A Web-Based Fuel Management Software System for a Typical Indian Coal based Power Plant

The fuel management system forms an integral part of the management process in a power plant and hence is one of the most critical areas. It deals with the management of commercial, operational and administrative functions pertaining to estimating fuel requirements, selection of fuel suppliers, fuel quality check, transportation and fuel handling, payment for fuel received, consumption and calculation of fuel efficiency. The results are then used for cost benefit analysis to suggest further plant improvement. At various levels, management information reports need to be extracted to communicate the required information across various levels of management. The core processes of fuel management involve a huge amount of paper work and manual labour, which makes it tedious, time-consuming and prone to human errors. Moreover, the time taken at each stage as well as the transparency of the relevant information has a direct bearing on the economics and efficient operation of the power plant. Both system performance and information transparency can be enhanced by the introduction of Information Technology in managing this area. This paper reports on the development of Web-based Fuel Management System Software, based on 3-tiered J2EE architecture, which aims at systematic functioning of the Core Business Processes of Fuel Management of a typical coal-fired thermal power plant in the Indian power scenario.