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Operation & Maintenance of Power Plants 


Variable speeds and ease of configuration top actuator demands


Advanced actuation technologies that have variable speed capabilities allow users to configure each device so that they support a wider range of requirements. Eugene McCarthy reports.


Las tecnologías avanzadas de actuadores cuentan con una capacidad de velocidad variable que le permite a los usuarios configurar cada dispositivo para que soporte una amplia gama de requisitos, afirma Eugene McCarthy.


Fortschrittliche Aktoren mit variabler Drehzahl ermöglichen es den Anwendern, jedes Gerät so zu konfigurieren, dass es eine Vielzahl von Anforderungen erfüllt. Eugene McCarthy berichtet.


G


erman company Sipos Aktorik has secured a power industry contract for around 1,000 electric actuators to be


commissioned at a new ultra-supercritical (USC) coal-fired power plant in Opole, south-west Poland. Te contract follows an earlier order for around 1,000 actuators for the Kozienice II coal-fired plant, also in Poland. Sipos devices with conventional control


and Profibus DP V2 interface for plant engineering and diagnostics were chosen for the Opole project. Key reasons for the selection, says Sipos, were its advanced actuation, variable speed capabilities and the ability to configure each device to support a wide range of requirements. Alstom is responsible for overall project management, design and commissioning of units five and six at the Opole scheme. Unit five is due to enter commercial operation in 2018 and unit six in 2019. Sipos’ actuators, supported by the


company’s local partner Auma Polska, will be adopted throughout the new plant, which comprises two 900MW units. Te USC will be Poland’s largest hard coal- fuelled facility which, when operational, will supply electricity to the equivalent of two million homes. First deliveries of the actuators to the Opole plant are planned for the second quarter of 2015. Sipos devices also have proven successful in aiding cooling water top- up processes at the Callide B power station located near Biloela, in Central Queensland, Australia. Te coal power scheme has eight steam turbines, with a combined generation capacity of 1,720MW. Steam is condensed using conventional cooling towers fed from a cooling water pond. Te pond water top-up system at Callide B comprises a level sensor and control valve operated by a Sipos 5 Profitron actuator


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with integrated process controller. By providing intelligent actuators, external process control was not required thus simplifying the system and saving capital and installation costs. Water from the pond at the bottom of the cooling tower is continually lost through evaporation. Te water level therefore needs to be topped up from an external source, in this case from the Awoonga dam and Stag Creek pipeline. A simple control system was required to activate and modulate the top-up valve to control the pond water level. Sipos’ actuation technology, featuring integrated process control functionality that accommodates a range of setpoint control possibilities, met the requirements. In other news, specialist modular electric actuation company Auma has been contracted to supply over 200 actuators to aid automation at a new Polish combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant. Located in the industrial city of Stalowa Wola, the scheme is part of an initiative by the Polish government designed to reduce the country’s dependency on coal for electricity generation. With an estimated opening date of late 2015, the plant will produce 450MW of electric power. An additional 240MW of thermal output will be generated to provide district heating for the city’s 65,000 homes. With a thermal efficiency rating of 60%, the power plant will be one of the most efficient in Europe (Fig. 1). In another project success, Auma has


secured a major order from Helsingin Energia, one of the largest energy companies in Finland. Te Vuosaaren A-voimalaitos power plant installed 150 Auma actuators to aid valve automation. Helsingin Energia meets 90% of the heating demands of Helsinki. Te overall production capacity of the plant is 160MW from electrical power and 160MW from district heating.


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