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 GRC Transactions, Vol. 34, 2010

Applicability of ASME Performance Test Codes

to Geothermal Plant Performance Testing
Dr. Keith Kirkpatrick and Dave Price
McHale & Associates, Inc., Knoxville TN
keith.kirkpatrick@mchale.org
dave.price @mchale.org

Keywords Eighty percent of this capacity is in California, where more than

Testing, ASME, performance, codes, standards, contracts,
PTC
ABSTRACT
As geothermal technologies continue to evolve to allow the
power industry to have a dramatically expanded range and size of
viable geothermal resources to use for power generation, there has
been an equal growth in new energy projects. Within the United
States alone in 2009, the Geothermal Energy Association reported
a 26 percent growth in new projects of which 188 projects could
produce as much as 7,875 MW of new electric power.1 For all
of this growth and new technologies, it would be advantageous
for geothermal energy project developers to have standardized
testing techniques and codes to aid them in planning, executing,
and demonstrating plant and component guarantees as well as
warranty obligations associated with construction and power
purchase contract agreements.
This paper will present how it will benefit the Geothermal
Industry to have an active interest in the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Performance Test Codes (PTCs)
and help the ASME develop standards and methods for testing
that is specifically relevant and pertinent to the Geothermal In-
dustry. At this time, there is not an ASME PTC that is specific
to the Geothermal Industry. However, in the interim until the
PTCs can be revised or developed to directly cover the nuances
of testing Geothermal assets, this paper will present examples of
how the current test codes rules and approaches can be success-
fully used for testing equipment and plants associated with the
Geothermal Industry.
Introduction
Geothermal energy has the potential to play a significant
role in the United States and other countries electricity needs.
The United States alone has more geothermal capacity than any
other country, with more than 3,000 megawatts in 9 states alone.
40 geothermal plants provide nearly 5 percent of the states elec-
tricity.1 The claim that the United States has the highest capacity
for geothermal energy production is supported in the latest data
from Japans National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science
and Technology (AIST)2 that estimates capacity at 30 million
kilowatts (kW), or 30 gigawatts (GW) and the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS) estimates of conventional geothermal sources on
private and accessible public lands across 13 western states having
the potential capacity to produce 8,00073,000 MW, with a mean
estimate of 33,000 MW.3
Since the costs for electricity from geothermal facilities are
also declining to a level competitive with new conventional fossil
fuel-fired power plants4 and the capacity factors (the ratio of the
actual electricity generated compared to what electricity would
be produced if the plant was running nonstop for that period) of
geothermal plants are comparable with those of coal and nuclear
power,5 it is one of the few renewable energy technologies that can
supply continuous, baseload power on a level that is desired by the
current power market. As technologies continue to improve and
become more competitive, even more of the largely untapped geo-
thermal resource could be developed to offer enormous potential
for the electricity production market. However, before geothermal
electricity can take its rightful place in the power market and be
considered a key element of the U.S. energy infrastructure, it must
be established in all areas as with traditional forms of energy. One
of those areas is the ASME Performance Test Codes.
Asme Performance Test Codes
From their humble beginnings over a century ago, the Ameri-
can Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Performance Test
Codes (PTCs) have become the premier source of guidance for
conducting and reporting performance tests of equipment and
systems to evaluate plant and component performance within the
power industry. The First Code (of any type) issued by ASME
was Rules for Conducting Boiler Tests, published in 1884. Today,
about 50 PTCs are available, covering specific equipment, entire
systems, and complete plants. In addition to these Codes, Supple-

65
Kirkpatrick and Price
ments on Instruments and Apparatus covering measurements and
techniques common to several Codes are available. Figure 1 and
Figure 2 show the organization of ASME PTC categories and the
codes and supplements available to the power industry.
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a not-
for-profit organization dedicated to promoting mechanical
engineering. It consists of more than 125,000 members, and has
a staff of 4,300. Performance Test Codes committees are staffed
by volunteers and coordinated by an ASME staff engineer. It is
important to note that committee membership is not limited to
ASME members. All PTC committees report to the Performance
Test Codes Standards Committee and all ASME Codes and Stan-
dards activities are governed by the Codes and Standards Board
of Directors, one of the five Sectors of ASME.
The ASMEs mission is: To promote and enhance the techni-
cal competency and professional well-being of our members, and
through quality programs and activities in mechanical engineer-
ing, better enable its practitioners to contribute to the well-being
of humankind
The Codes and Standards mission is: Develop the pre-
eminent, universally acceptable codes, standards, conformity
assessment programs, and related products and services for the
benefit of humanity. Involve the best and brightest people from
around the world to develop, maintain, promote and employ
ASME products and services globally.
Development of Asme PTCS
Anyone identifying a necessary test code revision or the need
for a new test code can communicate directly with the ASME staff.
Based on the substantiated need, the Performance Test Codes Stan-
dards Committee recruits, organizes, and empowers a technical
standards committee to develop or revise a test code.
The Technical Standards Committee is a team of experts;
highly qualified and technically competent engineers, with exper-
tise in some or all fields covered by the specific PTC. Committee
membership is balanced between volunteers from equipment
users, equipment manufacturers, testing agencies and general
interest personnel.
While their employment and, in most cases, their support is
based on a specific membership category, Standards Committee
members represent no one but themselves and must avoid repre-
senting any one groups commercial interest over the technical
quality of the code.
The process of a test code revision or creation of a new test
code begins when the members of a committee prepare a code
draft, while meeting periodically, and corresponding continually.
It should be noted that all meetings and teleconferences are open
to anyone interested in attending and participating.
A preliminary draft is sent to knowledgeable persons in the
industry for review. This review and the incorporation of com-
ments and recommendations strengthen the document. The
completed draft is then approved by the Technical Committee
and the Performance Test Codes Standards Committee. The
code is sent to ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
for their approval and ASME publishes the document then sells
it for barely more than the cost of the material, printing, paper,
and handling costs.
66
Throughout the process, the focus is on building consensus.
All ASME codes have been developed by seeking balanced input
from all types of parties who may be interested in the code and/
or the equipment or process the Code deals with.
Purpose of ASME PTCs
ASME Performance Test Codes provide uniform rules and
procedures to the power industry for planning, preparing, and
executing performance tests and reporting the results.6 A per-
formance test is an engineering evaluation where measurements
are taken on key parameters to feed calculations, whose results
indicate how well the performance of the specified equipment
compares to an established design criteria. For over a century,
the philosophy of ASME has dictated that a PTC test can provide
results with a high level of accuracy, based on current engineering
knowledge and practices; taking into account the costs of the test
and the value of the information obtained.6
ASME PTCs are intended to serve as standards for parties
entering into commercial agreements on the purchase of power
equipment or plants so that each party has a solid foundation on
which to make sure that the commercial obligation surrounding
the expected performance is met. As such, the ASME PTCs are
legal documents that are written in a format suitable for citation
within contracts as the standard methodology to determine if the
equipments guaranteed performance is attained. Therefore, the
power industry benefits by having a set of standards to assist
from start to end of a power plant project. It is important that
the Geothermal Power Industry get the same benefits from the
ASME PTCs
Users of ASME PTCs
PTCs are used around the world by equipment suppliers,
equipment owners, architect/engineering companies, and engi-
neering personnel who have a need to conduct and analyze the
performance of equipment and plants associated with the power
industry. As shown in Section 1.4 of ASME PTC 1, typical uses
include the following:
(a) Determination if equipment meets design or expected
performance criteria.
(b) Incorporation by reference into contracts to serve as a means
to determine fulfillment of guarantees.
(c) Evaluation of equipment performance following modifi-
cation, change in operating conditions, or any suspected
change in performance for which such investigation is
required.
(d) Studies to help determine the value of possible upgrades or
modifications to equipment.
(e) Benchmarking of equipment performance, sometimes to
help determine necessity for specific preventative mainte-
nance or possible upgrade or modification.
(f) Validation of results from online or continuous performance
monitoring systems, which are usually less accurate than
results conducted in accordance with PTCs.6
 Kirkpatrick and Price

When acquiring new equipment or modifying existing equip-
ment, purchasing agents or sales staff can specify the equipment
will have a guarantee that will be based on the results of a test
conducted in accordance with a specific ASME PTC to ensure
consistent repeatable results. Next, the design engineers consult
the PTC document to ensure the proper instrument connections
will be available to support the required testing to demonstrate the
guarantee. Later, test engineers use the code for guidance on equip-
ment to be installed, test procedures to be used, and what calculation
methods are necessary to conduct a code test on the equipment to
determine a result to compare to the guarantee. Representatives
of the parties to the test use the code to ensure the test methods are
in compliance with the contract agreements. The test results are
analyzed and compared to the performance criteria.
Engineers at operating power plants and other industrial
facilities can use PTCs to evaluate their equipment, target high
priority maintenance or capital items, evaluate the economic
dispatch of a unit, and optimize operation. Also, manufacturers
and suppliers may be interested in the exact performance of their
equipment, to better understand design margins and the impacts of
manufacturing tolerances on performance. Therefore, code tests
may be conducted outside of any performance guarantees. In the
commercial arena, ASME PTCs permit suppliers to compete fairly
while protecting users from complacency and poorly-performing
products. Purchase specifications are greatly strengthened by
citing the results of tests dictated by PTCs.
As the development of a Geothermal Power Plant project has
the same needs as a traditional power project, the Geothermal
Industry has the same users and uses of the ASME PTCs. So it
is important to make sure that the commercial nuances associated
with geothermal projects are covered in the ASME PTCs so that
the users can leverage them to meet their needs.

Figure 1. Organization of Equipment Performance Test Codes.

Figure 1. ORGANIZATION OF EQUIPMENT PERFORMANCE TEST CODES

Equipment Codes

Power Produc2on Combus2on and Heat Transfer Fluid Handling Emissions

**PTC 6, Steam Turbines** PTC 4, Fired Steam Generators *PTC 8.2, Centrifugal Pumps* PTC 38, Determining the
Concentra:on of Par:culate
MaCer in a Gas Stream
PTC 6.2, Steam Turbines in PTC 4.2, Coal Pulverizers PTC 10, Compressors and PTC 40, Flue Gas Desulfuriza:on
Combined Cycles Exhausters Units
PTC 1U, Reciproca:ng Internal PTC 4.3, Air Heaters PTC 11, Fans
Combus:on Engines
PTC 18, Hydraulic Turbines and PTC 4.4, Gas Turbine Heat PTC 12.3, Dearators
Pump Turbines Recovery Steam Generators
PTC 18.1, Pumping Mode of PTC 12.1, Closed Feedwater *PTC 19.11, Steam and Water
Pump/Turbines Heaters Sampling, Condi2oning, and
Analysis in the Power Cycle*
PTC 22, Gas Turbines *PTC 12.2, Steam Surface *PTC 19.23, Model Tes2ng*
Condensers*
*PTC 29, Speed-Governing **PTC 12.4, Moisture Separator *PTC 24, Ejectors*
Systems for Hydraulic Turbine Reheaters**
Generator Units*
*PTC 46, Overall Plant *PTC 12.5, Single Phase Heat *PTC 25, Pressure Relief Devices*
Performance* Exhangers*
PTC 4U, Integrated GasiVca:on PTC 19.10, Flue and Exhaust Gas PTC 31, Ion Exchange Equipment
Combined Cycle Analyses
PTC 50, Fuel Cell Power Systems *PTC 23, Atmospheric Water *PTC 39, Steam Traps*
Performance Cooling Equipment*
PTC 52, Concentrated Solar *PTC 30, Air-Cooled Heat
Exchangers*
PTC 55, AircraQ Engines PTC 34, Waste Combustors With
Energy Recovery
*PTC PM, Performance PTC 51, Gas Turbine Compressor
Monitoring Guidelines for Steam Inlet Air Condi:oning Equipment
Power Plants*

67
Kirkpatrick and Price

Figure 2. Organization of General Documents.

General Documents test codes and how they

could be used to meet the
needs of the Geothermal
Industry are listed below
AnalyDcal Techniques
Measurement of Process Parameters
Guiding InformaDon with an explanation of a
and Associated Phenomena
few changes needed to
account for the distinc-
*PTC 19.1, Test Uncertainty* *PTC 19.2, Pressure Measurement* *PTC 1, General InstrucDons*
*PTC 19.25, Transient Measurement *PTC 19.3, Temperature Measurement* *PTC 2, DeEniDons and Falues*
tions of a geothermal
Uncertaitny* facility.
*PTC 6N, FalidaDon and FeriEcaDon of **PTC 19.5, Flow Measurement** ASME PTC 46 is a
Computatoinal Solid Mechanics* Performance Test Code
*PTC 61, FalidaDon and FeriEcaDon of *PTC 19.6, Electrical Power that covers Overall Plant
ComputaDonal Kluid Dynamics and Leat Measurement* Performance. This code
Transfer* does not discriminate
*PTC 19.G, Measurement of ShaH against the type of plant
Power* in operation; however,
*PTC 19.22, Digital Systems Techniques* it does give specific ex-
amples on certain types
*PTC 36, Measurement of Industrial of plants. Though a Geo-
Sound* thermal Power Plant is
not among the example
plants within the code,
Current Coverage of Geothermal in ASME PTCs the general approach in this code may be used for a Geothermal
Power Plant Performance Test with only minor changes. For
From Figure 1 and 2, it can be identified that there are a demonstrating these minor changes, lets consider a simple flash
number of test codes that have subject areas that are pertinent steam power plant where the test boundary is exclusive of the
to Geothermal Power Plants. However, it is an unfortunate fact well source and starts upstream of the separator and includes the
that there is not a PTC that is specifically written for Geothermal steam air ejectors, condenser, and cooling tower. The first thing
Power Plants; further, existing codes for overall plant performance you notice in PTC 46, is that there is not a category in the tables
or critical components of geothermal power plants such as, but not detailing the required pretest stabilization periods and recom-
limited to, ASME PTC 46 Overall Plant Performance, ASME PTC mended test run durations given for such a plant configuration.
6 Steam Turbines, and ASME PTC 12.2 Steam Surface Condenser, This type of requirement would then be governed as an agreement
do not have examples or cover nuances associated with geothermal amongst the parties to the test of what the proper time periods
applications. This lack of direct coverage for technologies and should be; typically for this type of plant 1 hour stabilization and
testing methods associated with geothermal plants within the PTCs 1 hour test period would be sufficient. The next area of concern
can perpetuate a false perception that the PTCs are not applicable that one will notice in PTC 46 is that the correction methodology
to Geothermal Power Plant testing. Although the existing codes standard categories of additive and multiplicative corrections
mentioned previously do not have specific examples of geothermal appear to not cover those typically used within the Geothermal
applications, their general approach can be utilized in certain areas Industry for boundary items such as steam flow, steam pressure,
of the geothermal arena. steam temperature, steam quality, and incondensable gas content.
This too is easily overcome and the users of the code can create
How Current PTCs Can be Used for new additive and multiplicative corrections as necessary beyond
those currently in the code. Hence the general guiding principles,
Geothermal Projects
such as, establishment of test boundaries, required measurements,
Presently, there are several ASME Performance Test Codes required measurement uncertainties, calculation of results, and
that can be used for both geothermal facility and equipment test- reporting of results can now be used in the Geothermal Industry
ing. Codes shown in Figures 1 and 2 which are *BOLD TEXT* as is and the specific methodology, measurement, etc. can be
are PTCs that can be used as is with no modifications necessary. introduced as an agreed upon deviation from the test code to ac-
Codes shown in Figures 1 and 2 which are **BOLD ITALISIZED count for any nuance of the Geothermal Plant that is outside the
TEXT** are PTCs that can be used with some modifications in scope of the PTC 46 general guidelines.
methodology to account for specific geothermal nuances. Codes ASME PTC 6 is a Performance Test Code that covers Steam
shown in Figures 1 and 2 which are STANDARD TEXT are PTCs Turbines. Though PTC 6 is intended to cover testing associated
that are not applicable or would require major modifications. with all steam turbines, it mostly provides text and examples
As it is impossible to cover all of the areas that the test codes associated with coal fired Rankine cycle steam turbines. When
could be changed or modified to cover the aspects of geother- attempting to apply to a geothermal facilitys steam turbine, like
mal testing within this paper, a few demonstrative examples of the cycle we described in the ASME PTC 46 example, it is quickly

68

seen that PTC 6 provides examples of Group 1 and Group 2 cor-
rections that should be applied. As stated earlier, it is common to
correct geothermal steam turbines for HP steam flow instead of
the HP steam pressure method as described in ASME PTC 6. The
need to have a flow correction methodology was recognized in the
combined cycle industry since correcting on flow had advantages
for that technology, hence ASME PTC 6.2 was developed to cover
the need to have an HP Steam Flow correction methodology in
place for systems with both variable and steady steam pressures
(Section 5-3.1.1 and Section 5-3.1.2). A combination of the
PTC 6 and PTC 6.2 correction methodology could be used for
a Geothermal Steam Turbine performance test. General guid-
ing principles, such as, test boundaries, required measurements,
calculation of results, and reporting of results can also readily be
used for Geothermal Steam Turbine Testing.
There are codes that can be readily used without any changes
such as ASME PTC 12.2 that covers Steam Surface Condensers.
Also there are codes where only portions of the code need to be
used such as ASME PTC 12.4, the Test Code that covers Moisture
Separator Reheaters. Though ASME PTC 12.4 has methods and
requirements for the reheater portions, the methodology from this
code that covers just the moisture separator portion could be used
for testing geothermal facility moisture separators. Also ASME
PTC 12.4 has a large portion devoted to steam quality measure-
ments that are useful to the Geothermal Industry.
The PTCs mentioned do not restrict the use of general guiding
principles to the plant and/or equipment specified therein. These
specifics are shown as examples where nuances exist against the
general guideline. With the Geothermal Industrys active role in
ASME PTCs, specific examples, methodology, and calculations
needed to address nuances associated with Geothermal Plants and
equipment, can be created, and introduced into the correspond-
ing PTC.
ASME PTCs Benefit to Geothermal Industry
With all the benefits that the ASME PTCs provide the power
industry, it is important to look at how these benefits can be
leveraged to help the power industry secure a sustainable energy
future offered by the geothermal technology by understanding the
commercial testing needs for geothermal projects.
By introducing codes to the industry, there will no doubt be
an increase in reliable geothermal technologies. A single testing
code for geothermal applications will help to standardize mea-
surements, calculations, and reporting of Geothermal Power Plant
Performance Testing, as well as standardize manufacturing and
construction of the Geothermal Power Plants. Codes allow for
repeatability in testing, not only from test to test, but also from
site to site.
The Solar Industry is a renewable power source that has al-
ready begun its involvement with the ASME PTCs. There is an
ASME PTC committee in place working on a specific test code
for Concentrating Solar Power Plants (ASME PTC 52). This PTC
has not yet been issued.
By introducing a new PTC specifically for the Geothermal
Power Industry, distinctions can be made in the methodology for
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Kirkpatrick and Price
each type of Geothermal Cycle. Dry and Flash Steam Geothermal
Plants can be covered under the specified PTCs, shown previ-
ously in this document, with minor to no modifications necessary.
However, the technology involved in a Binary Cycle Geothermal
Plant is not covered well if at all by the current ASME PTCs. A
specific Geothermal PTC could allow for performance testing of
all Geothermal Power Plants and equipment; as well as be a living
document that can be revised to encapsulate the ever changing
and growing Geothermal Industry.
ASME PTCs will have an impact on vendors and manufac-
turers of Geothermal Power Plant equipment. Manufacturing
practices will have to adhere to strict guidelines in order to fulfill
performance requirements of the PTCs. Representatives of all
testing parties will have one common document that controls the
activities associated with the testing. Contracts will have a firm
foundation on how obligations therein can be demonstrated. When
a performance test is conducted under a governing ASME PTC,
there should be no question as to the reliability of the testing results
and the performance of the equipment/plant being tested.
Conclusions
Participation of the Geothermal Industry in the development
of ASME PTC is a win-win-win-win situation. The Geothermal
Industry will gain standardization, owners will gain a means to
consistently evaluate assets, financial organization will have
a means to gauge risk, and the ASME PTCs will provide new
technological knowledge to the industry with regards to proper
testing techniques associated with Geothermal Power Plants. With
standardization, knowledge, and experience will come reliability,
repeatability, and accountability in all areas of the Geothermal In-
dustry. And with those, we will have a viable source of renewable
energy that can be used for dependable power generation.
This can only be accomplished by all interested parties coming
together to participate in advancing the ASME PTCs within the
area of Geothermal Power. Working together, we can help estab-
lish Geothermal Power to its rightful place in the power market and
be considered a key element of the U.S. energy infrastructure.
References
1. Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) 2009. U.S. Geothermal Power
Production and Development Update.
2. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
(AIST).
3. Williams, C.F., M.J. Reed, R.H. Mariner, J. DeAngelo, and S.P.Galanis Jr.
2008. Assessment of moderate- and high-temperature geothermal
resources of the United States. U.S. Geological Survey fact sheet
2008-3082, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior.
4. California Energy Commission ( CEC) (June 2003). Comparative Cost
of California Central Station Electricity Generation Technologies,
Final Staff Report.
5. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Energy Technology Cost and
Performance Data.
6. ANSI/ASME PTC1, General Instructions, American Society of Mechani-
cal Engineers, New York, 2004.
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