TECHBriefs 2007 No.

3 6 Burns & McDonnell

bidding. After technical and commercial
reviews of the bids, a contract was awarded to
Ziegler Power Systems to supply six 2,100-kW
Caterpillar diesel generators and associated
equipment.
As the project continued, a number of
challenges arose. The electrical and control
systems had to be designed to allow automatic
starting and loading of a diesel generator
By Mark Caldarello, PE
Industry deregulation, increasingly loaded
transmission systems and power flows resulting
from unplanned market mechanisms have
increased the possibility of blackouts. Following
a complete loss of system power, it is necessary
for one or more power plants to restart in an
island mode and provide power to neighboring
power plants, allowing them to start up and
complete system restoration. For these and
other reasons, Alliant Energy equipped its new
Emery Generating Station near Mason City,
Iowa, with black start diesel generators.
The 550-MW plant includes two GE 7FA dual
fuel combustion turbine generators, two Alstom
heat recovery steam generators, and one GE
D11 steam turbine generator. After some
investigation, it was discovered that General
Electric had no records showing that a 7FA
gas turbine had ever been black started. There
were cases where similar sized machines had
been black started overseas using a small on-
site battery-started turbine to provide starting
power. There also were cases where large
gas turbines equipped with starting motors
had been black started using on-site diesel
generators, but the 7FA equipped with a static
starting system did not have any such record.
The Emery Generating Station would be the
first U.S. project to have that capability on a
General Electric 7FA. (See Table 1.)
Design Requirements
The electrical power required to start up a
power station depends on the type and size
of loads involved. For a combined-cycle plant
such as Emery, the mechanical condition of
the heat recovery steam generator at the time
of the blackout determines which loads will
be required. For design purposes, a load list
was developed using worst-case conditions. In
addition, loads were included that would allow
the plant to start up on fuel oil in case the gas
supply wasnt available. (See Table 2.)
A specification was developed and sent to
diesel generator suppliers for competitive
PowerIowa Black Start
Successful Planning Prepares Plant
to Recover from System Blackouts
Table 1: A profile of Emery Generating Station and its black start equipment.
Total Plant Black Start Equipment
Cost $400 million $5 million
Power Output 550 MW 12.6 MW
Plant Confguration 2 x 1 combined cycle 6 diesel generators
Machines GE 7FA (CTG)
GE D11 (STG)
Caterpillar 3516B
Fuel Natural gas and fuel oil Fuel oil
On-line Date April 28, 2004 Aug. 21, 2004
Table 2: Black start loads.
Load Description Load Type Load Size
Lighting and Heating Resistive 200 kW
CTG Lube Oil Pump Motor 100 hp
Air Compressor Motor 100 hp
Boiler Feed Pump Motor 3400 hp
Condensate Pump Motor 350 hp
Circulating Water Pump Motor 1600 hp
Closed Cooling Water Pumps Motor 400 hp
Fuel Oil Heaters Resistive 805 kW
Liquid Fuel Pump Motor 250 hp
Auxiliary Boiler Fan and Feed Pump Motor 90 hp
HRSG Recirculating Pumps Motor 50 hp
Atomizing Air Compressor Motor 500 hp
Load Commutated Inverter (LCI) 12 Pulse Inverter 3500 kW
Burns & McDonnell 7 TECHBriefs 2007 No. 3
in an emergency. Harmonics issues had to
be evaluated. GE turbine controls had to be
changed. And a multi-disciplined project team
had to plan, design and implement every detail.
Automatic Loading
Although the term black start headlines
this project, the diesel generators also serve
as standby generators that automatically
start and provide power to essential plant
equipment during temporary power outages.
The automatic starting and loading of one
diesel generator is the first step in the black
start sequence, but since most power outages
are not widespread blackouts, the sequence
will usually end after normal power is restored,
allowing a conventional plant startup to be
completed. During power outages, the diesel
generators provide power to essential loads that
keep the turbines on turning gear, maintain
lube oil pressure, and keep the generator seals
pressurized to allow for an immediate restart
once power is restored. Without power for
these essential loads, the turbines would have
to cool down for several days before the rotor
bow could be worked out and the generators
would have to be refilled with hydrogen before a
restart. (See Table 3.)
Providing the ability to automatically serve
essential loads from one of the diesel generators
required planning from the initial stages. All
essential loads had to be segregated from
non-essential loads. Every essential motor,
charger, heater and lighting panel had to
be supplied from one of four motor control
centers, and the power distribution system had
to be structured to allow the essential motor
control centers to be automatically connected
to a diesel generator in an emergency. To
avoid overloading a diesel generator, a control
system was required to automatically strip non-
essential loads and then supply the essential
motor control centers in 15 second intervals to
prevent excessive starting current.
GE Controls Changes
Since the combustion turbines were not
purchased with black start capabilities, some
equipment and software changes were required.
The combustion turbine and control system
needed the ability to start up in an island
mode, close the generator breaker to a dead
bus, remain in island mode after the generator
breaker closed, and continue in island mode
while switchyard and transmission system
breakers closed. To accomplish this, under-
voltage relays were added in the GE generator
control panel, additional control wiring was
added between the turbine control system
and the generator breaker, and software
modifications were made that allowed an
operator to select island mode start and enable
dead bus closing from the operator station.
For more information, please e-mail:
mcaldarello@burnsmcd.com
Mark Caldarello, PE, is a
senior electrical engineer at
Burns & McDonnell. He has 11
years of experience with power
generating stations across the
United States and is registered
in Florida, Kansas, Minnesota,
Texas and Utah. He has a
bachelors degree in electrical
engineering from the Georgia
Institute of Technology.
Table 3: Essential loads.
Loads Purposes
Turbine Loads Lube oil pump
Hydraulic pump
Seal oil pump
Lube mist separator
Turning gear
Turbine cooling fans
Battery charger
Maintain the turbines on turning gear with lube oil
Prevent a rotor bow
Keep the generator seals pressurized
Prevent a hydrogen purge from the generator
Allow for an immediate restart once startup power is
restored
Maintain DC power for control
Diesel Generator
Loads
Battery chargers
Fuel oil system
Space heaters
Building lighting
Maintain DC power for starting
Fuel oil heating and transfer
Prevent condensation in equipment
Safety and operations
Other Plant
Loads
Battery charger
Selected HVAC
Heat tracing
Space heaters
Selected lighting
Maintain DC power and UPS power
Conditioned spaces for sensitive electronics
Freeze protection
Prevent condensation in equipment
Safety and operations
TECHBriefs 2007 No. 3 8 Burns & McDonnell
Detailed Design
Numerous equipment shop drawings were
reviewed for technical compliance and
then used to complete the final design of
everything from equipment foundations to
relay settings. Details were coordinated for
the design of the fuel system, building layout,
HVAC, underground conduit, circuit breaker
controls and synchronizing schemes. Although
the result was one of a kind, the formula for
success wasnt anything new. As always, it
took detailed interface engineering, timely
decisions, and change management as well as
close coordination with the client, vendors and
contractors.
Test Run
A test run was conducted on Aug. 21, 2004,
with harmonic analysis equipment in place.
(See Table 4.) Switchyard breakers were opened
to simulate a blackout and the first diesel
generator went to work automatically providing
power to essential loads. After an operator
pressed the black start button, all six diesel
generators went into action. The plant auxiliary
equipment was started as normal and at 10:03
a.m., an operator gave a start command to
the combustion turbine. The LCI cranked the
generator and 15 minutes later, the turbine
purge cycle was complete. Seven minutes later,
the turbine was at full speed, and eight minutes
later, the generator breaker was closed onto a
dead bus. The whole operation went flawlessly.
The black start demonstration was another
accomplishment for a plant successful in
schedule, budget and performance. Hopefully,
the region will never experience a major
blackout, but if it does, Emery will be ready.
TECHBriefs
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Table 4: Test run data.
Before Turbine Start During Turbine Start
Diesel generator load 4080 kW 8300 kW
Largest loads started
by the diesel generators
Boiler feed pump
(3400 hp)
LCI static starter
(3500 kW)
Peak current 1919 A 1400 A
Minimum voltage 3260 V 3627 V
Voltage total harmonic distortion 0.9% 6%
Current total harmonic distortion 1.7% 3.7%