Power plant automation: turbine control system enables greater production, improved operator efficiency and enhanced safety
July 2008
Motion Control & Drives
Honeywell is expanding its relationship with energy products and services leader Wood Group Turbine Control Services to offer a turbine control system for the global power industry.
The Turbine Control System, in conjunction with the Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS), is an integrated solution containing technology from both Honeywell and Wood Group that automates power plants to improve operator efficiency and safety, reduce maintenance costs and streamline overall production.
Honeywell and Wood Group have worked together in North America since 2003 to deliver an automated turbine control system that meets the evolving needs of the power-generation industry. The two companies have used their domain expertise and global reach to develop this joint solution to improve business performance for power generators worldwide.
Honeywell’s turbine control technology ties together process control and automation of plant subsystems and feeds the most relevant information directly to operators to help them make critical decisions in the control room. Combining these capabilities with Wood Group’s expertise, the Honeywell Turbine Control System provides a single, unified platform to control boiler, turbine and balance-of-plant operations.
In addition to interconnecting the boiler and turbine operations for superior control, Experion enables integration with business applications, advanced control applications and safety and security systems. This integrated approach helps companies synchronise production with business objectives as well as improve plant safety. For example, the Turbine Control System supports functionalities such as automatic run-up and shutdown sequences.
“More power-generation companies are upgrading their older control systems because they are becoming increasingly harder to maintain and simply do not meet the demands of today’s marketplace,” said Gary Schwartz, managing director of Wood Group Turbine Control Services. “Power plants are discovering that tight integration between systems such as boilers and turbines is essential to improve overall system operations and, therefore, business results.”
“Having a single platform with a single interface not only maximises production, it improves the effectiveness of the operator and reduces training requirements and safety incidents,” said Amit Kansal, global business director for Power, Honeywell Process Solutions. “The Turbine Control System allows power plants to achieve this while optimising generation, and enabling better plant lifecycle management.”
Honeywell has served the power industry for more than 25 years and installed more than 1400 power generation systems. Wood Group operates in 46 countries and provides turbine control upgrades and services for gas, steam and hydro turbo-machinery, as well as integrated compressor control.
For more information contact Debbie Rae, Honeywell Southern Africa, +27 (0)11 695 8000, [email protected], www.honeywell.com
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