Award recognises analyst's standards work

An Emerson Process Management - Power + Water product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Dec 4, 2006

Gordon McFarland, Senior Power Plant Performance Analyst with Emerson's North American Power and Water Solutions Division, has received the ISA's Standards and Practices Award.

Emerson Process Management has announced that Gordon McFarland, Senior Power Plant Performance Analyst with the company's North American Power and Water Solutions Division, has received the ISA's Standards and Practices Award.

The award recognises McFarland for his leadership in the initial development of fossil power plant standards, and for 25 years of continuous support and direction of those standards.

During his 37-year career - 26 of which have been with Emerson - McFarland has made significant contributions to the creation, development and application of technical standards and practices for the power generation industry.

He has served as both chairperson and Standards and Practices managing director of the Fossil Power Plant Standards Committee (ISA-77).

He was responsible for establishing the eight author subgroup writing committees, a structure that is still retained and utilised in ISA-77.

His leadership roles also included chairing the ISA-77.40 Boiler Control Standard Committee, the ISA-77.41 Combustion Control Standard Committee and the ISA-77.42 Feedwater Standard Committee, as well as serving as a voting member of numerous subcommittees.

An ISA member since 1973 and a senior life member since 2002, McFarland has held a variety of leadership positions, including director of the Power Industry Division (POWID), member of the Image and Membership Development membership committee, and president of the Atlanta Section.

He received the POWID Achievement Award in 1988 and is the author of several technical papers regarding power plant control systems.

He is a member of the Southeastern Energy Society and holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering technology from Southern Polytechnic State University in Atlanta.

McFarland applies his vast knowledge and understanding of technical standards and industry best practices day-in and day-out for the benefit of Emerson's customers, as well as other power generators.

As part of Emerson's Premier Services programme, McFarland takes an in-depth look at plant operations by benchmarking current operational performance in key areas, such as dispatch performance, heat rate, emissions and cost of generation, then comparing the performance in each category with industry averages and best-in-class performance for units of similar size and fuel type.

Based on historical and real-time operational data from these key areas, he can identify a plant's strengths and opportunities for improvement, as well as gauge its competitive position - important intelligence that utilities can use to help improve the economics of their generation assets.

For example, Emerson's Premier Services programme has helped utilities realise heat rate improvements from 0.5 to 2.5%, ramp rate improvements of 1 to 3% per minute, and emissions improvements from 15 to 30%, as well as enhanced safety and extended plant life.

"Emerson congratulates Gordon on this very-well-deserved achievement".

"We are honoured to be able to leverage his industry-leading expertise and talents for the continued success of our Premier Services program", said Bob Yeager, President of the Power and Water Solutions Division of Emerson.

"His contributions have had a positive impact not only on Emerson's customers, but on the industry as a whole".