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December1,2011

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Improved Performance from Priority-Based Intelligent Sootblower Systems

ByMikeHovious,PEandKevinSchiedler,PE

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TheJimBridgerPlant,locatedinRockSprings,Wyo.,isthelargestcoal-firedplantoperatedbyPacifiCorp Share Energy.Theplantconsistsoffour560-MWunits;allhavecorner-firedCombustionEngineering(CE,nowAlstom Power)controlledcirculationsteamgenerators.Eachboilerproduces3.98millionlb/hrat2,660psiwith1,005F superheatand1,005Freheatsteamtemperatures.Eachunitwascommissionedinthe1970sandhasbeen upgradedwithAlstom'sTFS2000low-NOxfiringretrofit. JimBridgerisalsoamine-mouthplantburningsouthwestWyomingsubbituminouscoalprimarilyfromtwocompany-ownedmines, supplementedbycoaldeliveredbytrainfromanotherlocalmine.Allofthecoalproducedbythecompany-ownedminesmustbeconsumed bytheplant,evenifthecoalpropertiesareunfavorable.Thus,theplantblendsdeliveredcoaltoproducethemostfavorablecoalpossible.

The Effect of Coal Selection on Slagging

ThefactorsaffectingcoalenergycontentincludeBtu/pound,ash,andmoisturelevel.Thetableshowstheplantdesign,currenttarget,and percentoftimetargetsweremet.Thetargetedheatingvalueofthecoalis10%lower,andmoisturecontent20%higher,thandesign.This meansthathigherfuelinputisrequiredtoachievetheunit-ratedload.Theashcontenttargetis50%higherthandesign,meaningthatthe sootblowingeffortrequiredtomaintainboilerperformanceishigherthandesign.Target-metpercentagesof50%to65%illustratethe variabilityofheatingvalue,ashcontent,andmoisture.Thisvariabilitycanquicklychangesootblowingneedsattheplant.

Coal quality at Jim Bridger plant. Source:DiamondPowerInternationalInc.andPacifiCorpEnergy Therecanbesignificantoperationallimitsduetohigh-slaggingcoals,asmeasuredbyhighsodium(reheaterfouling),highcalcium,orhigh iron(waterwallslagging),andlowash-softeningtemperatureunderreducing(combustionwithlessoxygenthanisideallyrequired) conditions(reheaterandsecondarysuperheaterfouling).Theslaggingpotentialfactorslistedinthetablemeettargetedvaluesmorethan 99%ofthetime.Low-slaggingcoalisemphasizedatJimBridger,astheunitshistoricallyrequirealoaddropwithintwohoursofburning coaloutsideoftheslaggingtargets.

Original Equipment Blowers

TheretractablesootblowersontheJimBridgerunitsaremostlyvintageCopes-Vulcanblowers.DiamondPowerIK-600blowerscleanthe frontoftheplatensuperheatsection.Thereare28retractableblowersoneachunitatJimBridger,allusingsteamasthecleaningmedia. Theretractableblowersarepositionedtocleantheplatensuperheatpendant,reheatpendant,finishingsuperheatpendant,primary superheatpendant,andeconomizersectionsoftheboilers. TheBridgerplantusesDiamondPowerIR-3Zwallblowerswithsteamastheblowingmedia.Eachunithas76wallblowers.Thereare20 wallblowersoneachofthe8th,9th,and10thfloors.These60blowersareinserviceandavailableforusebyoperations. Thesteamwallblowersareintendedtoblowsteaminapaththatisnearlyparalleltothefurnacewall.Theparallelflowpathofthe wallblowercleaningarcresultsinowenergyimpactonthefurnacewalltubing.InEPRI'sBoiler Tube Failures: Theory and Practice, Volume 2: Water Touched Tubes, theauthorsidentifyexcessivesootblowingasonerootcauseofboilertubefailures,inadditiontoinsufficient steamtemperature,condensateinblowingmedia,improperoperationofthethermaldrainsystem,excessiveblowingpressure,improper locationofthesootblower,improperalignmentofthesootblower,andmalfunctionofthesootblower.InPacifiCorp'sexperience,correction oftheotherfactorswillpreventexcessivesootblowingfromcausingerosiononthewaterwalltubingthathasthepotentialtocauseaboiler tubeleak. Ingeneral,retractablesootblowersareahighererosionliabilitythanwallblowers.Aretractablesootblower'ssteamarcisperpendicularto thetubesofeachpanelinitspath.Theforceofthesteamremovesashdepositspresentonthepanels.Theforceofthesteamwillalso removeminuteamountsoftubemetalifblowndirectlyoncleantubing,whichresultsinsignificanterosionaftermanybloweroperations.In EPRI'sBoiler Tube Failures: Theory and Practice, Volume 3: Steam-Touched Tubes,theauthorsidentifysootbloweroperationsthatoccur onatimebasisratherthananas-neededbasisasaprimarycauseofsootblowererosiontubeleaksintheareasaroundretractable

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sootblowers. Retractablesootblowernozzleperformanceisassessedbymeasuringthepeakimpactpressure(PIP)ofthecleaningmediajetatpoints downstreamofthenozzleoutlet.Toreducetheerosiveimpactofretractablesootblowers,inthe1990s,theJimBridgerplantreplaced originalHi-PIPnozzlesonretractableblowerswithgroundflushnozzlesthathaveamuchlowerpeakimpactpressure.LoweringthePIPof theseretractableblowersalsomadethemlesseffectiveatremovalofashdepositsandplatenizedbuild-up.

Sootblowing Side Effects

TheJimBridgerplant'shistoryofsootblowererosionandfoulinginthependantsectionsmadesootbloweroptimizationcritical(seesidebar). Whensootbloweroperationfrequencyistoohigh,aplantriskslosingpowergenerationfromtubeleaks;butwhensootblowerfrequencyis toolow,thereisariskofboilerpluggage.Intelligentsootblowing(ISB)istheplant'schosentooltooptimizesootblowing.Plantoperators expectISBtooperatesootblowerswhenandwherenecessarytominimizetubeerosionandavoidpluggage.Theyalsoexpectnoheatrate lossfromtheuseofISB.

Important ISB Considerations

AcontributingfactortothesuccessoftheISBsystematJimBridgerPlant'sUnit2wastheinstallationofhigh-performancenozzles ontheretractablesootblowers.Werecommendaskingoperationspersonnelaboutboilerconditionsandsootblowerperformance.If operatorsarerunningblowersexcessively,askthemwhy.Ifoperatorsfrequentlyhavetorunthesameretractableblowertoavoid bridgingorpluggage,thesootblowerisnotperformingwell.AnISBsystemwillnotfixproblemswithsootblowerperformance.

Sootblower Prioritization
VintageISBsystemsattheJimBridgerplantrequiredmanuallyprogrammedsootblowersequencesforeachcleaningregionofa boiler.Themanuallyprogrammedsequencewasinitiatedwhentheboilermodeldetermineditscorrespondingregionoftheboiler requiredcleaning.Changingboilerconditions,includingfuelqualityandfuelinput,shiftedboilercleaningneeds.Asneedschanged, themanuallyprogrammedsequencebecamelessefficient. Today'sISBsystemsaremoresophisticatedandshouldincludesootblowerprioritization.Withsootblowerprioritization,sootblower operationsaredetermineddynamically,basedonboilerconditionsandblowerrank.Thisresultsinasystemthatmakesthebest choiceofwhichblowertooperatenext.

Load Change Frequency

Changesinloadoccurfrequentlyoncoal-firedunitsinthePacifiCorpfleet.Historically,thiswasnotthecase,butwithrecent additionsofwindenergyandchangesinpowerdemand,itiscommonforanyunittobedispatchedupordownby20MWto100 MW.ItisrecommendedthataloadanalysisbeperformedonISBsystemperformanceandsomeformofcompensationforload changesbeincorporatedintheISBboilercleanlinessmodel.

Tubeerosionisdifficulttomonitorintheshorttermbecausetherearefewopportunitiestomeasureboilertubethickness.Opportunitiesto measuretubethicknesstypicallyariseduringmajoroutages(everyfouryears),butcriticalerosionareasareevaluatedduringmaintenance outages,whennecessaryorconvenient.Theplantusessootblowercountsasaleadingindicatorofsootblowererosion.Thus,themost practicalmethodforminimizingsootblowererosionistoreducesootblowercounts. Boilerpluggageproblemscauseeitheraloadreductionoraforcedoutagetocleantheboiler.Theplant'sgoaltoavoidboilerpluggageis measuredbythenumberofmegawattslostfromsootblower-relatedslaggingproblems. Theheatratemetricsmostdirectlyaffectedbysootblowingaresuperheatsteamtemperature,reheatsteamtemperature,andeconomizer gasoutlettemperature.Eachofthesemetricsismeasuredandrecordedaccuratelybytheplant.Increasesinsuperheatandreheatsteam temperaturesanddecreasesineconomizeroutletgastemperaturesresultinheatrategains.Theheatratemetricsareaffectedbysystems otherthansootblowing,andothersystemoperationalchangesfromtuningarecommon.Thus,theplantdecidedthemostreasonableheat rategoalwithISBistoavoidameasurableheatrateloss.

ISB Project Details

TheJimBridgerplantinstalledaDiamondPowerSentrySeries1500sootblowercontrolsystemonUnit2duringthespring2009overhaul. Thenewcontrolsystemincludedthehardwareandsoftwarerequiredforintelligentsootblowinginthefurnaceandconvectiveregion. Additionally,severalretractablesootblowernozzlesonJimBridgerUnit2wereupgradedfromgroundflushnozzlestoGemininozzles. TheGemininozzlesprovidemoreefficientcleaningoftheheattransfersurfaces,andtheyhavetheabilitytoremovemoredifficultdeposits. Gemininozzlesallowforexpansionofthesteamasitexitsthenozzleatsupersonicspeeds,creatingagreaterpeakimpactpressurethan othernozzletechnologies.ThePIPfortheretractablesootblowersatthelowerfrontofthereheaterpendant(K5andK6)increasedby approximately150%overtheexistinggroundflushnozzlesatthedesignpressure. ThenewcontrolsystemusesheatfluxsensorsforISBinthefurnaceregion.GasandsteamtemperaturesareusedforISBinthe convectiveregion.Overall,implementationoftheISBsystemonJimBridgerUnit2satisfiedtheplant'soperatinggoals,includingthese:

Thenumberofretractablesootbloweroperationswasreducedby56%. ThedistributionofretractoperationsimprovedonUnit2bychangingtypicalslaggingpatterns. Ameasuredreductioninsootblowererosionratemettheplant'sgoaltominimizetubeerosionandextendedtheprojectedlifeofthe tubepanelsfromeightyearsto16years(basedonafour-yearoutagecycle). Theboilerheatrateperformancewasmaintained. Therewerenogenerationlossesduetoboilerslagging.

TheISBsystemonUnit2wascommissionedinAugust2009.TheISBcommissioningprocessincludedverificationoffieldinstrumentation andsoftwareconfiguration.Followinginstallationandcommissioning,tuningadjustmentsweremadeinSeptember2009.Monitoringand evaluatingsootblowingmetricsrelatedtotheplant'sgoalsbeganinOctober2009.

Comparing Units 2 and 3 for Sootblower Cycle Counts

TodeterminetheeffectivenessofISBatJimBridger,itwasnecessarytocompareaunitoperatingwithISBwithonethatwasnot.Abeforeand-aftercomparisononUnit2wasconducted,buttime-basedvariationinthefuelblendandloaddispatchmakesthiscomparison marginallyconclusivefortheBridgerplant.Thus,thebestoptionwastocomparetwoseparateunitswithasfewdifferencesaspossiblefor

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blowercounts. JimBridgerUnits2and3wereselectedforthiscomparisonduetothesimilarityinhowtheseunitsoperatedduringtheyearselected.Both unitsreceivecoalfromasinglesetofbeltsand,therefore,runwithnominallyidenticalfuelquality.Theinternalheattransfersurfacelayout andsootblowerlayoutsalsoarenearlyidentical.Unit2hassonichorn-stylecleaningdevicesintheeconomizer,whereasUnit3doesnot; therefore,economizersootbloweroperationswereleftoutoftheanalysis. Bothunitsaredispatchedsimilarlywithinthedailymaximumdependablecapacity(MDC)ofeachunit.ThedailyMDCcanvaryfromunitto unitduetoanumberoffactors,includingturbineperformance,maintenanceactivities,andequipmentavailability.Throughoutthecourseof theyearexamined,theaveragedailyloadwas491MWgrossonUnit2and484MWgrossonUnit3.Asslagdepositratesandsootblower usagearetiedcloselytounitload,allthecomparisonbetweenthesetwounitswasdonebycomparingsootbloweroperationsforthemonth, dividedbytheaveragemonthlyloadingrossmegawatts,yieldingaunitofsootbloweroperationsperMW.

ISB Performance Results

AcomparisonofwallbloweroperationsperMWonbothunitsisshowninFigure1.Thecomparisondataspanoneyear.

1.ThiscomparisonofthenumberofwallbloweroperationsperMWonthetwounitsspansoneyear,beginningOct.1,2009(afterUnit2 ISBwascommissioned)andendingOct.1,2010.Ingeneral,thetwolinesfollowsimilartrendsofincreasinganddecreasing,whichare drivenlargelybyseasonalloaddemands.ThedramaticincreaseinwallbloweroperationsforbothunitsinJune/July2010wascausedbya changeinthenumberofmillsinserviceonbothunits.Source:DiamondPowerInternationalInc.andPacifiCorpEnergy TheUnit2wallblowersareoperatedautomaticallythroughISB,andUnit3wallblowersareoperatedmanually.Unit2averagedtwiceas manywallbloweroperationsasUnit3.Unit2experiencedanincreaseinwallblowerusageof25%(comparing12monthsofwallblower countsbeforeandafterISB).ThisisbecausetheISBsoftwareonUnit2workstowardtheplant'sgoalofmaximizingheattransferinthe furnacewhilemaintainingasuperheatsteamtemperatureabove990F.ThewallblowersonUnit3runprimarilytominimizeattemperator sprayusage. TheresultoffurnaceISBonUnit2isanincreasingtrendinaveragefurnaceheatflux(Figure2).Theincreaseinfurnaceheattransfer translatesintolowerfurnaceexitgastemperatures.Lowerfurnaceexitgastemperaturemeanslesspotentialforslagformationinthe pendantsuperheatersonUnit2,contributingtotheplant'sgoalofreducingretractablesootbloweroperations.

2. TheresultofaddingfurnaceISBonUnit2isanincreasingtrendinaveragefurnaceheatflux.Source:DiamondPowerInternationalInc. andPacifiCorpEnergy AcomparisonofretractoperationsperMWonUnits2and3isshowninFigure3.Thiscomparison,conductedoverthesameperiodasthe wallblowercomparison,revealedfewerretractablesootbloweroperationsonUnit2.Unit2averagedapproximatelyhalfthenumberof retractcyclesofUnit3.Similarly,year-over-yeardatacomparisonindicatesa56%reductioninretractablesootbloweroperationsonUnit2. ISB,whichinitiatessootbloweroperationsbasedondiminishedheattransfer,meetstheplant'sgoalofreducingretractoperationsonUnit2.

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3. ComparisonofretractoperationsperMWonUnits2and3,conductedoverthesameperiodasthewallblowercomparison(Figure1). Source:DiamondPowerInternationalInc.andPacifiCorpEnergy Sootblowerprioritization,anISBfeature,selectsindividualbloweroperationsbasedonblowereffectiveness.Eachblower'seffectivenessis determinedbyitsabilitytorestorelostheattransferandtimesincetheblowerwaslastoperated.Operatingsootblowersbasedon diminishedheattransferandblowereffectivenessresultsinsootblowingprecision,meaningtheoperationofblowersintheneeded locations.Thisresultsinfewertotaloperations(Figure4).

4. ThisfigureillustratesthereductioninretractsinthereheatsectionthatresultedfromusingISB.Unit2retractsoperatedthroughISB, whileUnit3retractswereoperatedmanually.ThedataarefromFebruary2010.Thetotalnumberofretractoperationsforthereheatsection thatmonthwas28%loweronUnit2,with2,326operationsonUnit3and1,664operationsonUnit2.Source:DiamondPowerInternational Inc.andPacifiCorpEnergy Notonlywerethenumberofsootbloweroperationsreduced,butthedistributionofretractoperationsalsoreflectedimprovedslagging patternsonUnit2.LookingatK5andK6operationsinFigure4,thereductionandredistributionofbloweroperationsbetweenUnit2and Unit3ismostprevalent.K5andK6,locatedontheleftandrightsideoftheboilerrespectively,cleanthebottomofthereheatpendant section.Therightsidesoftheboilershavehigherfurnaceexitgastemperaturesandslagmoreheavilyatthebottomofthereheater,which correspondswithhigherretractcountsforK6(295operations)thanK5(220operations)onUnit2.Unit3hasasimilarnumberofoperations forbothK5andK6(about475each).Whenoperatingmanually(Unit3),leftandrightbloweroperationsareweightedequally.Similar observationscanbemadeforeachoftherightandleftsidepairsofretractableblowersshowninFigure4.

Tube Erosion Reduced

UltrasonictubethicknessmeasurementsweretakenalongtheK5/K6retractablesootblowerpath,historicallythepathwiththehighest erosionrate,duringthespringsof2005,2009,and2010.GemininozzleswereinstalledontheK5andK6retractableblowersduringspring 2009.Becauseminimizingsootblowererosionisaplantgoal,increasingimpactpressuresbyupgradingtoGemininozzleswasamajor concern.Annualerosionratesarecalculatedasthechangeintubethickness(inches)dividedbythechangeintime(years).Thecalculated tubeerosionratesareillustratedinFigure5.Theaverageerosionratedroppedfrom0.015in/yearto0.009in/year.Thereducedsootblower erosionisaresultofthetandemperformanceoftheGemininozzlesandtheISBsystem(bothwereinstalledspring2009).Thereductionin erosionratemeetstheplant'sgoaltominimizetubeerosionandextendstheprojectedlifeofthetubepanelsfromeightyearsto16years (basedonafour-yearoutagecycle).

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5. ThischartshowserosionratesfortheK5/K6pathoftheplatensuperheatsection.Theaverageerosionratecalculatedfor2009-2010 indicatesanoverallreductionfrom2005to2009.Source:DiamondPowerInternationalInc.andPacifiCorpEnergy Itshouldbenotedthaterosionratesvaryfromtubetotubelargelyduetotheinspectionprocess.Tubemetalthicknessesaretakenbyan inspectorwhoissearchingforthethinnestspotonasectionoftubing,basedonmultiplereadingsandavisualinspectionofthetube surface.Normally,theresultsarerepeatable,butoccasionallythethinnestspotisnotlocated.ThislikelyhappenedonPanel11duringthe 2009inspection,becausethepanelshowedalowerthanaverageerosionrateforthe2005-2009inspectionintervalandanerosionrate morethantwicetheaveragefor2009-2010.

Maintaining Boiler Performance

ThefirstboilerperformancegoaloftheJimBridgerplantwastoavoidboilerpluggage,measuredinlostmegawatts.Nomegawattshave beenlostonUnit2duetoboilerpluggagesincecommissioningtheISBsystem. Theheatratemetricschosentomonitorboilerperformancearesuperheatsteamtemperature,reheatsteamtemperature,andeconomizer gasoutlettemperature.TomeasuretheimpactoftheISBsystemonthesemetrics,acomparisonofbeforeandafterimplementationofISB onUnit2wasmade.Therewerenomajorsurfaceareachangesintheboilerorsteamdemandchangesintheturbine,sotherewasno changeanticipatedinsteamtemperaturesorgastemperaturescausedbyoutagework. Figure6showstheaveragesoftheheatratemetricsbeforeandafterusingISBonUnit2.Averageeconomizergasoutlettemperature changedlessthanthreedegrees,whichisthemarginoferrorontheplantthermocouples.Overall,thenumbersshowanimprovementin netunitheatrate.Thismettheplant'sgoalofavoidingaheatrateloss.

6.Unit2steamandgastemperaturesatfullloadareshown.The"BeforeISB"evaluationperiodwasFebruary2008throughFebruary 2009,beforethespring2009overhaul.The"AfterISB"evaluationperiodwasOctober2009throughOctober2010,afterthespring2009 overhaul.Thebarsdepictaverages.Superheatandreheatsteamtemperaturesbothincreased.Source:DiamondPowerInternationalInc. andPacifiCorpEnergy

Conclusions
Overall,implementationoftheISBsystemonJimBridgerUnit2satisfiedalltheplant'sgoals.Wallblowercyclecountsincreased,butthey havenotcausedanysootblowererosiontubeleaks.Retractablesootblowercountsdropped,thedistributionimproved,andmeasured erosionratesdecreased.Thereisalsoalowerriskofsootblowererosionboilertubeleaksinthependantsection.Boilerheatrate performancedidnotdegrade,andtherewerenogenerationlossesduetoboilerslagging. MikeHovious,PEisaregionalengineerforDiamondPowerInternationalInc.,andKevinSchiedler,PEisengineerlead/seniorPacifiCorp Energy.

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