Baker Hughes helps Gulf Coast energy sites restart after “Big Chill”

随着德克萨斯州和墨西哥湾沿岸州的纪录造成的寒冷使数千台机器发电，石化和其他关键的基础设施工厂陷入僵局，运营商已经面临着一个紧迫的问题：在将该机器重新在线之前，他们如何确定他们如何确定这些机器在突然关闭时没有造成伤害，并且在机械上可以重新启动吗？

由贝克·休斯（Baker Hughes）数字解决方案的内华达州技术和服务启用，估计大多数受影响的运营商能够做出自信，数据驱动的重新启动决策，从而恢复了电网和其他关键基础架构。他们通过内华达州监测系统提供的实时机械健康信息来做到这一点。

北美销售主管卡洛斯·戈麦斯（Carlos Gomez）观察到：“感冒并不是唯一空前的事物。”“因此，在短短几天的空间中，机器的数量也是脱机的，然后返回在线。我们以前从未见过这样的事情 - 我们一生中也不可能再一次。”戈麦斯继续说：“仅在德克萨斯州，我们目睹了40-50 GW的发电能力在48小时内返回在线，将电网返回100％。

这转化为400多个关键机器，全部都在为期2天的窗口中重新启动。我们从来没有看到过如此多的眼睛，这么多机器，这么多人口的安全和福祉直接受到这些初创公司的成功影响。”

根据得克萨斯州电力可靠性委员会首席执行官比尔·玛格尼斯（Bill Magness）的说法（ERCOT），该州与可能导致长达数月的停电的失败相距“几秒钟和几分钟”。

To prevent that from happening, hundreds of machines had to be forcibly and abruptly brought offline as part of rolling blackouts to prevent catastrophic damage that would have left the grid down for months – not days. It necessitated the painful – but necessary – decision to cut power. However, it couldn’t have come at a worse time as temperatures plummeted well below freezing, leaving millions without heat, lights, and even cellular service. As painful as that decision was, the alternative was unthinkable: rendering nearly the entire state without electricity for months. So even as hundreds of machines came down to avert this, those same machines had to be restarted several days later once downed transmission lines and damage to other grid infrastructure in the storm’s aftermath had been repaired. The first order of business was thus to return the grid quickly to full capacity.

冰冻的叶片,闲置数以百计的风你rbines were part of the problem, an even bigger problem in meeting demand appeared in the form of the natural gas that fuels conventional generation sources like gas and steam turbines. The extreme cold prevented it from getting from West Texas’s gas plants to power plants throughout the state. Nor did the problems stop in only power and gas facilities. “Most every major petrochemical facility has had to shut down some or all of its machines,” explains Americas Services Director James Reynolds.

“它们根本不是在这些温度下进行操作的。在阿拉斯加，加拿大或俄罗斯等地方，这是一个不同的故事 - 他们为这种天气设计。但是在墨西哥湾沿岸，事实并非如此。这是一个世纪的天气，我们可能只会看到几次。”

雷诺兹继续说：“墨西哥湾海岸在很多方面都是世界的中心关键的涡轮机械. Nowhere else on earth will you find so many plants with so much machinery as along the Houston ship channel and surrounding areas. A lot of that machinery is down right now but is slated to restart anywhere from immediately to the next couple of weeks as plants thaw out and ready themselves to resume production.” When asked to explain how this is impacting the company’s service organization, Reynolds made it clear this is an all-hands-on-deck situation. “Our Bently Nevada service personnel and machinery diagnostic experts are supporting customers around the clock, in some customer facilities to ensure that the moment it comes time to restart, customers have the data they need to proceed with confidence.”

这些工厂中的内华达州系统在正常，异常和启动 /关闭条件下自动捕获关键的机械数据，以帮助操作员对机械健康做出更自信的决定。内华达州服务人员使用其机械和仪器专业知识来增强客户自己的员工 - 在这个关键时刻，这一专业知识的需求很高。

When your machines go down, are you equipped to restart them? The importance of a condition monitoring system like系统1从来没有更大的。在Fl可靠性团队int Hills Resources shared this comment with us...

“我们只需要解决我们工厂和德克萨斯州真正前所未有的条件所创造的所有问题。当我们提起单位时，我们很高兴能够在[Ranger Pro无线振动传感器]上将护林员带到[Ranger Pro Wireless振动传感器]上，并帮助我们观看泵时观看它们。”

德克萨斯州和墨西哥湾沿岸的销售负责人Tanya Bynum说：“我们的客户对我们非常信任。”Bynum和Benly团队与德克萨斯州地区的客户紧密合作，以帮助他们安全地评估自己的系统，并尽快，可靠地返回在线。Bynum继续说：“我们不会在如此关键的时刻让他们失望。这些产品，这家公司 - 我们出生于这样的片刻。”

Thanks for tuning in to part 1 of the journey of getting Texas back on its feet. Look out for Part 2, coming soon, where we take a closer look at how System 1 brought customers safely back online!