Start and load a gas turbine and heat recovery steam generator after a trip

You are the Unit Controller on panel B, afternoon shift.

Simulated workplaceIntermediate missionCAQA Powergen Station

What is going on

GT2 tripped at 2:22 pm on 5 September on high exhaust temperature spread, taking the station from 310 to 165 megawatts. The instrument crew checked the can 7 thermocouple loop and found a loose terminal. The market operator has asked when the unit will be back and the Operations Manager wants it restarted as a hot start under the procedure with every check done. There is an open permit on the GT1 fuel gas skid, the ammonia dosing system on HRSG2 is in service and the afternoon peak begins at 5:00 pm. Leanne Boschetti also wants to know what the log entry from the earlier restart failed to record.

Leanne Boschetti, Operations Manager
Subject: GT2 return to service after the exhaust spread trip

GT2 tripped yesterday on exhaust temperature spread and Callum restarted it after the thermocouple check. I want the start reviewed against the gas turbine start procedure before we do it again. Please walk through the pre-start checks, the start sequence and the heat recovery steam generator warm up as if you were the controller, record a full start in the Operations Log, and identify anything the procedure requires that the log entry from yesterday does not show. Report back before the panel B shift on Thursday.

Your brief

Prepare and carry out the hot start of GT2 and the warm up of HRSG2 to the procedure, load the unit to dispatch, record the start fully in the Operations Log, and identify the gaps in the earlier log entry against the procedure.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

Read the Procedure: Start and Run Up a Gas Turbine and Heat Recovery Steam Generator and prepare a pre-start checklist for a hot start of GT2.
Check the Permit and Isolation Register and confirm whether any open permit affects GT2 or HRSG2, and state how the GT1 fuel gas skid permit affects the station.
Record the pre-start checks in the Operations Log, including fuel gas conditions, fire protection status and the field operator's plant walk.
Describe the start sequence, the parameters you monitor at each step and the action you take if the sequence holds at ignition or during acceleration.
Describe the HRSG2 warm up at the hot rate, the drum level management and the point at which steam is admitted to the steam turbine.
Record the synchronisation, loading and final load in the Operations Log and note the load at which the emissions control system must be confirmed in service.
Compare the log entry LOG-26-09-0415 to the procedure and write a note for the Operations Manager listing what it did not record.
Prepare the Shift Handover Report for the end of your shift showing the GT2 status, open permits and the standing instruction on thermocouple trends.

My notes: what did I enjoy, and what surprised me?

What someone in this role would produce

Pre-start checklist
Operations Log entries for the start
Note on the earlier log entry gaps
Completed shift handover report

Printing this is a record of what you explored. It is not a certificate or a qualification.