Emerson automating ultra-supercritical power plant in China

London - Huaneng Group has signed up Emerson Process Management to apply its Plantweb digital plant architecture at Haimen, a new ultra-supercritical, coal-fired power plant being built in China’s Guangdong province. The six-unit plant - six 1,036 MW units - will have a total generating capacity of more than 6,000 MW. The plant is being built in two phases - four units for the first phase, two units for the second phase. Emerson will install its Ovation expert control system for units 1 and 2, which are expected to go into service December 2008 and March 2009, respectively.

Ultra-supercritical plants use new advanced clean coal technology that allows operation at elevated steam temperatures and pressures and can boost the efficiency of coal-based electricity generation by over 50%. Emerson has also entered into a purchase agreement with Huaneng Group to automate units 3 and 4.

The digital automation will comprise Emerson’s PlantWeb digital plant architecture with the Ovation control system and AMS Suite predictive maintenance software, as well as intelligent field devices, including Rosemount 848T temperature transmitters and Rosemount 3051 pressure/level transmitters.

For units 1 and 2 the Ovation system will monitor and control the boiler, sequence control system, electric control system, modulating control system, furnace safeguard supervisory system, flue gas desulphurization (FGD) system and balance-of-plant processes. The Ovation system will also provide feedwater pump electro-hydraulic control and interface to the Dongfang turbine controls as well as to PLCs controlling soot blowing, dust removing, ash and slag handling, and plasma ignition.

Under the contract for units 1 and 2, Emerson is to supply 64 Ovation redundant controllers, 10 operator stations and four engineering stations. In all, the Ovation system will manage 28,044 hard I/O points and will incorporate 12 Foundation fieldbus segments and 16 PROFIBUS DP segments, to network 174 Foundation fieldbus devices and 154 Profibus DP devices.

Emerson’s AMS Suite predictive maintenance software will initially streamline configuration of these intelligent devices, translating into cost savings and increased unit startup efficiency. On an ongoing basis, AMS Suite technology will further increase the availability and performance of the two units by providing online access to instrument and valve process information, predictive diagnostic information, and automatic documentation of field device maintenance information.