“Acclimatizing with new regime of Flexi Operation”

Changes to be Incorporated in Operation philosophy and In-house Solutions

Changing Markets: Increased competition from Units with lower Variable cost and penetration of
renewables with intermittent generation
Results: Load shifting, Seasonal Peakers, layup.
Large-scale integration of renewable energy would require balancing by the conventional power
generators to manage the variation in loads. Flexing Thermal (mainly coal based) units to
accommodate Renewable energy would be the major challenge. This integration of renewable
power generation with thermal would require “Flexible and Reliable operation of the Thermal
generators” at its MTL (Minimum Technical Limit) condition as and when required.
Figure 1 Anticipated Power Scenario of 2022
Impact of Flexible Load Operation and Challenges to be taken up
Boiler
 Circulation issues and overheat
 SH and RH overheat
 High spray Flow rates &
Attemperator Damage
 Economiser Steaming
 Flow accelerated corrosion
 Flame stability
 Low Wind box DP
 Soot blowing concerns
Flexible
Operation
Turbine
 Increased wear on valve components
 Rotor differential expansion limitations
 Increased risk of blade flutter with low exhaust volumetric flow
rates
 Upstream movement of phase transition zone, SSC risk
increases, high exhaust wetness, solubility increases
 Steam seal pressure control issues
 Excessive hood spray as exhaust hood temperature increases
results in LSB erosion, especially with flow recirculation
 Increased air in leakage
 Minimum load on shaft rotor dynamics ( bearing unloading
under partial arc)
Grid Compliance
Frequency Response and
MTL restructure 1% Ramp rate to recover
Unit Operation at 100% ROE (F/D Ratio >
55% MCR as per 75%)
GERC uidelines.
To enable large –scale integration various initiatives along with “Digitization” measures
are to be taken up as to meet “Reliable and Economical Power”.
Main points to be Considered.
1. Flexible Operation/Flexibilization:
a. Units operation at 55% MCR as per CERC guidelines.
b. Frequency response (Primary and Secondary Response and 1% Ramp Rate to recover
100% ROE).
2. Digitization and In-house Solutions:
a. Combustion Optimization using AI/MI (Artificial Intelligence and Machine behaviour learning)
b. Automated Scheduling Software development
c. Integration Power Tools for MIS and trend analysis
d. Development of SHR and PAC Dashboard
e. Development of Coal Mill operating Window
Impact of Flexible operations of units at Technical Minimum Load
o Increase in Heat Rate and Auxiliary Power Consumption
o Increase in Operation and Maintenance (O&M) due to reduction in life of components
o Increase of oil consumptions on account of starts/stops

Unit operation at Low load numerous constraints to be addressed some of the key includes
as mentioned below
  Drum level fluctuations
 Poor flame Intensity
 Boiler Metal temperature excursions. LTSH metal temperature> 460ᵒ C and Reheater metal
temperature >590ᵒ C.
 Low HRH temperature at IP turbine inlet < 530ᵒ C
 Poor Furnace Wind box DP < 60 mm WC
 Inability to perform Soot blowing operation due to poor flame conditions.

Drum Level Fluctuations:

Fluctuations in Drum level with recirculation valves in closed condition and avoid of
opening of recirculation valves following changes to be incorporated.
1. Drum level control parameter Tuning to be done by C&I
department to smoothen out the dampening effect
 Gain to be changed Gain = Input/output
→Speed/Drum level
 Speed control rest to be changed.
2. Dynamic response of BFP speed with respect to load
 BFP PID controller shall acquire dynamic value depending upon the changes in
Load. PID controller should act fast when load is less if the recirculation valve of BFP is not
closed.

3. Sliding Pressure Curve has been modified and Throttle pressure has to be kept higher.

Poor Furnace to Wind box DP

At low loads Wind box pressure is
maintained as low where as per the curve
proposed by OEM it shall be on higher
side.
Actions to be taken to improve the Furnace
to Wind box DP
1. Auxiliary air dampers to be cross
checked from local and DCS
command in the opportunity
2. U-OFA and l-OFA to be kept closed
3. Modifications to be done in the O₂ vs
load curve as per OEM guide lines
and Boiler experts
Poor Fame Intensity:
While operating at low load the furnace conditions
deteriorates, and the flame intensity as sensed by
fireball scanners falls below < 50 lumens for each
elevation. Flame scanners show no flame at certain
areas as if flame had extinguished. To improve the
flame intensity as well as fire ball stability at lower
loads the following actions to be taken.
1. Two mills operation instead of three mills
looking after specific coal consumption to be
carried out. This avoids lean loading of mills
and improved flame stability and intensity.
Based on study B-C-D mill operations found
most suitable for maintain flame stability as
well as SH/RH steam and metal temperatures
close to design parameters.

2. Indirect firing system can be retrofitted to

pulverised fuel fired boilers to achieve
minimum boiler load and improved flame Figure 2 Indirect Firing System
 intensity. It consists of Pulverised coal hopper between mill and burner to improve
firing rate instantaneously.
Low HRH Temp and High Reheater metal temp:
Low HRH temp and high reheater metal temperatures has often the prime issue and areas of
improvement are as mentioned below
1. Gap Mill operation to
accommodate a major
portion of the furnace
volume
2. Tier wise soot blowing
looking after the DT and
DP across the heat
transfer elements
3. Introduction of Reheater
metal temp bias logic with
Damper opening change/
Burner Tilt in Auto
4. Mills operations at full load
Figure 3 Low Load Operation Overview
 Low Load Operation Air Fuel Ratios for Pulverisers
Primary air demand based on fixed velocity instead of curve
Based on Coal flow, humidity, temperature pressure, value to be limited by 1.5 minimum AFR and
70 FPS minimum velocity
Figure 5 Heat Rate Deviation with respect to Load

Figure 4 Increase in O&M Cost due to Cyclic Variation

Figure 6 Anticipated Load Schedule with Renewable and Thermal
Important Points to be considered towards Flexible load operations.
- Diligent adjustment of O&M procedures and comprehensive technical awareness of the O&M

team.
- Estimate and Proper Planning towards wear and tear of equipment affecting availability of
plants and reliability of components
- Optimizing the underlying control loops, i.e. coal supply, drum level and air control, is a basic
requirement and plant operators need to consider interlocks coming from logics.
- Applying advanced process control (APC) and optimization with predictive analytics concepts,
both, based on physical modelling (e.g. water-steam cycle) as well as neural network solutions
(“big data analytics”, e.g. combustion process)
- Implementation of lifetime monitoring and condition assessment, thus mitigating the cycling
stress of components
- HP/LP Bypass valves should be ensured leak proof
- HP Heater Bypass Valve should be leak proof.
- CEP de staging to be enabled to Increase control valves operating range and improve LP drip
pump performance (Heat Rate).
- HP and LP heater Level controls to be sensitive and responsive.
- BFP and CEP recirculation valves should be leak proof.
- Boiler Feed Control Valve 30% should be healthy, for prolonged flexible operation Installation
of 50% control valve will be effective.
- Turbine mall drains should be leak proof; Installation of common isolation valves can be
effective.
- Boiler Coal Mill Pulveriser orifices should be adjustable and Individual Line velocity
measurement should be enabled with max deviation of ±5%. Frequency of Dirty and Clean air
flow tests to be Improved.
- PA air flow controls to Mills to be effective. Installation of Pulverised coal hopper between mill
and burner would be effective.
- Under and Over fire air flow controls to be effective
- Fire ball centring to be cross verified, B and C elevation to be angled a bit upward direction for
effective low load operations.
- Soot blowers to be effective.
- De superheating valve of both Main and Reheat steam be leak proof and precision control.
 - Boiler expansion Indicators and Buck stays to be healthy.
- Flame scanners, O2 analysers (APH inlet & Outlet) should be accurate and effective.
- SCAP to be healthy for low load operations
- Re heater Temperature control damper (Economiser Damper) should be healthy and
operative.
- Boiler metal temperatures should be healthy.
- Combustion controls should be effective and accurate.
- optimization of burners for flame stability and balanced heat distribution, reduced mill operation
- Steam and Water Cycle -adjustment of mass flow density, saturated steam in turbine

Typical approach to Flexibilization:

 Faster start-up and ramping dynamics

 Controllability: potential to provide grid services (e.g. frequency Control)
 Upgrading and adjustment of respective operational processes and documents, like
procedures and manuals, for the immediate use of the operation team
 Identification of limiting components, focusing combustion stability, steam temperatures
and mass flow, emission limits, safety systems and interlocks, …
  Development of solutions covering all aspects of Flexibilization tool-kit with
operating staff in On-site workshops, including test runs to confirm the identified limitations
and constraints
 Prioritization of the identified measures with regards to cost and effect to Flexibilization
 Benchmarking of flexible performance and potentials referring to international in-house
“Flexibilization”-database
 Adaptation of the boiler protection system to low load operation.
 Preparation of specifications and implementation of identified measures.
 Retrofitting if required with regards to mechanical engineering as well as process
engineering.
 Create transparency about the plant performance with respect to minimal load, start-up
and cycling behaviour in the current setup.
Notable key point is an aging that experientially leads to higher unavailability rates,
especially when planned maintenance reduced in the past, hence Flexible operation drifts
away from the original design of plants, and consequently contributes to rising unavailability
if effective maintenance schedules and frequencies are not planned and executed, which
needs to be given highest priority.
Figure 7 Components for Flexible Operations