MONITORING OF POWER PLANT OPERATION

CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT OF POWER PLANT OPERATION

Heat rate Availability and reliability. Operational and maintenance ease. Auxiliary load consumption and losses. On line health assessment Meeting of social responsibility and statutory norms.

POWER PLANT OPERATION Power plant performance

Plant Heat rate
( in kcal/kwhr)

Cost of generation in /Unit

Hot well make up ( to account for leakages)

Boiler performance (i. e. boiler efficiency) Un-burnt coal quantity. Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP) Emission level.

Power plant performance

Availability =
No. of units generated = Maxm possible generation

PUf= Plant utilization factor

PLf = Plant load factor = No. of trippings / forced shutdown. Total start up time (From Boiler firing to full load.) Capability to sustain load jump and dump.

Power plant performance

Recovery of Heat from flue gases in economizer and Air-Preheater. Condenser Vacuum. Heat losses Radiation losses. Specific fuel consumption of

Coal quantity /kwhr

& Oil quantity /kwhr.

Turbine performance.
Evaluation of turbine Performance can be based on following aspects. Efficiency Conventionally expressed as heat rate = Turbine Heat rate Turbine Heat rate = Qs(Hs-hw) + Qrn(Hrn- Hcrn)/G
Where Qs = HP turbine flow, Hs = enthalpy at turbine inlet hw = Enthalpy of feed water after top heater Qrn = Reheater flow Hrn = enthalpy at IP inet Hcrn = Enthalpy of cold reheat steam G = No of unit generated in kwhr

Turbine performance.
Turbine availability (Rather Non-availability on account of turbine.) - No. of trippings on a/c of turbine. Start up time Time taken to reach 3000 rpm. & to reach full load. Valve wide open margin (VWO) margin (i.e.= Extra flow passing capability.) Operational ease - Level of eccentricity, vibration, thrust behavior, bearing Babbitt metal temp., differential expansion. Noise level. Heat loss - From surface area.

Social Responsibility and Statutory Norms.

This aspect is becoming more and more significant day by day. This mainly covers: Smart management of ash disposal. Limiting fly ash, Nox, Noise level Reduction of heat dissipation to atmosphere and water bodies. Ensuring ecological balance and afforestation of surrounding area.