Gas turbine dispatch optimizer real-time command and operations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10452041-B2
Application number	US-201715476124-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 31, 2017
Priority date	Mar 31, 2017
Publication date	Oct 22, 2019
Grant date	Oct 22, 2019

Abstract

A dispatch optimization system leverages ambient and market forecast data as well as asset performance and parts-life models to generate recommended operating schedules for gas turbines or other power-generating plant assets that substantially maximize profit while satisfying parts-life constraints. The system generates operating profiles that balance optimal peak fire opportunities with optimal cold part-load opportunities within a maintenance interval or other operating horizon. During real-time operation of the assets, the optimization system can update the operating schedule based on actual market, ambient, and operating data. The system provides information that can assist operators in determining suitable conditions in which to cold part-load or peak-fire the assets in an optimally profitable manner without violating target life constraints.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a system comprising at least one processor, operating profile data for one or more power-generating assets defining values of one or more operating variables for respective time units of a life cycle;
determining, by the system for a first subset of the respective time units of the life cycle corresponding to a first operating mode that produces parts-life credits relative to a target life, an amount of parts-life credited relative to the target life based on the operating profile data and parts-life model data for the one or more power-generating assets;
determining, by the system for a second subset of the respective time units of the life cycle corresponding to a second operating mode that consumes the parts-life credits relative to the target life, an amount of parts-life consumed relative to the target life based on the operating profile data and the parts-life model data;
determining, by the system, an amount of banked parts-life at a current time of the life cycle based on a net of the amount of parts-life credited and the amount of parts-life consumed;
converting, by the system, the amount of banked parts-life to an amount of available power output capable of being generated by the second operating mode during the life cycle without violating the target life;
determining, by the system based on the price of life value, a minimum electricity price at which selling the available power output will yield a profit;
in response to determining that a current electricity price is equal to or greater than the minimum electricity price, automatically initiating peak-fire operation of the one or more power-generating assets; and
rendering, by the system, the amount of available power output on an interface display.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the system, a price of life value representing a cost per unit of the banked parts-life for the one or more power-generating assets, wherein the price of life value is one of a non-vector value or a vector value; and
rendering, by the system on the interface display or another interface display, the minimum electricity price.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
identifying, by the system, one or more time units of the life cycle during which the second operating mode is recommended based on the minimum electricity price and forecasted electricity price data;
rendering, by the system on the interface display or another interface display, the one or more time units during which the second operating mode is recommended, and
rendering, by the system on the interface display or another interface display, a submit button, wherein the submit button enables another execution sequence based on at least one of an updated minimum electricity price and an updated forecasted electricity price.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
plotting, by the system on the interface display or another interface display, a cumulative value of the amount of available power output over time.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, by the system, a price of life value representing a cost per unit of the banked parts-life for the one or more power-generating assets;
identifying, by the system, one or more time units of the life cycle during which the first operating mode is recommended based on the price of life value, forecasted electricity price data, forecasted fuel price data, performance model data that models fuel consumption for the one or more power-generating assets, and parts-life model data that models parts-life consumption for the one or more power-generating assets;
rendering, by the system on the interface display or another interface display, the one or more time units during which the first operating mode is recommended, and
providing at least one user interface component configured to generate at least one user-defined constraint for display on the interface display.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the identifying the one or more time units during which the first operating mode is recommended comprises identifying, for respective time units of the life cycle, an operating temperature T for the one or more power-generating assets that maximizes or substantially maximizes
ElectricityPrice*MW−FuelCost*FuelUsed(MW, T, Amb)−λ*FHH_Consumed(MW, T, Amb)

where
ElectricityPrice is a forecasted or actual price of power at the time unit,
MW is a forecasted or actual value of the power output for the time unit,
FuelCost is a forecasted or actual price of fuel for the time unit,
Amb is one or more values of one or more ambient conditions for the time unit,
FuelUsed(MW, T, Amb) is a forecasted amount of fuel consumed for the time unit as a function of MW, T, and Amb,
λ is the price of life value, and
FHH_Consumed(MW, T, Amb) is a forecasted amount of parts-life created or consumed for the time unit as a function of MW, T, and Amb, and
wherein the user-defined constraints comprise operating data corresponding to at least one of a duct-burner, an evaporative cooler, and a chiller.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising controlling, by the system, operation of the one or more power-generating assets in accordance with values of the operating temperature T determined for the respective time units,
wherein the interface display further comprises a day-ahead capacity display screen, and
wherein the day-ahead capacity display screen displays day-ahead planning information.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
updating, by the system, the price of life value on a periodic basis based on historical operation data for the one or more plant assets for past time units of the life cycle, forecasted electricity price data and gas cost data for remaining time units of the life cycle, and forecasted ambient data for the remaining time units of the life cycle to yield an updated price of life value; and
updating, by the system for the respective time units, the operating temperature T multiple times during a day of the life cycle based on the updated price of life value.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving the operating profile data comprises:
selecting, by the system, a price of life value representing a cost per unit of the banked parts-life for the one or more power-generating plant assets;
determining, by the system for respective time units of the life cycle, provisional values of the one or more operating variables that maximize or substantially maximize profit values based on the price of life value, the one or more operating variables comprising at least one of power output or operating temperature;
determining, by the system, a predicted amount of consumed parts-life over the life cycle for the one or more power-generating assets based on the provisional values of the one or more operating variables; and
in response to determining that the predicted amount of consumed parts-life does not violate the target life, generating, by the system, the operating profile data based on the provisional values of the one or more operating variables.

10. A system, comprising:
at least one real-time data acquisition component;
at least one network interface, the at least one network interface configured to received real-time data from the at least one real-time data acquisition component;
at least one system bus communicatively coupled to the at least one network interface;
a memory that stores executable components, the memory communicatively coupled to the at least one system bus;
a processor, operatively coupled to the memory and the at least one system bus, that executes the executable components, the exe

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Menon Anup
• Vetukuri Sree Rama Raju
• Anubi Olugbenga
• John Justin
• Lindenmuth Marc Gavin
• Kumar Aditya
• Shi Ruijie
• Thatcher Jonathan

Classifications

• G06F30/20 Primary

  Design optimisation, verification or simulation (optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30) · CPC title

• F05D2270/20

  to optimize the performance of a machine · CPC title

• F05D2270/07

  to improve fuel economy · CPC title

• G05B2219/2639

  Energy management, use maximum of cheap power, keep peak load low · CPC title

• G05B19/042 Primary

  using digital processors (G05B19/05 takes precedence) · CPC title