Product/Service

Gas Station

Source: Environment One Corporation
Monitoring and Controls for Hydrogen-Cooled Generators in a Single, Integrated Station
GAS STATION, a new modular approach to gas control and monitoring for hydrogen-cooled generators is being previewed at the industry's premiere electric power generation event (Power-Gen International 2000) in Orlando today. Michael Clute, Environment One's president, declares GAS STATION as "the next step toward E/One's promise to develop and deliver the maximum in protective and performance optimization products and asset management services for the global power grid."

E/One, since spinning off of General Electric's Center for Research & Development in 1969, has led the industry in condition monitoring equipment, serving major electric utilities' predictive maintenance programs throughout the industrialized world. Ron Brosnihan, General Manager-E/One Detection Systems, views the GAS STATION product as the result of "listening to our generator manufacturer and client utilities, and responding to their desires to combine critical gas monitoring and control systems in one conveniently located station near the generator. E/One's overheat and gas purity monitoring technologies, together with complementary diagnostic and control capabilities, offer our customers a virtual smorgasbord of customization options never before found in one package."

GAS STATION is available for either OEM systems or retrofit/upgrade programs. GAS STATION functions include:

  • Generator Gas Analyzer
    Hydrogen is used as a cooling medium in generators because its excellent heat transfer characteristics and low density help reduce windage losses. When hydrogen purity decreases, generator operating costs increase significantly.

    The Generator Gas Analyzer (GGA) continuously analyzes generator cooling gas during normal and purge operations to ensure optimum purity levels and maximum operational efficiency.

  • Generator Condition Monitor
    Early warning of generator overheating can mean the difference between a brief shut-down for minor repairs and a major overhaul involving weeks or even months of costly downtime.

    The Generator Condition Monitor – Explosion Proof Design (GCM-X) provides early warning of generator hotspots. A regular "collector analysis" program complements the GCM-X by qualifying and verifying the problem.

    Gen-Tags, a specially synthesized set of chemically and thermally stable compounds, further enhances the GCM-X system when applied to critical areas of the generator. In the event of a verified alarm, the GCM-X's collection system will capture a sample of generator gas so that areas of overheating can be pinpointed.

  • Generator Gas Dryer
    Water, oil and other contaminants cause corrosion in critical areas of generators and contribute to windage losses – reducing operational efficiency and increasing the likelihood of forced outages.

    E/One's Generator Gas Dryer (GGD) removes contaminants from the hydrogen cooling gas through all phases of generator operation. It also incorporates continuous dew point monitoring and display of both inlet and outlet lines to the dryer. Result: operators can monitor the efficiency of the drying process, and allow dryer regeneration at the optimum time.

  • Generator Auxiliary System
    Monitoring critical parameters of the main gas supply is essential for efficient generator operation. E/One's Generator Auxiliary System (GAS), used in conjunction with E/One's main Gas Supply Manifold, provides local display of critical supply, case and differential pressures. In addition, it presents a host of other external signals, including hot and cold gas temperature, megawatt output and VAR's.

    E/One's GAS system also enables the utility or generator OEM to display an optimization factor for the generator system. E/One accomplishes this through an algorithm written in conformance with utility and generator OEM parameters.

    Clute sums up E/One's new broadened value proposition, stating that "the bottom line is a cost-effective product that minimizes forced outages and maximizes utility asset performance, while offering the most flexible customization schemes in the industry, allowing our client utilities to meet their specific needs and budget parameters, while offering the highest levels of quality, reliable service continuity to their customers on the grid."

    Environment One Corporation is an operating company of PCC Flow Technologies, Inc., an international provider of fluid handling pumps, industrial valves and measurement instruments, a division of Precision Castparts Corp. (NYSE:PCP). With corporate headquarters in New York and regional offices and distribution throughout the industrialized world, Environment One is a manufacturer and provider of:

    • Detection Systems for the Protection and Performance Optimization of Electric Utility Assets
    • Products and Services for the Disposal of Residential Sanitary Waste

Environment One Corporation, 2773 Balltown Road, Niskayuna, NY 12309-1090. Tel: 518-346-6161; Fax: 518-346-6188.