The necessity of the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as formulated in
the Kyoto Protocol, imposes the need for improving environmental aspects of
existing thermal power plants operation. Improvements can be reached either
by efficiency increment or by implementation of emission reduction measures.
Investments in refurbishment of existing plant components or in plant
upgrading by flue gas desulphurization, by primary and secondary measures of
nitrogen oxides reduction, or by biomass co-firing, are usually accompanied
by modernisation of thermal power plant instrumentation and control system
including sensors, equipment diagnostics and advanced controls. Impact of
advanced control solutions implementation depends on technical
characteristics and status of existing instrumentation and control systems as
well as on design characteristics and actual conditions of installed plant
components. Evaluation of adequacy of implementation of advanced control
concepts is especially important in Western Balkan region where thermal power
plants portfolio is rather diversified in terms of size, type and
commissioning year and where generally poor maintenance and lack of
investments in power generation sector resulted in high greenhouse gases
emissions and low efficiency of plants in operation. This paper is intended
to present possibilities of implementation of advanced control concepts, and
particularly those based on artificial intelligence, in selected thermal
power plants in order to increase plant efficiency and to lower pollutants
emissions and to comply with environmental quality standards prescribed in
large combustion plant directive.
Importance of continuous monitoring and control of auxiliary power consumption in thermal power plants
