Simplified Operator's Guidance for a Cogeneration Plant

Abstract

Th is article describ es a sim plified PC-based m eth od wh ich can be
used to guide d aily loadin g decisions typ ically r equ ired of cogene ra-
tion pl ant opera tors. Thi s meth od has been successfully tested at an
ope ra ting plant , with excellen t results. Its main ben efit accru es from
avo idi ng len gth y data pr ep aration and awkward calculation s.
Instead it relies up on a small se t of readily-a vailabl e agg rega te
statis tics such as the pre viou s week 's gene ra tion and standby ene rgy
cos t which are typi cally log ged in a pl ant contro l ro om . After in itial-
iza tion, th e ope ra tor's pr ogram was used to set a monthly ge nera tion
" target" for steam and electricity based on historic seasona l d emand s.
The ove rriding objective was to sa tisfy m onthly tar gets; adjus t-
m ent s were m ad e wee kly to attemp t to meet th is goa l. The m eth od
wa s d esign ed to sche d ule least-cost ope ra tion for stea m an d electric
p ro du ction w ithin the con straints of pl ant cap acity, cos t of stand by
electrici ty a nd relat ed cos ts such as boiler rarnpup / rarnpd own . It can
be eas ily mod ified to acco un t for differ ent load and cos t patt ern s.