We are planing to work on a proposal about MK IV BOP control system upgrade. So far there are 3 9E GT units sharing with one MK IV common BOP system.And customer want to retrofit GT control system with common system to MK VIe system. So my question is, Is it possible to do common BOP retrofit work without 3 GTs shutdown together?

Another thing, Customer provided limited information to us. so Who have the experience like this? and who can tell me what the information I should collect from customer to make a decision how to do the retrofit or tell me what are the points I should care about?

Thanks.

 

You don't say what the existing control system is, other than a MK IV common BOP system. If it is a GE system, the only MK IV system I know of that fits your description is what GE called DATATRONIC. I worked on those systems. I don't recall any site with specifically 3 9E GT units, but there might be some where GE USA was not prime. That said, some questions and comments:

1. Are the 9E GT's being converted to MK VIe controls?

2. GE does not provide any means of directly interconnecting Mark IV data highway to MK VI or MN VIe data highway.

3. Are the GT's simple cycle or combined cycle?

4. Whether or not you can do the common BOP work without shutting down the 3 GT's is not an easy question to answer. It is dependent on what equipment is controlled by the BOP control system. If there is any single piece of equipment that is required for all 3 GT's to operate and that equipment cannot be operated manually independent of the BOP control then you will probably need a full shutdown at some point. Even if you can operate critical equipment manually, it is still risky and careful planning is required. Note that with any DCS control system, adding controllers and HMI's to the data highway generally required a plant outage, while the data highway re-configures to recognize the new equipment.

Note, if you answer the above questions, I will reply. However, be advised that I will not provide detailed engineering that would compete with GE's Conversions, Modifications and Uprating (CM&U) organization - I am a recent GE retiree and have signed a "non-compete" agreement.