Analysis Study of Performance and Reliability

Impact in Boiler Through Differential Coal

Calorific Value (Case Study: Pelabuhan Ratu
Coal-Fired Power Plant)

Hendra Yudisaputro1,2(B) , M. Nur Yuniarto2 , Yohanes2 , and Agus Wibawa3

1 PT. Indonesia Power, Jakarta, Indonesia
hendra.yudisaputro@indonesiapower.co.id
2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya,
Indonesia
3 PT. Pembangkitan Jawa Bali, Surabaya, Indonesia

1 Introduction
The utilization of low-rank coal for a coal-fired power plant in Indonesia has increased
since 2007, especially in developing Fast Track Program phase one (FTP 1). In early
2020, as an Indonesian government-owned corporation, PT. Perusahaan Listrik Negara
(Persero) decided to optimize fuel costs by changing the coal specifications of the
Pelabuhan Ratu coal-fired power plant from 4500 to 3500–4200 kcal/kg. The program
aims to reduce electricity generation costs, particularly fuel costs. Of course, this deci-
sion tends to negatively impact the plant performance and reliability because of several
problems such as the coal characteristic under the combustion requirement, high water
content, decreases in plant thermal efficiency, high oxygen content and tendency to
spontaneously combustion [1]. In addition, the utilization of low-rank coal will limit the
generator loads and capacity factors, and operational equipment costs higher than usual
[2].
Several studies have determined the characteristics and impact of lignite coal on
power plants’ combustion and production costs. Bielowicz (2012), in his research on low-
rank coal classification technology, concluded that during combustion, boiler losses for
the evaporation process of coal moisture content cause an increase in fuel consumption
and the workload of the main equipment in the boiler [3]. Tahmasebi, et al. (2016) showed
their research on the effect of lignite coal moisture content on combustion patterns. High
moisture content makes combustion delays of up to 83–160 ms at 10% and 20% water
contents [4]. Besides, in a study conducted by Tian et al. (2016), it was shown that the
utilization of lignite coal increases auxiliary power consumption for mill operation and
combustion air fan systems [5].
Although several parameters of low-rank coal on the combustion process have been
investigated in some literature, only a few studies discuss the impact of lignite combustion
on equipment reliability and plant performance in actual cases. The objectives of this
study are to find the changes in boiler and plant thermal efficiency, to know the equipment
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022
M. Kolhe et al. (eds.), Recent Advances in Renewable Energy Systems,
Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering 876,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1581-9_12
106 H. Yudisaputro et al.

and component reliability, determine the suitable calorific value for optimizing the fuel
cost, and set the maintenance strategy during utilization of low-rank coal.

2 Material and Methods

2.1 Coal Characteristic
Five different types of coal were selected for this study according to availability and
research purpose shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Coal characteristic for the experimental testing

Parameter Unit Value

Higher Heating Value (AR) kcal/kg-f 3510 4080 4272 4338 4647
Total Moisture Content (AR) wt% 45.0 36.9 35.3 34.0 27.5
Fixed Carbon Content (AR) wt% 21.3 25.1 27.8 28.8 31.8
Volatile Matter (AR) wt% 28.0 31.7 31.5 32.3 34.1
Ash Content (AR) wt% 5.8 6.4 5.4 4.8 6.7

All coals are assumed to be homogeneous because there is no blending or mixing

process. The distribution of coal is carried out directly from the barge to the boiler bunker.
The coal sample is carried out at least five times at the coal feeder inlet, and coal quality
is determined through proximate analysis using Bomb Calorimeter LECO AC-600 and
LECO TGA-701, while ultimate analysis using LECO CHN 628 and LECO S 832.

2.2 Equipment Design Data Collection and Plant Operations

The operating parameters such as total airflow (t/h), coal flow (t/h) in each coal feeder,
IDF motor current (Amperes), FDF motor current (Amperes), PAF motor current
(Amperes), Mill motor current (Amperes), IDF damper opening (%), FDF damper open-
ing (%), PAF damper opening (%) and Primary Air Header pressure (kPa). The purpose
of this data collection is to compare the actual capability of the boiler at each load change
to the design.
After the main boiler equipment characteristic against electrical generation is iden-
tified, then a simulation of load generation for various coal calorific values is carried out
using the Gate Cycle 6.1.1 (GC 6.1.1.). This simulation aims to predict whether, with
a specific calorific value, the unit load can produce maximum power by constraint coal
consumption not more than 220 t/h.

2.3 Experimental Test

The plant condition during the experimental test is: (1) Target load is 340 MW with five
different types of coal from 3500 to 4600 kcal/kg. (2) Sampling point for data collection
 Analysis Study of Performance and Reliability Impact in Boiler … 107

based on ASME PTC 46-Overall Plant Performance. (3) It carried out 120 min for
stabilization and ±120 min for test data retrieval. (4) Local data collection is taken every
15 min. (5) DCS data collection is taken every one minute. (6) Coal sampling is done
every 30 min. Boiler efficiency calculated by heat loss method with formula,

η Boiler(100%) = 100 − L1 + L2 + L3 + L4 + L5 + L6 + L7 + L8 (1)

where L1 is a dry gas, L2 is moisture in hydrogen, L3 is moisture in the fuel, L4 is moisture

in the air, L5 is carbon monoxide, L6 is radiation, L7 is fly ash, L8 is bottom ash.
Plant thermal efficiency is calculated with,

η thermal = (860 ∗ 100)/nphr (2)

where nphr is net plant heat rate, kcal/kWh which taken by multiply coal consumption,
kg/h with coal calorific value, kcal/kg and divide with net power load, kWh.

2.4 Equipment Reliability Analysis

Identification of critical equipment on the main boiler equipment is determined by calcu-

lating the Asset Criticality Ranking (ACR). ACR is taken from multiplication between
System Critically Ranking (SCR) and Equipment Criticality Ranking (ECR). The deter-
mination of the SCR value is carried out by comparing the critical level of the boiler
system with other systems at the PLTU, while the ECR value is determined by comparing
one equipment to another in one system based on the period when the use of low-calorie
coal is started, namely, 2016–2020.
 
S 2 + C 2 + E 2 + F 2 + EFF2
SCR = (3)
5
 
S 2 + C 2 + E 2 + F 2 + EFF2
ECR = (4)
5

ACR = SCR ∗ ECR (5)

where (S) Safety; (C) Cost Maintenance; (E) Environmental; (F) Failure Frequency;
(EFF) Efficiency Factor.
Then Reliability Block Diagram (RBD) simulations are carried out on AEROS soft-
ware. Model validation on the reliability block diagram (RBD) is carried out by com-
paring the number of breakdowns in each component with five years, 2016–2020, or for
43,200 h. If the actual breakdown amount is under the simulation with a tolerance limit
of 5%, the model is declared valid.
108 H. Yudisaputro et al.

3 Results and Discussion

3.1 Plant Performance

Changes in the coal calorific value impact the boiler’s dan plant thermal efficiency. Based
on the results, boiler efficiency against various kinds of coal in Fig. 1. shows that high
coal calorific value will increasing boiler efficiency, and vice versa. High coal calorific
value has low moisture content and significantly increases boiler efficiency, such as
4647 kcal/kg coal, which has a low moisture content of 27.5%wt.

85.00

84.00
Boiler Efficiency, %

83.00

82.00

81.00

80.00
3400 3600 3800 4000 4200 4400 4600 4800
Calorific Value, Kcal/Kg

Fig. 1 Effect of coal calorific value on boiler efficiency

On the other hand, 3510 kcal/kg decreases boiler efficiency because it has high
moisture at 45.0% wt. This phenomenon occurred due to the moisture content in coal
obstructs the combustion process so that the boiler needs additional energy to separate
water from the coal.
This experimental test also proves the truth of Li et al. [4], who conduct a study by
varying coal moisture content on a laboratory scale. According to the study, the moisture
content is the main reason for degradation in boiler efficiency. Some of the heat produced
during the combustion process evaporates the coal moisture besides heating boiler pipes.
Figure 2 also shows that the thermal efficiency is significantly affected by the coal
calorific value. High coal calorific value tends to increase the plant’s thermal efficiency.
This result is indicated by 4647 kcal/kg, where the thermal efficiency value increases to
32.60%. Likewise, with 3510 kcal/kg coal, the thermal efficiency significantly decreased
to 30.12%. Based on the result, plant thermal efficiency aligns with boiler efficiency
changes, although the turbine heat rate also makes some impact on it. However, the
boiler is significant energy use in energy management where the coal is combusted, so
that the contribution for change in plant performance is higher.
An increase in thermal efficiency cannot be used as an absolute consideration in deter-
mining the optimum heating value for the generation process. Therefore, it is necessary
to calculate the fuel cost to determine which coal is suitable for economic production.
Figure 3 shows that the optimum coal calorific value is between 4200 and 4400 kcal/kg
with the lowest fuel cost of Rp398.81/kwh. During the utilization of coal with a calorific
value of less than 4200 kcal/kg, there is an indication of an increase in fuel cost. This
circumstance happened because the thermal plant efficiency going to decrease to 31.8%,
 Analysis Study of Performance and Reliability Impact in Boiler … 109

33.00

Themal Efficiency, %
32.00

31.00

30.00

29.00
3400 3600 3800 4000 4200 4400 4600 4800

Calorific Value, Kcal/Kg

Fig. 2 Relationship between coal calorific value and plant thermal efficiency

which is indicated the coal consumption was a quite high event though the coal price
during the condition was only Rp616.3/kg.

460.00
450.00
Fuel cost, Rp/kwh

440.00
430.00
420.00
410.00
400.00
390.00
4000 4200 4400 4600 4800 5000 5200 5400
Coal Calorific Value, kcal/kg

Fig. 3 Relationship between coal calorific value and plant thermal efficiency

The main cause of enhancement in fuel cost is the high price of coal. According to the
calculation method from the Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, the
coal price is formulated from moisture, sulfur, ash content and price reference of coal,
hereinafter referring to HBA. High HBA, high calorific value and low moisture content
will make high coal prices. On the other hand, it also shows that generator efficiency is
not the leading indicator of whether a power plant is economical.

3.2 Plant Reliability

Based on ACR and SCR calculations and historical equipment failure data that cause
production power loss, as shown in Fig. 4, mill equipment is the critical equipment
affected by coal switching utilization.
Figure 4 shows the highest failure frequency due to the low calorific value found
in the boiler fuel supply system from bunker to boiler. This fact happens because of an
excess of coal consumption capacity from the utilization of low-rank coal, which causes
significant damage to the mill and the coal feeder belt. Likewise, other disturbances
regularly occur in the boiler fuel supply to bunker systems and slag and ash removal.
110 H. Yudisaputro et al.

70 120%
60 100%
50 80%
40
60%
30
20 40%
10 20%
0 0%

Fig. 4 Pareto of equipment failure

This analysis also shows the truth of the research results conducted by Thomas G. Woo
(1979) [2].
The RBD model is simulated under conditions of 1000 simulation hours with a 1000
total data execution. The top five mill components that have the lowest reliability value
R(t) = 60% are Coal Pipe, Damper, Lub. Oil Station, Pyrite Gate and Swing Valve,
respectively, with breakdown time 530, 700, 1600, 1910 dan 2300 h, as shown in Fig. 5.
The top five lowest availability of mill component also same with the lowest reliability
by availability number 0.648, 0.74, 0.91, 0.922 dan 0.881, respectively.

1.00 Coal Pipe

Gear Box
0.80
Reliability, R(t)

Grinding Segment

Body Housing
0.60
Damper

0.40 Feed Pipe

Lub Oil Station

0.20 Motor Mill

Orifice
0.00 PA Duct
0 5000 10000 Pyrite Gate

Time (t) Rupture Disk

Fig. 5 Reliability of mill component

RBD simulation results from the mill component that is shown in Fig. 6 interpret that
the coal pipe has a Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) value of 530 h with an average
operating time of 850 h the subsequently fails. It requires repairing time for 150 h. While
the damper has an MTBF value of 70 h and an operating time of 670 h, it then fails,
which requires a repair time of 330 h. At the same time, Lube oil, pyrite and swing valve
components contribute to operating longer so that within 1000 h of operation, there is
no indication of downtime.

4 Conclusion
The analysis shows that variations in coal affect some changes in boiler and plant thermal
efficiency. While critical equipment is a mill with the lowest reliability and availability
 Analysis Study of Performance and Reliability Impact in Boiler … 111

Fig. 6 A tristate plot of the five lowest reliability at mill components

component is Coal Pipe, Damper, Lub. Oil Station, Pyrite Gate and Swing Valve. The
optimum coal calorific value for economic production cost is 4200–4400 kcal/kg. Then,
a maintenance strategy has been carried out on critical equipment to reduce the negative
impact of coal switching when reliability R(t) = 60%.

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