DOE / NETL - 2006 / 1234 Big Bend Power Station Neural Network - Sootblower Optimization A DOE Assessment

Disclaimer This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The view and opinions of authors expressed therein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Energy's (DOE's) Clean Coal Technology Demonstration Program (CCTDP) whose purpose was to offer the energy marketplace more efficient, cost effective and/or environmentally benign coal-fired power production options by demonstrating these technologies in commercial settings. One of the projects selected under PPII was the Big Bend Unit 2 is a Riley Stoker single drum slagging radiant boiler having pressurized furnace operation. The cost of this project was $3.4 million, with DOE's share being 27 percent. This project was a full scale demonstration of the neural network intelligent sootblowing (NN-ISB) technology on a large commercial boiler. The overall goal of this project was to develop a NN-ISB system that initiates sootblowing in response to real-time and model predictive events or conditions within the boiler rather than relying on general rule based protocols. Other goals were to increase unit efficiency, reduce NO x , and improve stack opacity. In a coal-fired boiler, the buildup of ash and soot on the boiler tubes can lead to a reduction in boiler efficiency. Thus, one of the most important boiler auxiliary operations is the cleaning of heat-absorbing surfaces. Ash and soot deposits are removed by a process known as sootblowing, which uses mechanical devices for on-line cleaning of fireside boiler ash and slag deposits on a periodic basis. Sootblowers direct a cleaning medium (steam, water, or air) through nozzles against the soot/ash accumulated on the heat transfer surfaces to remove the deposits and maintain heat transfer efficiency. Sootblowing has an impact on plant efficiency because it either uses steam that would otherwise be used to generate electric power or requires energy for pumps or …