Abstracts - VGB PowerTech Journal 10/2010

The New Electricity Age - Innovations towards a Sustainable Energy System

Michael Weinhold and Klaus Willnow

The energy system of the future will be characterised by significantly greater complexity due to the growing demand for electricity and decentralised as well as fluctuating generation. Only end-to-end intelligence from power plants via networks to end-use applications, so-called smart grid technologies, will enable the integrated energy system to handle this complexity and thus the step towards a new electricity age. A pre-requisite is an optimised power plant and fleet management where end-to-end network solutions through integrated communication and new grid intelligence will be applied.

Computer-assisted Operational Management of Power Plants in the Field of Tension between Standard and Customised Software

Norbert Hippmann

Process routines in the operational management of power plants - particularly maintenance - are now largely planned, controlled and documented with the help of IT. Depending on corporate policy, IT support for routines is currently realised either with commercially available standard ERP software or with dedicated applications that have been specially developed for a given company. Whereas standard software has certain technical benefits (homogeneous databases, data integrity, standard user interface, no software interfaces, standard maintenance and service), customised applications have the undisputed advantage of offering the best possible mapping of company-specific process routines. By exploiting the full spectrum of IT enhancement options of its SAP system, RWE Power has largely combined the respective benefits of both standard and customised software, while also realising high-end user requirements that go beyond the mere standard.

Field Report of I&C System Meetings

Werner Breun

In a lot of cases large power plant construction projects are commissioned to different contractors (lot placing). Because of the high degree of automation in modern power plants, it is very important that the specific and quality-assured information of the process and/or mechanical engineering supplier flows to the contractor of the main C&I system. The paper accordingly shall describe the basics of the process instruction, its realisation and experiences from a power plant projects execution.

IT Security in Power Plants

Hans Honecker

Complex physical process architectures are nowadays only conceivable with the aid of suitable automation, instrumentation and control systems. The corresponding system architectures contain both the process-specific hardware components and a large proportion of components which either emulate those of classical information technology or are even directly taken from it. As a result, process control systems are also vulnerable to threats and hazards from classical information technology. These vulnerabilities can in principle be handled by consistent implementation of IT security. Among other measures, an extremely strict separation of the process control systems and networks, even from the plant's own office network, is essential for suitable process control security in power plants.

Ageing Management of Electrical and C/I Systems in Power Plants of RWE Power

Reinhard Hentschel, Wolfgang Kochs and Ralf-Michael Zander

Maintenance and enhancement of the availability and safety of fossil-fired and nuclear power plants currently in operation are increasing in importance with plants´ age. The paper deals with issues related to e.g. the operation of C&I-systems at the end of production and with the challenges involved in their replacement during plant operation and describes the various measures taken for monitoring electrical equipment. Taking the improvement of the existing protection systems against internal arcs in electrical bus bars as an example, practical approaches for ageing management are described. In addition, the strategic approaches will be explained that were developed within a VGB working group due to the introduction of a new regulation on ageing management in nuclear power plants.

Advantages of Horizontal and Vertical Integration in Process- and Switch Gear Control

Peter Erning and Kati Langlotz

Higher operating efficiency in power generation is more and more in the focus. Traditional control systems are frequently confined to the vertical integration of process control. It is quite common to use separate SCADA systems for controlling electrical auxiliary systems. However, there exists an overlap between these domains: major loads though belonging to the process are operated by medium-voltage switch gear. Until now the necessary control interconnections required the installation of costly and inflexible marshalling racks. Integrated operation and diagnostics was difficult to implement. These disadvantages apply accordingly in case of implementation of the entire sub-station via direct wiring. State-of-the-art control systems connect these two worlds in one system by integration of sub-station automation using the open standard IEC 61850 which allows freedom of choice in equipment and full access to all sub-station data.

Connection of Auxiliary Power Supply to the Power Plant's Main Instrumentation and Control System by Way of IEC 61850

Jörg Ciuches and Stephan Wittner

Based on the positive experience with the integration of control and signalling of the auxiliary power supply switchgear into the I&C system SPPA-T-3000 of Siemens by way of the IEC 61850 protocol in the Neurath power plant F/G project, the concept was further advanced for the power plant new build projects of the Westfalen power plant at Hamm and the Eemshaven power station in the Netherlands. The development aimed to integrate all other components of auxiliary power supply, such as transformers, battery systems as well as rectifiers and inverters, directly into the main I&C system on the basis of the IEC 61850 protocol, apart from the medium-voltage and low-voltage switchgear.

Isolation and Maintenance at Evonik Using RFID Technology

Hüseyin Rall und Martin Stephan

Work orders or permits of maintenance and/or control systems are partly dealt with manually. The benefit that is achieved by introducing mobile devices to display all required information at the work place will further be increased by use of the RFID-technology. This is achieved through better work assistance, reduced probability for errors and a significantly reduced amount of working hours. Evonik has developed several RFID-supported applications for mobile maintenance that support different backend-systems (e. g. SAP). This article concentrates on applications for work permit and maintenance that have been introduced at several power plant sites.

On-site Corrective Maintenance at Generator Transformers

Ulrich Sundermann and Heinz-Günter Beißel

Generator transformers have a high availability and low failure rates because of continuous improvement of diagnosis methods for a reliable state estimation and the use of on-line monitoring systems for early fault recognition. Maintenance methods were also optimised. The paper describes the diagnosis and maintenance strategy for generator transformers followed by a report of a performed on-site corrective maintenance.

Three-phase Non-superconductive Fault Current Limiter Based on the Core-saturation Effect - Challenges and Ideas

Dalibor Cvoric, Sjoerd W. H. de Haan, Jan A. Ferreira, Maarten van Riet and Jan Bozelie

Fault current limiters (FCLs) are expected to play an important role in protection of future power systems. Saturated-core FCLs are particularly interesting because of their supreme operational advantages: inherent reaction on a fault, inherent post-fault recovery and unrestricted duration of a limiting period. The testing of a lab-scale FCL prototype proved the principle of operation. The full-scale 10 kV/400 A FCL prototype is built in co-operation with industry partners. The initial low-voltage 400 V testing has been successful. Full-voltage 10 kV testing will be performed later this year.

Biomass Co-combustion in the Elverlingsen Power Plant - Innovative Combustion Optimisation Increases Possibilities of Adding Meat and Bone Meal by 33 %

Martin Heesemann, Hans-Uwe Schöpp, Matthias Behmann, Bernhard Meerbeck, Klaus Wendelberger and Till Späth

The Siemens SPPA-P3000 Combustion Optimisation at Mark-E's Elverlingsen Power Plant is the first worldwide installation of a powerful laser measurement system in combination with an innovative hybrid closed-loop control. The new continuous optical measurements of temperature and concentrations with spatial resolution are the base for improving operation of the unit's complex slag tap firing. The optimisation system enhances combustion of the organic secondary fuel and reduces NOx-formation in the firing substantially.

Mill Controlling with SR::Mill in the Weiher Power Plant

Alexander Maltsev and Stephan Prinz

The physical properties of coal fluctuate strongly. Frequent start-up and load changes of the power plant unit present a high challenge regarding the safe and efficient operation of the coal mills. Consequently, an intelligent automatic software solution becomes especially valuable. The mill optimisation module SR::Mill takes over the control over the mill feeding providing a great assistance to the power plant operator.

Implementation of the REACh and GHS Directive for the Power Industry

Robert Müller, Jörg Prochnow, Jan Raudszus, Herbert Lindner, Tobias Zilberman and Karl-Heinz Puch

With the European Directives for REACh and GHS many existing regulations for hazardous substances are replaced. New pictograms and an alphanumeric codes (e.g.: GHS09) are implemented. 15 danger characteristics of the dangerous material regulation in 29 warning categories, which are divided into different danger categories again, are transferred. The signal words "danger" and "attention" are introduced. For the transition period beginning at 1 December 2010, exists "conversion assistance" from the old dangerous material regulation to the new regulations.