Intelligent Sootblowing Installation at LCRA Unit 1 Power Gen 2007, New Orleans

摘要

The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) selected and installed an automatic soot blower control system for their Fayette Power Project (FPP) Unit 1. The installation was intended to optimize the boiler cleaning system. This paper presents the results of that installation. Somewhat unique for this installation was the use of heat flux sensors to control wall blowers. 25 heat flux sensors were installed in the water walls where the wall blowers are located. These sensors provide the closed loop feedback necessary to operate the wall blowers in automatic mode. For the convection pass there are two feedback mechanisms. First is a thermodynamic model that calculates the cleanliness of each section; superheater, reheater, primary superheater, economizer, etc. Second is a set of strain gages, which monitor the weight increase due to slag and ash formations. These gages along with the thermodynamic information trigger automatic actuation of the retractable soot blowing. The Intelligent Soot Blowing (ISB) control system is integrated with the plant DCS. The paper discusses the installation and startup of the system and the benefits derived from automation of boiler cleaning.