Recognizing the need for simple, low-cost gas turbine performance monitoring software, Fern Engineering has developed the product called GT-FACTS™, a useful tool for off-line monitoring of power degradation due to compressor fouling and for determining the benefits of water washing and inlet cooling. The software uses tables of manufacturers' expected performance curves to predict the expected performance of a gas turbine as a function of barometric pressure, ambient relative humidity, ambient and inlet temperatures, and inlet and exhaust pressure drops. The expected performance is then compared to actual, as-measured performance of the turbine in terms of heat rate, air flow, and generator output.

GT-FACTS™ is supplied with a Microsoft® Excel spreadsheet which has built-in plots and macros for importing the data produced by the software. The spreadsheet can be used to trend the data and produce reports that provide a "snapshot" of a turbine's performance at any given time.

Because of the substantial effect that inlet temperature has on turbine performance, it is often difficult to determine whether a drop in power output is due to the change in ambient temperature or to a deterioration in turbine performance. GT-FACTS™ helps resolve this uncertainty by correcting or "transposing" actual operating performance back to "standard day" or "ISO" conditions, factoring out the effect of variations in ambient temperature.

Also, since many gas turbines are now equipped with evaporative coolers to lower the inlet temperature in hot weather, GT-FACTS™ can be used to evaluate the impact of any cooling being done. For example, in addition to calculating performance corrected to ISO conditions, the software also calculates performance corrected to the measured ambient temperature. If an evaporative cooler is used to reduce the compressor inlet temperature to a given point below the ambient temperature, then the actual performance can be compared to the performance corrected to the ambient temperature to determine how much of a boost was provided by the evaporative cooling. GT-FACTS™ can also be used to perform preliminary "what if" analyses on the potential benefits of inlet cooling and supercharging.

The software allows the user to input, edit, and delete gas turbine model data in either English (imperial) or SI (metric) units and comes with 39 pre-installed gas turbine models. The rated performance ambient temperature correction factors are graphically displayed for each gas turbine.

GT-FACTS™ is priced at only $495 USD and gas turbine users can receive a free working demo version of the software by completing Fern's Gas Turbine Survey. If a particular gas turbine is not currently supported by GT-FACTS™, it will be added to the GT-FACTS™ database if a Gas Turbine Fact Sheet is completed and returned to Fern.

GT-FACTS™ is being used worldwide by such companies as:

Contact:

Phil Levine