Comparison of Governor Deadband & Droop Settings of a Single 600 MW Unit

A 0.01666 Hz Deadband with a Straight Line Proportional 5% Droop Curve Compared to a 0.036 Hz Deadband with a Step Straight Line Proportional 5% Droop Curve from the Deadband

Sydney Niemeyer, NRG February 9, 2010

Governor Settings Prior to November 2008 2008 Had Ten Months of Operation with no Governor setting changes.
ERCOT Operating Guides called for a maximum +/-0.036 Hz deadband on Governors. 5% Droop Setting with no clarification as to implementation. With or without a step function at the deadband. To meet the 5% droop performance, Governors were encouraged to step into the 5% droop curve at the deadband.

Governor Settings After November 3, 2008

Deadbands were decreased to +/-0.0166 Hz (1 rpm on a 3600 rpm turbine). The Droop curve implemented was a straight line proportional curve from the deadband eliminating any step function. Initially only 4 Units Governors were changed. Total Capacity of 2486 MW or approximately 82.8 MW/0.1 Hz of Primary Frequency Response. The coordinated Boiler Control System implemented the same Droop curve and deadband as the turbine Governor. Additional Units changed their Governor settings throughout 2009 and 2010, mostly after July 2009.

Status as of February 1, 2010 Units with Governors presently set with an intentional deadband less than or equal to +/0.01666 Hz and droop curve with no step function.
11,607 MW Total Capacity Identified by PDCWG members.
1690 MW Lignite 4139 MW Coal 3620 MW Combustion Turbine Combined Cycle 1519 MW Combustion Turbine Simple Cycle 399 MW Steam Turbine natural gas fired 240 MW Hydro

MW-Minute Primary Frequency Response of a 600 MW Unit To All Frequency Deviations During The First 10 Months of 2008
2008 Jan thru Oct
160000 782765.9 MW Response of 0.0166 db 140000 591324.0 MW Response of 0.036 db 32.38% Increase in MW movement with lower deadband.

MW Minute

120000 This compares the difference a single 600 MW unit would have experienced as a result 100000 of Primary Frequency Response if on-line the first 10 months of 2008 and had margin to move. 80000 60000 40000 20000 0

5 2008 MW Response of 0.036 db

6 60 0 .0 60 1 .0 2 60 .0 60 3 .0 4 60 .0 60 5 .0 6 60 .0 60 7 .0 8 60 .0 9 60 .1
2008 MW Response of 0.0166 db

59 . 59 9 .9 1 59 .9 59 2 .9 3 59 .9 59 4 .9 5 59 .9 59 6 .9 7 59 .9 59 8 .9 9

MW-Minute Primary Frequency Response of a 600 MW Unit To All Frequency Deviations in 2008
2008 Jan thru Dec
160000 893164.2 MW Response of 0.0166 db 140000 120000 662574.0 MW Response of 0.036 db 34.80% Increase in MW movement with lower deadband.

MW Minute

100000 80000 60000 40000 20000 0

This compares the difference a single 600 MW unit would have experienced as a result of Primary Frequency Response if on-line all of 2008 and had margin to move.

6 2008 MW Response of 0.036 db

6 60 0 .0 60 1 .0 2 60 .0 60 3 .0 4 60 .0 60 5 .0 6 60 .0 60 7 .0 8 60 .0 9 60 .1
2008 MW Response of 0.0166 db

59 . 59 9 .9 1 59 .9 59 2 .9 3 59 .9 59 4 .9 5 59 .9 59 6 .9 7 59 .9 59 8 .9 9

MW-Minute Primary Frequency Response of a 600 MW Unit To All Frequency Deviations in 2009

2009 Jan thru Dec

140000 692039.8 MW Response of 0.0166 db 120000 446244.0 MW Response of 0.036 db 55.08% Increase in MW movement with lower deadband.

MW Minute

100000 80000 60000 40000 20000 0

However, the 692039.8 MW Response of the 0.0166 db unit is only 29465.8 MW more than the 2008 MW Response of the 0.036 db unit (662574.0 MW). A 4.45% increase with the benefit of the improved frequency profile.

The MW response The MW response of the 0.036 db of the 0.0166 db unit decreased unit decreased 216330.0 MW in 201124.4 MW in 2009 from 2008. 2009 from 2008. This is a 32.645% This is a 22.518% decrease in decrease in movement. movement.

59 . 59 9 .9 1 59 .9 59 2 .9 3 59 .9 59 4 .9 5 59 .9 59 6 .9 7 59 .9 59 8 .9 9

7 2009 MW Response of 0.036 db

60 .0 60 1 .0 2 60 .0 60 3 .0 4 60 .0 60 5 .0 6 60 .0 60 7 .0 8 60 .0 9 60 .1
2009 MW Response of 0.0166 db

60

ERCOT Frequency Profile 2008 and 2009

ERCOT Frequency Profile Comparison
525,600 One Minute Periods per Year 45000 40000

One Minute Occurances

35000 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0

2009 Frequency Profile more Normal than 2008. Note: 2008 had two months of operation at the lower governor deadband settings (Nov & Dec).

59 .9 59 .9 1 59 .9 2 59 .9 3 59 .9 4 59 .9 5 59 .9 6 59 .9 7 59 .9 8 59 .9 9

8 2009

60 .0 1 60 .0 2 60 .0 3 60 .0 4 60 .0 5 60 .0 6 60 .0 7 60 .0 8 60 .0 9 60 .1
2008

60

ERCOT Frequency Profile Had Additional Improvement in December 2009 and January 2010
ERCOT Frequency Profile Comparison
December 2009 and January 2010 improved over typical (November 2009) performance. Several additional units changed their deadbands in 4500 December 2009 and January 2010. 4000

One Minute Occurances

3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0

59 .9 59 .9 1 59 .9 2 59 .9 3 59 .9 4 59 .9 5 59 .9 6 59 .9 7 59 .9 8 59 .9 9
December 2009

9 January 2010

60 .0 1 60 .0 2 60 .0 3 60 .0 4 60 .0 5 60 .0 6 60 .0 7 60 .0 8 60 .0 9 60 .1
November 2009

60

MW-Minute Primary Frequency Response of a 600 MW Unit To All Frequency Deviations During January 2010
January 2010 Primary Frequency Response
10000 53656.4 9000 37384.0 8000 7000 MW Response of 0.036 db As the frequency profile continues to improve, the lower deadband unit provides 43.538% more MW movement than the larger deadband unit, but overall MW movement is less as the frequency deviations decrease in magnitude. MW Response of 0.0166 db

MW Minutes

6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0

10 MW Response of 0.036 db

60 60 .0 1 60 .0 2 60 .0 3 60 .0 4 60 .0 5 60 .0 6 60 .0 7 60 .0 8 60 .0 9 60 .1
MW Response of 0.0166 db

59 .9 59 .9 1 59 .9 2 59 .9 3 59 .9 4 59 .9 5 59 .9 6 59 .9 7 59 .9 8 59 .9 9

Conclusions
Clearly the MW-Minute Movement of a Unit with a lower deadband setting is more than that of a larger deadband. The MW-Minute movement of the lower deadband has a gradual injection of Primary Frequency Response compared to the step implementation of the larger deadband.
Better Unit stability Better Frequency stability

As more Units implement the lower deadband and non-step droop curve, the frequency profile improves and the total MW-Minute movement of the grid decreases.

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