How to adapt your firing system to the new challenges of renewable energy production

What do coal fired plants have to do with renewable energy production? A lot. In most grids of this world renewable power is on the rise. However, it is foreseeable that there will be a long coexistence between coal-fired generation and renewables. One reason for this is the fact that renewables produce their electric power following the weather patterns. By this the electricity production of renewables can´t follow demand. The match between renewable electricity production and demand has to be done by conventional power plants, hence mostly coal fired plants. Whilst a small addition of renewable electricity of say 5-10% does not pose a great problem for the rest of the power grid the challenges rise sharply as renewables exceed 30% of the production. As can be seen in markets like Germany a significant destabilization of the grid would be the consequence if coal plants were not adapted to this new environment. So the keyword for this seminar is Load Change Management in coal fired generation.

Talking about Load Change Management means talking about transients and the impact of load changes onto the whole chain of systems which are involved in a load change starting from the bunkers and up to the Generator. For two reasons the main focus of this chain is undoubtedly the pulverizer. Reason number one is that the pulverizer has by far the longest step response time of all dynamic mechanical, thermal and electrical systems. Secondly the pulverizer is by far the most complex and least predictable component when it comes to large transients in operation.

In this Webinar we will show you the main parameters of the transient mill operation and how to measure and control them. We will look at air flows and coal mass flows in and out of the mill during abrupt load changes. We will look into the delta Pressure over the mill as well as heat consumption at steady versus the dynamic load. And we will look at how to use all this data in conjunction with a state controller in order to predict and control even hidden values of a mill such as the internal coal masses on the grinding table. With this knowledge and the right instrumentation and controls you will be able to enlarge the operational envelope of the mill whilst keeping the mill more stable.

On the outlook the impact of better mill controls towards the rest of the plant controls is briefly discussed such as: better match between coal and air flow into the boiler during transients. Optimised synchronisation of feed water pump and better use of condenser pumps during load jumps.

This webinar will bring operating managers and operators as well as production- instrumentation- and controls engineers new insights into how to manage increasing grid flexibility and rising demands for load following as well as peaking and low load operation for power stations. Renewables will be at your doorstep sooner than you think and they will stay there with coal fired generation for a long time. Don´t miss this opportunity to get up to speed with the latest developments.