Power plants – Motive fluid energized by externally applied heat – Having condition responsive control
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-29
2001-05-15
Nguyen, Hoang (Department: 3748)
Power plants
Motive fluid energized by externally applied heat
Having condition responsive control
C060S664000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06230495
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention concerns a method for optimizing fossil-fueled power plants (stations).
For fossil fuel based power plants, operating procedures and systems are known that monitor the power plants during operation and determine their efficiency. Additionally, methods are known to improve the efficiency of power plants during operation by respective control and adjustment changes.
To increase and/or maintain the efficiency of power plants above a minimum level, it is necessary to carry out improvement and maintenance procedures during which the power plant is shut down. Furthermore, it is customary to carry out service, maintenance, and improvement programs according to a specified, set time schedule during operation, or during shutdown of the plant.
The above described customary practice is comparatively inflexible and does not take into consideration economical aspects.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is therefore to provide a method for an especially economically optimized operation of power plants. The performance capability of the respective power pant should be used to its full potential by optimizing its operation.
The object of the invention is inventively solved by determining the economical benefits of the measures for improving the efficiency of the power plant and, additionally, the necessary economical expenditures, and by deciding, based on a comparison of the economical expenditures, and by deciding, based on a comparison of the economical benefits and expenditures of the improvement measures, if, when, and/or which improvement measures should be undertaken.
Using the inventive method of comparing the essential economical effects of improvement measures and the expected economical benefits, on the one hand, with the necessary expenditures for performing the measures, on the other hand, it is possible to operate power plants in an economically optimized manner.
According to an especially advantageous embodiment of the inventive method, the improvement measures are modifications to the operating procedure and/or interventions during operation, or service, improvement, and/or modification measures during downtime. During operation without downtime, it is advantageous for optimizing the efficiency of the facility to intervene in the process control, for instance, by blowing soot or correcting excess air etc., whereby, however, the necessary expenditures, for instance, the amount of steam consumption (or the compressed air consumption) of the utilized soot blowers, is taken into consideration in accordance with the inventive method so that an assessment can be made whether the measures to improve efficiency are economically beneficial and, if this is not the case, whether to implement them at a later time or not to implement them at all.
The same holds true for service, improvement, and/or modification measures during downtime. By determining and assessing the expenditures of such measures and/or the economical losses during a shutdown and by comparing the respective results to the economical benefits of the achieved improvement of the plant efficiency, it is possible to decide not only in regard to process control aspects, but also in regard to the economical aspects, whether improvement measures should be implemented, and, if so, what kind of measures, and, in particular, when such measures should be implemented, for instance, during an already necessary operation shutdown.
According to the inventive method, the current status of the plant, based on measured data, for instance, provided by a process control system, as well as calculations based on plant models, is compared to the optimized status that can be achieved with operational parameters. According to another embodiment of the invention, to achieve this economically optimized plant status, the improvement measures are evaluated with regard to economical benefits using a catalog of hierarchical measures. Advantageously, this catalog includes an immediate, hierarchical intervention of the operating procedure, for instance, for correcting excess air, but also in regard to blowing soot off selected or all heating surfaces, cleaning the condenser, or adjusting or readjusting injection control circuits. Based on the result of the cost/benefit analysis, it may be advantageous to take immediate action during operation or to take advantage of a short shutdown for improvement measures, for instance, the replacement or attachment of air preheater sealing material, or to use a service shutdown and/or operating interruption, performed for a revision, for the improvement measures or for more extensive modifications, for instance, for blower improvements.
To compare, for example, the benefits of improvement measures with the required expenditure on an economical basis, the cost savings due to the reduction of excess air must be compared to the higher costs resulting from the increase of intermediate superheater injection, and the result must be evaluated. For instance, the cost of steam and compressed air in conjunction with the use of soot blowers must be compared to the cost savings resulting from the accordingly lowered exhaust losses.
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Industrial Powerhouse System Coordination; A.C. Sommer et al; 1985; pp. 63-71.
Benesch Wolfgang
Gocht Dietmar
H{haeck over (a)}ndel Georg
Lange Matthias
Nguyen Hoang
Robert W. Becker & Associates
STEAG encotec and Ketek Engineering GmbH Engergieund Umwelttechn
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