Does any have cause and effects drawings for their MK6 control system?

I'm used to straight up SIS controls in PLCs, and we have C&Es for all of our SIS systems. Our control board operators use them to understand what's going on and what possible consequences are regarding observed conditions (causes).

My board operators cannot be expected to use Toolbox or the manuals to the extent where it would provide them answers to their MK6 questions similar to those they can derive from reading C&Es.

Has anyone ever had meaningful and comprehensive cause and effects drawings made for their MK6 control logic?

Is this sensible to even attempt?

Understanding my desire to provide this self-help info for my operators, what alternatives to Toolbox, the manuals, cause and effects drawings, and additional repetitive training do you suggest I consider?

 

'The Give The Man A Prize!' department? Ya gotta love the irony of the moderators! (Some of us love it, anyways!)

You didn't say what kind of turbines these Mark VIs are controlling.

Two divisions of GE, the former Nuovo Pignone (now known as GE Oil & Gas), as well as the former Alsthom (now known as GE Energy Products-Europe) both do some kind of 'cause-and-effect' diagrams for many of the turbines they produce. Which are mostly 50 Hz generator-drive applications, or single- or two-shaft mechanical (compressor drive) applications.

I think one of GE's turbine packagers, BHEL, also provides some kind of cause-and-effect document with the units they sell.

But, because GE pretty much breaks the mold with just about every system they produce these days (no matter where it's produced) one cause-and-effect diagram for one unit is not the same for any other machine. (The differences are primarily due to cost-reductions in packaging and auxiliaries, and differences in packages and auxiliaries, as well as "enhancements" to existing application code.) If you have operators that just want to read a document to understand how their unit operates, beware of taking just "any" document and handing it over to them as 'better than nothing' without reviewing it; because it's usually not (better than nothing).

The type of SIS documentation you are accustomed to is not so well-suited to more mass-produced products, and, yes, GE-design heavy duty gas turbines (and the aero-derivative units they package, as well) are approaching "mass" production, to the extent they can be. The design criteria for a SIS is much different than that for a turbine driving a generator or a compressor or a pump. And, the cost of the turbine driving a generator or a compressor or a pump is much less than that of a process requiring a SIS and the cause-and-effect diagram that comes with the control system for that process.

Are your operators having trouble understanding Process Alarms? Or Diagnostic Alarms? Or both? Do they need to understand how the turbine operates (start-up, shutdown, cooldown, loading/unloading, etc.)? Do they not understand the Start-check or Trip displays? Do they need to be able to perform maintenance or troubleshooting on the equipment? Are they just operators, or operators and technicians?

The answers to these kinds of questions would be very helpful in deciding how to proceed.

You would do well to produce a document outlining the specific skills you want your operators to have, and work with one of the several companies providing training on GE power generation equipment to develop a course, and possibly some diagrams, to achieve your objectives. Of course, GE offers training, and there's several others, as well, including one of the advertisers here on control.com, Gas Turbine Controls Corporation (www.gasturbinecontrols.com), and HPC Technical Services (www.hpcnet.com).

Does the site have SOPs, Standard Operating Procedures? Would it be helpful to develop these for what you want? (These would be likely be the best as they would be site- and unit-specific, and would be great to have in the event of an 'incident.')

Those sites who encourage their personnel to dig in and get familiar with the existing documentation, as they work to write SOPs, do the best at acquiring the skills necessary to understand the equipment at their site--regardless of the supplier or control system. Sometimes, they just need a good starting point, and you would likely find that with any of the companies listed above, if you are actively involved in putting together the course to achieve the desired objectives.

Let us know how you proceed.

But, I'd say you've already gotten your prize--management of a facility with GE Speedtronic Mark VI turbine controls. Though it doesn't sound like you've landed where you thought you'd landed.

A bed of roses does have it thorns, eh?