Chinese electric utility deploys APC platform for coal-fired plants

Huadian Inner Mongolia Energy chooses Invensys advanced process control system to optimize boiler combustion.

December 27, 2010

Huadian Inner Mongolia Energy has implemented a combustion optimization control system for two of its coal-fired 600 MW power boiler units at the Baotou Power Generation Branch, provided by Invensys Operations Management. These advanced process control (APC) installations have passed technical and acceptance testing administered by the Xi’an Thermal Power Research Institute. The group’s findings indicate that the new system has helped save energy costs, reduced emissions, more than doubled the ramp up rate, and improved boiler performance efficiency for Units 1 and 2.

The China Huadian Inner Mongolia Energy Baotou Power Generation Branch generates 7 billion kWh of power per year. The Invensys team optimized boiler performance and combustion efficiency by implementing its SimSci-Esscor Connoisseur multi-variable predictive control (MPC) software, and non-linearity and neural networking technology across the plants’ distributed control systems (DCSs). The DCSs receive input from the MPC software to manage closed-loop optimization control over the boiler and steam turbine operations, increasing boiler combustion and overall operating efficiency. The Invensys solution helped lower coal consumption, reduce carbon and NOx emissions in fly ash, improve unit safety and operating stability, promote rapid response to load adjustment commands, and reduce equipment failure and unplanned downtime.

Zhao Xiaodong, the plant’s general manager, said, “The boiler combustion optimization project has been very successful. I thank the Invensys project team for its hard work and effort in helping us achieve productivity excellence.”

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Edited by Peter Welander, pwelander@cfemedia.com

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