VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVES FOR

ENERGY SAVING APPLICATIONS IN THERMAL POWER PLANTS

ABSTRACT

The cost of electricity generation has been going up with time and the demand of electricity has outstripped the
availability. Energy conservation has become a key factor in the fields of utilization, transmission and generation.
Industries and Utilities have become appreciative of reducing the consumption of power. Variable Frequency
Drives have become popular for fans, pumps and compressors because of the safety margins kept during the design
stage to take care of the uncertainties. This forces the equipment to operate at lower than rated capacity (and
efficiency) even during the base load operation of the plant.

In a power plant, the margins kept during selection of fans and pumps are even higher. Power consumption in
auxiliaries of a coal based power plant is of the order of 6 to 8%.To reduce auxiliary power consumption, losses
in air/flue gas and water/steam flow paths because of mechanical flow control devices shall be reduced. Using
Variable Frequency Drives for flow control is an attractive techno-economic solution. The Variable Frequency
Drives can be used for Induced Draft, Forced Draft, Primary Air fans, Boiler Feed Pumps, Condensate Extraction
Pumps and Circulating Water Pumps as long as these are radial or centrifugal type.

A number of technical advantages, like soft starting, increased life of mechanical equipment due to absence of jerks
during start, unlimited number of starts, zero current contribution to grid faults, no inrush current at start, lower
overall system noise etc., are sometimes more important than mere power saving.

A number of power plants in India are using Variable Frequency Drives. A power saving analysis done for some of
the power plants using VFDs for ID fan application is compared with actual site results. The need for carrying out
harmonic analysis and torsional analysis, before installing VFDs is discussed. Use of VFDs for Boiler Feed Pump
and power savings calculation for a power plant in India is discussed. Typical analysis for a Condensate Extraction
Pump is included at Annexure-II Table-III.

Inroduction

In a coal fired thermal power plant, there are basically two flow paths viz.
- Air / Flue gas path
- Water/ Steam path

The major power consuming auxiliaries in the air/flue gas path are Induced Draft (ID) fans, Forced Draft (FD) fans
& Primary Air (PA) fans with ID fans being the biggest consumer of power. Boiler Feed Pumps (BFP), Condensate
Extraction Pumps (CEP) and Circulating Water (CW) pumps are the major auxiliaries in the water/steam path and
among them BFPs are the biggest consumers of power.

Hitherto, it has been common practice to use constant speed induction motor for fans with inlet guide vane/ outlet
damper/ hydraulic coupling for control of air/flue gas. In case of inlet guide vane/outlet damper, due to increase in
the system resistance, lot of energy is wasted resulting in a low system efficiency. In case of a hydraulic coupling,
the efficiency of the coupling itself is very low, approximately equal to the ratio of output speed to input speed. In
the case of a VFD, speed of the motor is varied rather than varying the system resistance for changing the operating
point. Since the power is proportional to cube of speed there will be an appreciable saving in power consumption,
especially when the fans/ pumps are required to operate at low loads. Efficiency of hydraulic coupling is very poor
at reduced speeds (at 50% speed efficiency will be less than 50 %). Because of design margins, the ID fans normally

1
operate at around 70% of rated loads even when the power plant is operating at its rated capacity, thus making the
available mechanical means for flow control highly inefficient.

Typical efficiency curves of VFD, hydraulic coupling, inlet guide vane and outlet damper or throttling are shown in
Fig 1.

% EFFICIENCY

100 LOAD
COMMUTATED
INVERTER INLET
80 DRIVE GUIDE
VANE

60

40 HYDRAULIC
COUPLING OUTLET
DAMPER OR
20 THROTTLING

20 40 60 80 100
% SPEED / FLOW

Figure-1
Efficiency Curves of Various
Flow Control Devices

Variable Frequency Drives for Induced Draft Fans are in operation in a number of utilities like Tata Electric
Companies, Andhra Pradesh State Electricity Board (APSEB), National Thermal Power Corporation, Maharashtra
State Electricity Board etc. Experience and operating confidence gained in VFDs for ID fan drives in Indian Power
Plants have paved the way for use of VFD for biggest auxiliary drive in fluid path, namely Boiler Feed Pump.
The first Boiler Feed Water pump with a Variable Speed Drive has been in service at Kothagudem Thermal Power
Station of APGENCO since 1997. It was decided to carry out measurements at some of these sites for ID Fan Drives
and site results are presented here. Comparison of energy consumed by VFD driven ID fans vis-a-vis other
alternatives used in earlier identical rated units at the same stations is presented. Normally FD Fans are axial type
and VFDs are not recommended to be used. Fan design margins kept in PA fans and their flow variation is much
lower compared to ID Fans. However, it is desirable to check the economics on case to case basis prior to selection
of the type of drive.

Experience and operating confidence gained in VFDs for ID Fan drives in Indian Power Plants have paved the way
for use of VFD for the biggest auxiliary drive in fluid path, namely Boiler Feed Pump. A techno-economic analysis
for a typical 250 MW thermal power plant station under normal and sliding pressure operation is presented.

Description of VFDs and precautions required are touched in brief below:

Load Commutated Inverter

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 LCI VFD is a variable speed mechanism which adjusts the fan or pump speed so as to get the desired output. In this
type of drive system, flow demand signal is received from the control system due to change in load conditions and
the system adjusts the speed of the motor to the desired level resulting in optimum power consumption. Apart from
saving in operational cost due to reduced power consumption, VFD offers major intangible benefits like:

- Absence of voltage dip problems associated with Direct On Line starting of large motors since the starting
current in this drive is limited to about 100% of the motor full load current.

- Increased motor life due to the lower thermal and mechanical stresses in view of the absence of starting
Inrush currents and reduced speed operation .

- No limitation on the number of starts.

- No contribution to fault current.

LCI type VFD can be either (6 pulse) single channel type (Fig2) or (12 pulse) dual channel type (Fig 3). Each
channel consists of an isolating transformer, source converter, DC link inductor and load converter. In a single
channel type VFD, synchronous motor will have one winding whereas in dual channel type VFD, the synchronous
motor will have two windings, one for each channel. The source side converter operates in rectifier mode whereas
the load side converter operates in inverter mode. Commutation VARs for source side converter is taken from the
source whereas leading VARs produced by the synchronous motor is used for commutation of load side converter.
The DC link inductor effectively isolates load side frequency and source side frequency and smoothens DC Link
Current.

The demand signal received from the control system prompts the source side converter to provide the required
current to the DC link inductor at the DC voltage level set by the load side converter.

6.6 KV, 50 Hz 6.6 KV, 50 Hz Thus the source side converter plus the DC link
inductor become a current source controller to the
motor. The motor torque, frequency (hence speed),
and voltage level get adjusted to the load
STEP-DOWN STEP-DOWN requirements.
TRANSFORMER TRANSFORMER
LINE SIDE LINE SIDE The choice of (6 pulse) single channel or (12 pulse)
dual channel VFD depends on harmonics that are
DC LINK DC LINK
INDUCTOR INDUCTOR allowed to be injected into the grid and whether a
MACHINE MACHINE
redundant fan/pump is available
SIDE CONVERTER SIDE CONVERTER
A 12 pulse system is recommended where lower
3 PHASE
SYNCHRONOUS S.M S.M
6 PHASE SYNCHRONOUS
harmonic injection is desired (weak grids) and
MOTOR WITH MOTOR WITH fan/pump redundancy is not available. The
BRUSHLESS EXCITER BRUSHLESS EXCITER components in each channel can be rated for desired
FIELD FIELD 3 PH, AC CONTROLLER capacity and hence in case of dual channel,
redundancy can be built into the VFD system. A 6
pulse system, because of lower cost, is recommended
where redundant fan/pump is available and the grid is
strong.

Figure - 2 Figure - 3
Single Line Single Line
Diagram for Diagram for
6 Pulse LCI 12 Pulse LCI

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ID Fans for 500 MW Units at Trombay Generating Station:
MTPS, U#7&8, DSTPS, KTPS all have two numbers 500 MW units. All have two no.s ID Fan of 12 pulse VFD each
( both have two channels, total 4 no.s channel are there). In three chnnel unit can run on full capacity.
Dual channel 12 pulse VFD was specified for this plant. Each channel was rated such that with twoID Fans running
with three channel cater full load. Synchronous motor was specified with class F insulation.

Equipment connected with LCI were located in a separate building close to the ID Fans. The layout of the equipment
is shown in Fig.4. The equipment belonging to two channels for a drive have been installed in two different rows with
sufficient clearance between them. Line side and load side converter panels are installed in an air conditioned room for
trouble free operation.

TRANS- TRANS-
FORMER FORMER

CONT. LCI CHANNEL – 1 LCI CHANNEL – 2

DCSR
DCSR
6.5 M

DCSR
DCSR

A.C ROOM
LCI CHANNEL-2 LCI CHANNEL-1 CONT.

NON-AC
13 M

TRANS- TRANS-
FORMER FORMER

Figure-4
Layout For 12 Pulse VDs For I.D Fans

Boiler Feed Pumps for 250 MW Units:

Annexure II, Table I gives a detailed techno-economic analysis for use of VFD for Boiler Feed Pump operations. The
analysis is based on design parameters for a typical 250 MW unit. Again taking 7200 hours as the operating time per
year and 2400 operating hours each at 100%, 80% and 60% of the maximum generating capacity , energy saved per
year works out to 3.8 MU. If sliding pressure operation for the boiler is considered, 5.1 MU of energy is saved per
year (Annexure-II Table-II).

Additional Requirements of VFD

Environment/Layout

As the modern day VFDs are all microprocessor based systems capable of self diagnostics, it is recommended to
house them in an air-conditioned room for a long trouble free operation. VFDs have forced cooling fans, the noise
pollution because of the cooling fans need to be taken care of. Past experience has shown that a duct should be
provided to throw the hot air from the VFDs above false ceiling of VFD room to reduce noise. The layout should be
such that control panels are housed separately from the thyristor/cooling fan panels.

Harmonics & Torsional Analysis

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Because of the phase controlled thyristors, current harmonics are generated and fed to the grid. IEEE lists down the
distortion factor (DF) allowed on different buses. DF shall be limited to less than 5% on a power plant bus. It is
essential that a harmonic analysis study be carried out on VFD grid and user shall be advised to connect harmonic
filters, if required. A feature of converter fed drives is the presence of oscillating harmonic torque superimposed
upon the steady torque of the synchronous motor. It is necessary that the effect of these harmonic torques be
calculated by doing torsional analysis.

Other Applications of VFDs

1. Large Pumps Startup and Synchronization to grid:

The first indigenously designed and manufactured 4 KV, 7.5 MW, Static Frequency Converter has been commissioned
at Srisailam Left Bank Canal. This is Asia’s largest lift irrigation project. This starting system consists of a converter
to convert AC Voltage to DC Voltage, a DC Link and an inverter to convert DC to a variable frequency, variable
voltage AC output. The output is connected to a 18 MW, 11 KV, synchronous motor for smooth starting without any
inrush current. SFC takes power from the supply grid at constant voltage and constant frequency, and converts it into
power of variable voltage and frequency in order to start and accelerate the synchronous machine. The machine is then
synchronized to the supply grid after matching motor voltage/frequency to grid values and SFC is disconnected. The
starting equipment is suitable to start four motors one after the other.

2) Pumped Storage Scheme

Static Frequency Converter for Pumped Storage has been supplied by BHEL for Srisailam Left Bank Project
This system is rated at 13.8 KV, 18.5 MVA capable of starting 6 machines one after the other. These machines can
operate either in Pump-mode or in Turbine-mode depending on the load requirement. In the daytime when the load is
higher the machines work as turbines and during the night they operate as pumps. This SFC system uses a water
cooling system.This type of Static Frequency Converter enables meeting of peak power requirement during daytime
by utilizing excess power available during night time.

3) Gas Turbine Starting

VFD equipment can also used for Gas-Turbine starting. Gas Turbines can either be soft started by using a pony motor
or by using SFC. SFC is normally preferred for bigger frame Turbines (greater than 150 MW).
The Alternator is soft started by SFC and accelerated till it gets into Generation mode.

Lower Power Range VFDs using IGBTs

The above description was basically for Load Commutated Inverter Drives using Synchronous Motors in the power
range above 1 MW. The lower rating VFDs using IGBTs has a number of advantages, one of them being the use of a
simple induction motor for vertical applications. A number of VFDs upto 630 KW for LT Motors are in use in power
plants / steam generators. These VFDs use IGBT based PWM Voltage Source Inverters. The power rating of VFDs in
LT range can be extended upto 1 MW rating so that solution is available for complete power range. A power saving
analysis has been done from site measured data for ID Fan for Renusagar TPS. The same is included at Annexure-II
Table-IV and has resulted in a saving of 1.4 MU with a 2 years payback period for 8000 hours of operation / year.

These drives can be easily employed for Condensate Extraction Pumps (CEP). A typical analysis indicates a saving of
2 MU for a 500 MW power plant and 0.7 MU for a 250 MW power plant.

Conclusion

The use of Variable frequency drives for ID fans (in place of modulating damper or hydraulic coupling) and for
Boiler feed pumps (in place of gear box and hydraulic coupling) in a power plant reduces the auxiliary power
consumption approximately by 10% at peak generation and by 15 % at 60 % generation. The payback periods for
the additional investment are quite attractive. However, provision of space is an additional requirement.

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 POWER SAVINGS ANALYSIS FOR VFD AND BFP DRIVES INSTALLED IN THERMAL POWER
PLANTS FROM SITE MEASURED DATA

ANNEXURE – I

TABLE –I

ID FAN DRIVE - TATA ELECTRIC COMPANY, MUMBAI

UNIT-5 UNIT-6 POWER

SL. GEN SAVED
NO. MW TOTAL POWER ID FAN A/C LOAD AUX. LOAD TOTAL
(KW) (KW) (KW) (KW) (KW)

1. 200 3800 750 50 50 850 2950

2. 300 4600 1050 50 50 1150 3250
3. 400 5350 1750 50 50 1850 3500
4. 500 5900 2900 50 50 3000 2900

TABLE-II

ID FAN DRIVE - VIJAYAWADA 2x210 MW TPS, M/s APGENCO

POWER UNIT-3 UNIT-4 POWER

GENERATION SAVED
(MW) TOTAL POWER ID FAN AUX.+A/C TOTAL
(KW) (KW) (KW) (KW) (KW)

174 1715 1080 65 1145 570

207 2319 1845 65 1910 409

TABLE –III

BFP DRIVE - KOTHAGUDEM UNIT # 10, M/s APGENCO

GEN TOTAL POWER TOTAL POWER POWER

MW HYD COUPLING VFD + A/C SAVED / PUMP
(KW) (KW) (KW)

250 3520 3235 285

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 ANNEXURE – II

TABLE – I

TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF 6 PULSE VFD OVER HYDRAULIC COUPLING FOR 250 MW

BOILER FEED PUMP DRIVES
(CONSTANT PRESSURE OPERATION)
MOTOR RATING : 3900 KW, 5300 RPM NO. OF PUMPS PER BOILER : THREE

SL.NO HYDRAULIC COUPLING VFD SYSTEM

MCR (PERCENT) 60% 80 % 100% 60% 80 % 100%
SPEED (RPM) 4459 4596 4815 4459 4596 4815
FLOW (PER HOUR) 221 293 367 221 293 367
PRESSURE (MLC) 1780 1860 1965 1780 1860 1965

1 POWER INPUT TO 1398 1693 2141 1398 1693 2141

PUMP SHAFT FOR
ONE BFP (KW)
2 HYDRAULIC COUPLING 0.793 0.825 0.871 - - -
EFFICIENCY (INCLUDES
GEAR BOX LOSS) %
3 INDUCTION MOTOR 0.940 0.945 0.950 - - -
EFFICIENCY (%)
4 EFFICIENCY OF VFD - - 0.900
- 0.905 0.910
INCLUDING SYNCH-
RONOUS MOTOR (%)
5 POWER DRAWN FROM 1875 2172 2588 1553 1871 2353
GRID / BFP (KW)
6 POWER DRAWN FROM 3750 4344 5176 3106 3742 4706
GRID BY TWO BFPs (KW)
7 OPERATING HOURS 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400
8 ENERGY CONSUMED 9000 10426 12423 7455 8981 11295
BY TWO BFPs (MW. HR)
9 ENERGY CONSUMED - - 120- 120 120
BY AIR CONDITIONER,
AUXILIARIES (MW.HR)
10 TOTAL ENERGY CON- _______31849_________ _______28091_________
SUMED / YEAR (MW.HR)
11 RUNNING ENERGY COST 63.7 MILLION RUPEES 56.18 MILLION RUPEES
AT RUPEE 2.00/KW.HR
12 SAVINGS IN ENERGY 7.52 MILLION RUPEES
COST / YEAR
13 PAYBACK PERIOD APPROXIMATELY 6.7 YEARS
OF VFD

7
 ANNEXURE – II

TABLE – II

TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF 6 PULSE VFD OVER HYDRAULIC COUPLING FOR 250 MW

BOILER FEED PUMP DRIVES
(SLIDING PRESSURE OPERATION)
MOTOR RATING : 3900 KW, 5300 RPM NO. OF PUMPS PER BOILER : THREE

SL.NO HYDRAULIC COUPLING VFD SYSTEM

MCR (PERCENT) 60% 80 % 100% 60% 80 % 100%

SPEED (RPM) 3493 4119 4746 3493 4119 4746

1 POWER INPUT TO 734 1265 2021 734 1265 2021

PUMP SHAFT FOR
ONE BFP (KW)
2 HYDRAULIC COUPLING 0.609 0.734 0.858 - - -
EFFICIENCY (INCLUDES
GEAR BOX LOSS) %
3 INDUCTION MOTOR 0.920 0.937 0.948 - - -
EFFICIENCY (%)
4 EFFICIENCY OF VFD - - 0.870
- 0.895 0.910
INCLUDING SYNCH-
RONOUS MOTOR (%)
5 POWER DRAWN FROM 1310 1839 2485 844 1413 2221
GRID / BFP (KW)
6 POWER DRAWN FROM 2620 3678 4970 1688 2826 4442
GRID BY TWO BFPs (KW)
7 OPERATING HOURS 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400 2400
8 ENERGY CONSUMED 6288 8827 11928 4051 6783 10661
BY TWO BFPs (MW. HR)
9 ENERGY CONSUMED - - 120- 120 120
BY AIR CONDITIONER,
AUXILIARIES (MW.HR)
10 TOTAL ENERGY CON- _______27043_________ _______21855_________
SUMED / YEAR (MW.HR)
11 RUNNING ENERGY COST 54.08 MILLION RUPEES 43.68 MILLION RUPEES
AT RUPEE 2.00/KW.HR
12 SAVINGS IN ENERGY 10.4 MILLION RUPEES
COST / YEAR
13 PAYBACK PERIOD APPROXIMATELY 6.25 YEARS
OF VFD

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 ANNEXURE – II

TABLE – III

TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS FOR VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVE OPTION FOR CONDENSATE

EXTRACTION PUMP FOR 2x500MW AND 2x250MW POWER PLANTS

2x500 MW UNIT 2x250 MW UNIT

NO. OF CONDENSATE
2 2
EXTRACTION PUMPS (CEP) IN
OPERATION

TOTAL CEP POWER

CONSUMPTION FOR 2 PUMPS 1370 KW 550 KW
WITH CONSTANT SPEED
OPERATION AT TMCR

TOTAL CEP POWER

CONSUMPTION FOR 2 PUMPS 1117 KW 460 KW
WITH VARIABLE SPEED (VFD)
OPTION AT TMCR
253 KW 90 KW
POWER SAVINGS FOR 2 CEPs
126.5 KW 45 KW
POWER SAVINGS FOR 1 CEP

SAVINGS IN ENERGY COSTS

Rs 20.24 LAKHS Rs 7.20 LAKHS
PER YEAR ( 8000 OPERATING
HOURS AT Rs 2/KWH)

PAYBACK PERIOD FOR 1 CEP 2.5 YEARS (APPROX.) 3 YEARS (APPROX.)

PUMP WITH VFD

TABLE – IV

TECHNO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS FOR VARIABLE FREQUENCY DRIVE FOR ID FAN – UNIT 9 & 10
2x84 MW (2x320 TPH) RENUSAGAR TPS - IGBT BASED VFD DRIVE

D.O.L (KW) VFD (KW) POWER SAVINGS (KW)

ID FAN 9A 348 175 173
ID FAN 9B 348 179 169
ID FAN 10A 348 155 193
ID FAN 10B 348 171 177
Approximate Pay Back Period
at 8000 operating hours/year and Rs 2 / KW.Hr
2 Years