GE's New FlexEfficiency* Advantage and LifeMax* Advantage Platforms Unlock Full Performance, Value of Installed Gas Turbines
Portfolios Blend Hardware with Software to Expand Performance and Asset Life
Channeling the Industrial Internet through GE’s Data Analytics Capabilities Taps into the Power of “Big Data”
GE Surpasses 100 Million Hours of Captured Operating Data on the World’s Largest Gas Turbine Fleet
Platforms Support GE’s Predictivity* Portfolio of Solutions That Enable Better Operational Forecasting, Decision-Making
BANGKOK – Two new GE (NYSE: GE) solutions platforms are applying the collective power of hardware innovations, advanced software and data analytics in ways that enable GE customers to unleash the full performance and value of their existing gas turbine assets. GE’s FlexEfficiency* Advantage (FEA) and LifeMax* Advantage (LMA) portfolios deliver technologies blended through a collaborative process between GE and its customers to identify the solutions that best help them achieve their desired outcomes, which include flexibility, efficiency and reliability. GE announced the new portfolios today at the 2013 POWER-GEN Asia Conference & Exhibition.
“Through our FEA and LMA platforms we’re really tapping into a three-way collaboration between our customers, machines around the world and our dedicated team at work,” said Fintan Tuffy, general manager of Fleet Analytics & Performance Management for GE’s Power Generation Services business. “This powerful combination of experience and information can lead our energy industry into a new era of efficiency, cost savings, environmental responsibility and smarter decision-making. The solutions we continue to introduce to our customers are demonstrating how information really can be transformed into tremendous power.”
FEA solutions for GE F-Class gas turbine customers are configured to expand performance parameters, including output, efficiency and operating windows. GE customers also can benefit from an extension of maintenance intervals, asset and parts life through more durable hardware components and software technology that automate operational adjustments to reduce stresses on parts.
GE’s Advanced Gas Path (AGP) solution exemplifies the FlexEfficiency Advantage in action. This upgrade blends advancements in hot gas path components with OpFlex* model-based control software to deliver industry-leading increases in megawatt (MW) output and fuel efficiency. The FlexEfficiency Advantage platform also features solutions including GE’s Dry Low NOx (DLN) combustion technologies and a broader OpFlex Suite of solutions, both of which expand the operational flexibility of F-Class gas turbines. GE customers benefitting from FEA solutions include Korea Southern Power Company, Ltd., South Korea; Chia Hui Power Station, Taiwan (R.O.C.); TransCanada, Canada; IBERDROLA, Mexico; and Duke Energy, United States.
LMA solutions help GE customers with installed B/E-Class gas turbines reset the clock on their aging assets with tailored upgrade packages. The installation of GE’s most advanced hardware and software offerings on this fleet of units, which averages more than 17 years in operation, can significantly extend their life cycle of operation. GE customers also can realize improvements in output, efficiency and reliability with a suite of upgrade solutions that help B/E-Class gas turbines recapture lost performance. GE customers benefitting from LMA solutions include Thaioil Energy, Thailand; S.A. Industrias Celulosa Aragonesa, Spain; and Great River Energy, United States.
GE’s LMA platform features solutions including upgrades to B/E-Class AGP systems; DLN combustion technologies such as 32K, which allows operators to run their units up to 32,000 hours between scheduled maintenance intervals; and Flange-to-Flange replacements of core engine components.
Solutions delivered through the FEA and LMA platforms are part of GE’s Predictivity* portfolio. GE Predictivity solutions tap into the power of the Industrial Internet, a combination of mind and machine assets that collectively bring industrial-strength capabilities to GE customers. Predictivity solutions for GE’s power generation customers harness massive volumes of data analyzed from the world’s largest monitored gas turbine fleet to develop solutions that allow them to make more informed operational and business decisions.
In September 2013, GE eclipsed 100 million hours of operational data documented on its globally monitored gas turbine fleet of more than 1,600 units, the world’s largest. The insights derived from analysis of this operational “big data” can be applied to help customers expand their earning power while reducing operational costs and risk. As these “intelligent” machines communicate their operating statistics through an average of 100 physical sensors and 300 virtual sensors on each gas turbine, the GE team can help customers translate that information into actionable decisions. Armed with these data-driven insights, GE customers can more effectively identify potential barriers before they occur, treat minor issues before they lead to catastrophic events and dynamically adjust performance to improve efficiency and reduce parts wear and tear.
GE is tapping into knowledge gained from this data analysis to develop new technology breakthroughs, both hardware- and software-based, that enable customers to unleash more potential from their existing gas turbine and balance of plant assets. Unlocking the full capacity of a 500-MW power plant could be worth more than $500,000 annually in increased revenue, while a public utility that could reduce its heat rate efficiency curve by 1 percent could save up to $1.25 million dollars annually in fuel costs.
GE’s Predictivity solutions and data-driven insights also are playing an integral role in the development of technology for new gas turbine units. Performance advancements based, in part, on extensive data analytics of GE’s global installed gas turbine fleet are being integrated into GE 9F-3 and 9E new gas turbines units, as well as the FlexEfficiency* 50 and FlexEfficiency 60* gas turbine portfolios. These platforms feature technology innovations, both hardware and software, founded on insights derived from extensive data analytics of the GE fleet’s real-world operating data. This process enables GE customers around the world to expand their fleets with new, high-performing gas turbine assets driven by proven technology.
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About GE Power & Water
GE Power & Water provides customers with a broad array of power generation, energy delivery and water process technologies to solve their challenges locally. Power & Water works in all areas of the energy industry including renewable resources such as wind and solar; biogas and alternative fuels; and coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy. The business also develops advanced technologies to help solve the world’s most complex challenges related to water availability and quality. Power & Water’s six business units include Distributed Power, Nuclear Energy, Power Generation Products, Power Generation Services, Renewable Energy and Water & Process Technologies. Headquartered in Schenectady, N.Y., Power & Water is GE’s largest industrial business.
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Media contacts:
Shaun Wiggins
GE Power & Water
Phone: +1 518 385 5992
Email: shaun.wiggins@ge.com
