Introduction to pc-GAR and pc-GAR MT G. Michael Curley Manager of GADS Services October 29, 2010

Data Sources GADS Generator “B” Generator “A” Generator “C” Generator “D” Generator “E” 280+ Generators Reporting 5,800+ units, including international affiliates. 2

What is pc-GAR?  Unique software product to allow access to the data collected in the GADS database.  It reports equipment outage information for the purpose of improving electric power output. pc-G.A.R 3

Why pc-GAR?  Introduced in 1992  Created to: Reduce the number of special studies produced annually. Allow users quick access to GADS information. Increase the need to maintain good outage records.  Only one of it’s kind in the world! WEC wants to follow this example 4

With data mining, you take advantage of past experience … you learn from the past to prepare for the future. 5

Unit Types Available (12 choices)  Fossil  Fluidized bed fossil  Nuclear  Gas Turbine  Jet Engine  Diesel  Hydro  Pumped Storage  Combined Cycle  Geothermal  Co-generator  Multi-boiler/Multi-turbine 6

Units Selections  All Including Own  All Except Own  Own Units  United States Only  Canada Only  2 Regions required for analysis 7

Two Types of Variables  Class “Yes” or “No” types Super or sub-critical General Electric or other manufacturer Balanced or pressurized draft  Continuous Range MW size ( MW) Steam Pressure ( psig) EAF (0-100%) 8

Three Groups of Criteria Selection  Physical (class) Example: # of pumps  Performance (continuous) Example: # of service hours  Statistics (continuous) Example: EFOR 9

Help with pc-GAR 10

Help #1 – Selecting Fuels  Two fuel selections “As designed” means what the unit was designed to burn. “Actual fuel burned” means what did the unit actually burn in the specific year.  100% of the “actual burned” fuels  90% of the “designed fuels” 11

Help #1 – Selecting Fuels Actual Fuel BurnedDesign Fuel 12

Help #2 – Apply Criteria By…  You can apply the performance/fuel criteria by either year or range. Year – tests the criteria on a year by year basis. A unit may pass the test one year but not the next. Only the one year where it passed will be in the survey. Range – tests the criteria on the average for the period you selected. If you picked a 5-year period for an EAF > 85%, then the average EAF for the period is tested. If it fails, that unit will be removed from the survey. 13

Help #2 – Apply Criteria By… EAF = 90.40% EAF = 87.56% EAF = 84.55% EAF = 85.98% EAF = 86.91% If criteria included EAF of 85% or greater, then 3 of 4 years accepted using “Year” button. If criteria included EAF of 85% or greater, then average EAF of 4 years accepted using “Range” button. Accepted Rejected 14

Help #3 – for Years/for Periods  Events and performance data are divided into monthly intervals for retrieving and analyzing data by months, years, and multi-year periods.  When using less than one year, use: “Annual/monthly Unit Summary Report” for viewing monthly numbers. “Unit-year Statistical Report” for projections of how the unit would operate if operated in the same manner as the short period. 15

Help #3 – for Years/for Periods 16

Help #3 – for Years/for Periods Year 1Year 2Year 3 Data pulled for months 01 to 12 for three years. Jan & Feb Nov to Feb Nov to Feb Nov Dec Data pulled for months 11 to 02 for three years. Jan Feb …. Nov Dec Jan Feb …. Nov Dec Jan Feb …. Nov Dec Year 1Year 2Year 3 17

Help #4 – Adding/removing Units  pc-GAR allows you to add or remove youp own units from any selected group (“units included in report”)  You cannot remove units that NERC considers not yours (even if you are a part-owner.) “Ownership” (to NERC) is the organization reporting data to GADS. 18

Help #4 – Adding/removing Units All own units Own units in report. 19

Help #4 – Adding/removing Units First, select one unit at a time to move. Next, click on the Button to add own units to report. 20

Help #4 – Adding/removing Units The unit is now added. 21

Help #4 – Adding/removing Units To remove a unit from the report, first highlight the unit then click on the “remove unit” bottom. 22

Help #4 – Adding/removing Units The unit is now back into the “own unit” list and out of the report. 23

Help #5 – Same Peer Group  This procedure allows you to use the same group of units from one period to the next, assuming the same units reported in both periods.  First, select the group of units using the standard procedure for choosing a group.  Second, in “Menu of Reports,” choose “Report Data Range.”  Third, select a new period to analyze. 24

Help #5 – Same Peer Group Some criteria may change from one period to the next as shown here. Select criteria and then save. 25

Help #5 – Same Peer Group Select a new period here. 26

Help #5 – Same Peer Group Here you select a new period for analysis using the same group of units. 27

Help #6 – Single, Own Unit Report  For when you want to create a pc-GAR report for just one of your own units.  Normal selection procedure for own units.  Remove all but the single unit from the “Units included in Report” section.  Apply criteria as “Reapply Criteria …” 28

Help #6 – Single, Own Unit Report Choose “Own Units” to remove any units not under your control. 29

Help #6 – Single, Own Unit Report Select the unit(s) you wanted to analyze. You can pick more than one if you want for a single group or show the performance of a plant. Suppose we want to see the performance of 3 units. 30

Help #6 – Single, Own Unit Report After removing all but the 3 units using the “remove unit” button, you return to the “Report Design” section of the Criteria Entry. 31

Help #6 – Single, Own Unit Report Apply the Criteria. 32

Help #6 – Single, Own Unit Report Choose the “event option” you want (see Trick #7 for details) and click “ok”. 33

Help #6 – Single, Own Unit Report Select “Re-apply Criteria …” option to pull data for just the 3 units. If you use the other option, you’ll be back where you started with all of your own units. 34

Help #6 – Single, Own Unit Report Now you have only 3 units for your report. Save the file. Print the report as you normally do. 35

Help #7 – Data Making Statistics  There are three options for choosing the units and data for making the statistics in the reports: Units that report both event & performance records and units reporting performance data only. Units that report both event and performance data only. Units that report both event and performance data for all years of the period. 36

Help #7 – Data Making Statistics This option includes all units reporting to GADS, whether they reported events data or not. This option may show differences in statistics like EAF, EFOR, EFORd, etc because not all units reported deratings. 37

Help #7 – Data Making Statistics This option includes all units reporting to GADS where events are reported during the period being examined. This option will show accurate statistics like EAF, EFOR, EFORd, etc because all units report deratings. 38

Help #7 – Data Making Statistics This option includes all units reporting to GADS where events were reported during the complete period being examined. If you were examining 5 years, the unit would have to report events all 5 years. This option will show accurate statistics like EAF, EFOR, EFORd, etc. because all units reported deratings. 39

Help #8 – Start Fresh or Re-examine?  When retrieving data, you have the option to start fresh each time or re-examine the existing data.  It is faster to start with a big group, add a criteria, and then re-examine the group as each criteria is added. 40

Help #8 – Start Fresh or Re-examine? Always uses this option when starting a new retrieval or increasing the population of an existing retrieval. 41

Help #8 – Start Fresh or Re-examine? Use this option if you are “trimming” an existing retrieval. Never use it if you suspect that the population of the retrieval will increase. 42

Help #9 – Inclusion  In pc-GAR, the software assume you want everything unless you specify that you only want something special.  For example, the program will assume you want all NERC Regions unless you specify you only want two certain Regions. 43

Help #10 – Exclusion  In pc-GAR, you may have to specify you DON’T WANT something in order to get the condition you really want.  For example, if you wanted units with a single reheater in the boiler, you would have to specify that the first RH section is 1 to 9999 psig and the second RH section is 0 to 0 psig. 44

Help #10 – Exclusion By placing a “0” (zero) in some criteria, you can focus on special cases of design. Here we locate single RH units and remove non- and double RH. 45

Question & Answer On to the demo… 46

Examples 47

Class Example MW Oil Unit  Example for locating your unit for comparing to others AF and EAF distributions  Suppose that your unit is between MW and burns oil as its primary fuel. How would you locate other units in GADS and compare yourself to them? 48

Class Example MW Oil Unit STEP 1.Double Click on pc-GAR icon 2.Click on “New Report Wizard” 3.Input Study Description 4.Input Author 5.Click on pull down menu for “Unit Type” 6.Click on desired Unit Type (fossil-steam) 7.Click on pull down menu for “Units” 8.Click on “All Units Including Own” 9.Click on “Next” 10.Enter “1993” through “1997” in “Years” window 49

Class Example MW Oil Unit STEP 11.Click on “Add a Criteria” Button 12.Select Window for 1 st Criteria Category (Physical, Performance or All) 13.Enter Select Criteria 14.Click on “Add a Criteria Button” 15.Select Window for 2 nd Criteria Category 16.Enter Select Criteria 17.Click on “Apply Criteria” 18.Click on “OK” 19.Note number of Units Selected 20.Click on “Next” 50

Class Example MW Oil Unit STEP 21.Click on “Next” 22.Click on “Save” (after adding Title 1,2 or comments if desired) 23.Highlight desired study 24.Click on “Print Report” 25.Click on “Unit Statistics Distributions” 26.Check AF & EAF 27.Click on “OK” 28.Check “Print Unit Names on Cover Page” 29.Check on “Print” 30.Observe Page 1 of report results 51

Class Example MW Oil Unit STEP 31.Click on Page “down” 32.Observe statistics for mean & median values for AF & Distributions 33.Write down 10 th, 25 th, 75 th and 90 th percentiles and Mean & Median values of AF 34.Repeat steps for EAF 35.If you have time, try another technology (Hydro, GT, CC, or another type fossil steam on your own 52

Question & Answer 53

What is pc-GAR MT? 54

What is pc-GAR MT?  Software product to provide a distribution of times to repair (TTR) and times between failures (TBF)  Software product to provide Mean TTR and Mean TBF for modeling and analysis programs  Software product that allows YOU control of the units in the data set. 55

Events as Reported to GADS  Most events are shown as one, continuous activity per year  However, there are some where the single event is divided into parts by: Months for internal utility reporting Years as part of the GADS cut off 56

Need for New Software  Combine monthly events into one  Combine year-ending & year starting events into one  Ability to isolate events by event types  Ability to isolate events by cause codes or groups of cause codes 57

The pc-GAR MT Plan Year 1Year 2 Month 1Month 2Month 3 Event 1 Year 2 Goal: one event, no matter its start or end! 58

The Programming pc-GAR New Data Handling Software pc-GAR MT 59

Why pc-GAR MT?  Determine more accurately the times between failures for modeling  Determine more accurately the repair times for shorter down time  Manage inspections to equipment to prevent forced outages  Evaluate operating/maintenance practices 60

What’s in common between pc-GARs?  Same design retrievals  Same performance retrievals  Same ability to use range or year option  Same years of resource  Same wizard for selecting units  Different output reports 61

What’s in common between pc-GARs? Design dataEvent/Performance Data Fuel Data Retrieval Criteria pc-GAR MT pc-GAR 62

pc-GAR MT Main Screen Once the criteria is chosen, you start the MT retrieval with this button. 63

pc-GAR MT Cause Code Selection 64

pc-GAR MT Event Type Selection 65

pc-GAR MT Output Example of pc-GAR MT output. Lots of information! 66

FD or ID Fan Problems  Fossil units, MW during  Problems with more than 1 hour of full forced outage.  24 out of 146 events were less than 1 hour! 67

Versions of pc-GAR and pc-GAR MT  pc-GAR Annual update normally in the fall of the next year 14 month subscription  pc-GAR+Plus Monthly update with all new data passing the GADS edit programs 12 months subscription  pc-GAR MT Annual update normally in the fall of the next year 14 month subscription 68

Versions of pc-GAR  Power Generator Version Assess to manufacturer-specific data Assess to own unit data  Manufacturer’s Version Assess to own manufacturer equipment and units All competitors are grouped as own manufacturer  All others No assess to manufacturer or unit-specific data Rule: 3 utilities and 7 units for any reports 69

Question & Answer Contact: Mike Curley Manager of GADS Services