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view archives 2006 2005 2004 2001 1997 1996 1995 1993 1989	2006 Parts Life Management - Essential for Minimizing Life Cycle Costs (ASME Power May 2006)Sal DellaVilla and Bob Steele This paper reviews the issues associated with parts tracking and critical parts life management, discussing the need to implement accurate and efficient processes to develop meaningful and accurate empirical observations.   Request Full Document   2005 Proactive Management of GT Parts Life Key to Controlling Maintenance Cost (Combined Cycle Journal Q3/2005)Sal DellaVilla The gas-turbine-based segment of the electric power industry is evolving rapidly, considering most change in the electric sector is measured over a period of decades. Only a few years ago, gas was under $3/million Btu and large combined-cycles were being designed for base-load service. F-class gas turbines dominated combined-cycle orders and long-term service agreements (LTSAs) championed by the OEMs were the risk-mitigation strategy of choice by owner/operators. The plan looked perfect. But then the wheels came off.   Request Full Document   2004 Gas Turbines Meet Owner Objectives (Turbomachinery International Nov/Dec 2004) Sal DellaVilla & Tom Christiansen In the last five years, the gas turbine market in the US, has transformed from a conservative base that meets the loss of load probability, to a more risk-tolerant one that meets future expectations for increased electrical demand. The financial objective of the transformation was to capitalize on opportunity-based pricing in a competitive open environment. This is a strategic shift from a fixed rate of return expectation.   Request Full Document   ALSTOM GT26 – An Availability and Reliability Assessment (PowerGen Asia October 2004)Bob Steele, Sal DellaVilla and Kevin Licata The global energy market continues to drive and motivate significant change, both structurally and technologically. This paper focuses on the use of Strategic Power System, Inc.’s (SPS) ORAP® (Operational Reliability Analysis Program) for accurate analysis and measurement of reliability and availability growth. To demonstrate this, ALSTOM’s GT26, a 50-Hertz gas turbine fleet was selected as a case study, as it had introductory issues, which required engineering efforts, and measurement of reliability growth was feasible.   Request Full Document   2001 Measurement of Reliability and Availability to Improve Plant Profitability (ASME Industrial Applications of Gas Turbines Symposium October 2001)Sal DellaVilla and Bob Steele Significant change is taking place in the power generation market. We are witnessing structural change as we move to a deregulated and competitive global market. And we can also see significant technological change, as new products are driven towards improved efficiencies, greater output and environmental friendliness. Measuring the impact of these changes in terms of efficiency, output and reduced emissions is a straightforward exercise, and the ability to judge if the change has been positive is relatively objective.   Request Full Document   Gas Turbine Performance of Mature, F- and Advanced Technologies 2000 (ASME International Gas Turbine & Aeroengine Congress & Exhibition June 2001)Axel von Rappard and Sal DellaVilla The contribution of the gas turbine in simple and combined cycle systems to power production in the US has been steadily rising over the past 25 years. In parallel, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) has financially supported Advanced Technology development with good formulated goals for overall performance of plants including reliability, availability and maintainability (RAM). This paper will evaluate RAM performance data from power plants over the past five years.   Request Full Document   Equivalent Availability Measurement for Combined-Cycle Power Plants – A New Approach (ASME International Gas Turbine & Aeroengine Congress & Exhibition June 2001)Dieter Lampert (ALSTOM), Markus Rosenfelder (ALSTOM), Sal DellaVilla and Bob Steele The Equivalent Availability Factor (EAF) is the most important RAM characteristic in statistics for benchmarks and guarantees for power plants. It represents an energy ratio of the amount available in a period and the theoretical maximum. Representing the impact of scheduled and forced outages of components along with any deratings, a large number of parameters are involved from design, operation to the environment.   Request Full Document   1997 Risk and Asset Management…An Industry Focus on Reliability (Marcon May 1997)Sal DellaVilla and Bob Steele The advent of deregulation is being received with some trepidation, as well as with vision of opportunity. The common denominator for all in the industry is how the level of risk is assessed and quantified. Risk has various meanings and values depending upon who is making the assessment.   Request Full Document   1996 Risk and Asset Management…Significant Issues For Continuing the Focus on Reliability (Process Plant Reliability Europe November 1996)Sal DellaVilla and Steven Hartman In an industry which is evolving into a more competitive and cost conscious global marketplace, the subject of risk management was not only timely, but was ripe for discussion, with conference participants looking for detailed and needed information sharing. The increasingly competitive nature of both the industrial process and power generation markets has created an increased awareness of the impact that reliability (or the lack of it) has on plant profitability.   Request Full Document   RAM Performance of Modern Gas Turbines (ASME International Gas Turbine & Aeroengine Congress & Exhibition June 1996)Axel von Rappard (ABB Power Generation), Heinz Neuhoff (ABB Power Generation) and Sal DellaVilla Power and heat rate, and exhaust gas and noise emissions are commonly used to evaluate the performance of power generation equipment. Recently, Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM) are being widely adopted as more significant evaluation criteria for gas turbine power plants. All the criteria are used to evaluate new equipment and the measurements on previous installations are the basis for expected values. This paper provides a summary of results over a period of four years with a review of the data and conclusions concerning the actual operation.   Request Full Document   1995 A Focus on the Customer through Reliability, Availability and Maintainability: Operational Reliability Analysis Program (Process Plant Reliability November 1995) – Sal DellaVilla & Wolfram Krockow The foundation for a realistic and achievable “Commitment to Customer” is established through a continuing focus on both product and service quality. Product quality and service quality are not just attributes which simply differentiate “the best”. Nor are they a badge of honor; once achieved, easily retained. They are attributes which reflect the “inherent” culture of the corporation, the long-term commitment, the idea that responding to the customer is an ongoing process of continuous improvement, because customer requirements are dynamic, not unchanging.   Request Full Document   1993 Computer-Aided FT8 RAM Analysis with On Condition Maintenance (ASME International Gas Turbine & Aeroengine Congress & Exhibition May 1993)T.L. Gaudette (Turbo Power and Marine Systems), Larry Fraser (Turno Power and Marine Systems) and Sal DellaVilla Product reliability is influenced by both design and operating and maintenance practices. This means both the equipment manufacturer and the equipment’s operator have an impact on the systems’ achievable level of availability. Many variables such as application (utility or cogeneration) or service or duty cycle (peaking, cycling or continuous duty); influence the expected availability/reliability of any unit. This paper will provide an assessment of proved design reliability along with the application of on condition maintenance of Turbo Power and Marine Systems most recent product introduction, the FT8.   Request Full Document   1989 A New Reliance on Combustion Turbines in the 90’s, Expectations for High Reliability (ASME/IEEE Power Generation Conference Oct. 1989)Sal DellaVilla, Steve Hartman, Tom Christiansen It is clear that combustion turbines will play a more significant role in the utility generation’s mix. Whether additional capacity is built, owned and operated by the utility, or purchased from independent power producers or cogenerators. The purpose of this paper is to show that combustion turbines are capable of providing reliable service, regardless of duty (peaking or baseload). Additionally, the paper illustrates that the historical frame of reference is no longer applicable or accurate as an evaluation point for today’s combustion turbine.   Request Full Document   If you are interested in the full text of any of the whitepapers listed, please click on the request button below each article  . Please be sure that the article name is in the subject line.

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