Fuzzy based coordinated controller for thermal power plant

A novel fuzzy based coordinated controller for thermal power plant is proposed. In this method, the energy input to the boiler would be matched to the energy demand by the turbine generator. The existing control schemes have difficulty to cope up with inherent time delay, nonlinearity due to uncertainty of the combustion process and frequent load changes. This paper presents the design of fuzzy controllers for boiler to turbine coordination during normal load change operation and turbine to boiler coordination during sudden change in demand. The coordinated control will give set value for air/fuel controller for combustion process and throttle valve positioner to control the steam flow to the turbine inlet at all loads. A lab scale simulators for boiler, turbine, generator and high voltage sub station were fabricated along with two lab scale experimental set up for air/fuel control and throttle valve position control. Several tests were conducted for various load conditions. The feasibility is demonstrated through experiments using data collected from 210 MW thermal power plants. The advantages of the proposed system are highlighted.