GE SPEEDTRONIC Mark V Gas Turbine Control System

Description

The SPEEDTRONIC™ Mark V Gas Turbine Control System is the latest derivative in the highly successful SPEEDTRONIC™ series. Preceding systems were based on automated turbine control, protection and sequencing techniques dating back to the late 1940s, and have grown and developed with the available technology. Implementation of electronic turbine control, protection and sequencing originated with the Mark I system in 1968. The Mark V system is a digital implementation of the turbine automation techniques learned and refined in more than 40 years of successful experience, over 80% of which has been through the use of electronic control technology

The SPEEDTRONIC™ Mark V Gas Turbine Control System employs current state-of-the-art technology, including triple-redundant 16-bit microprocessor controllers, two-out-of-three voting redundancy on critical control and protection parameters and Software-Implemented Fault Tolerance (SIFT). Critical control and protection sensors are triple redundant and voted by all three control processors. System output signals are voted at the contact level for critical solenoids, at the logic level for the remaining contact outputs and at three coil servo valves for analog control signals, thus maximizing both protective and running reliability. An independent protective module provides triple redundant hardwired detection and shutdown on overspeed along with detecting flame. This module also synchronizes the turbine generator to the power system. Synchronization is backed up by a check function in the three control processors.

The Mark V Control System is designed to fulfill all gas turbine control requirements. These include control of liquid, gas or both fuels in accordance with the requirements of the speed, load control under part-load conditions, temperature control under maximum capability conditions or during startup conditions. In addition, inlet guide vanes and water or steam injection are controlled to meet emissions and operating requirements. If emissions control uses accomplished when the turbine is not operating. They are also protected by a security password.

A printer is included in the control system and is connected via the operator interface. The printer is capable of copying any alpha-numeric display shown on the monitor. One of these displays is an operator configurable demand display that can be automatically printed at a selectable interval. It provides an easy means to obtain periodic and shift logs. The printer automatically logs time-tagged alarms, as well as the clearance of alarms. In addition, the printer will print the historical trip log that is frozen in memory in the unlikely event of a protective trip. The log assists in identifying the cause of a trip for trouble shooting purposes

The statistical measures of reliability and availability for SPEEDTRONIC™ Mark V systems have quickly established the effectiveness of the new control because it builds on the highly successful SPEEDTRONIC™ Mark IV system. Improvements in the new design have been made in microprocessors, I/O capacity, SIFT technology, diagnostics, standardization and operator information, along with continued application flexibility and careful design for maintainability. SPEEDTRONIC™ Mark V control is achieving greater reliability, faster meantime-to repair and improved control system availability than the SPEEDTRONIC™ Mark IV applications

As of May 1994, almost 264 Mark V systems had entered commercial service and system operation has exceeded 1.4 million hours. The established Mark V level of system reliability, including sensors and actuators, exceeds 99.9 percent, and the fleet mean-time-betweenforced-outages (MTBFO) stands at 28,000 hours. As of May 1994, there were 424 gas turbine Mark V systems and 106 steam turbine Mark V systems shipped or on order.

Control System History

The gas turbine was introduced as an industrial and utility prime mover in the late 1940s with initial applications in gas pipeline pumping and utility peaking. The early control systems were based on hydro-mechanical steam turbine governing practice, supplemented by a pneumatic temperature control, preset startup fuel limiting and manual sequencing. Independent devices provided protection against overspeed, overtemperature, fire, loss of flame, loss of lube oil and high vibration.

Through the early years of the industry, gas turbine control designs benefited from the rapid growth in the field of control technology. The hydro-mechanical design culminated in the “fuel regulator” and automatic relay sequencing for automatic startup, shutdown and cooldown where appropriate for unattended installations. The automatic relay sequencing, in combination with rudimentary annunciator monitoring, also allowed interfacing with SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems for true continuous remote control operation.

This was the basis for introduction of the first electronic gas turbine control in 1968. This system, ultimately known as the SPEEDTRONIC™ Mark I Control, replaced the fuel regulator, pneumatic temperature control and electromechanical starting fuel control with an electronic equivalent. The automatic relay sequencing was retained and the independent protective functions were upgraded with electronic equivalents where appropriate. Because of its electrically dependent nature, emphasis was placed on integrity of the power supply system, leading to a DC-based system with AC- and shaft-powered back-ups. These early electronic systems provided an order of magnitude increase in running reliability and maintainability

Once the changeover to electronics was achieved, the rapid advances in electronic system technology resulted in similar advances in gas turbine control technology (Table 1). Note that more than 40 years of gas turbine control experience has involved more than 5,400 units, while the 26 years of electronic control experience has been centered on more than 4,400 turbine installations. Throughout this time period, the control philosophy shown in Table 2 has developed and matured to match the capabilities of the existing technology. This philosophy emphasizes safety of operation, reliability, flexibility, maintainability and ease of use, in that order.

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Post time: Mar-16-2026