Abstract
• The proposed method can limit equipment damage in different scenarios. • Damage can be reduced 40% with a revenue loss of less than 1%. • Different damage mechanisms in the equipment can be included in the method. • Variable uncertainty in power demand and price can be included. • Adequate selection of material design temperature reduces deterioration. Renewable energy sources have been the focal point to decarbonise the power sector. The large deployment of these intermittent power generation units requires mechanisms to balance the grid. Thermal power plants can provide this service by increasing the number of start-ups, shut-downs, and intraday ramps at the expense of higher deterioration in critical equipment, including high-pressure steam drums, turbine rotors and blades, and high-temperature heat exchangers and pipes. This work proposes a method to formulate the power generation scheduling of thermal power plants as a stochastic optimisation problem with limitations on the maximum damage in critical components. This method models the uncertainty associated with intermittent power generation from renewable sources with a scenario-tree whilst computing the deterioration of the equipment in each scenario to limit the maximum damage. Scheduling of a flexible natural gas combined cycle demonstrated how this methodology can reduce the deterioration of the superheating heat exchanger of the power plant with minimum detriment in power generation and revenue. Furthermore, the effect of the design temperature of the material on the total damage was analysed for a broad range of temperatures and operating profiles, showing how adequate selection of design temperature can reduce the deterioration of the equipment and enhance its lifetime.
Highlights
The decarbonisation of the power sector is a fundamental measure to reduce global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change [1,2]
There exists a broad portfolio of technologies that can deliver low-carbon electricity whilst meeting the increasing power demand associated with the growing population and electrification of other economic sectors
These results demonstrate the trade-off existing between wall temper ature and effective stress, since the lowest accumulated damage at each scenario occurred at the lowest combination of both variables, and not at the smallest value of the maximum stress
Summary
The decarbonisation of the power sector is a fundamental measure to reduce global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change [1,2]. Power generation profiles of thermal power plants are the result of an optimisation problem where the maximum deterioration of the equipment by different damage phenomena is limited This optimisation is formulated as a scenario-tree stochastic optimisation problem to consider the uncer tainty associated with the intermittent renewable energy sources. The main contribution of this work is the combination of the scheduling process with the uncertainty associated with renewable energy sources and the deterioration of the equipment in a stochastic optimisation framework This approach enables thermal power plants to balance the grid under different scenarios whilst enhancing the lifetime of sensitive equipment and maximising their economical performance.
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