Category: Utilities and Energy

Al-Rusail Power Plant

Muscat, Oman

Challenges

Gas Quality Monitoring - Need to monitor and record natural gas composition and quality metrics for 665 MW power plant operations with 8 gas turbines.
SCADA Integration - Required integration of natural gas chromatograph data analysis within existing SCADA system infrastructure for real-time monitoring.
Simple Solution Need - Wanted straightforward, reliable solution that could handle data connectivity, display, logging, and trend analysis without complexity.

Results

Real-time Optimization - Operations team can visualize gas quality in real-time, optimizing combustion processes to improve gas turbine efficiency and reduce emissions.
Automated Reporting - TrendWorX Logger captures data automatically, ReportWorX Express exports to Excel instantly, eliminating manual reporting errors and boosting workflow.
Long-term Reliability - System has operated over a decade without performance issues or downtime, providing continuous gas quality assurance from suppliers.

“The GENESIS64 solution deployed at our plant helped us with continuous monitoring of gas quality to maintain the optimal efficiency of our gas turbines. The software was straightforward and user-friendly for a simple application like ours. We have been using it for more than a decade now without any performance issues or downtime. We look forward to scaling this solution for other applications in the future, as needed.”

— Mr. Mohammed Asif, Maintenance Coordinator | ENGIE-STOMO

About Al-Rusail Power Plant

Al-Rusail Power Plant is a 665 MW power plant located in an industrial area approximately 40 km west of Muscat, Oman. It consists of eight Frame 9E gas turbines that primarily run on natural gas with diesel oil as a backup fuel. The power plant was the first state-owned power generation company to be privatized in the Sultanate of Oman and is now owned by SMN Power Holding SAOG. SMN also owns SMN Barka Plant and together with AlRusail provides 1,342 MW of power and 120,000 m3/day potable water capacity. Both power entities are aligned with SMN’s mission “to contribute to the growth of the Sultanate of Oman and to improve people’s lives by providing reliable power and water, while being committed to employee development and empowerment”.

— Mr. Mohammed Asif, Maintenance Coordinator | ENGIE-STOMO

Rusail Power Plant Dashboard

Project Summary

SMN Holding Company wanted to monitor and record the composition and quality of the gas being used by the gas turbines to run the power plant. In particular, they wanted to know specific quality metrics of the gases using a natural gas chromatograph and to analyze those within the context of a SCADA system. Therefore, SMN Power was looking for a simple yet reliable solution for this application.

The customer reached out to one of the leading solution providers in Oman: Oriental Control Systems LLC (OCS). Established in 2014, OCS provides turnkey control and automation solutions for oil and gas, power utility, and industrial sectors. They have a dedicated team of engineers who are highly qualified and skilled in the respective domains in which they operate. OCS continues to expand and develop their team to meet the growing requirements of their customers, not only for delivering the projects but also for providing in-country service for the operation and maintenance of their customers’ systems. Over the years, OCS has successfully completed multiple projects for various government ministries, corporations, industries, and private clients.

Moreover, since its inception in 2014, OCS has been a longtime system integrator and solution provider for us and has worked with and supported Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions' customers in Oman. In addition, GENESIS software satisfied all the requirements that SMN Power had laid out in terms of data connectivity, display, and logging, as well as charting data trends. Therefore, given these reasons and the flexibility and scalability of GENESIS64, the solution was a logical choice for this application.

Rusail Power Plant Dashboard

Trends Overview

Software Deployed

GENESIS64™
GraphWorX64™
ReportWorx64™

Trends Overview

Modbus OPC Controllers

Realized Benefits

Al-Rusail Power Plant immediately realized benefits from several angles of the business. The automation system includes our GENESIS64 SCADA with a Modbus Ethernet OPC server connected directly to a natural chromatograph over a fiber optic link. This application is a simple, straightforward software solution designed specifically to monitor the gas composition of the fuel used for the power plant.

With GENESIS, the operational team can constantly visualize and monitor the quality of the natural gas in real-time and more accurately keep track of gas quality metrics.

For example, using GraphWorX, the operational team can visualize real-time data on customized dashboards that are easy to read and understand. This ability helps the operations team optimize the combustion process thereby allowing them to improve the efficiency of the gas turbines. The increase in efficiency in turn helps them to reduce their emission and carbon footprint. Additionally, they can log the data using TrendWorX Logger and export the data instantly into Excel files using ReportWorX Express thereby eliminating errors in manual reporting and increasing workflow efficiency.

Modbus OPC Controllers

Conclusion

SMN Holding is extremely satisfied with the Mitsubishi Electric Iconics Digital Solutions' system and the OCS team. The system is exactly what the company wanted – a highly intuitive system with basic visualization that provides predefined symbols and simple graphics. Moreover, OCS completed the project with a minimum turnaround time allowing SMN to quickly begin monitoring the natural gas metrics. With this system, SMN can continuously monitor and ensure the quality of the natural gas they buy from the procurement/supply company.