Process Quality in Power Engineering - Print

In the construction of new power plants and during the overhaul of process control systems in existing plants, the implementation of special tools for process optimization is increasingly becoming part of the instrumentation and control (I&C) contractor’s  scope of supply. Although these modules have different designations, depending  on the manufacturer or supplier, they often draw upon similar approaches, data models and processing algorithms.

But older plants, too, are increasingly being retrofitted with systems which provide functionalities for energy optimization which go significantly beyond simple process observation and formation of indicators. Some of those retrofits are implemented by industrial suppliers, some by the operators themselves, and some by specialized service providers.

The term “process quality” has become widely accepted to describe an energy assessment of the condition of a plant, a system or a component. This term and a small number of definitions derived from it are now enshrined in the “Basic Terms of the Electric Utility Industry”. The main characteristic is the independence of the indicators from the various ambient or operational conditions.

Over and above this, however, there are only a few non-proprietary descriptions and stipulations on this subject in the relevant standards and professional literature to date [5], with the result that neither the process quality monitoring systems in existence at present nor the information generated by these can be directly compared.

In consequence, the main objective of this VGB-Standard is to harmonize important terms, equations, units and boundary conditions, and in that way create a common assessment basis for interested plant operators. The attention of potential users is to be drawn to focal technical and organizational issues in a practical manner, thus assisting them in the implementation of their own process quality projects.