Measurement and Control Instrumentation was the Hot Topic Yesterday

One of the biggest differences between coal-fired power plants today and plants in operation in the 1950s is the higher quality instrumentation. Unfortunately most of the plants in operation today were built prior to many of the advances. However, the payback for replacement of the old with new instrumentation will be very swift. Three speakers with decades of experience explained some of the options.

Todd Melick, Vice President Promecon USA, discussed an on-line unburned carbon in ash system that provides direct feedback from the combustion system. He also discussed flow measurement for hot dusty applications downstream of the regenerative air heater. The instrument tracks the time of flight for individual particles and has unique maintenance advantages.  It can also be used in activated carbon injection (ACI) systems to determine the air flow in each of the distribution pipes and even determine the mass of ACI.

#22112 – Fossil Fuel – Coal-fired Boilers – Combustion Optimization

 – Instrumentation – Air Flow – Source – Promecon – Todd Melick - Webinar - Todd Melick - Promecon 10-15-09.pdf

John Gregory, Business Development Manager ABB Automation, listed the advantages of better damper actuators and positioners. He indicated that due to the age of existing power plants in the U.S., the majority of power plants have actuators that should be replaced because:

• Optimum combustion depends on accurate air flow control;
• Damper actuators must be accurate and have repeatable, typical 0.1 percent signal over years;
• Consider replacing or upgrading older drives during efficiency upgrades;
• Small or large upgrades reduce costs, fuel, maintenance, emissions;
• Paybacks range from weeks to 1-2 years.

#22112 – Fossil Fuel – Coal-fired Boilers – Damper Actuators – Analysis – Source - ABB – John Gregory – Webinar - John Gregory - ABB October 15, 2009.pdf

Sean Smiley, Account Manager Yokogawa Corporation of America, alerted participants to the EEMUA 191, “Alarm Systems - A Guide to Design, Management and Procurement.” Sean focused on EEMUA 191 standards and practices applicable to the power industry in particular, stating specific variations in alarm practices that are tailored for today’s power plants. He emphasized that alarms should only be utilized to indicate action to be taken. New software systems can minimize the number of unnecessary alarms reaching the operator.

#22112 – Fossil Fuel – Coal-fired Boilers – Alarms – Analysis – Source - Yokogawa Electric Corp. – Sean Smiley – Webinar - SeanSmileyYokogawa.pdf

The bios, abstracts and photos can be viewed as follows:

Bios, Abstracts, Photos - October 15, 2009.doc