AIR & WATER
MONITORING NEWSLETTER
March 2013
No. 401
An Independent Supplier is an Option for Gas Turbine Control Retrofits
The retrofit market for gas turbine (GT) and compressor control systems is substantial. Systems sold during the early 2000s are ready for an upgrade. These are still older systems equipped with analog controls or electromechanical governors.
“The average life cycle of many OEM controls are in a 10-15 10-year timeframe,” said Clark Weaver, Manager of New Product Introduction, Wood Group GTS in an article appearing in Turbomachiney International.
The battle to serve this market is being waged by OEMs such as GE and Siemens, looking to persuade users to upgrade their original control systems. Independent suppliers, such as Wood Group GTS, Invensys, Tri-Sen, Young & Franklin and Emerson are offering users the option of switching to open architectures and newly-manufactured replacements.
OEMs are urging users to stay with their controls for the life of the turbine or compressor. The basic logic is that the hardware and controls are designed to work in harmony. As turbine and control engineers work together, OEMs say that their controls can be counted on to work best on their own machines.
Independents, on the other hand, argue that users of OEM systems may be deprived of software logic, have no alternative to expensive spares and support, and may be forced to comply with programmed life cycle management; whereas the open philosophy lets them support their units as they desire.
They also claim to provide users with functionality and upgrade options that the OEM either resists, charges more for, or doesn’t provide. Users can modify control functionality, they say, particularly as it relates to operations criteria or auxiliary controls to improve flexibility or deal with site-specific issues that are hindering operations. This, they claim, can be achieved without jeopardizing turbine safety or critical control and protection logic.
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