Heat rate improvements for your coal fired power plant with AVEVA Advanced Process Control

Posted: July 20, 2020

Are you looking to reduce the carbon footprint of your generating assets? Consider AVEVA!

Is your plant ready to comply with EPA’s Affordable Clean Energy Rule, ACE? Consider AVEVA!

For answers to these questions and to learn about ways that AVEVA can improve your plant heat rate, watch our webcast with our technical expert, Bill Poe. Register now. 

What is the Affordable Clean Energy Rule, ACE?

The Clean Power Plan (CPP) was unveiled on August 2015, designed to lower the carbon dioxide emitted by power generators in the USA. The CPP was challenged almost immediately after its release, by a joint resolution of both houses of the US Congress, citing the plan’s devastating economic effects. President Obama vetoed the congressional resolution, and the court challenges began. The US Supreme Court halted the EPA enforcement of the CPP, pending a lower court ruling in the lawsuit against the plan. On July 2019, the EPA replaced the Clean Power Plan (CPP) with the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) Rule.

While the CPP necessitated the shifting of electricity generation away from energy resources that emit CO2, ACE only regulates sources of CO2 emissions directly by requiring efficiency improvements at coal-fired power plants with name plate capacity greater than 25 MW-net and commenced construction on or before January 8, 2014. Furthermore, the candidate technologies identified by the ACE rules are:

1. Neural Network/Intelligent Sootblower
2. Rebuild/Replace Boiler Feed Pumps
3. Air Heater and Duct Leakage Control
4. Variable Frequency Drives
5. Steam Turbine Blade Path Upgrades
6. Redesign/Replace Economizer
7. Implement Best O&M Practice
   
   

How can AVEVA help with ACE rules compliances and Heat Rate Improvements?

AVEVA’s solution is based on a hybrid neural network- model predictive approach for combustion optimization and expert system – predictive model approach for Intelligent Soot Blowers that have been proven over many years, with excellent results in many coal-fired applications worldwide. Our solution is DCS agnostic, eliminating the rip-and-replace costs and complexity of other applications in the market. AVEVA’s experienced personnel is uniquely qualified to perform a needs assessment of your plant and operations to design a turn-key solution, using the best in class software and project execution methodologies. The same AVEVA software for real-time combustion optimization and intelligent sootblowing may be used for capturing other performance improvements such as:

• Improved Ramp Rates – better dispatchability to capture ancillary power market opportunities efficiently
• Sliding Throttle Pressure Control – improved heat rate
• Feedwater Heater Control – increased MW
• Cooling Tower Optimization – increased MW
• Lower SCR ammonia consumption and more capacity for mercury removal
• Lower Opacity and Loss on Ignition (LOI)
• Reduced Slagging and Fewer Tube Ruptures to decrease Equivalent Forced Outage Rate (EFOR)

With its excellent track record of co-innovation with major power industry clients worldwide, AVEVA is a unique partner in the digital transformation journey, adding value at every stage of the plant lifecycle, and helping to extend the total lifetime value of power generating assets.