Reliability Improvement of Refinery Plants —Transient Stability Analysis Approach

Abstract

Generators are one of the main components of electrical system of industrial plants, such as Oil and Gas refinery units. To maintain and increase the reliability of the refinery plants, it is vital to validate generators and excitation systems’ dynamic models and parameters. In addition, to avoid operations downtime and any nuisance tripping, coordination between generators’ protective relays and generators’ control systems should be verified. This paper presents how testing and modelling of generators and excitation systems can increase the reliability of power systems in refinery plants but at the same time can impact the operation process and cause downtime. Small Signal Stability analysis, simulation results and testing data of a generator and excitation system for a refinery plant in North America are presented in this paper and results are discussed and analyzed in detail. The paper also elaborates on lessons learned and briefly talks the benefit of installation of Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) for system modelling and explains the benefits of modeling/analyzing PMU data over the results obtained from generator staged tests.