Articles
RSSEmerson To Digitally Automate New Unit, Upgrade Controls For Existing Unit At City Utilities' Southwest Power Station
December 13, 2007
Project demonstrates value of Emerson's comprehensive automation and control solutions for new construction as well as retrofits to existing power generation facilities
Pittsburgh - Emerson Process Management announced recently that it has won a contract to install its PlantWeb® digital architecture with the Ovation® expert control system at Southwest Power Station Unit 2, a new 300-MW, coal fired unit being built by Springfield, Missouri-based City Utilities.
At Southwest Unit 2, Emerson's Ovation system will monitor and control a Foster Wheeler boiler, as well as the burner management system, cooling tower, air quality control system and balance of plant processes. The new plant will make extensive use of digital bus-based technologies, with Emerson's Ovation system incorporating 57 FOUNDATION™ fieldbus segments (representing 1,368 I/O) and 31 Profibus-DP segments (representing 1,890 I/O) to network intelligent field instrumentation. In total, the Ovation system will manage nearly 4,200 I/O points.
As part of the contract, Emerson will also install its AMS™ Suite: Intelligent Device Manager, which streamlines device configuration and commissioning for more efficient plant startup. On an ongoing basis, AMS Device Manager also provides online access to instrument and valve process data and predictive diagnostic information. This capability arms power generators with valuable information that can be used to optimize plant operations and maintenance activities, as well as avoid costly unplanned outages.
Equipment delivery is slated for fall 2009. The unit will be commissioned in fall 2010 and is expected to be fully operational in January 2011.
The contract also calls for Emerson to replace existing ABB controls at Southwest Power Station Unit 1, an existing 200-MW, coal-fired plant, with its Ovation expert control system. The Ovation system will monitor and control the boiler, as well as the burner management system and balance of plant processes. Emerson will also replace the ABB controls on the unit's Westinghouse turbine with the Ovation system. Doing so will enable Southwest Unit 1 to experience the benefits of fully coordinated boiler/turbine control including unit-wide compatibility; improved unit stability, responsiveness and thermal efficiencies; tighter overall control of plant operations; and a concise view of key plant and turbine parameters.
Southwest Unit 1 will also include a new selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system equipped with a state-of-the-art digital automation architecture featuring the Ovation control system and FOUNDATION fieldbus technology.
Equipment installation for Unit 1 is slated for fall 2008.
"These projects exemplify our ongoing efforts to bring clean, reliable and low-cost energy to our customers," said Jay Lohrbach, Southwest 2 project team I&C lead, City Utilities. "Emerson's automation and control technologies will play a vital role in helping us achieve these important objectives."
"We are pleased to have been selected for projects that are so important to meeting the electricity needs of this region," said Bob Yeager, president of the Power & Water Solutions division of Emerson. "Emerson's ability to provide an automation solution customized to best meet the requirements of both the new construction and retrofit projects speaks to our extensive capabilities, as well as our industry-leading automation and control technologies."
SOURCE: Emerson Process Management, Power & Water Solutions
