ABB automation combines heat, power and efficiency in China
Combined heat and power (CHP) systems simultaneously generate electricity and use “waste” heat from the process to warm or cool buildings
It`s much more efficient than supplying heat and electricity independently, and significantly reduces environmental impact of both.
ABB is no stranger to CHP, or cogeneration as it is also known, and recently won a contract from China Resources Power Holdings to automate the new 700 megawatt (MW) Huarun Yichang Xiaoting supercritical coal-fired power plant in the Xiaoting Industrial Park of Yichang City, in Hubei Province.
This new power plant will supply heat and power to manufacturing facilities at the industrial park, many of them being chemical plants. Surplus power will be delivered to the Hubei power grid. It will replace a number of small, inefficient and obsolete power plants that are also heavy polluters.
The term ’supercritical’ reflects the high efficiency of the power generator`s thermodynamic process, which is designed to produce more power from less coal and with lower emissions. The greater the output of electricity for a given amount of energy input, the higher the efficiency.
Driving this advanced CHP system will be an ABB SymphonyTM Plus total plant automation system, based on the high-performance HPC800 DIN-rail controller, for each of the plant’s 350 megawatt (MW) generation units. Control functions will include data acquisition, modulation control, sequence control, furnace safety supervision, digital electro-hydraulic control, feed-water pump turbine control, electrical control, and de-nitrification control by selective catalytic reduction. There are more than 7,200 I/O (input/output) points per unit.
Integrating the plant`s boiler and turbine control will improve efficiency and reliability, in addition to optimizing operations and maintenance.