OPTIMIZED CONTROL OF POWER PLANTS HAVING AIR COOLED CONDENSERS
First Claim
1. A plant optimization system for use in controlling a plant having a steam cycle including a steam generator, a steam consumer and a condenser system coupled between the steam consumer and the steam generator, the plant optimization system comprising:
- an optimizer including a calculation unit and an objective function, wherein the calculation unit analyzes each of a plurality of plant operating points associated with operation of the steam cycle to determine an initial plant operating point that best satisfies the objective function, wherein each of the plurality of plant operating points includes a value for each of a set of steam cycle operating variables; and
an expert engine that stores a set of rules and that uses the set of rules to adjust one or more of the values for the steam cycle operating variables associated with the initial plant operating point to determine an optimal plant operating point for use in controlling the plant.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An optimization and control system for a utility plant that uses fan based air cooled condensers controls the operation of the power generation system at the plant in conjunction with the operation of the air cooled condensers so as to run the power plant at an optimum operating point associated with minimizing or reducing the cost of each kilowatt-hour of energy or other useful energy produced by the plant. The optimization and control system includes an optimizer having a numerical solver that determines values for a set of control variables associated with an optimal operating point of the plant and an expert system that oversees and modifies the control variable settings prior to providing these settings to a plant controller. The numerical solver uses an objective function and one or more models of plant equipment to determine the operating point of the plant that minimizes the cost per unit of useful energy generated by the plant. As part of determining the optimal plant operating point, the numerical solver may determine the number of fans to run within the air cooled condensers of the plant and/or the speed of the fans to use in the air cooled condensers in conjunction with the amount of fuel to burn in the boiler, the desired temperature of the steam at the input of the steam turbine, etc., all required to produce a given amount of power (load demand) at the particular environmental conditions currently experienced at the plant. The expert system may modify these outputs by determining which fans to actually use at any particular time based on, for example, the availability of or the operational status of the fans, the wear of the fans and fan motors, etc.
104 Citations
35 Claims
-
1. A plant optimization system for use in controlling a plant having a steam cycle including a steam generator, a steam consumer and a condenser system coupled between the steam consumer and the steam generator, the plant optimization system comprising:
-
an optimizer including a calculation unit and an objective function, wherein the calculation unit analyzes each of a plurality of plant operating points associated with operation of the steam cycle to determine an initial plant operating point that best satisfies the objective function, wherein each of the plurality of plant operating points includes a value for each of a set of steam cycle operating variables; and an expert engine that stores a set of rules and that uses the set of rules to adjust one or more of the values for the steam cycle operating variables associated with the initial plant operating point to determine an optimal plant operating point for use in controlling the plant. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A plant control and optimization system for use in controlling a plant having a steam cycle that includes a steam generator and a plurality of electrically driven, air cooled condenser units, the plant control and optimization system comprising:
-
a plant controller coupled to the steam generator and to the electrically driven air cooled condensers to control the operation of the steam cycle based on a set of plant operating variable targets; an optimizer that analyzes each of a plurality of plant operating points associated with the operation of the plant to determine an initial optimal plant operating point, wherein each of the plurality of plant operating points includes a value for each of a set of plant operating variables, at least one of the plant operating variables being a condenser variable associated with the operation of the electrically driven, air cooled condenser units within the steam cycle of the plant; and an expert engine that stores a set of rules and that uses the set of rules and the values of the set of plant operating variables associated with the initial optimal plant operating point to produce the set of plant operating variable targets for use in the plant controller. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A plant control and optimization system for use in controlling a plant having a plant steam cycle with a steam generator, a steam consumer and a condenser system having a plurality of electrically driven, air cooled condenser units coupled between the steam consumer and the steam generator, the plant control and optimization system comprising:
-
an optimizer that analyzes a plurality of operating points associated with the operation of the steam cycle to determine an optimal operating point of the steam cycle, wherein each of the plurality of operating points includes a different set of values for one or more steam cycle operating variables, the steam cycle operating variables including at least one condenser system operating variable; and a plant controller coupled to control the steam generator and the electrically driven, air cooled condensers to thereby control the operation of the plant steam cycle, the plant controller further coupled to the optimizer to receive and use the values for the one or more plant steam cycle operating variables associated with the optimal operating point to control the operation of the plant steam cycle. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
-
29. A method of optimizing control of a plant having a steam cycle with a steam generator, a steam consumer and a condenser system, the method comprising:
-
determining a plurality of plant operating points, each of the plurality of plant operating points including one or more operating variables associated with operation of equipment within the steam cycle of the plant; analyzing each of the plurality of plant operating points using an objective function to determine one of the plurality of plant operating points as an initial optimal operating point that best satisfies an objective function; determining a particular set of plant control target values to use in controlling the plant based on the initial optimal operating point, the particular set of plant control target values including target values for use in controlling the condenser system of the plant; and providing the particular set of plant control target values to a process controller for use in controlling the plant. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
-
Specification