Methods and systems for modeling power plants

1. A modular method of modeling a power plant, the power plant comprising a plurality of major components including at least one of a gas turbine, a heat recovery steam generator, a steam turbine, and a condenser/cooling tower, said method comprising:

selecting a plurality of major component modules' models from a library of component module models for each major component of the power plant, each major component module representing a power plant major component of a unique configuration;

inputting initial model information into a database for the major component selected modules by inputting the initial model information into a spread sheet associated with each selected major component module, the initial model information including at least one of operating parameters, design data, convergence criteria, and a maximum number of passes;

running each selected major component module and enabling data exchange between the selected major component modules, wherein running each selected major component module comprises running the selected major component modules successively one module at a time and passing the results from one module to the next module in succession until interface conditions converge or until a predetermined maximum number of iterative passes are completed; and

generating a result that indicates the performance of the major components of the power plant.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein said running each selected major component module in succession comprises running each selected major component module in a predetermined order.

3. A method in accordance with claim 1 further comprising creating a library of major component module models.

4. A modular method of modeling a power plant having a plurality of components, said method comprising:

selecting at least two component module models from a library of component modules, each component module representing a power plant component of a unique configuration;

inputting initial model information into a database for the selected component modules by inputting initial model information into a spread sheet associated with each selected module, the initial model information including at least one of operating parameters, design data, convergence criteria, and a maximum number of passes;

running each selected component module and exchanging data between the selected component modules, wherein running each selected component module comprises running the selected component modules successively one module at a time and passing the results from one module to the next module in succession until interface conditions converge or until a predetermined maximum number of iterative passes are completed; and

generating a result that indicates the performance of the major components of the power plant.

5. A method in accordance with claim 4 wherein said running each selected component module in succession comprises running each selected component module in a predetermined order.

6. A method in accordance with claim 4 further comprising creating a library of component module models.

7. A modular method of modeling a power plant, the power plant comprising a plurality of major components including at least one of a gas turbine, a heat recovery steam generator, a steam turbine, and a condenser/cooling tower, said method comprising:

creating a power plant model by selecting a plurality of major component modules' models from a library of component module models for each major component of the power plant, each major component module representing a power plant major component of a unique configuration;

linking the selected major component modules together to enable data exchange between modules;

inputting initial model information into a database for the selected major component modules by inputting initial model information into a spread sheet associated with each selected major component module, the initial model information including at least one of operating parameters, design data, convergence criteria, and a maximum number of passes;

running each selected major component module and exchanging data between the selected major component modules, wherein running each selected major component module comprises running the selected major component modules successively one module at a time and passing the results from one module to the next module in succession until interface conditions converge or until a predetermined maximum number of iterative passes are completed; and

generating a result that indicates the performance of the major components of the power plant.

8. A method in accordance with claim 7 wherein said running each selected major component module in succession comprises running each selected major component module in a predetermined order.

9. A method in accordance with claim 7 further comprising creating a library of major component module models.

10. A power plant modular modeling system comprising a database operationally coupled to a computer, said database comprising a Library of power plant major component module models, each major component module representing a power plant major component of a unique configuration, said computer configured to:

create a power plant model by selecting a plurality of major component modules' models from the library of component module models for each major component of the power plant;

link the selected major component modules together to enable data exchange between modules;

receive initial model information from a user for the selected major component modules, the initial model information including at least one of operating parameters, design data, convergence criteria, and a maximum number of passes;

store the initial model information in a spread sheet associated with each selected major component module; and

running each selected major component module including exchanging data between the selected major component modules, wherein running each selected major component module comprises running the selected major component modules successively one module at a time and passing the results from one module to the next module in succession until interface conditions converge or until a predetermined maximum number of iterative passes are completed.

11. A system in accordance with claim 10 wherein said computer is further configured to run each selected major component module in a predetermined order.