Efficiency Improvements
Lower fuel and operating costs. Lower parasitic power consumption. Reduced air emissions. These are just some of the results of improving overall plant efficiency.
Strategies to improve plant efficiency and heat rate should begin with a thorough analysis and review of current plant conditions. B&W provides plant owners and operators with a wide range of services and technologies to do this, including:
- Engineering studies
- Field Engineering services
- Performance studies
- Operations & maintenance reviews
- Equipment upgrades and redesigns
These critical analyses often lead to recommendations that can provide tangible results to your plant’s bottom line.
B&W’s proven solutions include:
- Neural network / intelligent sootblowing – Optimizes boiler heat absorption and sootblower steam consumption; minimizes exit gas temperature and stack losses
- Redesign/replace economizer – Reduces boiler exit gas temperature
- O&M improvements – Performance testing can identify various O&M improvements at the plants
- Air heater and duct leakage control – Air heater and boiler setting leakage degrades air heater performance, increases unburned carbon, and requires operation at higher total levels of excess air
- Variable frequency drives – Allows fans to operate more efficiently; most significant efficiency gain potential during low load operation
- Pulverizer performance upgrades – Improves coal fineness, reduces motor power consumption
- Split/sliding pressure operation – Permits increased load change rate capability; extends reheat steam temperature control range (better low load heat rate)
- Flue gas recirculation – Extends steam temperature control range and fuel flexibility
- Burners and overfire air systems-Reduce total excess air and unburned carbon levels;maintains or reduces NOx and CO emissions