Overview
GE has a large installed base of controls for Pelton, Francis, Kaplan, and Bulb turbines that range from governors to full scope control systems for the turbine, generator, and station. With age, these systems become more difficult and costly to maintain and are often incapable of performing advanced functions to improve efficiency, reliability, and performance.
Hydro Control Platforms
Product Description
Today, GE offers a wide range of electrical and mechanical solutions for hydro turbines based on the Mark VIe and Woodward turbine controls families, valves, sensors, condition monitoring, and EX2100 family of generator controls. The product portfolio includes governors for all turbine types, full unit controls, and scalable distributed control systems for the entire plant. Control systems can be configured for simplex, dual, and triple redundancy and distributed with individual I/O modules on flexible networks anywhere in the plant. A full range of mechanical solutions complement these products to provide a completely integrated solution. For example, the FC™ family of distributing valves for hydraulic systems can be applied on any OEM turbine with a pressure range of 10-138 bar (145-2000 psi) and 23,700 lpm (6,260gpm). A variety of operator stations, communications, and mechanical upgrades are also available to modernize the complete package.
Value
Whether you have an old MHC control, analog EHC control, or early generation, and digital EHC control, there are significant benefits to an upgrade. Besides the readily available spare parts and service, modern controls have virtually unlimited flexibility for the additional functions, incorporate integrated remote instrumentation, add controls for driven load equipment and add
incremental redundancy where it is most needed. Operators and maintenance personnel are no longer constrained by limited information available from meters, indicating lights, annunciator windows and scarce diagnostic lights for operational decisions and locating faults.
