This article is an excellent piece as written by one of the most knowledgeable and recognized persons in the business of power plant operations.

11/01/2017 | Nick Schroeder, PE

Power plants are designed to operate at their highest efficiency. Once a plant goes into operation, however, real life takes over and sometimes design outcomes are not regularly realized. Improving plant performance should be every operator’s objective, and there are some very important indications that can be utilized to help steer the plant on a course to achieve design conditions.

For centuries navigators used just two basic numbers, latitude and longitude, and simple instruments—compass and sextant, sea charts and celestial tables—to find their way over land and seas. Power plant operators can navigate toward more efficient operation using some fairly basic tools, too.

Design documents, much like sea charts and celestial tables, provide fundamental plant operating information. Furthermore, five basic parameters can be utilized to “steer” the plant toward greater efficiency. The data to watch are flue gas exit temperature, feedwater flow ratio, condenser terminal temperature difference (TTD), condenser range (RNG), and tower approach (APP).

To continue reading the original article: Power Plant Efficiency