New Life for Gas Turbines: Tarco and MDS Jointly Offer Innovative Solutions

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Tarco Consulting Inc. and MDS Aero Support Corporation have combined their strengths to deliver life-extending turnkey solutions for industrial gas turbine operators. This collaboration addresses key concerns such as age-related degradation, obsolescence, and the growing need for modernization, all while providing advanced solutions to improve the efficiency and reliability of critical equipment.

The energy industry relies heavily on compressors, turbines, and other rotating equipment applications, where small inefficiencies can translate into costly downtime or lost performance. Tarco and MDS share a commitment to excellence and have leveraged decades of experience to develop practical solutions for common industry applications.

A Comprehensive Solution

Tarco is a leader in the next generation of Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) providers, with expertise in rotating equipment control systems and balance of plant engineering for the energy industry. Tarco’s Intelligent Execution methodology incorporates lessons from thousands of projects and enables streamlined schedules, cost savings, and improved quality. Tarco’s flagship motiv Turbine Control System (motiv TCS) offers a modular solution that eliminates the reliance on custom hardware, and provides scalability, flexibility, and ease of maintenance.

MDS is known for their expertise in gas turbine testing facilities. Many of these facilities serve the aviation industry, however, the company also leverages this in-depth technical knowledge to provide their advanced solutions to the energy industry for equipment retrofits and upgrades. These solutions include advanced lube oil systems, inlet plenums, exhaust systems, and their proprietary SureStart electrohydraulic starting system. The SureStart HSU offers an easy-to-install alternative to natural gas starters, helping reduce methane emissions and offering the perfect blend of efficiency, environmental responsibility, and easy integration into existing systems. With their foundation in test cell technology, MDS brings technologies previously only available to aerospace to the energy industry.

By combining these strengths, Tarco and MDS ensure their customers receive complete solutions that address both immediate operational needs and long-term optimization goals.

Modernizing Gas Turbine Auxiliary Systems

As critical gas turbine auxiliary systems become obsolete, numerous challenges arise: operators have fewer support options, maintenance or replacement costs increase, reliability challenges surface, and safety becomes a risk. Tarco and MDS can help by offering a turnkey approach that addresses both the gas turbine and the balance of plant requirements.

As an example of this recent collaboration, Tarco and MDS are providing a replacement of a gas turbine lubrication system, utilizing advanced instrumentation that provides operators with a level of visibility previously unavailable. This includes temperature, flow, and pressure readings, as well as continuous monitoring of oil quality.

MDS’s SureStart system provides an emissions-free alternative to traditional gas expansion starters. This small-footprint, electro-hydraulic starter provides precise control over starts for greater reliability and fewer potential failures. It provides extended start cycles, prolonged purge cycles, and steady turbine rotation at low speeds. Certified for safety and built for tough environments, this unit is compact, customizable, and easy to handle.

Tarco’s motiv gas turbine control system gives customers an off-the-shelf option for modernized fuel, engine, and package control systems. This can include control over driven equipment such as compressors, integrating the anti-surge and compressor mapping into the design without need of additional external systems. With overspeed and vibration monitoring and protection systems integrated into the package, operations can improve performance and add decades of life to equipment.

Leveraging Technology for Better Outcomes

With increasing pressure to optimize performance and reduce costs, having access to actionable data has never been more critical. Improved instrumentation and modernized controls can provide data to digital solutions and modernized operational technology (OT) to support this optimization.

Tarco and MDS can support the integration of digital solutions, enabling operators to unlock the full potential of their systems.

Predictive Maintenance: Real-time data and analytics allow identification of potential issues before they lead to costly downtime.
Fleet Oversight: Centralized monitoring allows operators to track the performance of multiple assets, improving performance across the board.
Management Dashboards: Intuitive, management-friendly dashboards provide decision-makers with the insights they need to make informed choices and optimize.

These innovations empower customers to not only maintain their equipment but also proactively improve performance over time.

Customer-Centric Solutions

The hallmark of this collaboration is a commitment to working closely with customers to deliver tailored solutions for their needs. Tarco and MDS understand that every operation is unique, and their collaborative approach ensures that each project is designed to meet the specific needs of the facility. Their combined expertise allows Tarco and MDS to offer solutions that are innovative, practical, reliable, and aligned with customer goals.

The industry continues to evolve, and gas turbine operations face demands for extended lifespans, optimized performance, reduced costs, and reduced emissions. This collaboration allows MDS and Tarco to help their customers be at the forefront of this transformation.

For more information about these solutions and how they can benefit your operations, visit mdsaero.com or tarco.com, or reach out to:

Eddie Moretto at [email protected]
Matthew Polk at [email protected].