Authors: Bob Sabin, Peter Kline
The Emerson Industrial Energy consulting team assisted a Northeastern U.S. specialty chemical manufacturer with modernizing the controls on two 1960’s vintage Combustion Engineering “D” Type process steam boilers. These units are critical to site operation as they supply steam to a common header that feeds processes throughout the production facility.
For each boiler, the existing controls consisted of hardwired relays for Burner Management System (BMS) functions and standalone single loop controllers for Combustion Control System (CCS) purposes.
Over years of operation, boiler field wiring had fallen into disarray and the hardwired BMS panels had always been very difficult to troubleshoot. The CCS loop controllers had provided good service for many years, but they were limited in functionality and had reached the end of their useful life. All these created challenges for plant personnel in maintaining reliable and optimal utility plant operation. This drove the development of a boiler controls improvement project.
The Industrial Energy consultants and project team helped the client start the modernization effort by engaging in a holistic approach to control modernization. This process began with a site survey that examined the condition of the boilers and reviewed the instrumentation and field devices that were in place. The team conducted a review of the overall boiler processes and their devices for compliance with the latest NFPA codes and recommended practices. In addition, the team interviewed plant personnel to understand their project objectives, issues that needed to be resolved, and ideas for achieving optimal utility area performance. Continue Reading ▶
