7.

2 Coordinated Master Control – CMC

 Introduction

In a thermal Power plant to meet the load requirement of the grid in most efficient
manner the Boiler steam generation and its expansion in turbine has to be coordinated
to achieve best efficiency and heat rate of the Boiler and Turbine. Boiler control refers to
mainly combustion control and Turbine control refers to mainly Turbine speed and Load
control. CMC control system provides the reference demand signal to Boiler as well as
Turbine control to meet the grid demand.

The combustion control system computes the amount of fuel and air required for the
furnace depending upon the load demand on the Boiler, which in turn is generated by
the CMC Loop. The CMC loop also generates Load signals for Turbine EHG- Electro
hydro Governor .

The unit load demand signal is based on the electrical load requirement from the Load
dispatch centre (LDC) or as decided by the Operator .

 How Steam pressure changes as the Load demand changes

As the Electrical load on the generator Changes, the mechanical load on the coupled
turbine also changes. The turbine copes with these load changes by increasing or
decreasing the steam mass passing through it by modulating the steam inlet control
valves. The turbine inlet valves are closed to reduce the steam flow thru the turbine and
vice versa.

As the turbine inlet valves tend to close the instantaneous effect on the Boiler is increase
of steam pressure at the Boiler outlet. The fuel input to the steam generator is required
to be reduced to adjust to the reduced requirement of steam. The dynamic response of
the steam generator to change in the steam quantity required is quite sluggish due to
inherently slow chain of fuel preparation and fuel firing equipment. So till the effect of
reduction in firing rate takes place the Boiler will tend to produce the excess quantity of
steam and its discharge pressure will tend to increase, since flow through Turbine is
decreasing. This extra pressure is killed across the turbine inlet steam control valve. This
is an avoidable loss of fuel.
Consider sudden increase in load requirement. This will lead to opening of the steam
inlet valve to let in more steam flow thru turbine. The boiler is not able to produce this
extra steam, therefore the Steam pressure at the Boiler outlet tends to fall. This sudden
reduction of steam pressure in steam generator prompts an insaneness expulsion of
steam mass due to increase in specific volume of the steam with in the confines of the
system. This provides the temporary load increase even before the increase in fuel
handling and fuel firing system provides more fuel to the Boiler. To provide more steam
on sustained basis , more fuel is to be fired in to the furnace.

 Importance of Steam Pressure control

A turbine can give required load capability at varying steam pressure at its input
provided it gets the requisite steam mass having required energy or enthalpy. The steam
can be delivered by Boiler at constant pressure or at variable pressure. The important
point is to produce the steam at optimum cost of fuel and at the same time with a quick
of the response of the boiler and turbine to the varying load conditions of the electrical
grid to which turbine and generator are connected.

 Constant Pressure operation V/S Sliding pressure mode of Operation of the

Boiler

Constant pressure control mode implies stable pressure of the main steam over the units
entire operating range.

In Sliding Pressure control mode of operation the Combustion control system operates
in the manner that Boiler steam pressure varies in proportion to the steam pressure
required at the turbine inlet throttling valves

If the boiler main steam pressure is controlled in a manner that it follows the pressure
required at each turbine load , then this is called “Pure sliding pressure” mode of
operation How ever when we speak of sliding Pressure, we often speak of “Modified
sliding Pressure operation” Mode of Operation .In the modified sliding Pressure
operation, the range of pressure control at the boiler outlet is limited. It lies between
Pure and constant pressure mode.

A unit operating at constant boiler steam pressure will have significant load reserve at
any reduced load due to significant capacity available at Turbine input throttling valve,
but leads to lots of energy wastage as throttling loss. A pure sliding operation can not
offer the dynamic load response. Therefore modified sliding pressure mode is used for
control.

To handle the rapid and continuous load ramping ( which is of great interest due to high
fuel cost) , turbine temperature transients are minimized by operating in sliding pressure
mode

 CMC Loop- control Modes.

CMC control station provide flexibility to the operator to control Boiler and turbine
in Manual or Cordinated mode depending upon the physical condition of the Boiler and
turbine auxiliaries and operational requirements of unit startup and shutdown.

In manual mode the Boiler input demand is manually generated by the operator. Main
Steam pressure is controlled by operating steam turbine in by pass mode during the
start up.

In Coordinated Control Mode, the target load is dictated either by AUTOMATIC LOAD
DISPATCH SYSTEM (ADS) or set manually if ADS is not functional.

The target load signal is processed for minimum/maximum load limits which are
manually adjustable, corrected for grid frequency variation before feeding to Ramp
circuit for generation of Unit load demand. DEFEAT SWITCH is provided to the operator
for introducing the frequency deviation. The Ramp circuit is provided with up ‘ down
directional blocking to regulate unit load demand during process disturbance. TURBINE
STRESS EVALUATOR ‘HOLD’ signal is interfaced for holding the rate of integration and
load changed rate limits to control load demand variation.

Additional Reading
What is turbine stress evaluator and how it is interfaced in Turbine control

In case of Unit disturbance Run down / Run back condition are generated and the unit
load demand is automatically reduced to low limit as permitted by the Process.

The Unit load demand is fed to Boiler Master to generate Boiler demand i.e. Air & Fuel
requirement and to Turbine Control to set Turbine demand i.e. MW.

The Control System envisages following modes of operation which are selectable
manually:

COORDINATED MODE

In this mode both Boiler Master and Turbine Control are put in ‘Auto’ and unit load
demand is fed to both Boiler and Turbine to compute their individual load demands. In
addition to it, Boiler is gent Throttle Pressure error for fine adjustment of the demand.
The turbine bypass valves act as pressure relief valves and are generally fully closed.

BOILER FOLLOW MODE

In this mode turbine takes load and the boiler follows. It is adopted when turbine control
is in Manual. The turbine sets the MW load and the boiler controls throttle pressure as a
follower.

TURBINE FOLLOW MODE

In this mode boiler takes lead and the turbine follows. The boiler input demand is
manually generated by the operator and the turbine governor system controls the main
steam pressure. It is automatically selected during Run down / Runback situation. MW
is controlled by the boiler while throttle pressure is maintained by the turbine.

MANUAL MODE
In this mode both boiler master and turbine controller are switched over to manual and
unit is controlled manually.

RUN DOWN/RUN BACK

‘Run down’ is switched ON automatically when the Process error i.e. Feed water, Air
flow etc. becomes excessive and the control element goes to maximum position making
process uncontrollable. Under the situation, Unit load demand is reduced to a value as
Permitted by the process to get over the blockage.

Similarly, ‘Run back’ is initiated automatically in the event of tripping of unit auxiliaries ie.
BFP, IDF etc. to match unit demand with reduced unit capacity.

‘Up/Down directional blockings’ are introduced whenever process error i.e. Feed water,
Air flow etc. becomes high or associated control element goes to maximum position to
hold the unit load demand till such time the process recovers. Under generator circuit
breaker OPEN and turbine trip the unit is run under house load operation.

THROTTLE PRESSURE CONTROL

Fixed or Variable Pressure mode of operation can be selected from the Pressure
setter. With Fixed Pressure operation, the set point can be fixed manually while
invariable Pressure Operation the steam flow signal representing the load index is
programmed through function generator to generate Variable Pressure set point. The
actual pressure is measured by 3-redundant transmitters and median value is taken as
Process value. The pressure error is given to Boiler Master / Turbine Control as
required by the operation mode mentioned above.

Various Manual interface stations available with the operator

1. Coordinated Mode / Boiler follow mode / Turbine follow mode selection station
2. Master control auto- manual station to select the load demand signal from load
dispatch centre or to be set by the operator in Coordinated mode of operation
3. Boiler Master Auto-manual setter
4. Frequency Influence ON/OFF
 5. Minimum Load limit setter
6. Maximum Load Limit setter
7. Load Rate setter
8. Pressure setter

XXX—————————————————————————XXX

7.3 Steam Turbine Control

Steam Turbine Control functions include automatic startup and speed control,
synchronization, load control, frequency control and valve testing. The system includes
means to …

 Accelerate the turbine to operating speed while providing variable rates of

acceleration
 Control electrical load
 Participate in load and frequency control
 Test control valves while maintaining load
 Override the normal valve position signal to prevent the valve from exceeding a
limit

Speed Control

The system accelerates the turbine from turning gear to synchronous speed. An
automatic time v/s speed program is provided to assure a safe and fast startup. In
addition, a rotor stress calculation program may be employed to ensure the turbine will
startup in the minimum time with minimum stress. The operator has the ability to adjust
the speed reference and acceleration through any workstation.

Depending upon the turbine design, the unit is synchronized. The speed is trimmed by
the system until speed and phase angle are matched with the line. Note that the median
of three speed signals are used in the system.

Valve Management

The system provides individual control of all the steam admission valves (main throttle or
stop valves, control or governor valves and the intercept valves). Each valve has a
different purpose depending upon the mode of control. Sequential control of these
valves during startup, automatic load control and shutdown are performed automatically
by the system. Switching control modes is automatic and bump-less.

During startup, when controlling speed, the throttle valve (typically a bypass valve built
into one of the stop valves) controls steam flow. Under these conditions the
control/governor valves are wide open, thus allowing steam admission to the entire
nozzle block. Depending upon the turbine design, transfer to sequential control (control
valves / governor valves) takes place before or after synchronization.

At the transfer point the governor valves are closed in sequence and the throttle/stop
bypass valve continues to control steam flow. When the throttle bypass valve reaches its
full open limit, control is transferred to the control (governor) valves that then open in
sequence to increase speed or load. All throttle/stop valves are opened to their limit at a
controlled rate.

When reducing load the reverse transfer occurs automatically at a preset load point. On
a rapid loss of load the transfer will take place after the reheater has been unloaded.

Load Control

Load control, is used after synchronization takes place and above a preset low load
limit. The system allows the operator to set the load reference in MW and the rate of
change or loading rate in MW per minute. The system will automatically control the
governor valves to increase load in a linear fashion which duplicates the load demand
curve as established by the operator or the Automatic Dispatch System (ADS).

Note that the system employs the Unit Constraint Coordinator, which permits the
operator to set the loading rate at a level higher than most other systems.

Automation employs a unique approach that uses turbine first stage pressure (P1), gross
generation (MW) and system frequency in a cascade control loop. This control loop
provides optimum performance, with or without a coordinated control system (CCS). It
makes maximum use of boiler stored energy and linearizes the governor valves.
Frequency Correction

There are two elements to frequency control – the “natural” element provided by the
turbine control (governor) and the planned element provided by the Energy Management
System (EMS). The turbine control provides for natural frequency correction capability.
Frequency control capability is necessary for area wide frequency control as well as
system wide control. Without frequency correction the network would not be stable.
Frequency correction is the change in steady state speed expressed in percent of rated
speed when power output of the turbine is gradually reduced from rated power to zero
power output. It can also be stated as the percent speed (frequency) change that results
from a full opening or closing of the governor valves. Thus the greater the value of
percent regulation, the less will be the sensitivity.

% frequency correction = [(S1-S2)/S2] X 100

S1 = Speed at zero load

S2 = Speed at rated load
Percent correction is adjustable up to 10% with a nominal setting of 7%. Frequency
correction is used even when the unit is in coordinated control mode.

Throttle Pressure Control

There are circumstances when it is necessary to control pressure with the governor
valves. This is normally referred to as turbine follow mode. In this mode the valves
respond to the throttle pressure error by closing the valves to increase pressure and vice
versa.

Turbine follow mode is normally used when in an emergency condition and it is

important to immediately balance the boiler with the turbine.If Turbine Base mode is
available with the boiler control this can be initiated after boiler turbine stability has been
restored.
Turbine follow mode is automatically initiated when the throttle pressure drops below a
dangerously low limit. This is done to protect the turbine from water induction.

The turbine control system positions the steam admission valves by sending demand
signals to servomotors (servos) mounted on or near the hydraulic valve actuators.
Hydraulic fluid is controlled to the spring-loaded pistons by the servos. A I/O module,
called a “valve positioner”, provides an analog output to the servo. Since most servos
have two coils, dual outputs are provided.

The “valve-positioner” also has means to receive two valve position feedback signals
from LVDTs mounted on the valve. The positioning algorithm uses the greater of the two
signals. Since the LVDTs are nonlinear and vary with temperature, means are provided
to calibrate the LVDT on a periodic basis.

A proportional-plus-integral (PI) positioning algorithm is executed every 5 ms. The

position demand for each control valve is computed in the Distributed Processing Unit
(DPU) and updated over the I/O bus.

The “valve positioner” also has the capability to receive a speed signal. The “valve
positioner” includes signal conditioning and a resistor network for matching the coil to
the proper output.

Unit Constraint Coordinator

One of the most significant challenges to operators today is to provide maximum

response to requests for a load change and not overstress aging plant equipment. Care
must be taken to not put undo stress on super-heater headers, turbine rotors, reheat
headers, boiler drums, as well as pumps, fans and valves.

During a load change the Plant Constraint Coordinator monitors critical turbine and
boiler parameters and will automatically reduce the unit-loading rate if it is determined
that excessive stress is likely to occur. When the transient condition clears and stress
rates are reduced, the loading rate is automatically returned to the original operator-
adjusted setting. The stress determination is calculated in real time and is available for
review by plant operators.

The Constraint Coordinator also monitors, in real time, the availability of plant auxiliaries,
such as fans, pumps, coal pulverizers, etc. it automatically adjusts the maximum and
minimum limits for load changes based upon this availability.

Benefits of Constraint Coordinator

 Improve unit ramping rate consistent with instantaneous load changing

capabilities
 Enable unit response to ADS requirements
 Operate with stress limits for extended life
 Avoid purchased power cost due to slow load response
 Extend life of auxiliaries and avoid unplanned outages