Control system installed at Chinese power plant

An Emerson Process Management - Power + Water product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Mar 1, 2007

Emerson Process Management won a US $7 million contract to automate a four-unit, 4000MW, coal-fired plant in China in April 2005.

Emerson Process Management's Ovation expert control system has been successfully implemented at Huaneng Yuhuan Power Plant Units 1 and 2.

Emerson won the US $7 million contract to automate the four-unit, 4000MW, coal-fired plant in April 2005.

The plant, which is owned by Huaneng Power International, is the first 1000MW-per-unit power plant in China, as well as the country's first to use ultra-supercritical technologies.

Unit 1 of the Huaneng Yuhuan facility successfully completed the 168-hour performance test, a significant milestone for new plants on 28 November, 2006.

Unit 2 synchronised to the power grid just weeks later, on 15 December, 2006, and completed the 168-hour performance test on 30 December 2006.

It is estimated that about 11 billion kWh of electricity will be generated by these two ultra-supercritical units annually.

Start-up of Units 3 and 4 Phase 2 of the project is slated for 2008.

Emerson's Power and Water Solutions industry centre designed the comprehensive control strategy, and coordinated and supervised the engineering and installation of the Ovation control system.

The Ovation system, which boasts a number of industry leading advanced technologies and is a key component of Emerson's Plantweb digital plant architecture, monitors and controls the data acquisition system, modulating control system, sequence control system, furnace safeguard supervisory system, and electrical control system for all major plant components, including the boiler, turbine, generator and balance of plant processes.

"When selecting a control system for this ground-breaking facility, we wanted a proven solution that offered superior technology, engineering and support".

"As we anticipated, we found the Ovation system to be reliable, user-friendly and efficient, factors that contributed to our ability to put the plant into commercial operation eight months ahead of schedule", said Wu Hechun, a Supervisor in Huaneng Power International's Instrument and Control division.

In recognition of Emerson's exceptional products and dedicated field engineers, Yuhuan Power International has honoured the company with a supplier award of excellence.

Emerson's Ovation system was designed and built for the power generation industry and has been proven in thousands of installations.

Ultra-supercritical plants use new advanced clean coal technology that allows operation at elevated steam temperatures and pressures.

Ultra-supercritical technologies are expected to become more prevalent in China because they can boost the efficiency of coal-based electricity generation by more than 50%, while maintaining superior environmental performance.

Yuhuan Units 1 and 2 are currently the cleanest, most efficient and most advanced ultra-supercritical units in the world, as illustrated by the plant's thermal efficiency, which is more than 45% (compared with a typical subcritical plant thermal efficiency of 30-38%), as well as a fuel conversion rate of less than 288.5g/KWh.