Emerson to apply PlantWeb® digital architecture with Ovation® control technology at ultra-supercritical power plant in central China

The Pingdingshan Luyang plant, which will ultimately feature six 1,000-MW ultra-supercritical units, is being built in phases. This contract pertains to the first two units that comprise the project’s first phase. These two units are slated to go into commercial operation in 2010. The contract was awarded by China Power Investment Corporation (CPI), which owns the plant as part of a strategic partnership with Pingdingshan Coal Co. Ltd.

The project is particularly significant on two fronts. First, it marks the first application of Emerson’s Ovation system for direct control of a turbine in a 1,000- MW plant. Furthermore, it is the first large-scale implementation of the PlantWeb architecture utilizing Foundation™ fieldbus and PROFIBUS DP industry standard communications protocols in a Chinese power plant.

Emerson’s PlantWeb solution is a digital bus-based approach to plant automation and control that incorporates high-speed communications networks, intelligent field devices, asset management software, and bus I/O technologies. This approach offers a number of operational and economic advantages that range from reduced wiring costs, streamlined device configuration and more efficient plant startup, to long-term operations and maintenance savings. For Pingdingshan Luyang units 1 and 2, the comprehensive digital automation solution consists of the Ovation control system, AMS™ Suite: Intelligent Device Manager and Scenario® simulation technology, as well as HART® field devices from Rosemount® and Fisher®.

At each unit, the Ovation system will perform data acquisition and monitor and control all major plant components, including the Donfang boiler and Harbin turbine. Unifying boiler and turbine operations translates into a number of significant operational benefits. For example, fully coordinated boiler and turbine control has been proven to provide improved unit stability, responsiveness and thermal efficiencies; tighter overall control of plant operations; and a more concise view of key plant and turbine parameters.

The Ovation system will also manage the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system, modulating control system, sequence control system, electrical control system and balance of plant processes; as well as water treatment, ash handling, transportation and other auxiliary systems. The Ovation systems will be integrated utilizing multi-networking technology.

The water treatment area will utilize AMS Suite predictive maintenance software, which streamlines device configuration, enabling savings and increased plant startup efficiency. AMS Device Manager also supports proactive maintenance by providing online access to instrument and valve process information, as well as predictive diagnostic information. It delivers predictive health information and corrective guidelines as needed to plant personnel, and automatically documents all field device maintenance information. The water treatment area will also make extensive use of digital bus-based technologies, with the Ovation system incorporating 12 Foundation fieldbus segments with a total of 65 Foundation fieldbus devices, including pressure transmitters, temperature transmitters, level transmitters, flow transmitters; as well as 20 PROFIBUS DP segments, with 180 PROFIBUS DP devices including electric actuators, motors, valves and analytical instruments.

In all, Emerson will supply 81 controllers and 42 workstations, and the Ovation system will be responsible for more than 41,000 I/O points.

To further ensure smooth start-up and ongoing operation, Emerson is also providing a high-fidelity Scenario simulation solution. Configured using control logic identical to that of the Pingdingshan Luyang plant, the Scenario solution will offer a highly realistic engineering analysis environment. The simulation solution will feature a virtual architecture, in which the actual Ovation controllers are replaced with virtual controllers that reside on one or more Microsoft Windows-based PCs. Despite the smaller footprint, virtual controllers provide one-to-one functionality that mirrors the Ovation controllers that comprise the plant control system.

“The megawatts the Pingdingshan Luyang power plant will produce are critical to meeting the region’s demand for power,” said Hongzhan Wang, I&C director at CPI. “For a project of this size, scope and importance, the logical choice was Emerson’s industry-leading automation technology,”

“Emerson’s PlantWeb solution will be the backbone of these 1,000-MW, ultra-supercritical units,” said Bob Yeager, president of the Power & Water Solutions division of Emerson. “Ovation has now been selected for 65 percent – that’s 25 of 40 – of the 1,000-megawatt units in China. Because of this extensive experience, as well as our track record with supercritical and ultra-supercritical plants, Emerson and Ovation were ideally suited for this project.”