Recently, HollySys received a Letter of Appreciation from Shaanxi Shanhua Coal Chemical Group Co. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shanhua Group") who just completed the acceptance for the Combustion Optimization of No. 3 Boiler. This marked the successful implementation of the first boiler in the combustion optimization project of its power station. It is also the first successful cooperation between Shanhua Group and HollySys in the field of intelligent control of thermal power plants. 

Letter of Appreciation

Hangzhou HollySys Automation Co., Ltd.,

We undertook the DCS control system capacity expansion project under a service contract for No. 3 boiler and turbine, including one 260t/h high temperature and high pressure pulverized coal boiler and one CB25MW back pressure extraction turbine. The primary purpose of building the thermal power plant was to supply electric power and thermal energy for the production of the whole factory. After the plant officially started production, the operating parameters fluctuated greatly due to frequent changes in the production steam load. The operators needed to make timely adjustments to adapt to the changing boiler thermal load in order to meet the requirements of stable production, resulting in an extremely heavy workload. Even so, the frequent adjustments could hardly meet the production requirements in terms of accuracy and timeliness. 

This project was carried out for the combustion optimization of the first boiler of Shanhua Group. In the preparatory stage of the project cooperation, we were in close contact with Qian Hua, the expert from your Thermal Power Division, and Luo Jia, the business manager from your Xi'an Liaison Office, allowing both parties to finally recognize HollySys’ technical strengths and sign the contract for the project. 

During the implementation of the project, Shi Chunfang and Liu Junjie from the optimization project team of your Thermal Power Division, and Kong Donglin from the project team of your Xi'an Liaison Office, overcame various unfavorable conditions and successfully fulfilled the project objectives, by virtue of their high sense of responsibility and professional skills, and in close cooperation with our on-site technicians. The combustion optimization has indeed played a positive role in largely reducing the labor intensity of operators, keeping all boiler parameters stable, and significantly promoting factory production. The plant successfully put into operation after optimization has been unanimously recognized by the leaders of Shanhua Group. It has not only improved boiler efficiency and realized energy saving and consumption reduction, but also raised the automatic production level of the factory. 

We would like to sincerely express our gratitude for your efforts in optimizing the boiler through the implementation of the project. Your continuous adherence to the outstanding working style is very much appreciated. We are looking forward to more valuable suggestions and excellent solutions on the automation of our project from your professional point of view, and by the concept of serving customers, as well as more contributions to the automation part of our project. 

Technology Development Department, Shaanxi Shanhua Coal Chemical Group Ltd.

The power station of Shanhua Group is equipped with 3*240t/h pulverized coal boilers + 2*25MW steam turbine generator units, which are operated with a header system to provide a steam heat source for the industrial park while working for power generation. In October 2021, HollySys handed over a complete set of software and hardware for the combustion optimization to Shanhua Group and started the commissioning work. In mid-November 2021, the overall commissioning was completed and the power station was handed over for training and trial operation. The No. 3 boiler was mainly optimized in the following 4 aspects: 

1. Intelligent control and operation optimization of the boiler air distribution system (forced draft fan and induced draft fan);

2. Intelligent control and operation optimization of the boiler steam-water system (feed water and desuperheating water);

3. Intelligent control and operation optimization of the boiler fuel system (coal feeding, cold and hot air of coal pulverizer);

3. Intelligent control and operation optimization of the boiler fuel system (coal feeding, cold and hot air of coal pulverizer);

HollySys applied numerous core technologies in the project implementation, such as artificial intelligence, big data, predictive control, intelligent optimization, fuzzy control, soft sensing, control at constraint boundary and coordinated control. The successful implementation of the project greatly reduced the labor intensity of the supervision operators, enabling automatic operation without intervention, with an automatic operation rate exceeding 98%. The fluctuation range of important process parameters (main steam pressure, main steam temperature, furnace draft, boiler oxygen content, etc.) of boiler operations has been reduced by more than 20% compared with that of manual operation, and the coal consumption has also significantly dropped after optimization control. With optimization results far beyond expectations, the objectives of energy saving, consumption reduction, staff downsizing and efficiency improvement have been fulfilled, while at the same time improving equipment safety and stability. The successful combustion optimization of the No. 3 boiler further enhanced the confidence of both parties in deepening their cooperation. Following this, the combustion optimization contracts for No. 1 and No. 2 boilers of Shanhua Group's power station were signed in May this year. 

Operation Certificate of Customer

The power station of Shaanxi Shanhua Coal Chemical Group Ltd. is equipped with 3×240t/h pulverized coal boilers (P=9.81Mpa, t=540°C, with No. 3 boiler expanded and transformed to 260t/h, and all boilers equipped with 3 medium-speed direct-firing pulverizers) and 2×25MW thermal power units (one back pressure extraction turbine and one extraction condensing turbine), which are operated in a header system. The extraction turbine is equipped with a post-unit, and the back pressure turbine exhausts into the heat supply header to supply heat for the park while working for power generation. Due to the greatly fluctuating production steam load, the operators were forced to make frequent adjustments to adapt to the load. In July 2021, we entered into a contract with HollySys for the combustion optimization of the No. 3 boiler with the use of HolliAS APC Suite (Advanced Process Control Package). HollySys successfully combined expert strategy with the on-site process and applied numerous core technologies in the project implementation, such as artificial intelligence, big data, predictive control, fuzzy control, soft sensing, control at constraint boundary and coordinated control. Through the commissioning stage lasting from October to November 2021, the automatic combustion optimization control was completed for the No. 3 boiler in the power station, improving the stability and safety of boiler operation, and fulfilling the objectives of energy saving, consumption reduction and parameter stability. The project resulted in narrowed fluctuation ranges of important process parameters (main steam pressure, main steam temperature, furnace draft, etc.). The parameter stability (standard deviation) between manual and automatic operation modes are compared as follows: 

By utilizing core technologies such as predictive control and big data learning, the boiler efficiency was improved and coal consumption was reduced. In addition, the stability of the boiler parameters and production safety was improved. More specifically, coal consumption was reduced by 0.52%, according to data comparing the manual and automatic modes in the following 4 time periods: 

Conclusion: accepted

Technology Development Department, Shaanxi Shanhua Coal Chemical Group Ltd. 

As one of the numerous projects successfully completed by HollySys thanks to its boiler combustion optimization solutions, this project further demonstrates HollySys' superiority in the field, which was once again recognized by the customer in the coal chemical industry. HollySys is ready to help more thermal power equipment manufacturers with its boiler combustion optimization solutions, allowing energy saving, consumption reduction, staff downsizing and efficiency improvement, and ultimately contributing to China's dual carbon goals! 

Background:

Shaanxi Shanhua Coal Chemical Group Ltd. was founded by the merging of Shaanxi Chemical Fertilizer Plant and Shaanxi Compound Fertilizer Plant in the 1960s and has a development history of more than 50 years. In June 2006, it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shaanxi Coal and Chemical Industry Group Co., Ltd. Shanhua Group currently owns multiple main plants, with an annual production capacity of 600,000 tons of synthetic ammonia, 1,000,000 tons of urea, 250,000 tons of ammonium phosphate, 130,000 tons of 1,4-butanediol and 46,000 tons of PTHF.