Methods and systems for enhancing control of power plant generating units

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9945264-B2
Application number	US-201414587682-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 31, 2014
Priority date	Dec 31, 2013
Publication date	Apr 17, 2018
Grant date	Apr 17, 2018

Abstract

A control method for optimizing or enhancing an operation of a power plant that includes thermal generating units for generating electricity. The power plant may include multiple possible operating modes differentiated by characteristics of operating parameters. The method may include tuning a power plant model so to configure a tuned power plant model. The method may further include simulating proposed operating modes of the power plant with the tuned power plant model. The simulating may include a simulation procedure that includes: defining a second operating period; selecting the proposed operating modes from the possible operating modes; with the tuned power plant model, performing a simulation run for each of the proposed operating modes whereby the operation of the power plant during the second operating period is simulated; and obtaining simulation results from each of the simulation runs.

First claim

We claim:

1. A control method for enhancing an operation of a power plant, wherein the power plant includes thermal generating units for generating electricity for a market, and wherein the power plant comprises possible operating modes differentiated by characteristics of operating parameters, each of which comprises a physical aspect of the operation of the power plant, and wherein the market includes an economic dispatch system for distributing an expected demand for the electricity in the market among a group of power plants that each submits an offer for generating a portion of the expected demand for electricity during a future market period defined by a dispatch system administrator, wherein the offer includes an incremental heat rate schedule for the power plant, the incremental heat rate comprising a heat rate for the power plant at selected output levels, the control method including:
tuning a power plant model so to configure a tuned power plant model, wherein the tuning comprises a tuning procedure inclusive of the following steps:
a) defining a first operating period and a plurality of the operating parameters, and then, using sensors, sensing measured values using for the plurality of operating parameters during the first operating period;
b) defining a performance indicator that comprises a performance criteria for the operation of the power plant, wherein the performance indicator is defined so to depend upon, at least in part, a selected operating parameter chosen from the plurality of the operating parameters;
c) from the measured values, calculating a measured value for the performance indicator;
d) with the power plant model and a subset of the measured values as input data, simulating the operation of the power plant over the first operating period and determining therefrom a simulated value for the selected operating parameter;
e) based on the simulated value for the selected operating parameter, calculating a predicted value for the performance indicator;
f) comparing the measured value against the predicted value of the performance indicator so to determine a differential there between; and
g) tuning the power plant model based on the differential so to configure the tuned power plant model; and

simulating proposed operating modes of the power plant with the tuned power plant model, wherein the simulating comprising a simulation procedure inclusive of the following steps:
receiving forecasted values for a plurality of disturbance variables, including at least ambient temperature and ambient pressure;
defining a second operating period that corresponds to the future market period of the economic dispatch system;
selecting the proposed operating modes from the possible operating modes, wherein the proposed operating modes comprise competing operating modes defined at each of the selected output levels and then, for each of the competing operating modes, multiple cases related thereto;
generating a proposed parameter set for each of the multiple cases defined for the competing operating modes, wherein the proposed parameter sets comprise input data for the tuned power plant model, the input data defining values for selected variables during the second operating period, wherein the proposed parameter sets are generated to include the forecasted values for the plurality of disturbance variables received;
with the tuned power plant model, performing a simulation run for each of the proposed operating modes whereby the operation of the power plant during the second operating period is simulated; and
obtaining simulation results from each of the simulation runs; and

using an optimization procedure to determine an optimized operating mode from the simulation results for the second operating period and, based on the optimized operating mode, generating the offer, wherein the optimization procedure comprising the steps of:
defining performance objectives, the performance objections including a heat rate for the power plant;
evaluating the simulation results for each of the simulation runs according to the performance objectives so to determine therefrom an optimized simulation run;
designating as the optimized operating mode whichever of the proposed operating modes corresponds with the optimized simulation run;
determining the optimized operating mode at each of the selected output levels from the competing operating modes and the cases corresponding to each so to determine an optimized heat rate at each of the selected output levels;
using the optimized heat rate at each of the selected output levels, calculating a true incremental heat rate schedule; and
generating the offer in which the incremental heat rate schedule is based on the true incremental heat rate schedule.

2. The control method according to claim 1 , wherein the second operating period comprises a subsequent, non-overlapping operating period in relation to the first operating period.

3. The control method according to claim 2 , wherein algorithms of the power plant model comprise logic statements in which performance multipliers correlate process inputs to process outputs for the operation of the power plant;
wherein the step of tuning the power plant model based on the differential includes making an adjustment to one of the performance multipliers and then recalculating the predicted value for the performance indicator so to determine if the adjustment made to the one of the performance multipliers results in reducing the differential;
wherein, if the adjustment to the one of the performance multipliers is determined to reduce the differential, the control method includes the step of incorporating the adjustment to the one of the performance multipliers into the power plant model so to configure the tuned power plant model;
wherein, if the adjustment to the one of the performance multipliers is determined to increase the differential, the method includes repeating the step of tuning using a different adjustment to one of the performance multipliers for each repetition; and
wherein the repetition of the step of tuning continues until the recalculation of the predicted value for the performance indicator results in reducing the differential.

4. The control method according to claim 2 , wherein the differential is designated an original differential;
wherein the step of tuning the power plant model based on the original differential so to configure the tuned power plant model comprises a tuning simulation that includes the following steps:
making an adjustment to one or more algorithms in the power plant model so to configure an adjusted power plant model;
with the adjusted power plant model and the subset of the measured values of the plurality of operating parameters as input data, simulating the operation of the power plant over the first operating period and recalculating therefrom the simulated value for the selected operating parameter;
using the simulated value for the selected operating parameter as recalculated to recalculate the predicted value for the performance indicator;
comparing the measured value for the performance indicator and the predicted value for the performance indicator as recalculated to determine a recalculated differential; and
comparing the original differential to the recalculated differential so to determine which of the power plant model and the adjusted power plant model calculated the predicted value for the performance indicator more accurately relative to the measured value for the performance indicator.

5. The control method according to claim 2 , wherein the enhancing of the operation of the power plant comprise an economic optimization made pursuant to a cost function defined within the performance objectives;
wherein the performance indicator is design

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Wichmann Lisa Anne
• Pandey Achalesh Kumar
• Pool Eric Thomas
• Raczynski Christopher Michael
• Pamujula Suresh

Classifications

• F02C6/00

  Plural gas-turbine plants; Combinations of gas-turbine plants with other apparatus; Adaptations of gas-turbine plants for special use · CPC title

• F01K13/02 Primary

  Controlling, e.g. stopping or starting · CPC title

• F01K23/101

  Regulating means specially adapted therefor (F01K23/105, F01K23/108 take precedence) · CPC title

• F05D2270/709

  with neural networks · CPC title

• G05F1/66

  Regulating electric power · CPC title