Indian power plant to use PlantWeb and Ovation

PlantWeb digital plant architecture plus an Ovation control system at the Amarkantak power plant in India will cover automation, control and optimisation of plant processes and equipment

Emerson Process Management has received a contract to digitally automate the new Amarkantak power plant, located near Pathadi Village, Korba district, in the state of Chattisgarh, India.

Emerson will install PlantWeb digital plant architecture with their Ovation expert control system at the two 300-MW, coal-fired units.

China-based Dongfang Electric, the project EPC contractor, awarded the contract to Emerson.

The plant, which is owned by Lanco Amarkantak Power Private , will help to address the growing appetite for power in India, which is being fueled by an economy that is among the fastest-growing in the world.

Unit 1 is scheduled to begin commercial operation in June 2008, Unit 2 is expected to go into service in July 2009.

The Emerson Power and Water Solutions industry centre is coordinating and supervising the project.

The comprehensive Emerson PlantWeb solution includes deployment of the Ovation control system for data acquisition, as well as for monitoring and control of the modulating control system, sequence control system, furnace safeguard supervisory system and electrical control system for all major plant components, including the boiler, turbine and balance of plant processes.

For maximum efficiency, the processes and equipment for units 1 and 2 will be monitored from a common control room.

In all, the Ovation solution, which will include installation of a total of 32 Ovation redundant controllers, will manage more than 19,000 I/O points.

In addition, Emerson will provide AMS Suite: Intelligent Device Manager predictive maintenance software, which will provide operators with data from HART intelligent field devices located throughout the plant.

For new plant construction, AMS Device Manager streamlines device configuration and commissioning, thereby contributing to more efficient plant start-up.

AMS Device Manager also provides on-line access to instrument and valve diagnostics and automatic documentation of all field device maintenance information - all contributing to on-going efficiency of plant operations and maintenance activities.

The contract also calls for use of the Emerson SmartProcess Combustion Optimiser, which has been proven to optimise NOx levels and enhance boiler operations for heat rate improvements of up to 0.5% - 1.5%, as well as the SmartProcess Global Performance Advisor, which will model equipment and overall heat balance, adapting to the changing plant conditions and determining the most efficient operating modes.

Also noteworthy is the inclusion of the Emerson EDS, a comprehensive package for remote visualisation of process graphics, trends and alarms.

EDS will gather information from the Ovation system as well as other plant data sources, providing the ability to monitor operations at multiple sites from anywhere within the corporate organization.

Beyond providing the technologies to monitor and control plant processes and equipment, Emerson will also supply network devices and computers that comprise the plant Management Information System (MIS), resulting in a comprehensive automation, optimisation and information solution for units 1 and 2.

"Increasing electricity generation is vital to this country's economic growth," said Luo Xi, senior I+C engineer for the Dongfang Electric Group: "For a project of this importance we wanted an automation and control supplier that offered leading-edge technologies with a proven track record, as well as significant experience with new coal-fired plant construction projects.

Emerson was best qualified to meet all of our requirements".

"This project is an excellent example of how we are able to leverage our vast resources to efficiently and effectively meet customer needs anywhere in the world," said Bob Yeager, president of Emerson's Power and Water Solutions division: "We're honoured to be selected by Dongfang Electric for a project that will help facilitate India's fast-paced economic development".

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