POWER PLANT AUTOMATION

USING PLC

BY:
SACHIN GUPTA(07BEE062)
PRASHANT YADAV(07BEE058
UNDER GUIDANCE OF:
PROF. M.T.SHAH
What is Power Plant
 Generation of electric power
 Classification on the basis of the form of energy
converted into electrical energy
 1 Steam Power Stations
 2 Hydroelectric Power Stations
 3 Diesel Power Stations
 4 Nuclear Power Stations
What is Automation
 Automation is a word used in modern industries to
express enhancement of operational efficiency
 It’s main function is to reduce human interaction
without losing the efficiency of the process
Utility Of Automation
 Optimizes the use of process control equipment
 Decreases the response time for process
 Provides information about process status
 Manages process logic at the plant floor level
 Increases overall productivity and plant efficiency
 Advantages Of Automation System

 Higher productivity
 Superior quality of end product
 Efficient usage of raw materials and energy
 Improved safety in working condition.
Drawback Of Relay Based System
 These systems are prone to errors due to the
involvement of humans in the data collection and
processing using complicated mathematical
expressions
 Slow and inefficient processing
 Hard Wired Logic Control
 Bulky and complex wiring, also involves lot of
rework to implement changes in control logic
Thermal power plant
 A generating station which converts heat energy of
coal combustion into electrical energy
 It contribute maximum to the generation of Power
for any country.
 It constitute 75.43% of the total installed captive
and non-captive power generation in India.
Boiler
 It is a closed vessel in which steam is produced
from water by combustion of fuel
 The boiler is the most important part of any power
plant because it has very critical parameters &
these must be controlled for continuous operation
 Its automation decides the efficiency of a power
plant
Critical Control Parameters In Boiler

 Level Control
 Temperature Control
 Flow Control
 Pressure Control
 Combustion Control
Benson Boiler
 Most boilers has main difficulty of formation and
attachment of bubbles on the inner surface of the
heating tubes.
 It reduces heat flow and steam generation as they
offers high thermal resistance than water film.
 But in Benson boiler, pressure is raise to critical
pressure (225 atm) so that steam and water have
same density . So, it eliminate danger of bubble
formation
 Main principle of Benson boiler is that it eliminates
the latent heat of water by first compressing the
feed to a pressure of 235 bar, it is then above the
critical pressure and its latent heat is zero
 It makes use of Forced Circulation
 It does not use any drum
Diagram Of a Benson Boiler
Specifications of a Benson Boiler

 Maximum Temperature is 650 degree Celsius

 Maximum Working Pressure is 500 atm
 Generating Capacity is 150 tonnes/hr
Advantages Of Benson Boiler
 Require less floor area
 Total weight is 20% less than other boilers
because it has no drum, it reduces cost
 Start very quickly because of welded joints
 Furnace walls can be more efficiently protected by
using smaller diameter and closed pitched tubes
 Operated most economically by varying the
temperature and pressure at part loads and
overloads
 Explosion Hazards are not severe as it consists of
only tubes of small diameter and very little storage
capacity
 Superheater in a Benson boiler is an integral part
of forced circulation , so no special starting
arrangement for superheater is required
What is PLC
 Programmable logic controller (PLC) is a defined by
a National Electrical Manufacturers Association
(NEMA) as a ”digital electronic device that uses a
programmable memory to store instructions and to
implement specific functions such as logic,
sequence ,timing , counting and arithmetic operations
to control machines and processes ”
 It is used to execute complicated control operations
in a plant
Advantages Of PLC
 Reduced Space
 Energy saving
 Modular Replacement
 Easy trouble shooting
 Error diagnostics programmer
 Economical
 Greater life and reliability
Block Diagram of PLC
How PLC Works
Level Control
 The water level in the steam drum has to be
maintained within the desired limits.
 The reduction of drum level below the low level
mark will cause tube failures and level above the
high level mark will cause water carry over to the
turbine.
 For controlling purpose, direct level gauge is used.
A low level trip to shut down the boiler in case the
water level falls below the allowable limit and a
very high level trip the alarm circuit.
Temperature Control
 During start up of the boiler adequate steam flow is
not established through the super heater.
 High rate of heat input if provided to the boiler
furnace, will result in high furnace outlet
temperature of the flue gas causing over heating and
tube failure.
 To control the rate of heat input into the boiler and
maintain the flue gas temperature leaving the
furnace , thermocouple sensor is used
Flow Control
 For the generation of steam to be continuous, the air
flow, fuel flow, water flow etc. should be adjusted
simultaneously.
 The flowmeter is a pipeline transducer, which
converts flow into a measurable signal.
 Pipeline transducer is likely to relate flow to
differential pressure. This pressure signal is received
by another transducer i.e. DP (differential pressure)
transmitter converting differential pressure into an
electrical signal.
Conclusion

 The most important aspect of any power plant is the

boiler control. Several techniques can be
implemented to control the boiler in power plant.
The method that has to be used relies on varied
objectives like superior quality, increased
efficiency, high profit etc.
 Emphasis has been given to the automation process
that is now rapidly taking its place in all the power
plants across the globe.
References
 A TEXTBOOK OF POWER PLANT
ENGINEERING BY R.K.RAJPUT
 A TEXTBOOK OF PLC AND INDUSTRIAL
AUTOMATION BY MITRA AND SENGUPTA
 A HANDBOOK OF POWER PLANT
ENGINEERING
Future Scope
 In next session , we will discuss pressure control ,
combustion control
 Also, control these parameters by ladder logic
using PLC
THANK YOU
Pressure Control
Combustion Control
Thermocouple
 Made by connecting two dissimilar metals to
create a small voltage (5 to 6 mV @ 100°C)
 Voltage changes with change in temperature

 Types

1 Type T: Copper-Constantan Red/Blue

2 Type J: Iron-Constantan Red/White
3 Type E: Chromel-Constantan Red/Purple
4 Type K: Chromel-Alumel Red/Yellow
 Thermocouple Temperature measured in °C
K 0°C to 1180°C
E -200°C to 870°C
J 0°C to 750°C
T -200°C to 350°C
 K Type thermocouple is used primarily because of

it’s better linearity

Bourden Tube
 It contains a curved tube that is open to external
pressure input on one end and is coupled
mechanically to an indicating needle on the other
end
 The external pressure is guided into the tube and
causes it to flex, resulting in a change in curvature
of the tube. These curvature changes are linked to
the dial indicator & indicate the corresponding
value
Ladder logic for a lamp which is on
for 5 min and then off for 5 min and
this process is repeated for 1 hour