HRSG User's Group: Improving steam-plant reliability, durability and profitability
Fixing HRSGs since 1993!
The HRSG User’s Group has been meeting every year since the beginning of the combined-cycle industry. We want you to get involved whatever your expertise. Our attendees come away with fresh insights on all things combined-cycle—such as preventing flow-accelerated corrosion, overhauling attemperators, and designing/constructing new projects.
Attendees drive the discussion with their plant specific problems ranging from design and construction to long term O & M. These discussions produce practical solutions that can be applied the next day in the plant.

Who else could make fatigue analysis and NDE engaging? Only the HRSG user’s Group!
Past Conference Highlights

2019 Conference
Hands-on demo of HRSG welding
William Newell, Euroweld, LTD
Hands-on Demo of Detecting both under-insulation and flow-accelerated corrosion without insulation removal
Doug Hilleman & Ryan Moore,
Intertek Engineering Consulting
Welcome & State of the Combined-Cycle Industry
Mark Axford, Axford Consulting
Minimize Project Delays in Combined-Cycle Plants
Todd Young, HDR, Inc.
Reliably operating baseload-designed HRSGs in the cycling mode
Tham Chelvan, Siemens
Case Studies of Major Losses at Combined-Cycle Plants
Robert Sansone, The Power Gen & Construction
Next-Generation, Fast-start HRSGs
Marlon Farquharson, Siemens Heat Transfer Tech
Continuous Performance Optimization – add business value through enhanced flexibility and thermal performance
Tham Chelvan, Siemens
Dye Penetrant Testing of HRSG Components
Joe Frey, Joe W. Frey & Associates
Detecting Flame Lick with Infrared Technology
Roberto Roubicek, SEI
LP economizer and LP evaporator replacements at multiple plants in Florida
Maxwell Begeman, NextEra Energy
Code Required Welding Technique Eliminates Need for PWHT
William Newell, Euroweld, LTD
Managing the Formation and Release of Spinel Deposits from Flexible Operation
Doug Hilleman, Intertek Engineering Consulting
Case Studies on Operating HRSGs with elevated Feedwater pH
Colleen Scholl, HDR, Inc.
NERC-PRC 27 Compliance
Scott Dude, Dude Electrical Testing
Updates to piping codes
Joe Frey, Joe Frey & Associates
Practical Guide to Feeding Boiler Chemistries
Mark Scholl, Whitewater Cogen and
Kevin Boudreaux, ChemTreat
Pipe Hangers: Inspecting, Repairing & Replacing
Joe Frey, Joe Frey & Associates
HRSG User’s Group Open Discussion
Moderators: Joe Frey, Robert Sansone,
Colleen Scholl

2018 Conference
Steam Chemistry Basics
By David Daniels, M & M Engineering Associates
HRSG Design 101
By Amy Sieben, ALS Consulting
HP Valves and Attemporators
By Doug Hilleman, Intertek
Epidemic in Combined-cycle Project Delays
By Robert Sansone, The Power Gen & Construction Practice, LLC
Finding & Retaining Qualified Craft-Labor in the Workforce
Panel-discussion
Commissioning Practices for New Combined-cycle Projects
By Colleen Layman, HDR, Inc
Best Practices for HRSG Tube Sampling, Testing, and Evaluating Results
By Bob Bartholomew, Sheppard T. Powell Associates LLC
SCR Catalyst- Regeneration or Replacement
By Bill Gretta, Concord Management Services, Inc
Superheater Problems and Fixes.
By Dave Buzza, AEP

2017 Conference
Fitness for Service of High-energy Piping
By Joe Frey, Stress Engineering Services
Overhauling Severe-service Valves
By Kim Bezzant, Applus RTD and Patrick Brennan, Power Plant Services
Overhauling Boiler Feedwater Pumps
By Jack Geraci and Bob Morgenstern, Pro Pump Services
Contracting Trends & The Value added of the Owners Engineer – Oversight and Protection of the Owner’s interests
By Ron Pacitti, VP Business Development Energy, Altran
“The Risk Is Never Zero” risk issues that need to be considered when designing and building a power project.
By Robert Sansone, President The Power Gen & Construction Practice
Estimating and Scheduling to ensure success
By Mark Sanders –VP Altran Energy
Combined-cycle/cogen plants face their mid-life crisis—Modernizing versus shutting down
Film-forming amines cut corrosion rates in HRSGs
By Gregory Boileau and Tony Rossi, GE Power & Water
Combined-cycle emissions during transient ops
By Gordon Smith, GE Energy

2016 Conference
Not your grandfather’s Oldsmobile: Damage mechanisms in HRSGs
By David Daniels, M & M Engineering Associates, Inc.
The practical environmentalist: Operation & maintenance of selective catalytic reduction systems
By Jeff Bause, Groome Industrial Service Group
Storm tracker forecasts duct-burner damage: Operation and maintenance of duct burners
By Marty Fry, John Zink Hamworthy Combustion
Preventing gas-side corrosion in HRSGs
By Bryan Craig, HRST, Inc
They’re attemperators, not desuperheaters
By Amy Sieben, ALS Consulting, LLC
HRSG Lessons from the Grateful Dead: Startup procedures
By Gordon Smith, GE Power & Water
Death by spin-cooling (The do’s and don’ts of HRSG layup)
Presented by Bryan Craig, HRST, Inc
Breakthrough research on hard-facing disbonding
Presented by Daniel Purdy, EPRI
Get souped up for cycling (Modifying a baseload plant for cycling ops)
Presented by Amy Sieben, ALS Consulting, LLC

2015 Conference
Boiler construction alloys—Classification based on interactions with the boiler environment
By John Arnold, Niantic Bay Engineering, LLC
Metal melting, forming, welding, and heat treatment—their effects on the steel microstructure
By Marshal Clark, Investigative Engineering Corp
Failure analysis of HRSG tubes- Understanding the latest metallurgy
Full-day workshop
High Risks of Low-Load Operation
By Pete Matukonis, Alstom Power, Inc
Retrofitting the Economizer at an F-Class Plant
By Amy Sieben, ALS Consulting, LLC
Overhauling Attemporators
By Jorgen Gertz, Puffer-Sweiven
The Curious Case of Iron-Oxide Damage at Port Washington
By Dawn Lemke, WE Energies

2014 Conference
Performance Testing Combined Cycles
By Rodger Anderson, DRS-Power Technology Inc
Stopping the Crisis of Construction-Contract Fraud
By Bob Sansone, Power Generation & Construction Practice, LLC
Writing Specifications for New Equipment
By Neal Holden, Babcock Power, Inc
Managing the Start-Up Process
By Bob Sansone, Power Generation & Construction Practice, LLC
Cleaning Back-End Tubes with dry-Ice blast at Bogue Power
By Ruben Thomas, Bogue Power
Fighting the P-91 Wars in an Operating Combined-Cycle Fleet
By Nancy Armstrong, NAES Corp

2013 Conference
The core, or ‘must-have’ NDE tools for HRSGs
By Joe Frey, Stress Engineering Services, Inc
New, Emerging NDE Tools for HRSGs
By Stan Walker, EPRI
Don’t Forget the Balance-of-Plant
By Bob Sansone, Power Generation & Construction Practice, LLC
Remaining Life Assessment of HRSGs
By Derrick Rogers, Stress Engineering Services
Do’s and Don’ts of Heat-Treating P91
By Gary Lewis, Superheat FGH
Best-Practice S/U, S/D Procedures for Cycling Plants
By Gary Norman, Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas, Inc