Dynamic simulation of a subcritical coal-fired power plant with the emphasis on flexibility

IF 10.1 1区工程技术 Q1 ENERGY & FUELS

Applied Energy Pub Date : 2025-04-29 DOI:10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.125976

Congyu Wang , Fangfang Chen , Pengjiang Xu , Hongmei Cao , Wei Wang , Qie Sun

{"title":"Dynamic simulation of a subcritical coal-fired power plant with the emphasis on flexibility","authors":"Congyu Wang , Fangfang Chen , Pengjiang Xu , Hongmei Cao , Wei Wang , Qie Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.125976","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The increasing integration of intermittent renewable energy sources necessitates greater flexibility from coal-fired power plants. However, limited research has been conducted on the effect of thermal inertia on the ramp rates and the transient fuel consumption of subcritical power plants, when they are used as flexible power sources. Therefore, this study developed a system-level, high-fidelity dynamic model of a subcritical coal-fired power plant to fill the knowledge gap. The model's accuracy is validated against real-world plant data. The load-variation processes between 30 %P<sub>N</sub> and 100 %P<sub>N</sub> were simulated, where ramp rates and transient fuel consumption in different load ratio intervals were evaluated. Due to the effects of thermal inertia, the highest ramp rate that the subcritical power plant could provide is below 2 %P<sub>N</sub>/min. Unlike supercritical power plants, the power deviation in subcritical power plants is the critical limitation to ramp rates rather than the deviation in main or reheated steam temperature. Moreover, a large disparity in fuel consumption between the dynamic model and a steady-state model is observed. Compared to the steady-state model, the dynamic model predicts 4.92 % lower fuel consumption during the load-decrease process and 5.29 % higher fuel consumption during the load-increase process. In addition, the system's responses to automatic generation control (AGC) commands were investigated. The results demonstrate that the load-reciprocating stage exhibits the lowest comprehensive performance indicator <em>K</em><sub>p</sub> of 0.51, significantly lower than the load-increase (<em>K</em><sub>p</sub> = 1.78) and load-decrease (<em>K</em><sub>p</sub> = 1.62) stages, due to the effects of thermal inertia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":246,"journal":{"name":"Applied Energy","volume":"392 ","pages":"Article 125976"},"PeriodicalIF":10.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Applied Energy","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261925007068","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENERGY & FUELS","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The increasing integration of intermittent renewable energy sources necessitates greater flexibility from coal-fired power plants. However, limited research has been conducted on the effect of thermal inertia on the ramp rates and the transient fuel consumption of subcritical power plants, when they are used as flexible power sources. Therefore, this study developed a system-level, high-fidelity dynamic model of a subcritical coal-fired power plant to fill the knowledge gap. The model's accuracy is validated against real-world plant data. The load-variation processes between 30 %P_N and 100 %P_N were simulated, where ramp rates and transient fuel consumption in different load ratio intervals were evaluated. Due to the effects of thermal inertia, the highest ramp rate that the subcritical power plant could provide is below 2 %P_N/min. Unlike supercritical power plants, the power deviation in subcritical power plants is the critical limitation to ramp rates rather than the deviation in main or reheated steam temperature. Moreover, a large disparity in fuel consumption between the dynamic model and a steady-state model is observed. Compared to the steady-state model, the dynamic model predicts 4.92 % lower fuel consumption during the load-decrease process and 5.29 % higher fuel consumption during the load-increase process. In addition, the system's responses to automatic generation control (AGC) commands were investigated. The results demonstrate that the load-reciprocating stage exhibits the lowest comprehensive performance indicator K_p of 0.51, significantly lower than the load-increase (K_p = 1.78) and load-decrease (K_p = 1.62) stages, due to the effects of thermal inertia.

查看原文本刊更多论文

以柔性为重点的亚临界燃煤电厂动态仿真

间歇性可再生能源的日益整合要求燃煤电厂具有更大的灵活性。然而，当亚临界电厂作为柔性电源使用时，热惯性对其斜坡速率和瞬态燃料消耗的影响研究有限。因此，本研究开发了一个亚临界燃煤电厂的系统级、高保真动态模型来填补这一知识空白。模型的准确性通过实际工厂数据验证。模拟了30%和100% PN之间的负载变化过程，评估了不同负载比区间的爬坡率和瞬态油耗。由于热惯性的影响，亚临界电厂所能提供的最高斜坡速率低于2% PN/min。与超临界电厂不同，亚临界电厂的功率偏差是斜坡速率的临界限制，而不是主蒸汽或再热蒸汽温度的偏差。此外，在动态模型和稳态模型之间的燃料消耗有很大的差异。与稳态模型相比，动态模型预测的减载过程油耗降低4.92%，增载过程油耗提高5.29%。此外，还研究了系统对自动生成控制（AGC）命令的响应。结果表明：由于热惯性的影响，载荷往复阶段的综合性能指标Kp最低，为0.51，显著低于载荷增加阶段（Kp = 1.78）和载荷减少阶段（Kp = 1.62）；

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Applied Energy 工程技术-工程：化工

CiteScore

21.20

自引率

10.70%

发文量

1830

审稿时长

41 days

期刊介绍： Applied Energy serves as a platform for sharing innovations, research, development, and demonstrations in energy conversion, conservation, and sustainable energy systems. The journal covers topics such as optimal energy resource use, environmental pollutant mitigation, and energy process analysis. It welcomes original papers, review articles, technical notes, and letters to the editor. Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts that bridge the gap between research, development, and implementation. The journal addresses a wide spectrum of topics, including fossil and renewable energy technologies, energy economics, and environmental impacts. Applied Energy also explores modeling and forecasting, conservation strategies, and the social and economic implications of energy policies, including climate change mitigation. It is complemented by the open-access journal Advances in Applied Energy.