The company turned to Honeywell Process Solutions’ Unified Energy Solutions (UES), a process optimization product, to help optimize the power plant. Plant operators sold the investment in the technology as a way optimize the plant while going green. “We presented the system to management as a valuable tool to reduce cost, yet achieve maximum efficiency in an environmentally conscientious manner,” says Kyung-Chul Park, advisory manager at SCF. Park also argued that the investment would pay for itself within a year.

The Ulsan site is a chemical complex. The site’s plant is designed to provide process steam. The typical total steam demand is 620 KPPH (Kilo-Pascals Per Hour) in the winter and 510 KPPH in the summer. The winter peak demand was 32 megawatts (MW) and the summer peak demand was 25 MW. Plant operators knew that efficient peak shaving would help to reduce the power bill considerably.

As part of the implementation of the UES technology, the team defined these objectives:

• Supply process steam at the required pressure level while stabilizing the multi-turbine, multi-header steam distribution network
• Execute the power contract under variations in process steam demand to minimize the risk of exceeding the contracted power supply from the local utility
• Optimize performance on the boiler-house level and unit in an environmentally sensitive way—thus reducing emissions
• Create real-time changes in pricing of electricity by reducing peak usage.

Using Honeywell’s UES technology, Park and his team were able to operate the plant at maximum efficiency while meeting newly added environmental constraints. Benefits included:

• Increased cost savings in heat and power production
• Increased effective boiler operation range
• Optimized fuel gas emissions
• Optimized production capacity utilization
• Optimized transient states control
• Extended life of production assets and reduced maintenance.

The result also delivered cost savings. “We have achieved our return on investment in just six months,” says Park.

To read the feature article,"Manufacturing Plants Going Green Across the Globe", go to www.automationworld.com/feature-4349.