The subject matter disclosed herein relates to power plants and, more particularly, to a method and system for modeling a power plant.
Conventional power plants include numerous complex subsystems that work in cooperation to produce a power output. To assess performance of a power plant, each major component is analyzed. For example, models for a Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG), Steam turbine, generator, condenser, and cooling system are analyzed to determine whether a desired output is possible. Selecting major components to meet a desired output requires numerous calculations that are often times too complex to account for all possible variables. Accordingly, preparing a power plant model to be analyzed can be a time consuming and costly process. The complexity of the models often times requires considerable time for calculations to converge to an output. The complexity of the models also results in lengthy and costly development.
According to one aspect of the exemplary embodiment, a method of modeling a power plant including a plurality of major components including at least one of a Heat recovery Steam Generator (HRSG), a steam turbomachine, a condenser, and a cooling system includes establishing a desired power plant output criteria, selecting a plurality of major components to form the power plant, running a model module to create thermodynamic model of the major components to form a power plant model, running an equation module to develop a set of equations for the power plant model, running a performance module to solve the set of equations for the power plant model, running a cost module to determine a cost of the power plant model, determining whether the power plant model meets the desired power plant output criteria, and generating a result that indicates the performance and cost of the power plant model.
According to another aspect of the exemplary embodiment, a method of modeling a power plant including a plurality of major components including at least one of a Heat recovery Steam Generator (HRSG), a steam turbomachine, a condenser, and a cooling system includes establishing a desired power plant output criteria, generating a power plant model including at least two of the plurality of major components to form the power plant, running a model module to create a thermodynamic model of the power plant model, running an equation module to develop a set of equations for the thermodynamic model of the power plant model, running a performance module to solve the set of equations for the thermodynamic model of the power plant model, running a cost module to determine a cost of the power plant model, determining whether the power plant model meets the desired power plant output criteria, and generating a result that indicates the performance and cost of the power plant model.
According to yet another aspect of the exemplary embodiment, a power plant modeling system including a central processing unit (CPU), the CPU being interconnected functionally via a system bus to an input/output (I/O) adapter connecting to at least one of a removable data storage device, a program storage device, and a mass data storage device, a user interface adapter connecting to one or more computer input devices, a display adapter connecting to a display device, and at least one memory device thereupon stored a set of instructions which, when executed by the CPU, causes the system to receive through the user interface adapter a desired power plant output criteria, select a plurality of major components to form the power plant, run a model module to create thermodynamic models of each of the major components, run an equation module to develop a set of equations for each of the thermodynamic models of the major components, run a performance module to solve the set of equations for each of the thermodynamic models of the major components, run a cost module to determine a cost of the major components of the power plant, determine whether the major components meet the desired power plant OUTPUT criteria, and generate a result that indicates the performance and cost of the power plant.
These and other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings.
The subject matter, which is regarded as the invention, is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The detailed description explains embodiments of the invention, together with advantages and features, by way of example with reference to the drawings.
With reference to
As best shown in
In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a user initially inputs a desired power plant output criteria as indicated in block 50. A group of major components including, for example, steam turbine 10, HRSG 12, condenser 14, and cooling system 16 are selected from groups of possible major components by a global subsystem selector 51 as indicated in block 52. As indicated in
As indicated in
Cost module 48 evaluates the performance characteristics, piping size, diameter, length, pump(s) sizing, as well as the over all cost of each major component to determine a roll out cost, or an end cost of power plant 2. After determining an end cost for the modeled power plant, method 30 compares modeled plant output with the desired output criteria to determine whether the power plant model is an acceptable power plant model, i.e., the power plant model meets the desired output criteria as indicated in block 202. If the modeled plant output does not meet the desired output criteria, new major components are selected and a new power plant model is developed. In accordance with one aspect of the exemplary embodiment, if the power plant model does meet the desired output criteria, a determination is made whether additional power plant models may also meet the desired output criteria as indicated in block 204. If no additional models meet the desired criteria, or if no additional modeling is desired, method 30 generates a result representing the acceptable power plant model as indicated in block 206 and the result is displayed in block 208. If additional power plant models are found acceptable, method 30 presents each acceptable power plant model in blocks 206 and 208. The technical effect of the present invention provides a system for more readily modeling a power plant by analyzing properties of multiple system components not only individually, but also synergistically to provide a desired output.
At this point it should be understood that the exemplary embodiments describe a method and system for evaluating power plant models. The method and system compares evaluates various power plant models to determine acceptability of achieving a desired output criteria. The technical effect of the exemplary embodiments creates a system that employs a variety of modules to evaluate system performance and cost based on complex thermodynamic equations that represent a particular power plant model to determine whether a particular model can meet desired output criteria in a timely and cost efficient manner.
While the invention has been described in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the invention is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the invention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, while various embodiments of the invention have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the invention may include only some of the described embodiments. Accordingly, the invention is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.