OVATION USERS GROUP
Plant knowledge platform
emerges from the old DCS
P
articipants in the 29th annual
conference of the Ovation Users GT load Disturbance models Setpoint
Group, hosted by Emerson Duct-burner flow Ovation model
Automation Solutions’ Power predictive controller A Final steam TT
& Water, in Pittsburgh, July 24-28, temperature
“Inner” loop provides
2016, were, as in past years, treated to thermal linearization Attemperator
a plethora of advanced capabilities and TIC TT outlet temperature
Valve DP
current experiences with what is now Energy balance Primary Final
the dominant automation system at US Feedwater density superheater superheater
combined-cycle facilities. (See following
article for more conference coverage.) Steam from drum
Based specifically on the informa- To steam
Control Desuperheater turbine
tion presented, it is fair to say that linearization PT
the distributed control system (DCS),
which later became the digital control X
system, is becoming a term of nostal- Spray Model-based control embed-
gia. It is being replaced by a plant TT PT control ded into automation platform
knowledge platform integrating control
valve for steam attemperation can
algorithms, real-time and historical Feedwater address common problems,
plant data, synchronized simulation, including improperly sized
monitoring and diagnostics (M&D) and valves (usually oversized), valve seat erosion, and poor or insufficient mixing
prognostic capabilities, and immediate
decision support for plant staff from Step by step to external pattern recognition soft-
the digital platform itself as well as ware packages), or 100 microseconds,
from remote experts monitoring and Several elements (or aspects) of Ova- make the right experts aware of the
overseeing plant systems. tion virtual, and even augmented, anomalies, and address them before
This is, of course, an industry trend, plant reality are being demonstrated they become big problems.” Earlier
not limited to Emerson Ovation™. But in the field today. Southern Com- coverage of the 2016 Ovation User
coverage of multiple automation user pany, for example, is demonstrating Group meeting addressed this feature
groups over the last several years shows “embedded simulation,” essentially (reference above).
that Emerson may be pushing the an Ovation workstation with a run- In an exclusive interview, Emer-
envelope faster and harder than others. ning simulator. A coal-fired plant son’s Rick Kephart noted that the
in the West is demonstrating how human-machine interface becomes
The plant—and the embedded pattern-recognition and even more critical in linking the real-
predictive-analytics algorithms pro- and virtual-plant worlds. “The operator
virtual plant vide early warning for fan/motor of the future will be able to always ‘look
If you’re wondering what all this will issues (2Q/2016, p 83). ahead’ with the simulator screen,” he
mean for the person sitting in the con- In-house Emerson vibration data elaborated, “but must still be keenly
trol room, imagine two large screens. and analytics for critical rotating aware of what is happening now.” How
On the left is the plant in its current equipment, such as the main turbine/ to best present the information is still
operating mode. On the right is the generators and feedwater pumps, have being worked out, but models are avail-
“virtual plant,” a high-fidelity digital been integrated into Ovation. The able from other industries—such as
simulator of the physical plant. The integrated Ovation Health Monitoring aerospace flight deck simulators and
plant simulator screen is “synchro- Module is undergoing beta testing at control systems.
nized” with current plant operating a 535-MW coal-fired unit. Ultimately, the goal is to avoid
data with the push of one button. The The overall objective is a “vir- human error by integrating the vir-
simulated plant can be made to “run” up tual human learning environment,” tual knowledge environment in a way
to 10 times faster than the real plant. according to Robert Yeager, president that assists the human operators and
This allows operators and engineers of Emerson Automation Solutions’ experts.
to test things in real time. If the test Power & Water, which provides plant From the M&D perspective, anoth-
ends up tripping the virtual plant, it’s staff with knowledge and experience er way to imagine the impact of these
of no consequence. Operating issues in real time. One issue which has to trends is much of the capability that
can be identified before they occur be addressed is avoiding the “alarm today resides at the centralized M&D
and addressed before they do physical flood” which occurred 10 years ago centers (see special report, 4Q/2013),
damage or impair performance. All of with advanced DCS. built out by many utilities and owner/
this plant experience is captured digi- With regard to M&D and prognos- operators over the last 10 years, can
tally, and automatically, for knowledge tics, “the idea is to identify anomalies now be migrated back to the plant
transfer to those with a need to know. at the data rates of the DCS (compared automation and knowledge platform.
62 COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, Number 50, Third Quarter 2016
Business applications too
The integrated platform doesn’t just
include advanced control, M&D, and
prognostics. Emerson’s Ranjit Rao dis-
cussed the addition of advanced power
online fault
applications, defined as those having a
“business driver.” So-called sequential
automation using embedded sequence
detection
flow charts (SFC), for example, allows
operating sequences or procedures to be
more precisely controlled, reducing the
variability which crops up among differ-
ent operators and their operating styles.
Model-based predictive control for stator vanes
(MBC) can be used to calculate opti-
mal trajectories of process variables
under startup, shutdown, cycling,
and other dynamic (non-steady-state)
conditions. An example is the ability
to pre-emptively position attemperator
sprays to control superheat and reheat
steam temperature (figure) before the
temperature actually begins changing
in the wrong direction.
Embedded MBC, in one case study,
was able to increase operating steam
temperature by 8 deg F, without the
temperature excursions previously
experienced during load changes,
resulting in an immediate heat-rate
benefit. In another case, the mean
error around main steam and reheat
steam temperature was reduced to less
than 1 deg F with a standard deviation
of 1 deg F on a gas-turbine ramp from
0 to 180 MW.
Rao stated that, in one case, statis-
tical analysis combined with embed-
ded SFC was able to reduce fuel use
during startup by 58% compared to
the baseline. More precise control of
process parameters also reduces stress
on valve movement, valve stems, rotat-
ing equipment, and, for that matter,
any equipment which has to physically
move to respond to process signals.
Statistical analysis also can be
applied to startup signatures to reduce
fuel consumption or achieve other per-
formance goals.
Similarly to pattern recognition, TRANSFORMER
sequencing schemes for starts, stops, C L I N I C
and cycling have been applied for years
at gas-turbine-based plants. The dif-
ference here is that they are now being
embedded into the comprehensive
knowledge platform anchored by what
used to be called the DCS.
With proper upfront analysis,
Emerson may be willing to provide
guarantees around some of these
performance benefits, such as fuel
savings and heat-rate gains. In addi-
tion, Ovation experts are available
to assist plant staff in monitoring
equipment and assessing operational
performance for the various operating
regimes plants have to deal with today.
As one example, Emerson acquired
COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, Number 50, Third Quarter 2016 63
MRG, a reliability consulting group, plant DCS; a separate data network
whose experts can now be harnessed and historian; various PLCs operating
for plant and fleet assessments. in the water treatment, fuel delivery,
and HRSG duct-burner areas; and
A unifying platform various software packages, including
vibration monitoring, thermal perfor-
The value of the integrated platform mance, and pattern recognition around
can be significant. According to Steve critical components. Today, all of these
Schilling, VP of technology, network require separate data links, protocols,
equipment costs can be reduced by and network transmission devices link-
50%, systems integration costs by 40%. ing to the control system at most plants.
There’s reduced commissioning time and A considerable amount of complexity
fewer spare components are required. is avoided by integrating all of this, to
Today’s plant knowledge platform the extent possible, into one platform
could include the GT control system; —with a sole source for cybersecurity
the steam-cycle control system; the solutions to boot. ccj
Low bidder may not be the vendor you want
One of the eye-opening presenta- n Operator workstation blackout.
tions this year involved a state-of- n Lack of bump-less transfer
the-art coal-fired plant which expe- schemes.
rienced what can only be described n Lack of balancing circuits to mul-
as a failure by the original automa- tiple control devices.
tion system supplier to design, deliv- n Inconsistent operation of HP
er, and service a suitable system. It’s steam bypass valve.
a lesson in the need for oversight of n Inconsistent operation of lead/lag
the automation platform in a day and devices.
age when it is, essentially, the brains n Lack of device permissive and
of the plant. first-out information to the opera-
The unit, with an ultra-efficient tor.
supercritical boiler, was declared n Poor I/O partitioning of critical
“commercial” in December 2011, inputs.
but plant representatives elaborated n Difficulty troubleshooting complex
after the presentation, stating the logic structures and hidden func-
unit commissioning was never really tions.
completed. Three and a half years n Low chance of survivability during
later, with Emerson Ovation taking a runback.
over in summer 2014, the plant was A more minor issue, at least
finally operating with some sem- in the scheme of things, was that
blance of normalcy by spring 2015. overall control needed to be far
The prior automation system more precise so that the plant could
vendor had anywhere from 10 to 25 participate in the PJM regulation
control engineers onsite for the per- market.
formance test, declared it passed, Needless to say, Emerson came
and then left one engineer behind. in and retrofitted Ovation concepts
Twenty minutes after ownership was and standards while retaining what
transferred, the boiler and turbine could be salvaged of the original
controls began ramping in opposite software design. “We especially
directions. The unit had to be tripped liked the open-access platform,”
at an output dangerously above its company officials said. Emerson
gross capacity. Subsequently, say retrofitted a system with 11,000 I/O
plant officials, “we experienced points, 7000 logic files, and 280
200 GADS events in the first year.” graphics files, and developed stan-
(GADS is the NERC Generation dards which could work with the
Availability Database System.) original system, according to the
Apparently, the design and com- owner/operator presenter, all in six
missioning of the boiler and turbine months.
controls coordination was not com- Post rehab, online availability
pleted because of inconsistencies increased from a low of 73%, to
in operation, ancillary subsystems more than 98%, capacity factor was
like fabric filters were inadequately raised from 68% to over 98%, forced
addressed, and the plant was unable outages were significantly reduced,
to change anything. Nothing was 20-MW/min ramping was demon-
intuitive. “Over 100 separate DCS strated, and startups became con-
issues were identified,” officials sistent. Another result: The number
noted, including the following: of alarmed points was reduced to
n Inconsistent boiler/turbine coordi- 325 critical ones, from 24,000 previ-
nated control. ously!
COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, Number 50, Third Quarter 2016 65
