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LCI Services
In today’s changing power market, the reliability of starting your Gas Turbine is now more important than ever. The GE Direct-O-Matic, Innovation
Every Summer and Winter TC&E answers multiple Forced Outage Calls to repair issues that very well could have been caught during simple annual maintenance. It is our mission to help our customers keep these systems 100% reliable.
TC&E recommends the following levels of Maintenance annually or at a minimum, bi-annually:
LCI starting means system & Cabinet Clean and Inspection (C&I)
The following is an outline of a standard Clean and Inspect of a Load Commutated Inverter (LCI) system. It is not intended to be all inclusive and will be customized per customer and system requirements at each site.
To perform a clean and inspect the equipment must be in the following state:
Offline Checkout:
Duration 2-3 days, depending on items found and site support for LOTO and access to equipment.
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Review the operating history with the customer operators and maintenance techs
→ Alarms, faults, complaints and known anomalies -
LOTO and safety walk down
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Gain access to the cubicles
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Visual and physical Inspection and cleaning of LCI control and bridge cubicles
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Verify tightness of all connections in the LCI Control Cabinet
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Verify the integrity of all SCRs in load and source bridges
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Visual and physical Inspection and cleaning of the all screw and bolted connections and all stab on connectors
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Visual and physical Inspection and cleaning of the LCI liquid cooling system
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Check the operation of the auto transfer function and alarms
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Visual and physical Inspection and cleaning of the AC load disconnect switch (89SS)
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Check the feedback SW’s for integrity and verify smooth operation
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Visual and physical Inspection and cleaning of the neutral load disconnect switch (89ND)
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Visual and physical Inspection and cleaning of the DC link reactor, customer must provide access to the link reactor by removing the side panel
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Visual and physical Inspection and cleaning of the power cabling
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Megger all power cables, link reactor and bridges
Software Checkout and operational tests:
- Test all Power supplies and adjust or replace as needed with customer spare parts
- Connect to DSPC card and download constants to be saved for Customer
- Perform Current Offset Test and save changes
- Perform Voltage Offset Test and save changes
- Perform Gate Test Mode to check gating signals to each SCR in high voltage bridge
- Verify that all printed circuit cards are latest revision
- Check to see that certain TILs that are for LCI equipment are complete in the LCI control
- Test Current Feedback Scaling Resistors and verify they are properly mounted in LCI
- Backup the LCI software
- Recommend any corrective actions for any issues that are found during the inspections
- Provide a complete report of all findings with pictures and explanations
Send an email to info@TCEXG.COM or call us at 1-855-TCE-CTRL and request a follow up from one of our LCI Engineers.
How is your fleet of 7FA and 9FA GTs running?
What’s your plan when one or more fail to start and wholesale market penalties hammer your bottom line?
We saved 7FA and 9FA LCI know-how from extinction and now can save your bottom line from the same fate.
What’s changed?
The very nature of fuel sources, that’s what. The steady performing, fossil fuel baseload -generation assets have taken a backseat to cleaner renewable fuels. While its good for carbon reductions, the variability of renewable sources is challenging and reforming management of wholesale power supply.
A new era of opportunity and risk
The RTO/ISO operations are taking aggressive action to make sure renewable variability doesn’t impact grid stability and reliability.
While new regulations provide substantial rewards for consistent supply performance, they impose practically uncapped penalties for failure to supply.
More frequent start and stop requirements for the Load Commutated inverter (LCI)
The 7FA and 9FA GTs were designed to start and stay running for hours or weeks at a time. The schedule was such that it was common to use on LCI to start several GTs.
The wholesale grid managers need quick start assets to fill the supply gaps when renewable asset output fluctuates. It may not be hard on the actual turbine, but the controls are a different matter. They are wearing out and failing, with increasing frequency.
EOL status for most LCIs now or within the next few years
The original manufacturer of the LCIs completed the last production run in 2013, effectively establishing the end of life (EOL) date for LCIs.
Since then, prices have steadily increased as availability has dwindled. Finding spare parts can take weeks. And when the penalty meter is running, that can be catastrophic financially.
Knowledgeable LCI engineers and technicians are hard to find
Many of the engineers and technicians who helped develop the LCI have retired. Finding people with the necessary know-how to replace a LCI is about as difficult as finding parts.
Except for TC&E
Our employees and strategic partners represent the largest pool of LCI expertise anywhere, including the original manufacturer.
Couple that with our ready access to advanced, yet fully compatible, LCI upgrades and replacements, and we can handle your LCI failures promptly and efficiently.
But why wait for a failure? And the accompanying penalties..
Contact us today to develop a strategic approach to ensuring you don’t suffer an ill-timed LCI failure and doom your bottom line to extinction.
Reliability
Using the latest technology, components, and lessons learned through decades of experience, TC&E can ensure complete reliability for both start-up and continuous operation.
Affordability
Spending good money where it makes the most difference! We understand that O&M budgets are shrinking, so we work with the plants to understand where and when to repair, replace, or upgrade for maximum return.
Efficiency
This is the key to success in today’s competitive power markets. Heat Rate, Capacity, Start-Up, and Maintenance Costs are critical to the success of aging power plants.
Longevity
Aging systems can continue to provide reliable service for many years to come with the proper service, maintenance, and repairs. Push your upgrades out 5-10 years with confidence.
Success Story
TC&E has always provided a high level of expertise and detail on our site—most notably, custom-tailored projects to reduce parasitic load during the off-peak seasons using logic and controls.
Partners - We Partner with some amazing and marquee industry partners.
