Advanced systems from Emerson and ABB are providing critical monitoring and control capabilities for two power plants using new generation technologies. The installations include Emerson Process Management’s Ovation control system being implemented at China’s first 1,000 MW ultra-supercritical power generation units and an ABB distributed control system being applied at a Kentucky power station using circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology to burn coal and alternative fuels.

The Ovation expert control system from Emerson supports two new power plant units in China, owned by Huaneng Power International Inc., which are the first 1,000-MW-per-unit plants and the first in China to use ultra-supercritical technologies. These boilers operate at elevated steam temperatures and pressures, and can boost the efficiency of coal-based electricity generation by more than 50%, while maintaining environmental performance. Yuhuan Units 1 and 2 are said to be the cleanest, most efficient, and most advanced ultra-supercritical units in the world, with thermal efficiency exceeding 45%. (Sub-critical efficiency is typically 30-38%.) The system has a fuel conversion rate of less than 288.5 grams/kWh (0.64 lb/kWh).

ABB is providing a distributed control system for East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s (EKPC) H.L. Spurlock station in Marysville, KY, which uses CFB technology to burn coal and alternative fuels. The system controls the station’s three existing units, two conventional coal-fired and one CFB. It will also handle the Spurlock Unit 4 currently under construction, which will also use CFB technology. The new unit is scheduled for start-up and commissioning in April 2008. The two CFB units can burn several million tires a year and 150,000 tons of biomass such as sawdust and other wood products while maintaining low SOx and NOx emissions.

www.emersonprocess.com; www.abb.com