Oil, gas and power users meet

SmartSignal Corporation held its first User Group meeting since being acquired by GE Intelligent Platforms in January 2011. More than 20 oil and gas super majors and power generation giants from Europe and the Middle East gathered at the SSE (formerly Scottish and Southern Energy) Equipment Performance Centre just outside of Leeds (GB) to learn about the value of Proficy SmartSignal solutions and the company’s expanded roadmap as part of GE’s Proficy software product suite. Present were representatives from BG Group, BP, ConocoPhillips, Electricity Supply Board, EDF, Edipower, Enel, E.ON, Fortum, Gas Natural Fenosa, Laborelec, RasGas, RWE npower, Saltend Cogeneration, Scottish Power, SSE, Statoil, Thames Power, Total, and more.

“As part of GE, SmartSignal will have the opportunity to do the kinds of things that we couldn’t do on our own, which will enable us to increase customer value,” said Dave Bell, Product General Manager, GE Intelligent Platforms. “We now have the power of GE behind us, and we can leverage its experience, research, and technology. We’ll be integrating our software with complementary GE solutions, including the other Proficy software and GE Energy products, to help our customers improve availability and operational excellence.”

Customers Edipower, SSE, Gas Natural Fenosa, Laborelec, RWE npower, EDF, and Segas shared their experiences in working with Proficy SmartSignal solutions, which are used across power--combined cycle, coal, wind, nuclear, and hydro plants--and oil & gas, including upstream, midstream, and downstream. The customers described “catches” identified by the software, which allowed them to detect looming equipment problems early and fix issues before they grew serious or catastrophic. One customer described how the SmartSignal solution helped identify a crack in a critical gas turbine component, saving the power plant 1.4 million euros in repair costs and production loss.

“It was great to hear positive feedback from our European customers and to get their input on our expanding plans,” said Erik Udstuen, GE Intelligent Platforms Vice President, Software & Services. “GE sees a strong future in the energy sector, and the SmartSignal products are central to our plans of expanding asset intelligence. We look forward to continuing to serve all OEMs, all equipment, across the fleets of energy companies worldwide.”

Monitoring mission-critical assets & balance-of-plant equipment

Constellation Energy deploys new predictive diagnostic technology to help avoid surprises and eliminate equipment failures

Constellation Energy has chosen to upgrade and widely expand its use of GE Intelligent Platforms's Proficy® SmartSignal solutions across the company’s entire high-capacity power generation fleet. Constellation will deploy the SmartSignal Shield predictive-diagnostic solution, along with SmartSignal Cycle Watch software, a high-speed solution specifically designed for combustion turbine start-ups.

Constellation initially tested the SmartSignal Epi-Center software in 2008 and expanded its use in 2009 to five plants, including coal, combined-cycle, and combustion turbine. The software provided early warning of several hundred equipment problems, which helped Constellation increase reliability and reduce maintenance costs. As a result, Constellation has decided to implement a three-phase project to maximize its monitoring of all mission-critical assets and balance-of-plant equipment that impact performance.

The program includes:

Deployment of SmartSignal Shield software within the initial five plants.

Deployment of SmartSignal Shield software in all additional plants in the Constellation high-capacity fleet.

Deployment of SmartSignal Cycle Watch software on all 21 combustion turbines across Constellation’s fleet.

“With the addition of Proficy SmartSignal solutions across our national fleet of fossil fuel plants, we’re already seeing good results in reaching our reliability and maintenance goals,” said David Lillefloren, Director, Business Performance for Constellation Energy’s CPG Support Services Group. “Ultimately, this technology is going to help us to extend the life of these important assets.”

Constellation Energy is an industry innovator and world leader in operations excellence. On the cutting edge of use of technology to improve the performance of plants, Constellation Energy uses Proficy SmartSignal technology in its own Performance Monitoring & Diagnostic (PM&D) Center, with support from the SmartSignal in-house Availability & Performance Center (APC).

SmartSignal Epi-Center software is an industry-leading predictive solution for managing, controlling, and optimizing equipment maintenance and industry operations. The new SmartSignal Shield solution builds upon years of experience and provides even earlier predictions of impending failures and, now, apparent causes of the impending failures, along with prioritisations. The new SmartSignal Cycle Watch software is the only solution for increasing reliable starts in combustion turbines. Using patented technology and special high-frequency sampling, SmartSignal Cycle Watch software uniquely analyzes the highly variable conditions of start-up and detects subtle deviations that only are visible in these high-stress and transient conditions.

Erik Udstuen, GE Intelligent Platforms Vice President, Software & Services, said, “Constellation Energy is one of our most proactive customers, always looking for ways to improve availability, reliability, and efficiency. Constellation’s use of Proficy SmartSignal to protect all of its critical plants and equipment is leading the industry with new and powerful technologies. As we both continue to innovate, we look forward to a long and productive partnership.”

The Proficy SmartSignal solutions are the latest examples of how GE’s $4 billion-a-year software and solutions services businesses are helping customers improve productivity.

Acquisition maximises power, oil and gas industries

Predictive diagnostics and analytics solution company broadens GE’s software capabilities used to maximize the performance of critical equipment in Power Generation and Oil & Gas industries.

GE Intelligent Platforms today announced that it has completed the acquisition of SmartSignal, a privately-held, analytics software company based in Lisle, (IL US). SmartSignal specialises in providing Remote Monitoring & Diagnostics solutions to the Power Generation, Oil & Gas and other industrial sectors. SmartSignal is a leading provider of predictive diagnostic software and monitoring services used to anticipate, prevent, and avoid equipment failure. The company has more than 40 product and technology patents, and has won more than 25 awards for product excellence.

“The acquisition of SmartSignal shows our commitment to continue investing in GE Intelligent Platforms’ Software & Services business, and will serve as an important catalyst to rapidly expand the capabilities of our Operational Intelligence platform,” said Maryrose Sylvester, President & CEO for GE Intelligent Platforms. “SmartSignal is a recognized leader and innovator with technology that detects looming equipment problems early and with confidence. This acquisition complements GE’s existing capabilities in diagnostics and equipment analytics, and gives us the ability to cover a much wider range of asset types and equipment manufacturers for our customers. ”

“With GE’s commitment to solving difficult challenges in today’s business environment,” said Jim Gagnard, President & CEO of SmartSignal, “we believe our solution can help provide a holistic approach to Operational Intelligence across many industries no matter what type of equipment the customer is trying to manage.”

SmartSignal detects and identifies abnormal equipment behavior and provides exception-based notifications of developing problems along with diagnoses and prioritizations. Its solutions are device-agnostic and are found on equipment from GE, Siemens, Rolls Royce, Alstom, Flowserve, Waukesha, Byron Jackson, Cooper-Bessemer, and others.

“The integration of SmartSignal’s proven monitoring and diagnostic technologies will play a significant role in delivering on GE Intelligent Platforms’ vision of providing comprehensive Operational Intelligence solutions to customers,” said Erik Udstuen, Vice President of Software & Services for GE Intelligent Platforms. “It is a proven Remote Monitoring & Diagnostics solution that aligns nicely with the Proficy® architecture to help customers address availability and efficiency challenges in a robust way. The SmartSignal team also brings tremendous domain expertise in predictive diagnostics that aligns very well with GE’s key vertical industries.”

Proficy is an example of how GE’s $4 billion-a-year software and solutions services businesses are helping customers improve productivity.