industry: power gdf suez -...
TRANSCRIPT
“Invensys delivered a significant amount of flexibility and capabilities to the system design.”
Derren Wicks Lead Maintenance Engineer
Invensys Foxboro DCS System Key Power Station Upgrade
Goals•GDFSuezinitiatedaplantosplitcontrolofa14.7-kilometergaspipelinerunningbetweenitsTeessidePowerStationandagasreceptionfacilityandagasprocessingplantwhichprovidesdualnaturalgasfuelsuppliesfortheplant
•Arobustsolutionwasneededtoreplacesignalsoriginallycollectedbykilo-streamtelemetryandthentransmittedviaanalogtelephonelinesthroughagatewaytothedistributedcontrolsystematthegasprocessingplant.
•RelocatethecontrolfacilitiesandassociateddatatothecontrolroomattheTPS
Challenge•Thecompanymandatedthatthepowerstationcontrolsystemupdateoccurlive,becauseshuttingdownthenaturalgassupplypipelinewouldincursignificantfinanciallosses
Invensys Operations Management Solutions: •Foxboro®I/ASeries®DistributedControlSystem•FoxboroAIM*Historian•Wonderware®InTouch®HMI•Eurotherm®single-loopcontrollers
Results•TheInvensys®solutiondeliveredgreatersystemefficienciesasobsoleteequipmentwasupgradedtocurrentpowerfacilitycontroltechnology
•GDFSuezbenefitedfromimprovedengineeringknow-howthatenablesplantmanagerstobetteranalyzepossibleproblemsandenhanceandmodifythecontrolsystemasrequired
•Thepowerstationnowhasimprovedoverallsafetysincesignalcollectionatmuchhigherfrequenciesprovidesreal-timedatatomoreimmediatelyidentifyandaddresspotentialissues
INDUSTRY:POWER
GDF Suezwww.gdfsuez.com
Redcar & Cleveland, United Kingdom–Basicphysicspointsoutthatyoucan’tmakemoreenergythanyouconsume.Butyoucanstillleveragetheelectricitygenerationprocess,squeezingeveryextrakilowattoutofthesystem.Combinedcyclegasturbinesdojustthat,divertingwasteheatproducedbyanaturalgas-fueledturbineintoasteamturbine.Thistypeofelectricitygenerationconfigurationachieveshighlevelsofefficiencysinceheatexhaust−thatwouldotherwisebereleasedintotheair−isre-usedinthecombinedpowergenerationprocess.
TheTeessidePowerStationinEnglandisthelargestcombinedcyclegasturbinefacilityinWesternEurope.Thesinglestationcanmeetnearly3percentoftheelectricitydemandforEngland,WalesandScotlandviaitseightnaturalgas-firedturbineswithatotalcapacityof1,875megawatts.In2008,GDFSuez,aFrenchmultinationalenergycompany,acquiredtheTeessidePowerStation,andembarkedonaplantmodificationprojectandupdateofthecontroltechnologyinfrastructurewithsolutionsfromInvensysOperationsManagement.
GDFSuez,formedbythemergerofGazdeFranceandSuezin2008,isoneoftheleadingenergyprovidersintheworld,globallyemploying200,000people.GDFSuezoperatesintheareasofelectricitygenerationanddistribution,naturalgasandrenewableenergy.Italsobecametheworld’slargestutilityaftertakingcontrolofBritain’sInternationalPower.ThecompanyhasbeenactiveintheUKsince1997,extendingitsbusinessthroughouttheentireenergyvaluechain,fromexplorationandproductionintheNorthSeatoenergysupplyandtechnicalservicestobusinesses.
A Handoff in Pipeline Control
Locatedona23-acresiteintheWiltonchemicalcomplexnearMiddlesbroughinthenortheastofEngland,theTeessidePowerStationalsoworksasacogenerationplant,providingsteamfortheWiltoncomplex.UntilitsacquisitionbyGDFSuez,theTeessidepowerplantwasoperated,maintainedandmanagedbyPXLtd.PXstilloperates,maintainsandmanagestheTeessidegas
processingplant(TGPP),whichdeliversprocessednaturalgasfueltoitsformerpowerplant.
ThescopeoftheupgradeprojectwastosecureandsplitthecontrolofthenaturalgaspipelinerunningundertheRiverTeesbetweenthepowerplantandthegasprocessingplant.ThisinvolvedreplacingboththeexistingFoxboroDistributedControlSystem(DCS)andMicoSolRemoteTerminalUnits(RTUs)–bothcontrolledbyTGPP–andbringingtheRTUsignalsintotheDCSlocatedattheTeessidepowerplant.Ineffect,thecontrolofthegaspipelinewouldbetransferredtotheTeessidePowerStation.
TheprincipletechnicalchallengewasthattheexistingsignalsfromtheRTUswerecollectedbytelemetryandtransmittedviaanalogtelephonelinesthroughagatewaytotheDCSatTGPP.Conversiontoarobust,highintegritysolutionwasneededtocollectthedatafromtheRTUs.Atthesametime,theexistingFoxboroandMicroSolsystemsweretobeupgradedtocurrentFoxborotechnology.
Thekeyrequirementfortheprojectwasthattheupgradetothenewcontrolsystembecompletedsafelyandeffectivelyconsequentlyitwasvitalthatthenewsolutiondemonstraterobustnessandreliability.Thecontrolsystemmodificationsalsohadtobecompletedinrealtime,withoutshuttingdownthegaspipelineandthusavoidingtheincursionofsignificantfinanciallosses.
Invensys Solution Relied onDiverse Capabilitie
TheTeessideprojectsignificantlyleveragedthediversecapabilitiesofferedbytheInvensyssolutionsportfolio.TheprojectwasbasedonaFoxboroI/ASeriesDCS.ItincludedFoxboroRTUsandtheMeshControlNetworkaswellasWonderwareInTouchhuman-machineinterface(HMI)softwareandsinglelooptemperatureandprocesscontrollersfromEurotherm.TheInvensysteamconsistedoffourpermanentmembers,andsomeoftheinitialengineeringworkwasperformedbyaleadengineerandapplicationengineersattheInvensysEngineeringExcellencecentreinBratislava,Slovakia.
TheFoxboroI/ASeriesisdesignedtoimproveTeesside’splant-wideoperations,performanceandassetutilization.TheFoxboroI/ASeriesfeaturesasignificantbreadthofcapabilitiesforprovidingoptimalperformancetooperators,engineersandmaintenancepersonnel.Notonlywillitmaximizepowerplantperformance,itenhancesbusinessoperationsinrealtime,allowingoperatorstofocusonmanagingprofitcontrol.Inaddition,theFoxboroI/ASeriesincorporatestheInvensys“continuouslycurrent”philosophywhichensuresthatthesystemisconstantlyinfusedwiththelatesttechnologieswhilemaintaininginteroperabilitywithearliergenerations.Thisassureseasyupgradesandsignificantlyreducestotalcostofownershipforthepowerplantoperators.
WonderwareInTouchprovidesadvancedgraphicvisualizationandisdesignedtomaximizeproductivity,optimizeusereffectiveness,increasequalityandlowerdevelopment,maintenanceandoperationalcostsbyfeaturingcustomgraphicalviewsofreal-timepowergenerationprocesses.
“Invensysdeliveredasignificantamountofflexibilityandcapabilitiestothesystemdesign,”saidDerrenWicks,LeadMaintenanceEngineer.“FoxboroI/AandWonderwareInTouchenabledourTeessidedevelopmentteamtoincorporateahugevolumeofsysteminformation.Theresultwaswewereabletofocusonreal-timecontrolactivitiesatthepowerplanttoensureallgenerationsystemswerecloselymonitoredandanyissuescouldbeeasilyandquicklyresolved.”
Inaddition,bothplantsrequirednewMeshControlNetworksegmentsaddingtotheircurrentlegacyFoxboroNodebussystemstohostthenewcontrolprocessors,andinturncontrolthenewFieldDeviceSystemInterfaces(FDSI)whicharethenconnectedtotheRTUnetworkinaredundantconfiguration.
TheTeessidePowerStationalsogainedanenterprise-widecapabilityforthecollection,storageandretrievalofhistoricaldatawiththeFoxboroAIM*Historian,whileanetworkarchitecturesolutionwasdevelopedwithassistancefromthird-partycommunicationstechnologyproviderBlackBoxNetworkSolutions.AIM*Historianprovidesenterprise-widecapabilityforthecollection,storageandretrievalofhistoricalprocessinformation.AIM*HistoriancanrunonbothI/ASeriessystemsandnetworkplatforms,andcancollectinformationfromawidevarietyofprocesscontrolenvironmentsincludingmostdistributedprocesscontrolsystemssuchastheI/ASeries.AIM*HistorianrepositoriesalsoareeasilyintegratedwithMicrosoftpersonalproductivityapplicationsandrelationaldatabases.
“Highlyefficientpower-generatingstationsliketheTeessideplantgenerateandconsumeincreasingandvariedamountsofhistoricaldata,”saidDerrenWicks.“Forsystemdevelopment,planningandplanningpurposes,weneedtostorethisinformationindefinitely,whilemakingthedatabothaccessibleandeasytoannotate.”
Invensysalsoprovidedanengineertoperformhazardandoperability(HAZOP)studiesandaSafetyIntegrityLevel(SIL)assessmentofthesystem.Thisresultedinarecommendationtoacquireanon-sitesafetysystemtomeetcurrentsafetyregulations.GDFSuezselectedaHIMatrixsafetysystemfromHimaSellaasequipmentfromthismanufacturerwasalreadyinuseattheTeessidePowerStationsite.TheInvensysteamdesignedasolutiontoconnecttheHIMatrixsafetysystemtotheFoxboroI/ASeriessystemtoensurethatallrelevantdataandalarmsweredisplayedonthe23operatorconsolesinthecentralcontrolroomatthepowerstation.
Fromthepositionofsafetyandhighintegrity,theHAZOPstudydeterminedthat,abackupsecondarysystemwasnecessary.Asaresult,theteamaddedaWonderwareinterfaceinthreeassociatedAboveGroundInstallations(AGI).Allplantcontrolinformationcanthenbemonitoredfromthislocationduringatelephonecommunicationsfailure.Inaddition,WonderwareInTouchsoftwarewasusedtocreatetherequiredinterfacetotheRTUs.
Uninterrupted Implementation Keeps Power Flowing
Theprojectwassuccessfullyexecutedintheallottedtimeframespecifiedandwithoutincurringashutdown.ExcellentcollaborationbetweentheGDFSuezandtheInvensysteamswerekeytoimplementingtheonlinetransferofthepowerfacilitycontrolsystemsfromoneplanttoanotherandalsoenabledtheTeessidePowerStationmanagerstocontinueproductionoperationsthroughouttheprojectupgrade.
Withthenewcontrolsysteminplace,theTeessidefacilityisoperatingwithamorerobusttechnologysolutionthatprovidessignificantlyhigherdegreesofvisibilityintoday-to-dayfacilityoperations.Asaresult,thecompanyisbetterabletocontroltheprocessandrespondfastertoanypotentialissuesthatmayimpactsafetyorproductivity.Andwhilethepowerfacilitycan’tescapethelawsofphysics,Invensyssolutionsareplayingamajorroleinhelpingplantmanagersgenerateelectricityatlowercostsandatthehighestlevelspossiblewithacombinedpowergenerationoperation.
www.wonderware.fi