POWER March 2012 - 21

Cogen and Watson Cogen, have been using fogging since the
1990s, adapting the use to meet their specific needs. Both are
located near the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor, where temperatures
range from average August afternoon highs of 79F to January
nighttime average lows of 46F. But, although they are located
within a few miles of each other and both are running combined
cycle Frame 7s, their use of fogging is very different: Watson runs
it every day, whereas Harbor only uses it during the summer.
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Continuous Improvement
The Watson Cogeneration Plant in Carson, Calif., is one of the
largest cogeneration facilities in the western U.S. A joint venture
of Edison Mission Energy (49%) and BP (51%), the primary purpose
of the plant is to provide a reliable source of high-pressure
steam to BP's 275,000-barrel-per-day Carson Refinery. In addition,
Watson Cogen, which sits on 21.7 acres next to the refinery,
supplies electricity to the refinery and the grid. Edison receives
a minimum of 260 MW, and about 90 MW of electricity goes to
the refinery.
The plant consists of four natural gas-fired GE Frame 7EA turbines
rated at 84.5 MW each, each with a duct-fired heat recovery
steam generator (HRSG) and two Dresser Rand steam turbine
generator sets. The HRSGs generate both high- and medium-pressure
steam. Originally, the high-pressure steam was split evenly
between the steam turbines and the plant, but that is no longer
the case.
" As the BP refinery grows, it requires more steam for the processes, "
says principal engineer Steve Ingistov. " We have two
steam turbine generators, but the refinery is taking so much of
the steam we are generating that sometimes we shut down one
steamer. "
Though Watson Cogen has a permit pending for installation of
a fifth combined cycle gas turbine to help meet growing demand,
the plant also finds ways to get the most out of its existing
equipment. Ingistov, an ASME Fellow with numerous patents to
his name, continually works to improve the performance and reliability
of the plant and regularly shares the results of his research
at ASME's annual TurboExpo.
For example, in 2000, he installed a custom-designed and
-built interstage compressor washing system that injects up to
2 gallons of water per minute at up to 500 psi between the stator
blades of three of the compressor stages. This action cut the
power losses due to compressor fouling by more than half and
doubled the time between offline compressor washes.
Later, to keep the blades from getting dirty in the first place,
he redesigned the labyrinth seal and installed a nonmetallic brush
seal on bearing No. 1 in order to minimize the leakage of oil into
the compressor, which coats the blades and causes particles to
stick. Between these two actions, he avoided a loss of up to 6
MW per turbine. He also managed to get an additional 8 MW out
of each of the steam turbines by using new blades, boosting their
output from 33 MW to 41 MW.
All told, through a series of steps, he helped to increase the
plant's output from its initial rating of 385 MW to 420 MW.
Daily Operation
One of the key actions Ingistov has taken is to maximize the
amount of inlet cooling. And, although most plants choose between
using a chiller, an evaporative cooler, or a fogging system,
Watson Cogen used both evaporative coolers and foggers. Even
so, Ingistov continued to look for ways to improve the performance
of the plant.
First, 240 gpm evaporative coolers were installed; howMarch
2012 | POWER
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POWER March 2012

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