Co ordinate Control System :A Level II Automation In

Power Station –A Closer Look

Prepared By: Mr. Sugata Bandyopadhyay

Acknowledgement: The author deeply acknowledges the constant support & help provided by

Mr. N Ramesh

Mr. Arun Maity

Mr. Suman Ghosh

Mr. Sujay Nandi

Mr. Arijit Chakraborty

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Co ordinate Control System :A Level II Automation In Power Station –A Closer Look

Preamble

In a Thermal Power Station the electrical load requirement is maintained by the Turbo Generator set while the steam required
to drive the Steam Turbine is produced by the Steam Generator .Thus it is evident that unless both the Boiler & Turbine are
controlled in unison keeping due consideration to their dynamic response , the load change cannot be achieved in optimum
time .To maintain this balance a higher level control is envisaged that establishes a proper co –ordination between the Boiler
& turbine controls .This higher level control is called Co-ordinate control .The basic principles of the co- ordinate control
scheme are that the load demand is provided as a feed forward signal to both the boiler & the turbine control system in
parallel & that both Load control & throttle pressure control are considered in both Boiler & Turbine closed loop control .The
purpose is thus to use load demand signal to control the turbine governor valves which takes steam to produce MW load &
the boiler firing rate controller which is responsible to produce steam for MW load generation .This has resulted in the
evolution of a higher level control which considers the various conditions of the Unit , the inertia of the Principal equipment &
determining the control strategy depending on the Process condition of the Unit .

The Co ordinate Control is a Higher Level Automation which makes both the Boiler & the Turbine Controller operate in unison .
The inertia of the Boiler being slower than the Turbine , the automation adequately considers the same .The co -ordinate
control scheme is very successful in individual power generating units connected to the grid due to its quick response &
precise load control.

There are various methods of this higher level control . In one method the load demand signal is transferred to both Turbine &
Boiler controller in parallel . However the Turbine valve looks at throttle pressure while the Boiler controller , controls the load
by adjusting the firing rate. This method is very slow towards load changes .This method is often called integrated Control
scheme & very rarely practiced .

Boiler & Turbine Control

Before presenting the Co ordinate control it is essential to independently analyse the Turbine & Boiler Control .

Turbine Controller

Principally the Turbine control is executed by DTC ( Digital Turbine Controller) . This comprise of independent

 Frequency Controller

 Load controller

 Throttle pressure controller .

The minimum value of the controller output is used for controlling the Turbine governor valves considering the permissive of
rate of change of loading from TSE (Turbine Stress Evaluator ).However when the Turbine is synchronized to the grid, the
frequency of the machine is governed by the grid frequency ,since the additional load that the machine is able to produce is
very small compared to the additional load required by the grid to bring back the frequency to the desired value .Hence only a

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narrow correction band of frequency is made on the Unit Load Demand in the higher level automation system to account for
a nominal correction of frequency.

Boiler Controller

The Boiler Controller consists of Combustion Control System comprising of

 Fuel Flow Control

 Air Flow Control
 Furnace Draft Control
The Unit Load set point acts on the Combustion Controller & it co ordinates with the above three system for implementing the
load change. Cross linking between the fuel controller & the air controller is done in a cris cross interlocking mode to ensure
that in case of load increase the air increases first & then the fuel & in case of load decrease the fuel decreases first & then
the air . This ensures that inside the furnace there cannot be an occurrence of a fuel rich mixture triggering explosion .

Various modes associated with Level II automation in Co ordinate control

To introduce Co ordinate control & various other associated modes we take help of the following diagram .

FT P

-
+
S

R3

R1
TURBINE G
e a b

R2

c d MW
BOILER
R4

-
S

R1 - THROTTLE STEAM PRESSURE CONTROLLER
R2 - FUEL & AIR CONTROLLER
R3 - TURBINE VALVE POSITION CONTROLLER
R4 - THE POWER OUTPUT CONTROLLER
a - THROTTLE PRESSURE CONTROL TO FUEL & AIR CONTROLLER
b - THROTTLE PRESSURE CONTROL TO TURBINE CONTROLLER
c - POWER OUTPUT CONTROLLER TO FUEL & AIR CONTROLLER
d - POWER OUTPUT CONTROLLER TO TURBINE CONTROLLER
e - BOILER LOAD INDEX FEED BACK TO BOILER CONTROLLER

CO-ORDINATE CONTROL BLOCK DIAGRAM

FIG : 1
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Turbine Follow Mode

In this mode , the Boiler takes the lead & control the MW while the turbine follows the Boiler & throttles turbine governor
valves to keep the main steam header pressure constant .Hence the turbine consumes the exactly the same amount of steam
that the Boiler is capable to generate . So it is seen that after the load demand had increased , the Boiler due to its own inertia
takes its own time to generate the extra steam required , which increases the throttle pressure , which then prompts the
turbine controller to take more steam to produce power to meet the additional load demand . Thus it is evident that although
the turbine follow mode ensures strict throttle pressure control , its response to load control is very sluggish making it a very
unpopular mode of control . Thus it is clear that this mode is a case when there is a limitation of the steam generator to
generate full capacity due to loss of some of the principal equipment like burners , fans , pumps , mills or other similar
equipment. So turbine follow mode is put to operation when either Runback or Rundown situation occurs. In this mode the
Turbine Controller controls the throttle steam pressure while the Boiler Controller operates using the load demand signal as a
feed forward signal & to maintain the Unit load & the load controller signal is switched to the Boiler master .In practice
instead of choosing the load demand as the feed forward signal , the Boiler load index signal may be used since the load
demand already acts on the load controller. In this arrangement the Steam storage in the boiler is not utilized & the change in
produced power is exclusively determined by the inertia of the Boiler . In this mode (refer fig :1) the path b , c & e are active .

Run Back Mode

Run Back is a situation when any principal equipment which contributes in the generation of steam had tripped & due to
which the load had to be cut down i.e the Unit Capability is reduced with a preset rate of change to a limit dependant on the
equipment that had tripped . In this mode the control is switched to Turbine Follow Mode .

Run Down Mode

Run down is a situation when the principal process had developed condition that process error in Feed Water , Air Flow , Fuel
Flow , Furnace pressure etc had gone up to excessive value to drive the position of the actuator at maximum position & the
process becomes uncontrollable The load is then reduced to bring back the process parameters back to controllable limits . In
this mode also the control is switched to Turbine Follow Mode .

Boiler Follow Mode

In this mode , the Turbine takes the lead & the Unit load set point is used as the Electrical Load Generation set point for the
Turbine & the position of the turbine governor valves controls the produced power . The boiler master will be in auto
controlling the throttle steam pressure with the boiler load index as feed forward signal .The presence of boiler load index as a
feed forward signal is often called as two element control scheme .The turbine controller will be limited also by the limit
pressure mode .Also the turbine control system DTC ensures that the load change does not jeopardize the throttle steam
pressure . An additional signal is added to Unit master to correct frequency within a narrow range. Due to high inertia of
response of the boiler compared to the turbine , the system allows use of Boiler Steam storage , thus facilitating fast load
changes . The boiler itself is a storage space of huge energy reserve, storing heat energy in the metal parts at the same level
as the steam generated in he Boiler .During load increase ,the drop in throttle pressure is looked by the control system to
increase firing , but before the firing could occur due to the inertia of the process , the stored energy in the boiler is liberated
to produce steam & to ensure instantaneous make up of Throttle pressure .Conversely on load decrease , the turbine takes
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less steam & the energy stored in the excess steam is again stored in the Boiler. However the energy taken from the Boiler
need to be restored to the same level at the new load condition . This is done by tuning the throttle Pressure controller to
provide certain amount of over firing or under firing during load changes . It is thus a solution that meets current
requirement . The feed forward BLI signal plays the fast acting role , since it operates on the total steam flow measured from
Turbine first stage pressure . The change in steam flow or the change in turbine first stage pressure is much faster than the
change in throttle steam pressure . Hence the feed forward signal acts much faster than the throttle pressure controller .
However the feature that is still missing is the coordination between the boiler & the turbine .Refer fig :1 the path a , d ,& e is
active . It may be noted that the path e signifies Boiler Load index(BLI) which is a measure of the summation of Main steam
flow + Bypass steam flow . In case the Bypass lines are closed the BLI is a measure of main steam flow which is a measure of
Unit load . Instead of measuring the main steam flow , the Turbine first stage pressure is also used as a measure of main steam
flow .

Co-Ordinate Mode

The purpose of this mode is to operate the Boiler & Turbine without any delay in case of load variation . In the Co ordinate
mode of control , the unit load set point in the Unit Load demand System is transferred to the Turbine controller as set point
for Electrical Load generation .At the same time , this load set point is used as feed forward signal to the Boiler load control .In
this mode the Boiler master will be in auto controlling the throttle pressure with load set point as a feed forward signal .The
turbine controller will be in auto controlling load . The control signal to the turbine becomes a set point for the flow of steam
passing through the turbine & the flow controller with the steam flow feed back operates to ensure the desired throttle valve
position . Without the flow controller also the demand signal to the turbine acts as a set point to the position controller to the
turbine throttle valves . However a valve characteristic curve circuit is introduced in between the controller output of the
turbine controller & the throttle valve positioner to ensure proper positioning of the valves .The throttle pressure error
resulting from the throttle control valve repositioning changes the throttle pressure which activates the throttle pressure
controller .This pressure error during the load changes initially utilises the stored energy of the Boiler to deliver additional
steam to turbines increased load demand . The pressure controller correct the throttle pressure with its own process lag &
provides signal to over fire or under fire in the process of restoring the throttle pressure so that the stored energy taken from
the Boiler during load changes is restored . The simultaneous transmission of the unit load signal to both the boiler & turbine
controller makes the response of co ordinate control system fast . In this mode please refer fig -1 , a , b ,c & d are connected .
Path c acts as providing a feed forward signal for the Boiler master.

However even under steady state load condition , there may be error in throttle pressure due to issues like changes in the
Calorific value of the fuel from time to time or change in feed water temperature or other variables related to Boiler & Turbine
operation . Under such action also the control system sensing the throttle pressure adjusts the error . In some control system
the calorific value feedback is given to the control loop to calculate the fuel demand & carry out correction without waiting for
its impact to fall on the throttle pressure .

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Unit Capability

In Power station there are principal equipment which are imperative for power generation . They are BFP , IDF , FDF , PAF ,AH
, MILL , CEP , CWP etc Failure of any of the equipment will result in loss of the process which the equipment is delivering While
designing the equipment are selected with standby consideration, so that in case of any equipment failure the process may
not be cut down by running the standby equipment . Further the standby equipment may also trip or certain equipment may
not have a standby. Thus there may be a situation when loss of equipment will result in reduction in load . So based on the
availability of the equipment & considering their rated capacity in terms of the full load , we can define a weighted ored
summation to determine the capability of generation of the Unit considering the availability of the principal equipment . This
is described as the Unit capability . Please see fig -2.

Unit Load Demand (Unit Master)Generation

A Unit Master generation controller sets the Unit Load set point signal for the Boiler & Turbine controller. When the unit
master is in auto mode the controller receives signal from Load Dispatch center or maximum load signal reduced suitably by
runback load limit or rundown load limit whenever the same is applicable . in case of the controller in manual mode it receives
the signal as set by the operator . It is then corrected with frequency deviation signal within narrow margin & then compared
in a minimum selector with maximum load set by the operator & the maximum permissible load margin as allowed by the TSE
(Turbine Stress Evaluator) . The signal coming out is compared with a maximum selector to compare with the minimum load
set manually by the operator & also the minimum permissible load margin as allowed by the TSE . The signal coming out is
again compared in a minimum selector against Run back & Run down margin .This is the Unit Master but before transferring
this signal to the Turbine controller & Boiler Controller it is ramped suitably to ensure various rate of change permissive of the
(a) Directional Blocking up & down criteria , (b) Run Down criteria , (c) TSE up /down criteria & (d) The manual load rate setter
value . Based on the ramped value the Unit master signal acts on the Boiler & Turbine Controller to implement co ordinate
control .

Conclusion

The Power plant automation had passed through various phases of control strategy depending on the type of station , the
requirement of the grid with time , various cost economic analysis depending of cost of generation , availability of the unit &
major equipment etc . To accommodate all such requirement , the modern DCS (Distributed Control System) had been
visualised with level I automation system for the simpler controls , with higher level controls like co ordinate control in level
II. There is a further possibility of introducing level III automation introducing ERP based system for maintenance management
, Cost of generation & selling optimization & driving the lower level automation with revised target based on time based
requirement with cost economy . All these phases of changes are going on however the Philosophy of Co ordinate control is
rock steady since its evolution till today & no control strategy or technology or new philosophy of Power plant operation could
till now replace the Co-ordinate Control strategy till today . It is worth mentioning that the Co ordinate control system is
running in auto mode in many Power station in India with remarkable success.

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MAJOR RELATIVE
EQUIPMENT WEIGHTAGE

UNIT LOAD
DEMAND

FIG : 2