Case Study: Owensboro Municipal Utilities achieves reduced emissions and improved efficiency with GE Digital Operations Optimization

Owensboro Municipal Utilities Improves Efficiency and Reduces Emissions with Digital

Owensboro Municipal Utilities (OMU), the largest municipal electric system in Kentucky operating the Elmer Smith coal-fired power station, faced rising emissions and needed greater operational flexibility to adapt to a changing energy landscape. To address these challenges, OMU partnered with GE Digital and deployed the boiler optimization package from GE Digital’s Operations Optimization software suite.

GE Digital implemented real-time combustion and soot-blowing optimization that adjusts fuel/air mixing and soot-blower sequencing to improve efficiency and emissions. The solution delivered measurable results: NOx reductions of 10–17%, a 0.5% heat-rate improvement, fewer tube-rupture outages, more consistent combustion enabling better SCR performance with reduced ammonia/reagent consumption, and overall improved asset performance under GE Digital’s Digital Power Plant approach.

Owensboro Municipal Utilities