Enhancement of Boiler Performance through Optimized Soot Blower System for Power Plants

摘要

An optimal soot blowing system has been developed for the optimal operation of coal-fired power utility boilers by both the minimization of use of steam and the number of soot blowers worked during soot blowing. Traditionally, the soot blowing system has been operated manually or by the scheduled time-based interval. However, it has caused the reduction of power and the thermal performance degradation because many soot blowers installed in the plant should be worked even there are lots of tubes those are not contaminated by slagging and/or fouling. The degree of pollution on a boiler tube is based on heat transfer model. Heat transfer area is divided into several groups consisting of furnace, convection area including superheater, reheater and economizer, and air heater. The condition of cleanness of the tube is calculated by several parameters obtained by various sensors. Then, a part of soot blower works automatically where boiler tubes are contaminated. This system has been applied in a practical power plant. Therefore, a comparison has been done between this new system and manual operation, and then the results are discussed.