Turbine Controls

Coordinated Control Systems

Coordinated control systems enable the boiler and associated steam turbine to be controlled as a unit. The system enables the steam demand placed upon the boiler to be maintained within its delivery capability. Megawatt Load Run-back is automatically invoked upon the loss of specified vital plant equipment.

FPS can engineer, design and manufacture a coordinated control system to suit the specified plant environment. This system will control, monitor and alarm the Megawatt (Mw) loading and loading rates, steam flows as well as general boiler/turbine/generator system status. CRT based graphical operator interfaces keep the operator constantly informed of the operating status of the Boiler/Turbine unit.

Turbine Runup

Steam turbine runup systems involve the monitoring of critical turbine data in order to control starting, acceleration rates, holds, differential expansion and to monitor vibration levels. A steam turbine can respond very quickly to system disturbances, therefore it is imperative that the response rate of the associated control system be sufficiently quick.

FPS has engineered, designed and supplied several systems for controlling steam turbine runup, complete with the monitoring and display of critical turbine data using a CRT-based graphical operator interface. The alarming and logging of turbine data are a standard component of this package.

Usually the development costs for these systems are extremely high if the project is to be properly designed and tested. FPS’s experience with other systems has allowed us to develop a general design strategy, leading to a very economical system capable of controlling steam turbine runup and turbine control. "Off the shelf" components such as the Allen Bradley family of products or MOORE APACS family of products have been selected for this application.

Turbine Water Ingress Prevention

Primarily Turbine Water Ingress Prevention Systems are concerned with the prevention of water damage to steam turbines used for fossil fuel fired electric power generation. Any connection to a turbine is a potential source of water damage either by induction from external equipment or by the accumulation of condensed steam.

There is no piece of equipment in most plants more complex than the steam turbine/generator system, which is supported by many subsystems. Safe and effective operation of a turbine/generator requires that the designers of Water Ingress Prevention systems have good understanding of the turbine/generator unit and its subsystems. Steam turbine damage due to water induction is relatively common in the electric generation and process industries as the majority of water ingress damage to steam turbines occurs during unit start up and shut down.

FPS has engineered, designed, manufactured and commissioned a number of these systems satisfying ASME Standard Number TDP-1 and TWDPS-1, "Recommended Practices for the Prevention of Water Damage of Steam Turbines Used for Electric Power Generation" as well as other related National and International standards. Fossil’s Aquarian Water Detection products form one of the primary data sources.

A team of responsible engineers and designers will review and develop an understanding of the design features and operation of your steam generator and the associated turbine. They will then engineer, design and manufacture a system to suit the layout and operation of your plant that will protect the turbine against water induction. Operating precautions, as well as codes of practice and standards for these systems, are well understood by the engineers assigned by FPS to the project.

A Windows-based graphical display will be part of the supplied system in order to provide the operator with a graphical overview of the system, clearly identifying the location of all the Aquarian detection probes. Critical and warning alarms indicating the presence of water and /or associated valve positions are integrated as part of the operator interface.