For the month of May, the branch hosted a presentation from Eskom on ‘Boiler Control and Optimisation’. Topics covered included: an introduction to Eskom; a typical ‘6 Pack’ power station; design principles and hierarchy; hardware principles; regulations; protection; and the optimisation roadmap and methodology.
From left: Carel Potgieter, Nico Marneweck, Nerino Baruffa, and Koos Veldman.
Some points that stood out are that Eskom presently has 42,8 GW designed capacity being delivered by 28 power stations or by 90 boilers. Another 17 GW is being brought online. The 700 MW boiler which formed the basis of the discussion is 80 m tall, and typically expands up to 1m
when in operation. This boiler runs at around 172 bar at 540°C, while the larger Medupi ones, for instance, go as high as 242 bar and 560°C. A typical boiler consumes 96 kg per second of coal, has up to 9000 I/O, and consists of 500 loops and 500 control functions. In excess of 7 design principles are focused on, including aspects such as safety and availability. It was very clear that automation along with a hierarchal design makes it possible for a single operator to control and monitor such a vast system.
The branch sincerely thanks Carel Potgieter, Nerino Baruffa and Koos Veldman for the presentation, between them they have over 110 years of experience.
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