinking and language
towards a risk management
approach. In the long
run, though, it is clear that
companies and professionals
must face these challenges.
Companies that have not
already started collecting data
for sophisticated analyses,and
that are not planning to make
use of the new possibilities,
will eventually reach the point
where they can no longer
compete in the digitalised
environment.
The foundation for
intelligent planning
The use of complex data
analytics in order to control
and improve processes is
increasing in the age of Big
Data and the Internet of Things.
When it comes to maintenance
and repair activities, the use of
big data analytics is likewise
increasing. With the help
of data-based prognostic
technology, the future
condition of machines can
be determined. This creates
the foundation for intelligent
maintenance planning.
Instead of fixed intervals,
maintenance will now only take
place when it is technically
necessary. Implementation
in a cogeneration plant can
increase the understanding
and transparency for the
plant. The foresight derived
from prognostics can
enable an active control
and expansion of the RUL.
Moritz von Plate is CEO of
Cassantec
www.cassantec.com
on-line.
Advantages of prognostics:
• Maintenance can be carried out when it is
technically necessary, which reduces the
number of maintenance interventions;
• The influence of the operational regime on
the RUL becomes transparent,which means
that it is possible to actively manage RUL;
• It becomes apparent well in advance
when the risk of a malfunction will reach
the risk tolerance threshold. This allows for
avoidance of unplanned malfunctions;
• Repairs can be planned in advance and
then conducted when the impact of
operational interruptions is at its lowest;
• The processing and presentation of the
data provides transparency and enables
fleet-wide comparisons over time;
• Decision-making competency can
be increased by means of objective
information, the machine will gain in
safety and reliability, and the reduction of
(unplanned) malfunctions will save budget.
The dots show the exact data reading points Source: Cassantec

2015 11 12 Cogeneration & On-Site Power Production

2015 11 12 Cogeneration & On-Site Power Production

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