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Product category: Gas monitoring and analysis
News Release from: Servomex | Subject: Servomex 2700
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial Team on 26 October 2005

Flue gas analyser tests on a power
station

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Recent independent tests to compare the performance of three oxygen and carbon monoxide flue gas analysers on a typical coal fired power station have demonstrated outstanding results for Servomex

Recent independent tests to compare the performance of three oxygen (O2) and carbon monoxide (CO) flue gas analysers from different manufacturers, conducted in parallel on a typical coal fired power station, have demonstrated outstanding results for the Servomex 2700 oxygen and combustibles analyser The aim of the trials, conducted by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), one of the world's leading independent research institutes, was to verify the suitability of the analysers for analysing O2 and CO in a flue gas in order to achieve efficient combustion control

In addition to having major international client participation, EPRI clients represent over 90% of the electricity generated in the US.

Throughout the six-month duration of the test the Servomex analyser operated reliably.

No further calibration was performed after initial start up.

Even after an unplanned power down during the tests, the analyser restarted and after warm up continued its analysis without any significant change.

The results of regular checks carried out during the test period indicate that the oxygen sensor only needs to be calibrated on a yearly basis.

Similarly, the results also indicated that the combustibles sensor should only need a span calibration every year with a zero calibration every two months.

The results were also used to predict seven years as the expected lifetime of the oxygen sensor and five years as the expected lifetime of the combustibles sensor.

The Servomex 2700 analyser was fitted with both zirconia oxygen and combustibles sensors for fast simultaneous analysis of both O2 and CO in order to maximise combustion efficiency.

Given that the typical fuel cost for a power station unit of similar size to the one used for the tests is $2M per month, the Servomex analyser would reduce average O2 levels of about 3% by about 1% - which represents at least 0.5 % reduction in fuel costs.

The use of the analyser to control at this new level delivers potential savings of $10,000 per month on this unit alone.

Taking into account the cost of the analysers and their installation, the payback time is much less than a year.

At the end of the trial, with no intervening recalibration, analyser performance tests were carried out which showed that the stability and repeatability of the analyser enabled the CO breakthrough point to be readily established.

This, together with the fast speed of response and simultaneous analysis of O2 and CO, makes the Servomex 2700 analyser an ideal tool for combustion control.

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